8.2 /10 1 Votes
8.3/10 TV Theme music composer Richard Markowitz Original language(s) English Final episode date 4 April 1969 Network CBS | 8.2/10 IMDb Created by Michael Garrison Country of origin United States First episode date 17 September 1965 Theme song The Wild Wild West | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Genre Western / Spy / Science-fiction Starring Robert Conrad
Ross Martin Cast Robert Conrad, Ross Martin, Agnes Moorehead, Charles Aidman Similar Gunsmoke, Rawhide, Bonanza, I Spy, The Big Valley | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Wild Wild West is an American television series that ran on the CBS network from 1965 to 1969. During its four-season run a total of 104 episodes were broadcast. The Wild Wild West blended westerns – hugely popular on television at the time (Gunsmoke, Bonanza, Wagon Train, Rawhide, etc.) – with spy adventure, which came into vogue in the wake of the highly successful James Bond films, resulting in such spy-oriented series as The Man from U.N.C.L.E., The Avengers, and Secret Agent.
Contents
- Michele carey on the wild wild west tv show 1967
- DVD releases
- Season One 19651966
- Season Two 19661967
- Season Three 19671968
- Season Four 19681969
- Reunion movies
- Emmy Awards
- Producers
- Directors
- Guest stars
- Merchandise tie ins
- References
The Wild Wild West is set in the 1870s and deals with the exploits of James West (played by Robert Conrad) and Artemus Gordon (Ross Martin), two agents of the United States Secret Service who work directly under the command of President Ulysses S. Grant. James West is presented as a sort of "James Bond of the West," i.e. the handsome, muscular action-hero who is handy with his fists, as well as a dashing ladies' man. Artemus Gordon is West's partner, a master of disguises and also the inventor of the many gadgets that the two of them use in the course of their adventures. The two men travel about in a private train and use their talents to vanquish the many dastardly villains that threatened the United States — among them, disgraced ex-soldiers seeking revenge against President Grant, power-hungry megalomaniacs, and mad scientists with their brilliant but diabolical inventions. The last group includes the recurring character of Dr. Miguelito Loveless, played by 3'11" Michael Dunn. As series producer Bruce Lansbury stated:
"Jim [West]'s world was one of two-faced villainy, male and female, countless 'Mickey Finns,' and needle-tipped baroque pinkie rings that put him to sleep even as he embraced their dispensers. There were inevitable trap doors, hotel walls that ground their victims to dust or revolved into lush Aubrey Beardsley settings next door, lethal chairs that tossed occupants skyward or alternatively dumped them into dank sewers that subterraneously crisscrossed countless cow towns of the period. And then there was that old Dutch sea captain, leaning in the corner of the swill-hole of a bar, who inexplicably winked at Jim as he entered … Artemus, of course, in one of his thousand disguises."
Ten years after the series was cancelled a made-for-television revival movie, The Wild Wild West Revisited, aired and was successful enough to warrant a follow-up entitled More Wild Wild West (1980), thus bringing the total number of episodes up to 106. However, the movie was more campy compared to the serious tone of the TV series. The death of Ross Martin in 1981 ended any plans for another film.
Michele carey on the wild wild west tv show 1967
DVD releases
The entire four-season run of The Wild Wild West is available on DVD from Paramount Home Video in both individual box sets of each season as well as a box containing the whole series. Only the latter, however, contains the reunion films.
The complete run of the series is present below in broadcast order. Included are the episode titles, directors, writers, broadcast dates, production codes, guest stars and the roles they played, and a brief plot synopsis. Also, the various disguises that Ross Martin used in his Artemus Gordon character are listed.
Season One: 1965–1966
The Wild Wild West was created by Michael Garrison, a movie producer (Peyton Place, The Long, Hot Summer, An Affair to Remember) who had, at one time, co-owned the rights to Ian Fleming's first James Bond novel, Casino Royale. Garrison produced the series pilot episode himself but, once the series was approved by the CBS network, it became necessary to find a more experienced producer to handle the subsequent episodes. Garrison, in the meantime, was moved into the position of Executive Producer. Collier Young, who hitherto had produced a series entitled The Rogues, was assigned to The Wild Wild West but, after overseeing only three episodes, was replaced due to "a difference in concept between the network and [him]." Fred Freiberger, his replacement, brought the series back on track with adventures featuring beautiful women, strong adversaries, and "something very bizarre." Also under Freiberger the character of Dr. Loveless was created. Loveless became an immediate hit, resulting in actor Michael Dunn being contracted to do four episodes per season. However, after producing ten episodes, Fred Freiberger was replaced by John Mantley, reputedly due to a behind-the-scenes power struggle. Mantley, who had been associate producer on Gunsmoke, produced seven episodes before he too was replaced. Mantley returned to his former position on Gunsmoke while Gene L. Coon took over the production reins for of The Wild Wild West. However, Coon left after five episodes to take a screenwriting assignment at Warner Bros., leaving Michael Garrison to take on double-duty as producer and executive producer for the remainder of the season.
The 28 first-season episodes of The Wild Wild West, all of which were photographed in black and white, were not broadcast in the order that they were filmed. Notably, the early ones produced by Collier Young were moved back in the broadcast schedule in favor of the Fred Freiberger- and John Mantley-produced episodes. The breakdown in broadcast order is thus:
During this season, The Wild Wild West placed at #23 in the ratings for the 1965-1966 season. One episode of this season, "The Night of the Howling Light", received an Emmy nomination for Best Cinematography.
