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The Wild Wild West
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The Wild Wild West is an American television series that ran on CBS for four seasons (104 episodes) from September 17, 1965 to April 4, 1969. 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." It was one of the first television series which could be described as a science fiction Western. Two television movies were made with the original cast in 1979 and 1980, and the series was adapted for a motion picture in 1999 with a new cast and story.
Creation, writing and productionMichael Garrison was no late-comer to the James Bond craze; he and his partner at the time, Gregory Ratoff, purchased the film rights to Ian Fleming's first Bond novel, Casino Royale, back in 1955. They pitched the idea to 20th Century Fox, but the studio turned them down. After Ratoff died in 1960, his widow and Garrison sold the film rights to Charles K. Feldman, who eventually produced the spoof Casino Royale in 1967. Garrison, meanwhile, had brought James Bond to television in a unique way.
The pilot episode, "The Night of the Inferno", was scripted by Gilbert Ralston, who had written for numerous episodic TV series in the 1950s and 1960s and produced by Garrison. As indicated by Robert Conrad on his DVD commentary for the first season, the show went through several changes in producers in its early weeks of production. This was apparently due to conflicts between the network and Garrison. Collier Young produced episodes 2-4. The episodes produced by Young featured a butler named Tennyson who traveled with West and Gordon. Tennyson was dropped after the fourth produced episode, but as the episodes were not broadcast in production order the character was seen on-and-off during the first season. Fred Freiberger produced episodes 5-14; John Mantley episodes 15-21; and Gene L. Coon episodes 22-27. Garrison then returned to the show to produce the last episode of season one. In August 1966, early during production of the second season, however, Garrison fell in his home and died. CBS brought in Bruce Lansbury, head of programming in New York (and brother of actress Angela Lansbury), to produce the show for the remainder of its run.
First season episodes were filmed in black and white, and were appropriately darker in their tonality. (Cinematographer Ted Voightlander was nominated for an Emmy for his work on these episodes.) Subsequent seasons were filmed in color and the show became noticeably campier. Still, some episodes could be astonishingly violent, and that ultimately was the series' downfall: according to Susan Kesler's book (see below), CBS bowed under pressure from watchdog groups and cancelled the show. However, the network re-ran several episodes in the summer of 1970 before the program moved into syndication and new life on local stations across the country, including WGN. In 1994, it was broadcast on TNT, which usually preferred the color episodes over the black and white shows. Hallmark Channel briefly aired the series in 2005 as part of its slate of Saturday afternoon Westerns but quickly dropped it after several weeks. Retro Television Network aired the show with two episodes back-to-back on Thursday nights in 2005 and is now broadcasting the show during the daytime .
In 1997, Ralston sued Warner Brothers over the upcoming motion picture based on the series. (Wild Wild West was released in 1999.) In a deposition, Ralston explained that he was approached by Michael Garrison, who '"said he had an idea for a series, good commercial idea, and wanted to know if I could glue the idea of a western hero and a James Bond type together in the same show."
Ralston said he then created the Civil War characters, the format, the story outline and nine drafts of the script that was the basis for the television series. It was his idea, for example, to have a secret agent named Jim West who would perform secret missions for a bumbling Ulysses S. Grant.
Ralston's experience brought to light a common Hollywood practice of the 1950's and 60's when television writers who helped create popular series allowed producers or studios to take credit for a show, thus denying the writers millions of dollars in royalties. Ralston died in 1999, before his suit was settled. Warner Brothers ended up paying his family between $600,000 and $1.5 million.
Concept summaryThe Wild Wild West told the story of two Secret Service agents—James West, the charming gunslinger (played by Robert Conrad), and Artemus Gordon (played by Ross Martin), the brilliant gadgeteer and master of disguise. Their unending mission was to protect President Ulysses S. Grant and the United States from all manner of dangerous threats. The agents traveled in luxury aboard their own train, the Wanderer, equipped with everything from a stable car to a laboratory.
The show incorporated classic Western elements with an espionage thriller, as well as science fiction/alternate history ideas (in a similar vein to steampunk) and plenty of comedy. In the finest James Bond tradition, there were always beautiful women, clever gadgets, and delusional arch-enemies with half-insane plots to take over the country or the world.
Each episode's title begins with "The Night" (except for the first-season episode "Night of the Casual Killer", which omitted the definite article). Shows with similar naming conventions include: Friends ("The One ..."); The Man from U.N.C.L.E. ("The ... Affair"); The Rat Patrol ("The ... Raid"); Rawhide (seasons 1–3 and 5–6: "Incident ..."); Monk ("Mr. Monk and..."); Still Standing ("Still..."); Everybody Hates Chris ("Everybody Hates..."); and Scrubs ("My ...").
The one memorable recurring arch-villain was Dr. Miguelito Quixote Loveless, a brilliant-but-insane dwarf portrayed by Michael Dunn, who performed almost an identical function for West and Gordon as Professor Moriarty performed for Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson—the worthy adversary, whose plans could be foiled but who resisted all attempts to capture him and bring him to justice. Loveless was introduced in the show's sixth produced, but third televised episode, "The Night the Wizard Shook The Earth", and appeared in another nine episodes. Initially he had two constant companions, the huge Voltaire, played by Richard Kiel, and the beautiful Antoinette. This role was performed by Dunn's real-life singing partner, Phoebe Dorin. Voltaire disappeared with no explanation after the third battle against Loveless, while Antoinette was not seen after the sixth one. According to The Wild Wild West Revisited TV movie, Loveless eventually dies in 1880 from ulcers, brought on by anger and frustration at having his plans consistently ruined by West and Gordon. (His son, played by Paul Williams, subsequently seeks revenge on the agents).
Though several actors appeared in multiple villainous roles, only one other character had a second encounter with West and Gordon, Count Manzeppi, played flamboyantly by Victor Buono.
