My Favorite U.N.C.L.E. is Headed to the Big Screen at Last – Brian’s Blog [VIDEO]

In the mid 1960s the James Bond craze spawned a plethora of imitators in the movies and on TV. To me, there were no two cooler spies on television than Napoleon Solo and Ilya Iuriyakin, the men from U.N.C.L.E. And finally after 50 years, they're headed to the big screen.A few months ago, I discovered a channel called MeTV, Memorable Entertainment Television, buried in my cable lineup. The channel carries classic shows from the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s like "The Big Valley", "Star Trek the Original Series", "Mission Impossible" and more.

One one Sunday night, I ran across an entry in the schedule that immediately made me sit up and take notice. It was a show that I hadn't seen in nearly 50 years, but had loved as a kid.

The "Man From U.N.C.L.E."

The show was about two operatives working for the United Network Command for Law Enforcement, Napolean Solo and Ilya Kuriyakin. Solo, an American, was played by Robert Vaughn, while the Russian Kuriyakin was played by British actor David McCallum. Each week, the pair would battle an evil organization called T.H.R.U.S.H. in its nefarious schemes.

For a nine-year-old boy, it was the coolest show ever. Great gadgets, clothes, McCallum had a Beatles haircut,  and a different predicament every week. I loved it

I just found out that British director Guy Ritchie is bringing the show to the big screen this summer. Henry Cavill (Superman) is playing Solo, while Armie Hammer (The Lone Ranger) takes on the role of Kuriyakin. The movie is set in its original time period, 1963, and from the look of the trailer promises to stay true to the TV series.

It's was also fun to tell my kids that McCallum, who played Ilya Kuriyakin half a century ago, now plays Dr. Donald "Ducky" Mallard on one of their favorite shows, "N.C.I.S."