One thing about "The Wild Wild West"--there will never be another show like it. A secret agent/western/fantasy series with lots of surreal touches, the series occupies a unique niche in TV history.
The show was about two Secret Service agents, James West (Robert Conrad) and Artemus Gordon (Ross Martin), who repeatedly saved the country (and the world for that matter) from destruction by traveling from place to place in their futuristic train. The plots always concerned guys with Napoleonic lusts for power and their plans to conquer civilization. West and Gordon would set out to stop him and his henchmen (and henchwomen), and usually West would be captured and Gordon would have to come to the rescue. Lots and lots of bizarre plots, weird secret agent-type gadgets (I just loved the bootheel plastic explosive and the wire thingy that transported the heroes across vats of fuming acid), elegant sets, nonstop action and great humor kept the viewer's attention at all times.
Criticized during its run for being too violent, the series seems positively tame compared to latter-day action and police dramas. I do admit, there were lots of fistfights.
Stylish, intelligent, and relentlessly creative, the series left the air far too soon. Two reunion movies in 1979 and 1980 rekindled the old magic, but Ross Martin's sudden death in 1981 ended the series. Too bad the 1999 movie had to desecrate the memories of Conrad and Martin, they deserved much better.
The show was about two Secret Service agents, James West (Robert Conrad) and Artemus Gordon (Ross Martin), who repeatedly saved the country (and the world for that matter) from destruction by traveling from place to place in their futuristic train. The plots always concerned guys with Napoleonic lusts for power and their plans to conquer civilization. West and Gordon would set out to stop him and his henchmen (and henchwomen), and usually West would be captured and Gordon would have to come to the rescue. Lots and lots of bizarre plots, weird secret agent-type gadgets (I just loved the bootheel plastic explosive and the wire thingy that transported the heroes across vats of fuming acid), elegant sets, nonstop action and great humor kept the viewer's attention at all times.
Criticized during its run for being too violent, the series seems positively tame compared to latter-day action and police dramas. I do admit, there were lots of fistfights.
Stylish, intelligent, and relentlessly creative, the series left the air far too soon. Two reunion movies in 1979 and 1980 rekindled the old magic, but Ross Martin's sudden death in 1981 ended the series. Too bad the 1999 movie had to desecrate the memories of Conrad and Martin, they deserved much better.