The Wild Wild West
The Wild Wild West is an American television series. Developed at a time when the television western was losing ground to the spy genre, this show was conceived by its creator, Michael Garrison, as "James Bond on horseback." Set during the administration of President Ulysses Grant, the series followed Secret Service agents James West and Artemus Gordon as they solved crimes, protected the President, and foiled the plans of megalomaniacal villains to take over all or part of the United States. The show also featured a number of fantasy elements, such as the technologically advanced devices used by the agents and their adversaries. The combination of the Victorian era time-frame and the use of Verne-esque style technology have inspired some to give the show credit for the origins of the steam punk subculture.
Episodes
Jim is set up as a renegade as a cover for him and Artie to sneak into Texas and track down General Juan Manolo, who is trying to take over the region...
Facing execution at the hands of a madman, West learns the crazed assassin plans to reclaim Mexico---as the new Napoleon.
West tries to protect Prof. Nielsen, a demolitions expert. But he fails: Nielson is blown up by the evil Dr. Miguelito Loveless.
Jim West suspects his search for counterfeiters is getting warm when he's shot at with arrows---and thrown to the crocodiles.
Jim and Artie set out to penetrate the stronghold of a corrupt political boss and return him to Washington for trial.
Ships along the Mississippi are being attacked by a gang of pirates known as the "Thousand Eyes". After Jim ducks an assassin, an attractive woman, he...
Jim and Artemus try to recover stolen radioactive materials nad have only one clue - a set of fingerprints found on the ankle of a pretty secretary.
To rescue a kidnapped princess, Jim runs into a booby-trapped doorknob and a fully armored man wielding a mace.
An Indian demand for gold must be met: they've threatened to kill five railroad workers a day until it is paid.
West is lured to a ghost town peopled with lifelike dummies as part of an elaborate trap set for him by his nemesis Dr. Loveless.
West is sent to infiltrate an army of fanatics dedicated to overthrowing the U.S. Government. Getting in is no problem...but if he tries to leave he'l...
A demented geologist can set off earthquakes where he chooses as part of an elaborate extortioin scheme. So West and Gordon head for Ellenville--the n...
Jim and Artie take on an obsessed museum curator who has private designs on the state treasury.
West is captured by a doctor who uses Pavlovian training to condition the Secret Service agent into becoming an assassin.
Jim goes to arrest a Mexican bandit disguised as a notorious outlaw...but the villain's girlfriend recognizes him.
A series of mysterious deaths of military personnel bring Jim face to face with the indestructible Col. "Iron Man" Torres. Crippled in an explosion th...
Jim and Artie have only one clue to track down the smugglers of opium and Chinese aliens: a fortune cookie.
Jim is assigned to stop abolitionist John Brown. The only problem - he was pronounced dead 20 years ago.
West must protect a visiting despot from the fatal charms of Ecstasy La Joie, who brandishes such baubles as an explosive garter and a deadly ring.
Intent on making California a kingdom for children, evil Dr. Loveless makes his play for the state with a series of toys---which explode.
A Supreme Court justice will not believe his life is in danger---until a puppet-show marionette fires a gun at him.
West, posing as a prison inspector, hunts for clues to a pillaging outlaw band.
West tries to protect a pleasure-loving prince who insists on visiting a plush spa---where assassins eagerly await his arrival.
West is furious: his superiors have refused him permission to investigate the murder of a close friend who was burned to death before his eyes.
West poses as an ex-con to gain admittance to renegade Army leader Thorald Wolfe.
West tries to convince a Serbian official to hide the Kara Diamond. Then the gem disappears---and West is blamed.
West helps a powerfully built girl carry her trunk, not knowing it contains his shrewd enemy---diminutive, giggling Dr. Loveless.
West finds Willow Springs looted and its citizens completely immobile---victims of a mysterious paralysis.
Cast
Ratings & Reviews
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TMDB Reviews
9 years ago
I was born after the show had been off the air for a few years, so of course I discovered it in reruns.
It was syndicated all over the country by then, and locally it aired on Sunday nights at 6pm (a fairly wise strategy, since airing episodes once a week meant they wouldn't run through them too quickly).
My father was a fan of the show, and we watched it together every Sunday evening after dinner. When we started this ritual I was too young to enjoy most of the shows my dad enjoyed, but this had everything I could want; good guys, bad guys, lots of action, inventive plots, gadgets, and humor.
It might be the only show that I enjoyed at that age that I still enjoy today because of its quality. (I can still watch Happy Days or the Dukes of Hazzard and remember WHY I enjoyed them at that age, but they don't hold up).
The writers were inventive, and the show was able to mix sci-fi with the western genre very well, with some really nice gothic horror touches and mystery elements along the way.
Robert Conrad deserves praise for his stunt work, which was a hallmark of the show, along with Ross Martin and his many disguises and accents.
Probably the best part of the show was the villain each week, sometimes bent on world domination, but always creative.
The show spawned two reunion movies, which failed to recapture the spirit of the original series but were both pleasant diversions for a few hours. Unfortunately the show was unable to escape the 'old tv show turned into a big screen movie' machine in Hollywood, and the results were a mess.
