Tip of the Bowler to 'Avengers' Macnee

Take another little piece of my Boomer heart.

OK, Diana Rigg and her skin-tight body suit may have been the bigger draw for young boys tuning in to The Avengers, but Patrick Macnee's John Steed — Macnee died Thursday at 93 — was a wonderfully witty counterpoint to Rigg's Emma Peal.

"Steed and Peal." It did not take much imagination to find those names smirk-worthy.

The Avengers was one of those classy British imports — like a red MG — that happily crowded the airwaves in my Boomer youth (ABC by way of ITV)

The Avengers was among a host of series that capitalized on the James Bond-driven spy craze of the 1960's — Man from U.N.C.L.E., Get Smart,Wild Wild West — but with an urbanity that set it apart from more broad send-ups.

A tip of the editorial Bowler to Macnee.