How close was this to the series?

Ok before I start, I'm not attacking the remake or Murphy or Wilson. I'm just trying to answer the OP'S question. I don't have anything against this movie.But, it has nothing in common with the original show. Betty Thomas and the guys admitted they had never watched it.Someone asked, why call it I Spy and she said because the producers had paid so much for the name and they wanted to use it. I don't blame Wilson and Murphy. But for a fan of the original series this was a letdown. Now don't get me wrong. If you have never seen the original you won't care, but I wish they had called it something other than I Spy and called the characters something other than Kelly and Scotty. Another thing is Cosby was Alexander Scott and his cover was a trainer. Culp was Kelly Robinson and his cover was a former tennis champ who had become a tennis bum. They were never played to be inept. Sometimes they would get in over their heads but they were not dumb. It was not a comedy per se. There was a lot of comedy there, but that banter was only part of it. The show had a lot of action and occasionally had really dark storylines.Cosby stayed away from racial stereotypes. His character was a Rhodes scholar.The guys were cool, smart, attractive and intelligent. But they were all to human. They got hurt, got their hearts broken, lost their temper, got in trouble. But they were always portrayed as completing their assignments competently. They weren't glamour boys. They didn't have James Bond gadgets or private planes. They were two government employees that had a lousy job to do and didn't get paid very well or treated very well for doing it. They didn't get parades like Carlos does at the end of this remake.Culp's character was a ladies man, but he didn't act like the character in this movie. He didn't refer to himself in the 3rd person, or babble about his privates or have a big ego as Kelly does here.

Murphy and Wilson fans again I am NOT attacking your guys or this movie. I have this one on DVD as I do the original series. It's entertaining, but it's not I Spy.

Its not Starsky and Hutch or Charlie's Angels bad, but it falls somewhat in the same category of taking a reasonably decent action series and turning it into a parody of what the original was.

If it were played straight and Owen Wilson's role was played by someone whos a better fit for the material, it would've been much better.

'When there's no more room in Hollywood, remakes shall walk the Earth.'