 The Avengers '67 – Set 2 (1998) Like the first '67 box, this one contains 6 episodes from the first season in color, featuring Diana Rigg as Emma Peel and Patrick MacNee as John Steed. The show's entire run (I believe) is now available on VHS and DVD, with the '63-'68 seasons represented in handsomely packaged editions ('66 and '67 are the ones featuring superfox Diana Rigg). A&E has done a fantastic job with these, and it's cool for people like me who had long heard of the show but had never seen it to have access and see what the fuss is all about. Having watched a whole bunch of episodes, I can see why the show enjoys a devoted cult audience but not mainstream classic status a la "Gunsmoke" or whatever. The show is just dated enough that a lot of people will immediately be turned off, just stagey enough that youngsters weaned on MTV will lose patience with it, and just campy enough that older folks spoiled on "Murder She Wrote" will not get it. I find the show utterly enjoyable and only a tad bit boring in parts, but I haven't been disappointed with an episode yet, no matter how silly or bizarre they get. The episodes on the second box are: "The Living Dead" (involving a separatist group plotting world domination from their underground city); "The Hidden Tiger" (involving, yes, an invisible tiger – or is it?); "The Correct Way to Kill" (satirical look at manners and etiquette involving extremely proper group of killers); "Never, Never Say Die" (mad scientist creates robotic clones); "Epic" (Emma Peel gets trapped by insane filmmakers trying to make a masterpiece that will involve her death on camera); and "The Superlative Seven" (hilarious and dark parody of The Magnificent Seven that also features a young Donald Sutherland). "Epic" is awesome, very dark and over-the-top but lots of fun and even a bit suspenseful. "The Correct Way to Kill" has Steed and Emma pair off with Russian partners to foil a common enemy, making for some fresh awkward humor. Lots of great dialogue and increasingly improbable episode intros (in which Steed finds weirder and weirder ways to deliver his standard "Mrs. Peel, we're needed" message) make the episodes fun to rewatch, too, since there's much to enjoy with repeat viewings. I've talked to people who think the show hasn't held up well, and that it's very much of its era. Perhaps, but I can think of few 60s shows that are even remotely fun to watch nowadays (don't get me started on the goddamn "Flintstones"), and "The Avengers" is way, way at the top of the list. At like $35 a box, it's damn expensive to collect the series, but it's better than spending money on drugs, or food.
Review by David Pea |