History Series / TheManFromUNCLE

* EverybodyLives: "The Project Strigas Affair" is a rare episode where there's not a single punch thrown or shot fired, and where no one gets killed [[spoiler:though Kurosov's fate doesn't look rosy at the end.]]

** '''Illya:''' "To our mission! May we successfully proceed to the vault beneath the gambling casino,where THRUSH keeps its entire treasury for Western Hemisphere operations."
** '''Napoleon:''' "While we decimate THRUSH's ability to carry out their operations by destroying the 55 million dollars in their vault."

** '''Napoleon:''' "While we decimate THRUSH's ability to carry out their operations by destroying the 55 million dollars in their vault.""

** '''Illya:''' "To our mission! May we successfully proceed to the vault beneath the gambling casino,where THRUSH keeps its entire treasury for Western Hemisphere operations."
** '''Napoleon:''' "While we decimate THRUSH's ability to carry out their operations by destroying the 55 million dollars in their vault.""

->'''Napoleon Solo:''' "My name is Napoleon Solo. I'm Enforcement agent in Section 2 here. That's operations and enforcement."''
->'''Illya Kuryakin:''' "I am Illya Kuryakin. I am also an Enforcement agent. Like my friend Napoleon, I go and I do whatever I am told to by our chief."''
->'''Mr. Alexander Waverly:''' "Hmm? Oh, yes. Alexander Waverly. Number 1 in Section 1. In charge of this, our New York headquarters. It's from here that I send these young men on their various missions."''

->'' '''Napoleon Solo:''' "My name is Napoleon Solo. I'm Enforcement agent in Section 2 here. That's operations and enforcement."''
->'''''Illya Kuryakin:''' "I am Illya Kuryakin. I am also an Enforcement agent. Like my friend Napoleon, I go and I do whatever I am told to by our chief."''
->'''''Mr. Alexander Waverly:''' "Hmm? Oh, yes. Alexander Waverly. Number 1 in Section 1. In charge of this, our New York headquarters. It's from here that I send these young men on their various missions."''

->''[=]'''Napoleon Solo:''' "My name is Napoleon Solo. I'm Enforcement agent in Section 2 here. That's operations and enforcement."''

->'''''Napoleon Solo:''' "My name is Napoleon Solo. I'm Enforcement agent in Section 2 here. That's operations and enforcement."''

->''Napoleon Solo: "My name is Napoleon Solo. I'm Enforcement agent in Section 2 here. That's operations and enforcement."''
->''Illya Kuryakin: "I am Illya Kuryakin. I am also an Enforcement agent. Like my friend Napoleon, I go and I do whatever I am told to by our chief."''
->''Mr. Alexander Waverly: "Hmm? Oh, yes. Alexander Waverly. Number 1 in Section 1. In charge of this, our New York headquarters. It's from here that I send these young men on their various missions."''

* SpyFiction: Mostly Martini Flavored.

One of the very first shows to capitalize on the spy craze of the early [[TheSixties 1960s]], the series featured the adventures of two enforcement agents of a multinational law enforcement and intelligence organization: the United Network Command for Law and Enforcement. Their mission: an ongoing struggle against wrongdoers who threaten world security, especially their recurring nemesis, an organization known as THRUSH, which strives for world domination. The series's unique gimmick was that just about every episode involved an "innocent civilian" in the week's plot. Sometimes the civilian was a willing volunteer in U.N.C.L.E.'s machinations against its opponents, but other times the innocent was merely a passerby who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, and thereby found himself or herself involved in the plot (i.e., a HeroicBystander).

Creator/RobertVaughn was billed as the star, cast as the American, Napoleon Solo, U.N.C.L.E.'s top enforcement agent. His sidekick, Russian native Illya Kuryakin, was intended by the producers to be merely an occasionally recurring minor character, but fans became so smitten with [[Creator/DavidMcCallum David [=McCallum=]]]'s portrayal of Kuryakin that he [[EnsembleDarkhorse almost immediately became a series regular]], [[BreakoutCharacter was billed as a co-star early in the first season]], and rose to equal billing with Vaughn by the second season. Completing the regular U.N.C.L.E. contingent was veteran character actor Leo G. Carroll, cast as Alexander Waverly, U.N.C.L.E.'s chief in their New York headquarters.

