Secret Agent Man (TV series)

Secret Agent Man
GenreSpy-fi
Created by
Directed by
Starring
Opening theme"Secret Agent Man" performed by Johnny Rivers
ComposerDavid Bergeaud
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes12
Production
Executive producers
ProducerFlody Suarez
Production locationsVancouver, British Columbia, Canada
CinematographyGreg Gardiner
Editors
  • Joanne D'Antonio
  • Lynn Leonhard
  • James R. Symons
Running time60 minutes
Production companies
Original release
NetworkUPN
Release7 March (2000-03-07) –
28 July 2000 (2000-07-28)

Secret Agent Man is an American spy-fi television series that aired on UPN from 7 March to 28 July 2000. The series was created by writer Richard Regen.

Premise

[edit]

Secret Agent Man starred Costas Mandylor as Monk, a gallivanting secret agent, who was one of a team of agents that included Holliday, played by Dina Meyer and Davis, played by Dondre Whitfield. The team reported to Brubeck, played by Paul Guilfoyle. The periodically appearing guest villain is the former agent Prima, played by Musetta Vander.

All the lead characters share the last names of jazz musicians Thelonious Monk, Billie Holiday, Miles Davis, Dave Brubeck and Louis Prima.

Cast

[edit]

Main

[edit]

Notable guest stars

[edit]

Production

[edit]

Secret Agent Man was originally scheduled to premiere on UPN in September 1999, but was pushed back to a midseason premiere in August 2000 due to the desire to give the show's producers more time to work on props and special effects. It also did not have a traditional one-hour pilot filmed, and was instead ordered to series by UPN on the strength of just a presentation reel.[1] Only 12 episodes were produced and broadcast before the series was cancelled due to poor ratings.

Theme song

[edit]

The series used an updated version of the 1960s hit, “Secret Agent Man”, performed by Supreme Beings of Leisure, for its theme song. Because the Johnny Rivers version of this song was used as the theme song for American broadcasts of another television series, the 1960s British TV series, Danger Man (primarily broadcast in the U.S. as Secret Agent), there were some mistaken impressions that this series was somehow a spin off or remake of the earlier program, but other than the theme song, no connections were made evident.

Episodes

[edit]
No.TitleDirected byWritten byOriginal air dateProd.
code [2]
1"From Prima with Love"Perry LangStory by : Alan Eisenstock & Larry Mintz
Teleplay by : Chris Dickie
March 7, 2000 (2000-03-07)107
2"Back to School"Jefery LevyRick CoppMarch 14, 2000 (2000-03-14)105
3"WhupSumAss"Greg BeemanSandy FrankMarch 21, 2000 (2000-03-21)108
4"Like Father, Like Monk"Paul AbascalAdam SigelMarch 28, 2000 (2000-03-28)111
5"Supernaked"Jefery LevyJoel FieldsApril 4, 2000 (2000-04-04)102
6"The Elders"Craig ZiskElizabeth M. CosinMay 26, 2000 (2000-05-26)112
7"The Face"Sarah Pia AndersonGreg PlagemanJune 2, 2000 (2000-06-02)104
8"Sleepers"Deran SerafianChris DickieJune 9, 2000 (2000-06-09)103
9"Uncle S.A.M."Andy WolkPaul RedfordJuly 7, 2000 (2000-07-07)109
10"Fail-Safe"Bo WelchChris DickieJuly 14, 2000 (2000-07-14)110
11"TKO Henry"Stuart GillardMichael DugganJuly 21, 2000 (2000-07-21)101
12"Breach"James QuinnJoel Fields & Brent V. FriedmanJuly 28, 2000 (2000-07-28)106

Reception

[edit]

On Rotten Tomatoes, the series has an aggregated score of 0% based on 10 critic reviews. The website’s consensus reads: "With stilted acting and genre cliches galore, Secret Agent Man is one spy show that should be disavowed by viewers at all costs."[3]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Cynthia Littleton (6 August 1999). "UPN's silver lining". Variety. Retrieved 7 August 2016.
  2. ^ From the United States Copyright Office catalog: "Public Catalog - Copyright Catalog (1978 to present) - Basic Search [search: "Secret Agent Man"]". United States Copyright Office. Retrieved 7 August 2016.
  3. ^ "Secret Agent Man - Rotten Tomatoes". www.rottentomatoes.com. Retrieved 6 November 2023.
[edit]