I Spy
A Cup of Kindness
TV Flash files “A Cup of Kindness” as a desk essential hour — I Spy (1965–1968) on NBC, season 1, episode 2, aired 1965-09-22, 60 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S01E02: listed hour 2 of 82 in the I Spy guide, hour 2 of 28 in season 1. It aired 1965-09-22 (60 min). The listed hour before it is “So Long, Patrick Henry” (S01E01). Next is “Carry Me Back to Old Tsing Tao” (S01E03).
Essential hour: “A Cup of Kindness”. A Cup of Kindness — week-two globe-trotting still teaching the cover stories, Cosby's Alexander Scott a lead rather than a sidekick.
Catalog log
Broadcast listing — not a TV Flash recap.
Russ Conley, a former instructor of Kelly's, shows up in Hong Kong. He delivers a message from "the department" to Kelly and Scott.
Viewer FAQ
Where does A Cup of Kindness sit in the I Spy guide?
S01E02 is listed hour 2 of 82 — hour 2 of 28 in season 1, season 1 episode 2.
When did I Spy S01E02 air?
A Cup of Kindness aired 1965-09-22 and is listed at 60 minutes.
Where should I start?
Any Culp-and-Cosby mission on location shows the contract: tennis-pro covers, buddy rhythm, Scott as full co-lead. The series is weekly adventure, not a single serial hunt.
In the series
Why this series still plays
Tennis-bum cover stories, globe-trotting missions, and two equals sharing the frame: Robert Culp and Bill Cosby made interracial buddy espionage look like a travelogue with a serve. Cosby's Alexander Scott was a lead, not a sidekick — a mid-sixties network color line crossed in style. Location glamour plus chemistry.
Tennis-bum cover stories, globe-trotting missions, two equals sharing the frame. NBC's *I Spy* (1965–1968; 82 episodes) put Robert Culp's Kelly Robinson and Bill Cosby's Alexander Scott on the road as undercover agents, and Cosby's Scott was a lead, not a sidekick — a mid-sixties network color line crossed in style. David Friedkin and Morton Fine emphasized international location filming more than studio-bound spy shows. Banter chemistry sold the espionage. On the palate: travelogue chrome, a serve-and-volley…
Filed against
- Robert Culp as Kelly Robinson
Robert Culp’s Kelly Robinson served tennis-bum cover stories on I Spy — globe-trotting equals with Bill Cosby’s Alexander Scott sharing the frame — then barked FBI handler energy at The Greatest American Hero’s klutz in an alien suit.…
- Bill Cosby as Alexander Scott
Bill Cosby’s Alexander Scott made I Spy a two-equal travelogue — 1960s catalog tennis-bum espionage, a Black lead sharing the frame, then The Cosby Show’s 1980s multi-cam hearth becoming television history with the later disgrace on the…