Lotus
It’s Fancy-dancy car week on the Monterey Peninsula. People come from all over to see expensive rides and rare, souped up and spiffy cars. I am not a car enthusiast. Sure, I like Minis and VW Bugs… I think they’re swell… but car shows I can pass on.
That said, I did do a car toon for “Car Week.” because… there is something about Emma Peel’s ride in The Avengers British TV show. I think SHE made the car sexy, and not the other way around.
I remember The Avengers, Rye and I must be about the same age. I loved Emma Peel as well; wanted to grow up to be just like her. A cool, but kicking, fem fatal.
Always though that SHE was the Brains of the Pair!
Bad fanfic is the start of many a writing career!
*heh* Name something Emma Peel didn’t make sexy.
The name Emma Peel comes from “M Appeal” which was short for “man appeal”, which is what the producers were looking for when coming up with a character to partner with John Steed when “The Avengers” aired as the first prime time British show in America.
I just acquired a boxed set of scrap a year or two ago with every episode of the Avengers featuring Mrs. Peel. Had a great time watching through those! It was amazing catching sight of all the well known actors who did guest appearances, including a young Jon Pertwee!
Grammy … Like Batman, Star Trek (original series) and Wild Wild West, The Avengers ran in syndication reruns. I “discovered” The Avengers whilst I was staying in Ohio in 2006. I am relatively new to the series, but like Rich, I now have the boxed set and watch them whenever the mood strikes me.
Leo… she was Smart & Sexy… AND drove a nice car. what’s not to like?
Chug… Yes, I drew my own fan-fic as a kid… I really could have gone into comic books as a career. Star Wars was the universe I lived in (mind you, that was before the prequels … which I don’t recognize as ever happening)…
Pete… The role of Emma Peel was originally written for a man, as I found out in some interviews I found. I think it turned out much better than originally thought. The success of the show, really, was hugely due to the onscreen chemistry between Diana Rigg and Patrick Macnee. THAT is what was missing, by the way, in the whole Star Wars prequel thing… chemistry between the actors playing Anakin and… oh, never mind… I don’t recognize that whole debacle….)
Rich… it was a fun and silly show. I was a fan of all the shows I listed above… I guess it was that silly 60’s over-the-top-humor-satire, which I totally didn’t get as a kid.
Move on before he starts talking about the awful movie adaptation!
And then there was the 18 episode series “The Prisoner”, with Patrick McGoohan, that took British obscurity and perplexity to a whole new level! But don’t get me started in that one!
The Avengers was certainly an experience that hasn’t been replicated. Not going to lie, I have always wanted a Lotus specifically because of that show. Let’s face it…… awesome car, awesome driver. Although it was John Steed that influenced me more, oddly. Emma Peel was nice to look at and all, but at the end of the day she was the sidekick, and I never wanted to be the sidekick in anything!
R.I.P. Robin Williams
Diana Riggs made Emma Peel about a million times sexier than Uma Thurman ever did.
I grew up on that show – and likely saw it a whole lot earlier than Ryan would have….
The Auld Grump
It’s been said that Lotus stands for:
Lots Of Trouble Usually Serious
Dada… and Eddie Izzard was a villain in that film… but oh well.
Rich… yah… I didn’t really get that one. And, yes, RIP Robing Williams. So sad.
Lady J… No, I disagree. She wasn’t the sidekick… she was the character that made the show fun and watchable. I don’t believe the other lady characters did much for the show. They were simply the women who were not Emma Peel.
Grump… Agreed. Rigg over Thurman hands down… and did you do the fan-fiction like Ryan?
Keith… Ooooo, is that like a secret code word? I like secret code words…. S.Q.U.I.D.
brig
If they’re anything like the Jaguar I used to drive you don’t want a Lotus. Even though they are beautiful cars. British cars were always known for electrical glitches. The joke was that the headlight switch had 3 positions: off, dim and flicker
I definitely vote for Diana Rigg over Uma Thurman. I like Uma but Diana Rigg is in a class all by herself.
I’d also vote for Diana Rigg as one of the best Bond women in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service.
Keith… yes, I know of the weirdiositude of British cars. I’ve had pals who spoke of such tales. MGs are in the same category.
D-Rigg… all the way… I love that Rigg went on to become Dame Diana Rigg and haunted the British theater. Class act!
S.Q.U.I.D. (Someone quite unusual is driving?)
Keith – Do you know why there were never any British computers of note? They never figured out how to get them to leak oil! And yes, been there done that – I drove a Sunbeam Alpine for several years…
And the Dame Diana Rigg is magnificent as Olenna Tyrell in Game of Thrones!
Sarah… so I hear… I don’t watch “Game/Thrones” but I can only surmise that she is awesome from her past awesome-ness.
I was never much for fan fiction, I’m afraid.
Fiction, yes, and even some bad poetry… but no fan fiction. (Nothing against fan fiction – one of my favorite fictional characters began in a fan fiction for Sexton Blake… Peter Whimsy by Dorothy Sayers. (Whimsy can still be found on bookstore shelves. Sexton Blake… not so much.)
And the British sports car that I lust after is a Morgan. http://www.morgan-motor.co.uk/ Mmmmmm….
The Auld Grump