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Wesley Britton
ISBN: 0-275-98163-0
ISBN-13: 978-0-275-98163-1
312 pages
Praeger Publishers
Publication: 1/30/2004
List Price: $39.95 (UK Sterling Price: £27.95)
Discount Price: $19.98 Sale Price for U.S. Customers Only. Save 50%. Ends 12/31/2009.
Availability: In Stock
Media Type: Hardcover
Also Available: Ebook
Trim Size: 6 1/8 x 9 1/4
Subjects:
Description: For half a century, television spies have been trained professionals, reluctant heroes, housewives, businessmen, criminals, and comedians. They have by turns been glamorous, campy, reflective, sexy, and aloof. This is the first book-length treatment of one of TV's oldest and most fascinating genres. Britton's comprehensive guide provides readers, from casual viewers to die-hard fans, with behind-the-scenes stories to this notable segment of television entertainment.

From the early 1960s, in which television spies were used essentially as anti-Communist propaganda, through the subsequent years that both built upon and parodied this model, and finally to today's gadget-laden world of murky motives and complex global politics, spy television has served as much more than mere escapism. From the beginning, television spies opened doors for new kinds of heroes. Women quickly took center stage alongside men, and minority leads in spy programs paved the way for other kinds of roles on the small screen. For half a century, television spies have been trained professionals, reluctant heroes, housewives, businessmen, criminals, and comedians. They have by turns been glamorous, campy, reflective, sexy, and aloof. This is the first book-length treatment of one of TV's oldest and most fascinating genres.
Table of Contents:
  • Acknowledgments
    Introduction
    Defining a Genre
    The Roots of a Family Tree
    Bond, Beatles, and Camp: The Men from U.N.C.L.E
    More British than Bond: John Steed, The Avengers, and Feminist Role-Playing
    Cold War Sports and Games: I Spy and Radical Politics
    The Cold War and Existential Fables: Danger Man, Secret Agent, and The Prisoner
    The Page and the Screen: The Saint and Robin Hood Spies
    Interchangeable Parts: Missions: Impossible
    Bond on the Prarie: From The Wild Wild West to the Secret Adventures of Jules Verne
    Tongues in Cheek to Tongues Sticking Out: Get Smart and the Spoofing of a Genre
    Also Rans and New Branches: Network Secret Agents from 1963-1980
    Reagan, Le Carre, Clancy, Cynicism, and Cable: Down to Earth in the 1980s and 1990s
    The Return of Fantasy and the Dark Nights of Spies: The X-Files, La Femme Nikita, and the New Millennium
    Active and Inactive FILES: Alias, 24, The Agency and 21st Century Spies
    Conclusion
    The Past, Present, and Future of TV Espionage: Why Spies?
    Chapter Notes
    References
About the Author: WESLEY BRITTON earned his Ph.D. in American Literature from the University of North Texas. Since then he has taught college-level English in Texas, Oklahoma, and Pennsylvania, and has published poetry, book reviews, scholarly, encyclopedia entries, and newspaper columns in various books and periodicals.
LCC Class: 791
PDF Catalogs:
Praeger Public Library Spring 2008.pdf
Pop Culture Spring 2008.pdf
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