The series follows the adventures of Kelly Robinson (
Robert Culp) and Alexander "Scotty" Scott (
Bill Cosby), a pair of undercover American intelligence agents whose activities take them across the globe. The name of the espionage unit they worked for was never specified, only ever referred to as "the Department" and implied to be military in nature. In one flashback episode, it is established that all agents took their original training at
The Presidio. At least two episodes begin with them receiving a briefing at
the Pentagon, they frequently refer to the Pentagon as the ultimate headquarters of their organization, and they are often seen receiving their instructions from uniformed, high ranking, military officers - with all branches of the military - Army, Navy, Marines and Air Force - showing up in such a role. In one episode, they are being briefed at the beginning by British military officers. However, they also seem to be answerable to the State Department as well, frequently getting instructions from civilian administrators at or from the local American Embassy in the nation they are operating in. In at least one episode they directly refer to the American ambassador as someone who can assist them. The espionage plots were, with a few exceptions, realistically set in the
Cold War and the real life geopolitics of the mid-1960’s. They often specifically referred to their opponents as “the Russians”, or “the Chinese”, or other Communist Bloc countries of the time. Only rarely was a fictitious city or country used as a plot device. The espionage plots were almost always plausible – with a couple of comedic exceptions – and actual Cold War events were frequently alluded to or used as the basis for a plot. Other contemporary geopolitical factors that appeared in certain episodes were Arab nationalism and the idea of a potential
Jihad, domestic terrorism within the United States itself, Neofascist organizations, and escaped war criminals from
World War II. The two agents sometimes engage in standard espionage activities like interrogation of defectors and assisting friendly agents returning from enemy territory. However, the two main characters themselves are only twice shown operating behind the
Iron or
Bamboo Curtain and once in Viet Cong controlled territory. They spend all other episodes operating in the US itself or, more often, a country allied to the U.S. NATO allies Greece, Italy and British Hong Kong; U.S. ally Japan; OAS member Mexico; and U.S. unofficial (at the time) ally Spain are all locations where a storyline is set. Likewise Morocco, which was a technically neutral, but pro-West country at the time, is the setting for a few episodes. They cooperate with British, Japanese and Greek intelligence officers in various episodes and with local police officials in others, but largely their activities are unknown to the local authorities. The two agents are often seen uncovering and eliminating Soviet Bloc or Chinese espionage activities in Western nations, or uncovering a traitor in their own organization. Such activities would technically make them Counter-Intelligence agents. Occasionally they are involved in fighting against narcotic smuggling or thwarting a coup attempt against a friendly ruler. In a few episodes they are not actually on an assignment at all but have an adventure related to their personal lives, such as helping keep Scotty’s foster-daughter's boyfriend out of trouble with the Italian police, or dealing with the angry family of a soldier who had served under Kelly in the Korean War years before and had been killed in action. While the two agents are frequently involved with attractive women who factor into their assignment, they rarely become involved with an innocent bystander who is accidentally swept up into the situation as was the usual plotline of
The Man from U.N.C.L.E.. == Cast and characters ==