Wild, Wild West: Season Three

There are certain television series that we never missed while growing up. They remain in our memories as some of the best TV we have ever seen. Over the years I have reviewed many of these shows from my youth and to be frank some, when viewed from an adult perspective, were no were as good as I remember then. Then there are a select few that seem even better than I remember them. For me one of these was ‘Wild, Wild West’. Every Friday night I would rush through dinner to make sure that I was ready for the show. It had everything a teenaged boy could ask for. There was action, drama, great high tech gadgets, cowboys and pretty girls. This was the show to watch back then. The next morning all my friends would gather in the back yard and reenact our favorite scenes. The spy genre was the big thing back then. We couldn’t get enough of James Bond, ‘I Spy’, ‘The Man from U.N.C.L.E.’ and ‘Mission Impossible’. For our young minds we loved the adventure and really went crazy for the various spy gizmos these secret agents had at their disposal. ‘Wild, Wild West’ may not have been huge in the ratings but that was only because the adults controlled the Nielsen ratings. If it was up to us kids it would have been number one every year it ran. Paramount is now up to the third season of this series on DVD and I couldn’t be happier. Not only is this a fantastic trip down memory lane for us older viewers it stands the test of time so that the younger set can get into it. It is the definition of camp television that was the hallmark of the time and remains a classic.

Series creator Michael Garrison certainly knew how to appeal to a young audience. He combined several genres that were almost always winners. In this series there are elements of espionage, westerns and science fiction, the great triad of cool for kids back then. His premise was simple but brilliant. During the Ulysses S. Grant presidential administration the secret service had special agents to defend the country from the worse threats. Special Agent James T. West (Robert Conrad) was the James Bond of his day. He was lethal with any weapon (although killing was kept to a minimum), cool under pressure and able to make any young lady swoon. He was answerable only to the President. In his trademark bolero jacket he could walk into any room confident that he will emerge with what he was after. His partner was the indomitable Artemus Gordon (Ross Martin). He was an inventor extraordinaire as well as a master of disguise. He was the combination of Sherlock Holmes and ‘Q’ from the James Bond flicks. His attention to detail was amazing. He would get the clues while West fought the bad guys and got the girl. While most modern secret agents drove around in tricked out cars our heroes had something really special to get to their assignments. They rode in a luxury private train complete with a stable car, laboratory and a magnificent parlor car. The train contained more special equipment than you could imagine. When West went out on assignment Gordon made sure he was armed to the teeth. Just about every piece of clothing had hidden weapons, extra ammunition, explosives and anything that was needed to save West’s life in the direst situations.

Each week’s episode was always named ‘The Night of the …’ While each one was self contained there was a group of recurring arch nemesis to try to kill West and take over the world. Fortunately for us none of these masterminds ever read the ‘Evil Overlord List’ and West was always able to get the better of them. One particularly good episode from the third season was ‘The Night Dr. Loveless Died’. In this one West’s main enemy, Dr. Miguelito Loveless (Michael Dunn) is apparently dead. West goes to check out the corpse and sees a young woman stealing a key from the body. West manages to trace the key to a safety deposit box and from there to a lawyer who in turn leads them to a neurosurgeon that is a look alike relative of the evil doctor. It turns out that the look alike is actually Dr. Loveless and he plans on giving lobotomies to West and Gordon. What made the Loveless episodes so fantastic was the acting talent of Dunn. He was less than four foot tall but was one of the great actors of his day. He had an Oscar nomination for his incredible role in ‘Ship of Fools’. It was guest stars like this that made this series the classic that it was.

The production standards of this series were a cut above the rest of the pack at the time. Every episode was well balanced with a little cliff hanger just before the commercial breaks. Sure it was a formula but it worked very well. Since the series had to combine elements of so many different genres the writers had a tall order each week. They were always able to use the elements in the proper proportions to make this a tapestry that was appealing the audience. One minute there was a gadget of modern use that looks authentic to the time, the next moment you were in a good old fashion western. It was this versatility that kept the episodes fresh and fun to watch.

Robert Conrad was always the rough and ready type of actor. He exuded the confidence that was necessary to pull off this role. He also did almost all of his own stunt work, something that is rare on television today. He cut a slim figure in his overly tight, sort of western outfit. Many of the girls in my class back then watched the series for somewhat different reason than us guys. He was the western James Bond and made playing cowboy and Indian (this was before the more politically correct Native American) into a backyard spy game. Ross Martin was one of the most versatile character actors the profession has ever seen. In interviews he has mentioned that he loved playing Gordon since it gave him an opportunity to portray over a hundred different personas and accents. He always came off as having had a great deal of fun when Gordon had to go under cover. Martin was able to transform himself completely each week.

Thank you Paramount for realizing there are those of us out there that remember these series. You have given us a piece of our childhood back. For a series that is now over forty years old it certainly looks and sounds great. The colors are bright, far better than our little TVs were capable of displaying. Shadows are sharp and distinct. The Dolby Mono audio is clear and without any flaws. This is a plain vanilla release with no extras. While it would have been nice to have something the 24 episodes are strong enough to make this a must buy. In fact don’t stop with this season go back and get the first two as well.

Posted 11/14/07