Television Genres

Before Bond, before Maxwell Smart and Mrs. Emma Peel, we''ve enjoyed a wide variety of TV Spies. From 1951''s Dangerous Assignment to today''s Burn Notice, we have watched cloak-and-dagger adventures from popular successes like Alias and Mission: Impossible to thoughtful mini-series like The Sandbaggers to cartoons and even live animals in shows like Lancelot Link, Secret Chimp. Our TV secret agents have worn masks and capes (Adventures of Zorro), fought in the historical past (Hogan's Heroes, Jack of All Trades), been as stylish as Napoleon Solo in The Man From U.N.C.L.E., or have been as frumpy as George Smiley in Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. ...

For half a century, television spies have been trained professionals, reluctant heroes, housewives, businessmen, criminals, and comedians. They have by turns been glamorous, campy, reflective, sexy, and aloof. This is the first book-length treatment of one of TV's oldest and most fascinating genres. Britton's comprehensive guide provides readers, from casual viewers to die-hard fans, with behind-the-scenes stories to this notable segment of television entertainment. From the early 1960s, in which television spies were used essentially as anti-Communist propaganda, through the subsequent years that both built upon and parodied this model, and finally to today's gadget-laden world of murky motives and complex global politics, spy television has served as much more than mere escapism. ...

In Citizen Spy, Michael Kackman investigates how media depictions of the slick, smart, and resolute spy have been embedded in the American imagination. Looking at secret agents on television and the relationships among networks, producers, government bureaus, and the viewing public in the 1950s and 1960s, Kackman explores how Americans see themselves in times of political and cultural crisis.  ...

Spyscreen is a genre study of English-language spy fiction film and television between the 1930s and 1960s. Taking as his focus many well-known films and television series, Toby Miller uses a wide range of critical approaches - from textual interpretation, audience studies, and cultural history, through auteurism, imperial history, class, and governmentality, to genre, cultural imperialism, and gender. ...

What's your impression of the CIA? A bumbling agency that can't protect its own spies? A rogue organization prone to covert operations and assassinations? Or a dedicated public service that advances the interests of the United States? Astute TV and movie viewers may have noticed that the CIA's image in popular media has spanned this entire range, with a decided shift to more positive portrayals in recent years. But what very few people know is that the Central Intelligence Agency has been actively engaged in shaping the content of film and television, especially since it established an entertainment industry liaison program in the mid-1990s. The CIA in Hollywood offers the first full-scale investigation of the relationship between the Agency and the film and television industries. ...

Use this index to find articles about this TV genre.

The online version of 3 separate ISI indexes: Arts & Humanities Citation Index, Science Citation Index and, Social Sciences Citation Index.

Secret agent and saboteur Aeon Flux engages in an unending battle to stop the evil schemes of her nemesis/lover Trevor Goodchild.

The story of Sydney Bristow, an international spy recruited out of college and trained for espionage and self-defense.

Phillip and Elizabeth Jennings seem to be a typical suburban couple, but they're actually lethal KGB agents plotting to bring down America. As the Cold War escalates, Philip and Elizabeth must take extreme measures to continue their mission to keep their true identities hidden.

Never broadcast in the U.S., this rare first season of Secret Agent is available to American audiences for the first time ever. Includes all 39 episodes.

Carrie Mathison, a brilliant but volatile CIA agent, suspects that a rescued American POW may not be what he seems. Is Marine Sgt. Nicholas Brody a war hero or an Al Qaeda sleeper agent plotting a spectacular terrorist attack on U.S. soil? Following her instincts, Mathison will risk everything to uncover the truth - her reputation, her career, and even her sanity.

The bespectacled spymaster is once more called from retirement to come to the aid of the 'Circus'--and he returns with a vengeance. The murder of an emigre Soviet General who was also a British agent, sends him digging into the past on a twisted trail across Europe that moves, inexorably, towards a final showdown with his old adversary, Karla of Moscow Centre.

Agent Carter, takes viewers on the journey Agent Peggy Carter of Captain America fame. After the war, Peggy finds herself begrudgingly doing administrative work for the Strategic Science Reserve while coping with the loss of her love, Steve Rogers. Peggy's life takes an unexpected turn when she is contacted by Howard Stark and given a mission to find those who accused Stark of releasing weapons of mass destruction. With the help of Stark's butler, Jarvis, Peggy must secretly find and destroy the lost weapons to clear the Stark name, all while putting her own life and freedom on the line.

Following the globe-trotting exploits of a team of government spies--leader Jim Phelps, electronics wiz Barney Collier, muscle man Willy Armitage, plus a new team member, the master magician Paris--the series distinguished itself with its high-tech gadgetry, intricate plotting, inventive storylines, and pulsating music.

Jonathan Pine is working as the night manager of a Cairo hotel. He gets involved with a local woman who is the girlfriend of a local gangster. Through her relationship with the gangster she has acquired information linking illegal international arms sales with an English billionaire.