The British ones from the Swinging '60s,with John Steed and Emma Peel,and Cathy Gale,and many others.The ones that actually predate those Marvel upstarts.Apparently there are plans to revive them yet again.

https://comicbook.com/tv-shows/news/the ... es-reboot/

Wish 'em luck,but I'm not very hopeful.Some things are of their time and should perhaps be left there.
Anyway,it's an excuse for a thread about the show.

That movie they did in the 90s was bad.

Another wasted opportunity.

The first 15 minutes are all that remain of the first episode of the show.Here they are,with a recreation of the remainder of the story.



Most of the first season of The Avengers (consisting of 26 episodes) is missing. This explains why.
(since this was made,another episode was found,so now there are 3 complete episodes extant)

Huge fan of this series.

Yep, but I know little of the series before Emma and Tara.

The early seasons are great,but,being that they were shot on video tape,they can seem awkward compared to the later filmed seasons.They didn't bother with too many retakes,so there are lots of fluffed lines and technical problems that were left in the tapings. The writing is often first rate;several of the Cathy Gale stories were remade for the Emma Peel era,as the producers figured that the Americans hadn't seen them and they were too good to waste in any event.
It was Cathy Gale's debut where the show really started to take shape.



Next to her,Emma Peel is but a carbon copy.
The season 2 opener (and her first story),"Mr. Teddy Bear",is arguably the first truly Avengers-style story,not only for Mrs. Gale,but for the kind of eccentric villain that would show up throughout the show's run.

I saw they had S. E. 15, "The Frighteners" on Youtube, so I finally got to see it. Pretty good, I thought.

This is a short promo for the American networks;also Steed and Peel in color for the first time.



If this show ever does get revived,what will they call it? They have first claim to "The Avengers",but those quick to litigate Disney lawyers may well slap a cease and desist on them. A recent comic book series sidestepped the matter by titling their series "Steed and Mrs. Peel".
Disney...

Yeah, when Gold Key did their comic version in 1968, they called it John Steed / Emma Peel.
I can't post the cover of my copy since IMGUR updated their site and won't let me upload anymore.
Probably need a newer system. Asshats.

Here it is.

Thanks. I just got IMGUR to work on a newer browser, but they've made it more needlessly complex to get to an IMG link.
I maintain that they are asshats.

Honor Blackman and Patrick Macnee recorded the song "Kinky Boots" in 1964.It tanked then,but on re-release in 1990 it placed in the Top 10.



The B-side,"Let's Keep It Friendly"

Then there's the other other Avengers...

The Cybernauts---killer robots sporting trenchcoats and sunglasses,equipped with a killer karate chop and a memorable THWACK! sound. The only recurring foes this show had,they appeared twice and once in the '70s revival.

Yes it is,bloopers and all.



"Girl On the Trapeze" is the earliest complete episode extant. Surprisingly,John Steed doesn't appear at all.

A feature on the '70s revival.



One of the better episodes of that revival.

The American broadcasts of the show used to open with this short intro.It's remarkable that the premise of the show can be summarized so simply.



Probably the most famous episode was the Hellfire Club one. Here's Emma Peel as the "Queen of Sin".
(we Americans didn't even air this one at the time.)





It's also famous as the inspiration for the X-Men villains who helped instigate the Dark Phoenix Saga,the most famous storyline for those superheroes.
Early in The Avengers run,The Man From U.N.C.L.E. started airing in Britain.That show's slightly tongue in cheek approach helped to turn the initially straightlaced Avengers towards the pop surrealism it's remembered for.Inspiration can also be good or bad;halfway thru U.N.C.L.E.'s run,Batman '66 hit the airwaves.Thinking their fans would also be in the camp for some camp,the UNCLE show sent from slightly tongue in cheek to all out camp.Turned out their fans didn't want camp;the ratings plunged.Even a hard about in tone didn't reverse the slide and UNCLE was cancelled halfway thru its final season (same as Batman).
Inspiration's a bitch.

The Bat-Camp craze even carried over to this show.This one,"The Winged Avenger",involves comic strips and superheroes.The artwork for the strip was done by Frank Bellamy,of Dan Dare fame.



Like anything else,one can carry something too far. Witness "Epic",the worst episode of the entire series,the '70s version as well as the 60's.It makes the movie look good---it's that bad.

In the early '70s,the TV episodes were adapted for radio in South Africa.Steed and Mrs. Peel appear in every episode,voiced by different actors.These are all the surviving shows;it runs for 11 and a half hours,so settle in.