Buy "Danny Was A Million Laughs" and all the other episodes from
I Spy Season 1
|
Comments from The I Spy Forum continued
Aunt Helen, as Mr. Hackaby has pointed out, was a bit of a hackneyed characterization. The idea is supposed to be amusing that a "little old lady" is a government spy who drinks straight bourbon and wear a gun in her bra and then whacks the offensive gangster over the head with her purse and landing in jail at the end. The scene with Aunt Helen in the hotel room is the most amusing, but really the whole characterization is a little trite.
I think one of the best parts of the episodes is the first scene in the jail cell, Kelly and Scotty are in the cell, and Scotty apologizes to Kelly, but says that he just couldn't help it, when he sees people being pushed around, he has to do something about it. I think scene is important in developing the Scotty character, and we see this trait for the rest of series.
Another good scene is when Kelly is looking for paper to write his resignation, and he Scotty have a mildly heated interchange.
Kelly: You used all that paper?
Scotty: Yes, I wrote a letter to my mom?
Kelly: With ALL that paper?
Scotty: Yes, ALL that paper!
Even the best of friends can occasionally wear on one anothers nerves and this scene gives an added touch of reality to the friendship between Kell and Scott.
The scene in the childrens hospital gace Cosby another chance to show how well he interacts with children. In fact the show went to great lengths at times to establish that both Kelly and Scotty had a fondness for kids. First, this gives a great touch of humanity to each character, but second, it can be at the same time a not-so-subtle "Americans are all good guys who like children and dogs and old ladies" kind of a message.
|
Again there was incredible use of the scenery of Hong Kong, that hotel they stay in was used to its best potential, and I liked seeing the Cathay Pacific airlines sign as Kelly was chasing the bomb-planter around the corner. With all the news about he striking pilots of Cathy Pacific today, that sign kind of reassures me that while much has changed in the world since 1965, there is still continuity.
"“don't you dare ….. think …. Your poor little brain wasn't made for that sort of thing.”
|
|
 |
 |
SAM and Tatia have already mentioned the scenes where Kelly tries to talk Nancy out of working for Danny and also the scene where Danny calls Scotty "Boy". I won`t elaborate on what Sam and Tatia said, just I agree with them that these were good scenes.
“there is no writing paper, so let's go to work.”
|
|
 |
 |
The final plot devices were a little weak. The guide Kim`s slip up by mentioning the bread-bomb, the easy time they had changing Kim`s loyalties in the jail cell scene, and the entire scene in Nancy`s apartment were all a little flat and a little too by the numbers.
“stand someplace with your hands to your sides until I snap my fingers.”
|
|
 |
 |
And I did notice how quickly the final credits went, perhaps the episode was a wee bit overlong, so they made up for it by speeding up the end credits instead of editing a scene?
Over all, Danny Was A Million Laughs is a decent story with good overall acting and excellent use of scenery. A great improvement over Chrysanthemum, but not up to a lot of other episodes. Let's say a B- episode
I think this episode is very authenti
.
|
I Spy Episodes
A - B
C - D
E - K
L - M
N - R
S - Z
|