| Genre: | Action-adventure/Drama |
| Creator: | Sam Raimi Ivan Raimi John McNamara |
| Director: | Lou Antonio James Frawley Elodie Keene Winrich Kolbe John T. Kretchmer Les Landau Doug Lefler Alan J. Levi Jefery Levy Martha Mitchell T.J. Scott Oz Scott |
| Starring: | Linden Ashby Allison Smith Bruce McCarty Keith Szarabajka D.D. Howard |
| Composer: | Christophe Beck |
| Country: | United States |
| Language: | English |
| Num Seasons: | 1 |
| Num Episodes: | 13 (4 unaired) |
| Executive Producer: | John McNamara Sam Raimi Robert G. Tapert |
| Producer: | Edward Ledding |
| Cinematography: | Stephen McNutt |
| Company: | McNamara Paper Products, Inc. Renaissance Pictures Warner Bros. Television Universal Television |
| Runtime: | 60 minutes (with commercials) |
| Channel: | ABC |
Spy Game is an American action-adventure television series that aired on ABC for 13 episodes during the spring and summer of 1997. The series was created by screenwriter and physician Ivan Raimi, director Sam Raimi, and writer John McNamara. The series was originally developed under the title Cloak and Dagger, but was renamed prior to airing.
The series starred Linden Ashby as Lorne Cash, a retired secret agent who reluctantly agrees to get back into the "spy game" and work for a secret government agency. Following the collapse of the former Soviet Union and the downsizing of international intelligence agencies worldwide, the reduced demand for highly qualified espionage agents has flooded the civilian market with displaced former agents. With the surplus of independent agents running rogue operations, Cash is called in to work with a meager agency whose sole directive is to police these newly freelance spies.
Cash contrasts his partner, Max London, played by Allison Smith in their "low" vs. "high" tech approaches to problems. Cash is an expert martial artist and was trained to improvise by re-purposing objects in his environment as tools or weapons; conversely, Max prefers to arm herself with the latest cutting-edge technology and gadgets, which occasionally puts them at odds. For example, when disabling a camera system, Max speculates about defeating it with electronic jamming, while Cash simply puts a post-it note over the lens. Alternately, Cash may spend considerable time trying to defeat an opponent in hand-to-hand, while Max will simply use a tranquilizer gun.
Despite initial friction, the two quickly establish a rapport (with the usual romantic overtures). Some of the show's humor is generated from Lorne's reluctance to use modern gadgets, as well as the occasional revelations about his past and his high connections. In the premiere episode, for example, Lorne calls the president who is a personal friend and is given a security clearance higher than his boss'.
The series was a throwback to the stylish spy series of the 1960s, with particular comparison being made to The Avengers and The Man from U.N.C.L.E., while at the same time poking fun at the genre. (The opening credits were a parody of the opening credits of The Avengers.) The show's first episode featured cameos by numerous stars of spy shows of the past (including Patrick Macnee and Robert Culp).
Spy Game was canceled after nine of the thirteen episodes produced were aired.
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