Secret Agent Man (TV series)

Secret Agent Man is an American spy-fi television series that aired on UPN from 7 March to 28 July 2000. The series was created by writer Richard Regen.

Premise
Secret Agent Man starred Costas Mandylor as Monk, a gallivanting secret agent, who was one of a team of agents that included Holliday, played by Dina Meyer and Davis, played by Dondre Whitfield. The team reported to Brubeck, played by Paul Guilfoyle. The periodically appearing guest villain is the former agent Prima, played by Musetta Vander.

All the lead characters share the last names of jazz musicians Thelonious Monk, Billie Holiday, Miles Davis, Dave Brubeck and Louis Prima.

Main

 * Costas Mandylor as Monk
 * Dina Meyer as Holliday
 * Dondre Whitfield as Davis
 * Paul Guilfoyle as Brubeck

Notable guest stars

 * Musetta Vander as Prima
 * Grace Park as Louann
 * John de Lancie as Marshall Gilder
 * Diane Farr as Trish Fiore
 * Ivana Milicevic as Laura Tupolev
 * Lola Glaudini as Helga Devereaux
 * Salli Richardson-Whitfield as Rachel
 * Alexondra Lee as Nurse 613
 * Wade Williams as Greg

Production
Secret Agent Man was originally scheduled to premiere on UPN in September 1999, but was pushed back to a midseason premiere in August 2000 due to the desire to give the show's producers more time to work on props and special effects. It also did not have a traditional one-hour pilot filmed, and was instead ordered to series by UPN on the strength of just a presentation reel. Only 12 episodes were produced and broadcast before the series was cancelled due to poor ratings.

Theme song
The series used an updated version of the 1960s hit, “Secret Agent Man”, performed by Supreme Beings of Leisure, for its theme song. Because the Johnny Rivers version of this song was used as the theme song for American broadcasts of another television series, the 1960s British TV series, Danger Man (primarily broadcast in the U.S. as Secret Agent), there were some mistaken impressions that this series was somehow a spin off or remake of the earlier program, but other than the theme song, no connections were made evident.

Reception
On Rotten Tomatoes, the series has an aggregated score of 0% based on 10 critic reviews. The website’s consensus reads: "With stilted acting and genre cliches galore, Secret Agent Man is one spy show that should be disavowed by viewers at all costs."