* SpecialGuest: Especially during its heyday, the show was able to draw a lot of high-powered talent as guest stars. Creator/VincentPrice, Creator/GeorgeSanders, Creator/WilliamShatner and Creator/LeonardNimoy (their first pairing, before ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries''), Barbara Feldon (before she hit it big with ''Series/GetSmart''), Yvonne Craig (before ''Series/{{Batman}}''), Cesar Romero (pre-SelfDemonstrating/TheJoker), Jack Lord, Creator/JoanCollins, Ivan Dixon, Richard Kiel, Julie London, Creator/LeslieNielsen, Creator/JoanBlondell, Janet Leigh, Anne Francis, Senta Berger, Jill Ireland (at the time David [=McCallum=]'s wife), Creator/AngelaLansbury, Creator/KurtRussell, Eleanor Parker (who had the honor of being the series' last villainess), Dorothy Provine, Sonny and Music/{{Cher}} and Nancy Sinatra, among others. Could also be seen as StuntCasting.

* SpecialGuest: Especially during its heyday, the show was able to draw a lot of high-powered talent as guest stars. Creator/VincentPrice, Creator/GeorgeSanders, Creator/WilliamShatner and Creator/LeonardNimoy (their first pairing, before ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries''), Barbara Feldon (before she hit it big with ''Series/GetSmart''), Yvonne Craig (before ''Series/{{Batman}}''), Cesar Romero (pre-SelfDemonstrating/TheJoker), Jack Lord, Creator/JoanCollins, Ivan Dixon, Richard Kiel, Julie London, Creator/LeslieNielsen, Joan Blondell, Janet Leigh, Anne Francis, Senta Berger, Jill Ireland (at the time David [=McCallum=]'s wife), Creator/AngelaLansbury, Creator/KurtRussell, Eleanor Parker (who had the honor of being the series' last villainess), Dorothy Provine, Sonny and Music/{{Cher}} and Nancy Sinatra, among others. Could also be seen as StuntCasting.

* DolledUpInstalment: "The Bridge Of Lions Affair," based on Henry Slesar's novel ''The Bridge Of Lions'' (Slesar got "story by" credit).

* FunWithAcronyms

The [[TheFilmOfTheSeries big-screen adaptation]] was in DevelopmentHell for close to two decades (at one point Creator/QuentinTarantino was interested in the project) but, was eventually released on August 14, 2015, directed by GuyRitchie. ''Film/TheManFromUNCLE2015'' stars Creator/HenryCavill (''Film/ManOfSteel'') as Napoleon Solo and Creator/ArmieHammer (''Film/TheLoneRanger'') as Illya Kuryakin, with Creator/HughGrant as Mr. Waverly.

The [[TheFilmOfTheSeries big-screen adaptation]] was in DevelopmentHell for close to two decades (at one point Creator/QuentinTarantino was interested in the project) but, was eventually released on August 14, 2015, directed by GuyRitchie. ''Film/TheManFromUNCLE2015'' stars Creator/HenryCavill (''Film/ManOfSteel'') as Napoleon Solo and Creator/ArmieHammer (''Film/TheLoneRanger'') as Illya Kuryakin, with Creator/HughGrant as Mr. Waverly, and received a mixed albeit positive reaction (7.9/10 on IMDB, 67% "fresh" on Rotten Tomatoes on the day of release).

* BottleEpisode: "The Waverly Ring Affair". While most episodes are set in exotic locations and have many scenes filmed outdoors, this one takes place entirely in UsefulNotes/NewYorkCity and takes place almost entirely indoors, particularly at U.N.C.L.E. headquarters.

