Jean G

The Human Factor - S3-E16

Trivia: The car blown up in the alley was Geraint Wyn Davies' own, an old one he wanted very much to get rid of. So when given the chance to direct this episode, he decided to give the car a fiery TV send-off. (00:32:00)

Jean G

The Human Factor - S3-E16

Trivia: Patrick is played by series star Geraint Wyn Davies' son, Galen Wyn Davies.

Jean G

Blood Money - S2-E17

Trivia: Series soundtrack composer Fred Mollin appears behind Nick and Janette in a nightclub scene here, but didn't know he'd been set up for a practical joke when a sparsely clad female extra began passionately kissing him. The kiss became so personal, in fact, that it had to be removed from the final cut. Fred & friend are still in the scene, albeit sans kiss. (00:16:15)

Jean G

Plato's Stepchildren - S3-E10

Trivia: TV's first interracial kiss occurs here. But close examination reveals that Kirk's and Uhura's lips never actually meet. For fear of censorship, the kiss was simulated, so that complaints could be answered with "They only pretended to kiss." Despite this "out," however, the episode was still banned by several stations across the US. (00:42:40)

Jean G

Queen of Harps - S2-E19

Trivia: As Nick and Schanke are leaving the station, Nick turns back to give a handcuffed suspect being wrestled in the door by a cop a "where have I seen that guy before?" look. This was an in-joke: the collared criminal was series star Geraint Wyn Davies' brother. (00:19:40)

Jean G

Trivia: Richard Matheson wrote this film's script based upon his novel, "Bid Time Return." The book was set in 1896 at the Hotel Del Coronado in San Diego CA. But because the "Del" couldn't close to accommodate filming, the movie was updated to 1912 and shot at Mackinac Island's Grand Hotel, which is regularly closed to guests for a few months every year.

Jean G

The Project Strigas Affair - S1-E9

Trivia: This episode, shot in 1964, featured guest stars William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy. It marked the first time the future Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock ever appeared on screen together.

Jean G

The Giuoco Piano Affair - S1-E7

Trivia: Four of the guests at Marion's party are played by U.N.C.L.E. production staff in cameo roles. Creator-producer Norman Felton is the man playing chess, producer Sam Rolfe is the dancing Texan, associate producer/writer Joseph Calvelli is the writer typing at the coffee table, and director Richard Donner is the drunk in the extremely loud sport coat.

Jean G

Trivia: A perennial Star Trek extra, the tall blond Eddie Paskey played a red-shirted crewman standing in the background in virtually every Trek episode for all 3 seasons. He rarely had any lines, and was even killed off in "Obsession," but was back on duty anyhow in the following episodes and for the rest of the series.

Jean G

Curiouser & Curiouser - S2-E22

Trivia: All the sets in the dream sequence, particularly Nick's loft, are filled with props referencing Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland books. They include white rabbits, flamingos, walruses, a squeaky-toy caterpillar - even a half-eaten piece of cake in Nick's fridge. The episode also has several background extras in Wonderland-style costumes, and numerous other references to the books, such as Nick literally falling through the looking glass at the end.

Jean G

I Will Repay - S1-E10

Trivia: The piano piece Nick plays in this episode was composed and performed by Geraint Wyn Davies. He wrote it for his children, as an elegy to a pet bird that had died. (00:09:40)

Jean G

Mr. Monk and the T.V. Star - S2-E12

Trivia: Marcy, the obsessed fan of Brad's crime show, complains bitterly about his series changing its theme song. This was written as a little joke on Monk's real life fans, many of whom protested the show's 2nd season musical change from Jeff Beal's instrumental to Randy Newman's vocal theme. Newman's vocals opened this episode as usual, but after Marcy repeats her "don't change the theme song" mantra at the end, Beal's theme was brought back to play over the closing credits. It's been used at the end a number of times since.

Jean G

Trivia: U.N.C.L.E. stood for the United Network Command for Law & Enforcement. The original intent was that the U.N. portion of its name should stand for United Nations, until it was learned that the real U.N. doesn't permit its name to be used as part of any commercial enterprise. So the more nebulous term "Network" was used instead.

Jean G

Trivia: Though U.N.C.L.E. was entirely fictive, thousands of fans wrote NBC and MGM in the 60s begging to join up. Might have had something to do with the bogus disclaimer at the end of every episode: "We wish to thank the United Network Command for Law and Enforcement, without whose assistance this program would not be possible." So many requests came in that MGM printed U.N.C.L.E. membership cards and sent them to the letter writers.

Jean G

Trivia: Thrush, U.N.C.L.E.'s nemesis organization, was an international bad-guy conglomerate with the single-minded goal of taking over the world. Though "Thrush" was never an acronym on the show itself, U.N.C.L.E. novelist David McDaniel assigned it a meaning that became fan canon: he called it the Technological Hierarchy for the Removal of Undesirables and the Subjugation of Humanity. That pretty much described Thrush's nefarious ambitions to a T.

Jean G

Trivia: U.N.C.L.E. had cell phones 30 years before they were invented in the real world. Even before Star Trek, U.N.C.L.E. had "communicators" that utilized the brand new technology of the recently launched TelStar communications satellite. The communicators were first disguised as cigarette packs and cases, but later became spiffy pocket pens that morphed into satellite radios when the cap was upended. U.N.C.L.E.'s spies then "phoned home" with the request to "Open Channel D."

Jean G

Trivia: "The Man From U.N.C.L.E.'s" original working title was "Solo," and its lead character was named for a spy with a minor role in one of Ian Fleming's early Bond novels. U.N.C.L.E. producer Norman Felton had a handshake agreement with Fleming to use the name and to develop "Solo" as a TV spy series. But the Bond film franchise had other ideas, reneged on the agreement on Fleming's behalf, and sued, forcing the title change. Felton prevailed only in retaining the character's name: Napoleon Solo.

Jean G

Mr. Monk Goes to Mexico - S2-E2

Trivia: According to co-producer Tom Scharpling, the Mexican homicide cops are purposely written as parodies of Stottlemeyer and Disher, right down to their attitudes, their ranks, their suits, and Captain Alameda's mustache. Even the bumbling lieutenant's name is a little joke on Disher. Plato means "dish" in Spanish.

Jean G

Trivia: Before the series went on the air, Gene Roddenberry expressed concerns about the sound effects in Star Trek's intro. He wondered if the "swish" effect of the passing ship should be removed, since there's no sound in space. Desilu Studios polled preview audiences about it; the majority said they liked the effect because it conveyed great speed, and that the scientific inaccuracy didn't bother them. So the "swish" was allowed to remain.

Jean G

Miri - S1-E9

Trivia: Many of the "onlies" in the final scenes of this episode were the children of Star Trek's cast and crew. They included William Shatner's two young daughters, Leslie and Lisabeth Shatner. (00:43:40)

Jean G