I find myself, yet again, in the rather unexpected position of agreeing with Dotterer - it is no secret that Sheldon Leonard has always disparaged the talents of Mr. Culp, as an actor, in favor of Mr. Cosby and as a writer, in favor of himself - so it makes sense that Mr. Frankel would have adopted a similar attitude. Dotterer literally took the words out of my mouth with regard to Mr. Culp's scripts as compared to all others in the series. I will match "Home to Judgement", "The Warlord", "The Loser" and "Magic Mirror" against any script from any other writer, working in TV at that time. Bob's gift for dialogue, structure, character and dramatic intensity were on par with the talents of Rod Serling and Sam Peckinpah's.
Other than perhaps "A Room with a Rack", I can think of no episode that even comes close to approaching the sophistication of Bob's scripts. And his writing was, by no means a fluke. You have only to look at the scripts he wrote for "Trackdown", the legendary episode "The Swinger" for the show "Cain's Hundred", his two episodes for "Greatest American Hero", to see his gift. Not to mention, I have had the pleasure of reading several of Bob's film scripts throughout the years that have never as of yet been produced.
I think when we recall "I Spy", it is always the relationship that lingers. Of course, it is a rare treat to have a forum such as this, well versed and enthusiastic in all things "I Spy", to keep the show's spirit alive. But even with the amusing, "I Spy Returns", it was all about those two guys, still together, still trudging along still protecting each other, when they're not trying to save the world.
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