Bill Cosby, "I Spy," the Cold War and what followed

Bill Cosby, Robert Culp

We might forget how TV in the 1960s was such a bonding tool for our culture. Retrospectives of today refer to the "Big 3" TV networks. Younger people get this as a historical lesson. But without having experienced life with such a shared entertainment diet, for sure it's hard fully understanding. 

It's hard to look back in many ways, of course, like to a society in which not only was smoking cigarettes accepted, it was a symbol of "maturity," of being suave and that sort of thing. Think of the Jerry Lewis "cool" character that alternated with his other persona, the weird "professor." 

People in the "Big 3" network days would gather around the proverbial water cooler and share about the current shows. With such a drastically limited choice compared to today, there was commonality with their consumption. One cannot even compare 1960s television to today. 

Bad or good? Some features of each, probably. The actors faced a "bad or good?" question too, "good" being a nationally-known practitioner of your profession - what could be better? - "bad" being that you entered a fishbowl where you'd stay a long time, maybe for life. Would anyone really wish to sacrifice their privacy that way? For child actors the experience could become a time bomb as they subsequently struggled to be normal people. Maybe that's the problem: they were "people" with human failings like the rest of us, only they get in a fishbowl. 

How many of us would really desire "celebrity?" I assure you, nothing conferred "celebrity" like the TV shows of the 1960s. 

Which brings me to the subject of Bill Cosby. Cosby vaulted to the kind of stardom of which I speak in 1965. He got the nod for a co-lead part, with Robert Culp, for the NBC show "I Spy." Just as westerns had an incredible run in movies and TV, so too did the spy theme grow and proliferate. "I Spy" was right in line with the faddish story lines of "us vs. them," "them" often being the Russians. We were all "sold" on the cold war. 

General Patton predicted we would end up fighting the Russians. The Russians were the colossal boogeyman but we never fought them the way we fought the Axis powers. We only pretended we did, and by that I mean we "fought" the Vietnam war but hardly in a no-holds-barred way. The Russians or the communists ended up as a mysterious enemy, never out in the open in a clear field of fire. We were sold on how those elements were such an awful threat. Then we sort of tip-toed our way through Vietnam at least by comparison to WWII. And of course the toll for America over those several years was horrible, almost unimaginable. 

"Rambo" the character was asked if he could still love America after all the subterfuge. A rational answer would be something less than yes, if you viewed as unforgivable the cannon fodder of U.S. men, but Rambo said (as I recall) "love it? I'd give my life for it." 

Would Hollywood have any choice other than this message? Actually the movies of the 1970s really did get pretty raw and direct with the more negative side. Ultimately us Americans get talked into the patriotic angle - we get emotional distance from all the tragedy, and once again all the American Legion commanders with their funny hats and pot bellies give speeches from podiums of public schools on Memorial Day. Life goes on as scripted. 

It is strange, however, that we had a U.S. president from 2016 to 2020 who came right out and said that our servicemen, even the deceased, are "losers and suckers." Just as strange is the affinity this president had with the Russian autocratic leader. It's mind-blowing or ought to be for people my age - I'm 66 - who grew up watching the spy shows like "I Spy." 

 

A panoply of shows

Oh my, we watched "The Man From U.N.C.L.E.," the Beatles movie "Help," James Bond movies and Alfred Hitchcock's "North By Northwest." Secret agents seeking to deceive. Sometimes I feel like shifting in my chair just seeing all those guys wearing suits and ties, even through physical altercations. Everyone: suits and ties. That bother you too? And for sure many of them smoked. 

"I Spy" ran for three seasons. Culp played "Kelly Robinson" and Cosby was "Alexander 'Scotty' Scott." The pair traveled undercover as "tennis bums." They went after spies and villains and also crossed paths with "beautiful women" according to standards of the time, with a little misogyny. Women as objects? Like on the Dean Martin variety TV show? Seems as dated as smoking now. 

Might Cosby have been influenced to objectify women? He parlayed his success as "Scotty" into other hugely successful TV endeavors, obviously. He was the epitome of celebrity. Such people including Bob Crane of "Hogan's Heroes" succumbed to dark impulses. Crane according to historical accounts found that women sought sexual intimacy with him because of his celebrity. The impulses could become self-destructive, even fatal as with Crane. 

 

Not complicated

Cosby, despite his incredible fame and success, and in spite of the talent that got him there, simply caved to the most base of human impulses. Don't we all want sex? Put in a raw way, it can be there for the taking for mega celebrities. Women allowed themselves to be in private with Cosby in a manner that should have shouted "caution" to them. So I'm blaming them? Oh, knock that off. 

We are human beings with failings, we make mistakes, we respond to our sexual inclinations in ways that we need to recognize are reckless. I won't say "immoral." It can turn criminal. In Cosby's case, the scenario finally went that direction or was judged that way. Yes, after much time had elapsed. 

I have never been a fan of putting very elderly people in prison. Even former Nazis who finally get judged in their 90s - I often think it just isn't worth the trouble. Let these people go. They are battling the effects of age anyway. 

 

Personal memory of Cosby

I had the pleasure of seeing Cosby perform in Las Vegas in the 1980s, at the Riviera. He was at his best. Never could I have thought that I in the audience was the lucky one and Cosby was the star-crossed one. What Cosby did to end up in prison was terrible. Then again, I'd like to see him perform again. His talent was God's gift. God's gifts should always be utilized. 

Let's remember: "I Spy" was the first American TV drama to feature a black actor in a lead role. But the show was never race-conscious, quite to the contrary. Culp said at the time "our statement is a non-statement" regarding race. So I guess racism wasn't the enemy on the show, it was the Russians or other shady actors around the globe. 

Just today I watched the "I Spy" opening on YouTube and it was like not a single day had passed. Isn't that amazing? Would like to share about that at the "water cooler."

- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com