3x10 The Off-Broadway Affair

I'm rewatching every episode of the Man from UNCLE series from start to finish. In The Off-Broadway Affair, UNCLE must learn the meaning of a mysterious phone call from an off-broadway theatre warning them that their entire organisation is at risk. This review contains lots of spoilers.

This episode uniquely begins with a touch of sexual violence (fictional even in-world, but jarring nevertheless) followed by a musical number. It's not real, it's a musical being performed to a nonplussed audience in a little theatre somewhere in New York City. This is the kind of "modern theatre" that Danny Kaye in White Christmas makes fun of people for making fun of. Black leotards, sparse sets, self-serious, critical of something-but-you're-not-sure-what. The production tanks.

During the show, however, an actress phones UNCLE and delivers a mysterious warning. A stagehand catches her in the act and insists that she keep her mind on the show. When UNCLE decides to investigate, Napoleon Solo takes a nonchalant approach and attempts buy a ticket to the show, only to find that every showing for the next month is sold out. Pretty impressive for an off-Broadway production that was universally panned.

Obviously the actress who had phoned UNCLE turns up dead, but Solo manages to befriend her understudy, Janet Jerrod (played by Shari Lewis). With Janet's help, Napoleon and Illya infiltrate the theatre troupe. Solo is posing as a talent scout, and Illya poses as a plumber and then, because there are apparently literally only 2 UNCLE agents, also as an actor.

I can only assume that getting Illya to do beat poetry was a direct response to his excellent performance in The Pop Art Affair. It seems impossible these days that within just 4 episodes the producers of a show could pivot into something that fans enjoyed, but this was truly the good old days of TV production. They were shooting and releasing within weeks. Illya's number in this episode, however, is uninspired and needlessly absurd. It's an excellent example of fitting-and-forcing. His beat poetry in The Pop Art Affair worked because it had a point within the plot. This one feels like it was forced into the episode around the plot because if they liked it the first time then they have to like it the second time, right?

Shari Lewis as Janet Jerrod

I felt vaguely familiar with the name Shari Lewis when I saw it in the credits, so I looked her up. The Internet tells me she was a ventriloquist and children's entertainer, famous for a puppet called Lamb Chop. I think I may have seen her on The Muppet Show or Sesame Street.

Anyway, she knocks it out of the park in this episode. The Man from UNCLE frequently finds charismatic guests, and Shari Lewis is one of those who just runs away with the role. Not only is she charming and animated, she can actually sing and dance. In one scene, she has taken Napoleon Solo back to her apartment because she thinks he's a talent scout. She forces him to watch her perform several song and dance numbers, in which she proudly adds, "I sing all the instruments." And she does. The episode, disappointingly, plays music along with her numbers, but through Shari Lewis's force of actor's will, you can hear what Solo is hearing: Just one maniacal performer singing and dancing in an otherwise quiet apartment, and when she's not singing she's filling in for the lack of musical accompaniment.

It's a brilliant scene, not only because it's a goofy setup, but because it feels so real, and it brings to our attention the deception that UNCLE agents do so often that we all sublimate it. Janet's taken Solo back to her apartment (and this is the 1960s, and I get the feeling that's not necessarily the done thing) to perform for him because she believes she can convince him to get her representation. She's hanging all her hopes on this transaction, and Solo not only lets her do it, but he also tries to seduce her afterwards. Sure, it's a trope that Solo as the leading man must at least try for romance with the guest character, but even within that context it's heartbreaking. Aside from romancing her, which I can accept as a trope, their relationship is founded on a lie, and Solo literally can't tell her for fear of blowing his cover.

It's a good scene while it lasts, but of course this is Man from UNCLE so by the end of it all, Janet manages to guess that he's a secret agent and agrees to help.

Computer hackers

What's actually been going on in the theatre is that Thrush has leased it for its proximity to the computer in the basement of UNCLE's headquarters. Thrush has created a basement of its own underneath the theatre, and has installed a tap into the UNCLE mainframe. Thrush is able to get a copy of everything UNCLE feeds into their computer.

So that they wouldn't lose the lease on the theatre, Thrush has purchased months of tickets to the production. The show producer, egregiously called David X. Machina (played by Leon Askin), is a Thrush agent, as is the stage hand and the replacement lead actress.

Not a bad episode

The plot is simple, the setup is goofy but I think they get away with it. The Illya number is too much, but it's simple enough to fast-forward past that. It's not an amazing episode, but I'd happily watch this episode again, if only for the combination of theatre culture and computer hacking.