Season Two: 1966–1967
The second season of The Wild Wild West continued the basic format of first season, but also made some changes. The most notable of these was that the series was now shot in color, which enhanced the Victorian ambiance of the 1870s setting. Both Robert Conrad and Ross Martin were given modified wardrobes, with Conrad wearing short bolero jackets and tight-fitting pants. There was also a shift in the choreography of the fight scenes, changing the emphasis from karate (largely used in the first season) to boxing.
As in the first season, Dr. Loveless was featured in four episodes. Meanwhile, an attempt was made to establish another recurring villain with the character of Count Manzeppi (played by Victor Buono, who had appeared in the pilot episode). However, the Count was dropped after only two episodes.
Again, as in the first season, 28 episodes were produced for the season. Initially, Michael Garrison continued in the dual capacity as producer and executive producer. However, after seven episodes, the producing chores were handed to Bruce Lansbury, the younger brother of actress Angela Lansbury, and Garrison returned to working solely as the series' executive producer. Garrison died on August 17, 1966, when he fell down a flight of stairs at his home in Bel Aire.
The breakdown between the two producers, as broadcast, is:
However, the series continued to be listed as "A Michael Garrison Production in association with the CBS Television Network" in the end credits for the rest of the run.
The Wild Wild West slipped in the ratings during the second season and failed to be among the 25 most popular shows during the 1966–1967 season. However, guest star Agnes Moorehead won an Emmy as Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for her performance in the episode "The Night of the Vicious Valentine."
Season Three: 1967–1968
The third season of The Wild Wild West saw a shift away from fantasy and more toward traditional western with the "villains becoming more political and less outrageous." Also, because of serious health problems, Michael Dunn appeared as Dr. Loveless in only one episode during this season ("The Night Dr. Loveless Died").
On January 24, 1968, when The Wild Wild West was near the end of shooting for the season, star Robert Conrad, who did the majority of his own stunt work, was seriously injured when he fell from a chandelier during the filming of the episode "The Night of the Fugitives." Production was shut down for the season and the "Fugitives" was completed and broadcast during the fourth season.
All of the episodes of this season were produced by Bruce Lansbury. Due to Conrad's injury only 24 episodes were made for this season. As in the second season, The Wild Wild West did not rank among the 25 most popular shows during the 1967-1968 season.
Season Four: 1968–1969
Due to his injury near the end of filming of the previous season, the fourth season of The Wild Wild West forced Robert Conrad to use a double for any stunt that the studio considered "chancy." Unfortunately, the fourth season proved unlucky for co-star Ross Martin. On June 26, 1968, during filming of "The Night of the Avaricious Actuary" Martin fell and received a hairline fracture in his shin. As a result, the script for the next episode filmed, "The Night of the Juggernaut", was re-written to have Martin's character, Artemus Gordon, receive a leg injury. A far more serious event befell Martin later on in the course of the season's filming. On August 17 of the same year he suffered a massive heart attack. A five-week hiatus in filming had just begun, but Martin's recovery time was much longer. Producer Bruce Lansbury had no choice but again have rewrites of the scripts. Ten episodes were filmed without Martin although he continued to have co-star billing in the opening credits. The absence of his character was explained as being on "special assignment" in Washington. For one of these episodes, "The Night of the Tycoons", James West operated solo. For the remaining nine episodes West worked with other agents. These were:
Ross Martin returned to filming for the final three episodes of the season, which also turned out to be the last episodes of the entire series. The Wild Wild West was cancelled after four seasons, possibly due to declining ratings (it again did not place among the top 25), but also possibly due to a crack-down on programs with excessive violence.
During this season, Ross Martin received an Emmy nomination for leading actor in a drama series. All of the fourth-season episodes were produced by Bruce Lansbury. As in the third season, Michael Dunn made only one appearance as Dr. Loveless in this season.
Reunion movies
Ten years after the cancellation of The Wild Wild West Robert Conrad and Ross Martin reunited and reprised their respective roles as government agents James West and Artemus Gordon in a television reunion film, The Wild Wild West Revisited. This film proved to be one of CBS' highest rated specials of the year, thus warranting a second reunion film, More Wild Wild West. The second film, however, proved less successful.
These two reunion movies were produced by Robert Jacks and directed by Burt Kennedy and are notably more comical than the original series.
Emmy Awards
During its four-year run The Wild Wild West received three Emmy nominations:
Producers
The Wild Wild West had six different producers during the course of its four-season run, plus a seventh for the two reunion movies. A breakdown of the episodes and their producers appears in the chart below.
Directors
The Wild Wild West employed a large number of directors during its run, with Irving J. Moore directing the most episodes (25 total).
Of note is that three episodes were directed by William Witney, who had co-directed many "cliffhangers" during the 1930s and 1940s, including Zorro Rides Again, The Lone Ranger, and The Adventures of Captain Marvel. Also among the series directors are Mark Rydell (who would go on to direct On Golden Pond with Katharine Hepburn, Henry Fonda, and Jane Fonda) and Richard Donner (later to direct The Omen, Superman, and the Lethal Weapon series).
Guest stars
During its run, The Wild Wild West featured a large number of notable guest stars. Many of these guests also appeared on Star Trek. These actors and the titles to the episodes of both series that they appeared in are listed below. A video montage of some of these performance can be found on YouTube.
Merchandise tie-ins
As with many television series, The Wild Wild West had several merchandise tie-ins during its run. These are listed below.