* PrinceAndPauper: In the third season episode "The Galatea Affair", U.N.C.L.E. agent Mark Slate is tasked with teaching working-class Bronx-native bar performer Rosie Shlagenheimer to pass for THRUSH minion Baroness Bibi De Chasseur (both roles played by Joan Collins).

* SpecialGuest: Especially during its heyday, the show was able to draw a lot of high-powered talent as guest stars. Creator/VincentPrice, Creator/GeorgeSanders, Creator/WilliamShatner and Creator/LeonardNimoy (their first pairing), Barbara Feldon (before she hit it big with ''Series/GetSmart''), Yvonne Craig (before ''Series/{{Batman}}''), Cesar Romero (pre-SelfDemonstrating/TheJoker), Jack Lord, Creator/JoanCollins, Ivan Dixon, Richard Kiel, Julie London, Creator/LeslieNielsen, Joan Blondell, Janet Leigh, Anne Francis, Senta Berger, Jill Ireland (at the time David [=McCallum=]'s wife), Angela Lansbury, Kurt Russell, Eleanor Parker (who had the honor of being the series' last villainess), Dorothy Provine, Sonny and Music/{{Cher}} and Nancy Sinatra, among others. Could also be seen as StuntCasting.

* StockFootage: In one truly egregious example, the show had one favorite clip of a large UsefulNotes/WorldWarII era bomber, possibly being used after the war as a target drone, being hit by an antiaircraft missile. Whenever the series required an aircraft to be shot down--whether it be a single engined private plane, a multiengined jet aircraft, or a helicopter, whether it was shot down by a lucky rifle shot, antiaircraft artillery, or a missile--they would [[StockFootageFailure splice in this clip]] for the inevitable "airplane explodes in midair" scene.

* StrangeBedfellows: U.N.C.L.E. having agents from both the West and the Soviet Bloc working together against common threats; also in the ExpandedUniverse U.N.C.L.E. novel ''The Dagger Affair'' by David [=McDaniel=], which [[spoiler:had U.N.C.L.E and THRUSH uniting against a common threat]].

* SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute: In ''[[ReunionShow The Return Of The Man From U.N.C.L.E.: The Fifteen Years Later Affair]]'' Solo and Kuryakin answer to another dignified English gentleman in the form of Sir John Raleigh (Patrick Macnee), due to Leo G. Carroll having passed away in 1972.

* StockFootage: In one truly egregious example, the show had one favorite clip of a large UsefulNotes/WorldWarII era bomber, possibly being used after the war as a target drone, being hit by an antiaircraft missile. Whenever the series required an aircraft to be shot down--whether it be a single engined private plane, a multiengined jet aircraft, or a helicopter, whether it was shot down by a lucky rifle shot, antiaircraft artillery, or a missile--they would splice in this clip for the inevitable "airplane explodes in midair" scene.

The [[TheFilmOfTheSeries big-screen adaptation]] was in DevelopmentHell for close to two decades (at one point Creator/QuentinTarantino was interested in the project) but, was eventually released on August 14, 2015, directed by GuyRitchie. ''Film/TheManFromUNCLE2015'' stars Creator/HenryCavill (''Film/ManOfSteel'') as Napoleon Solo and Armie Hammer (''Film/TheLoneRanger'') as Illya Kuryakin, with Creator/HughGrant as Mr. Waverly, and received a mixed albeit positive reaction (7.9/10 on IMDB, 67% "fresh" on Rotten Tomatoes on the day of release).

* DirtyCommunists: subversion, in that U.N.C.L.E. had agents from both the West and Soviet Bloc working together against common threats.

* IdiosyncraticEpisodeNaming: Every episode was explicitly titled "The __________ Affair"; additionally every individual ''act'' within the episode was subtitled, usually by a brief quote from dialogue within that act (exception: Season Four, when the producer, director, and writer credits replaced the first act subtitle).