The Wild Wild West

In 1965 someone had the bright idea to mix the two most popular genres at that time, spy shows and westerns, and came up with this classic series. The western elements were obviously the horses, Indians and a strong hero and the espionage elements were the gadgets and megalomaniacal villains. Robert Conrad was excellent as Jim West and Ross Martin was just as great as the master of disguise Artemis Gordon. This chemistry between the two leads helped to make this show a classic. However, Michael Dunn pretty much stole the show as Miguelito Loveless, or as Artie would often call him, "The Little Wizard". This show will always be one of the wildest things about the decade of the 60's.

They say time can play tricks, but I would bet that if some cable channel started to show "The Wild Wild West" again it would work its magic on me the same way it did when I watched it as a youngster in Barbados in the 1980s. Just the animated opening titles were spellbinding; this may sound weird, but I always thought it was a plus when the last panel to be filled in was one of the lower two (especially the one with the lady on the ground). It had action, it had mystery, it had everything.

It also had a theme tune that was a helluva lot better than anything in that dispiriting 1999 movie (if Warner Bros thought no one would remember it, they were wrong). Robert Conrad, Ross Martin (RIP), and creator Michael Garrison, we salute you.

Looking back at this show after all these years, two things stand out. First, doing this show must have been nirvana for Ross Martin. In almost every episode, he got to change costumes, add makeup, and play a completely new character, usually with a different voice and/or accent. What character actor doesn't dream of that, and what a marvelous talent he was!

Second, when this show first aired, I was going through puberty, so it was probably a big influence - but I cannot recall a TV series that consistently featured, week in and week out, more drop dead gorgeous women than this one did. To the producers I say thank you, thank you, thank you!!

I loved the "Wild, Wild West" TV series that blended horror , the western & Steam-punk on many episodes. Robert Conrad was James West &Ross Martin was Artemus Gordon, "Man of a thousand faces".It had different stories each week but there were recurring villains- Dr. Miguelito Loveless ( What a great name for a villain !) was played by Michael Dunn ( Star Trek's" Plato's Step-Children") &Count Manzeppi (magician turned assassin) was played by Victor Buono. "Wild, Wild West" was the closest TV ever got to capturing the flavor of comic books. I hope you will someday get to see this series, perhaps on DVD. There are a few episodes out on video. I particularly recommend " The Night the Wizard Shook the Earth", the first Dr. Loveless episode. I loved the Dr. Loveless episodes & the 2 with Victor Buono as Count Manzeppi. Quintessential "Wild, Wild West "episode- "Night of the Vicious Valentine" that deservedly won guest-star Agnes Moorehead an Emmy.

"The wild wild west" is the most eccentric espionage series that blends the Ian Fleming's James Bond character, the western genre and the Jules Verne's fantasy world into a baroque and glamorous extravaganza. This show has a huge identity : the leitmotiv music and its different themes, the title design (the freeze frame sketch), the bizarre universe and the foe-characters (secret society, mad inventors, wizards, monsters, revolutionaries, corrupted politicians, putschists), the disguises and the gimmicks, the gorgeous women, a special sense of humour combined with camaraderie, action and stunts. In other words, something that is very, very rich, colourful and varied and far away from today's imagination. In my opinion, the most important aspect of this unusual drama comes from the characters : James T. West, the tough-as-nails dandiest dude secret agent with his fancy train and his fancy costumes full of hidden weapons (I like the knife boots and the sleeve-gun, re-used by Martin Scorsese in "Taxi driver") who works with his partner : the dashing Artemus Gordon aka Arte who is an expert in masks, bombs, magic tricks and acting; the president Grant and the Colonel Richmond. Above all, the regular outrageous villain that sums up the flavor of the series : Dr. Miguelito Loveless, the genius prankster dwarf. The most clever device created by him is the painting-traveling machine in The night of the surreal Mc Coy. Without forgetting the flamboyant Count Manzeppi, of course, in The night of the eccentrics and The night of the feathered fury. The whole show is a crazy circus : a madhouse. The series also makes reference to classic sci-fi novels such as : "The incredible shrinking man" in The night of the raven, "Frankenstein" in The night of the big blast, "The time machine" in The night of the lord of limbo. "The wild wild west" has a lot of similarities with "Mission : impossible". For instance : the characters of Artemus Gordon/Rollin Hand and James West/Jim Phelps. They have the same psychologic patterns. Producer Bruce Lansbury and composer Richard Markowitz worked on both series. But the first series is delirious and the second one is stone-cold. My advice is not to miss the Loveless episodes : 1.The night the wizard shook the earth, 2.The night that terror stalked the town, 3.The night of the whirring death, 4.The night of the murderous spring, 5.The night of the raven, 6.The night of the green terror, 7.The night of the surreal Mc Coy, 8.The night of the bogus bandit, 9.The night of Dr. Loveless died, 10.The night of the Miguelito's revenge. Another best and maverick show of the 60's decade.