While the show's writers created their fair share of villains, they frequently started with the nefarious, stylized inventions of these madmen and then wrote the episodes around these devices. Stories were also inspired by Edgar Allan Poe, H. G. Wells, and Jules Verne.
Robert Conrad and a stock company of stunt players choreographed at least two fight sequences per episode. Conrad also insisted on performing all of his own stunts, such as leaping off a second-floor balcony or running in front of a team of horses. During the filming of one episode, "The Night of the Fugitives", Conrad fell 12 feet from a chandelier onto a concrete floor and suffered a concussion. Production of the series, then near the end of its third season, was shut down two weeks early. (The episode eventually aired during the fourth season, with footage of the fall left in.) Ross Martin broke his leg in a fourth season episode, "The Night of the Avaricious Actuary", and suffered a heart attack a few weeks later after completing "The Night of Fire and Brimstone." His character was replaced temporarily by other agents played by Charles Aidman (four episodes), Alan Hale, Jr. and William Schallert. Aidman said that the script rewrites he had been promised simply amounted to changing the name "Artemus Gordon" to "Jeremy Pike" (his character's name). Pat Paulsen is frequently thought of as a Martin substitute, but he in fact appeared in one of Aidman's episodes, and his character would have been present even if Martin appeared.
Ross Martin once called his role as Artemus Gordon "a show-off's showcase" because it allowed him to portray over 100 different characters during the course of the series, and perform dozens of different dialects. Martin sketched his ideas for his characterizations and worked with the make-up artists to execute the final look. Martin was nominated for an Emmy in 1969.
PropsThe Wild Wild West featured numerous gadgets. Some were recurring devices, such as James' sleeve gun or breakaway derringer hidden in his left and right boot heels. Others only appeared in a single episode.
- Sleeve gun (a Remington derringer, featured in many episodes). In a few episodes the ejecting/retractable support-arm of the device had other useful gadgets attached to it instead of the derringer (i.e. a tiny squirt-can containing acid, iron climbing-claws, various blades, etc.)
- Lock-pick in the lapel of the bolero-style jacket.
- Throwing knife in the collar of the jacket.
- Various explosive devices fitted in the lining of his jacket, inside his belt (and its buckle), and a secret compartment in his holster.
- A flat metal barbed climbing-spike and a thin, but strong attachable rope or cord that could be shot into a wooden beam or wall from either his deringer or revolver.
- A small hand-held rod with a built-in spring-loaded motor-driven winch. When used in conjunction with his climbing-spike and rope, the rod-winch can either hoist him upwards to a building's roof, for instance, or lower him into a deep pit, the distance depending on the length of rope deployed.
- An ejecting knife-blade in his boot, just between the outer sole and toe-box of the boot.
- Extra bullets in his belt buckle.
- A thin, but extremely strong wire flexible enough to be coiled and fitted in the inner lining of the crown of his hat; the wire has multiple uses, and is also capable of sawing through a steel bar.
- Breakaway derringer (featured in numerous episodes). Usually the handle and trigger mechanism is located in the hollowed-out heel of one boot, while the barrel assembly is located in the other boot's hollowed-out heel; the two pieces snap together and lock. Often bullets for this breakaway derringer are dispensed from a secret compartment in his belt-buckle.
- Exploding billiard ball (usually the cue ball, but not always, featured in pilot episode).
- Cue stick that has a hidden sword inside (featured in pilot episode)
- Cue stick that can shoot a bullet (featured in pilot episode)
- Stage coach with ejector-seat (featured in the episode, "The Night the Wizard Shook the Earth")
- A ball-like wad of explosive material in the hollow heel of one boot; the fuse attached to the hem of his jacket.
- A break-away blow-torch, each piece hidden in each hollowed-out boot heel.
- Aboard the agents' train, two pistols on a wooden swivel-stand on desk, activated and controlled by a knob on the fireplace.
- Also aboard the agents' train, the fireplace conceals a secret escape door and an emergency flare signal
- Several pistols, a few rifles, shotguns, and other assorted weaponry hidden behind a sliding wall-panel behind the map at one end of the railway car.
- A shotgun hidden under a revolving table-top.
- A telegraph mechanism in a cane
- A blow torch disguised as a cigar.
The villains often used equally creative gadgets, including:
- An earthquake making device.
- A brainwashing device using intense sight and sound
- A cyborg, i.e., a man who replaced much of his flesh and bone with metal, augmenting his strength and invulnerability
- An early flamethrower
- Man-sized steam-driven puppets
- Jars that could preserve disembodied human brains and draw upon their knowledge and psychic force
- A prototype tank
- A potion made from liquified diamond capable of allowing a man to move so fast as to be invisible
- An LSD-like hallucinogenic capable of driving men into fits of killing madness
- A television
- A torpedo disguised as a dragon and capable of homing on a radio signal
- An invisible electronic force field that disintegrates anything that came in contact with it
- A drug capable of shrinking a man down to a height of 6"
- A suit of armor that acted as an exo-skeleton
- A tidal wave-making device that generated giant bubbles
- A sonic device that allowed the use of paintings as a portal to other dimensions
- Surgically implanted crystals that when shattered inside the brain by a high-pitched noise, caused the subject to turn into a criminal
- A giant falcon-shaped cannon, capable of devastating a small town with a single shot
- The Juggernaut, a steam-powered tank that was triangular in shape, and had a barbed tip.
The trainFor the pilot episode, "The Night of the Inferno", the producers used , a 4-6-0 locomotive that was, fittingly, an anachronism: it wasn't built until 1891. Footage of this train, with a 5 replacing the 3 on its number plate, was shot in Jamestown, California. Best known for its role as the Hooterville Cannonball in the CBS series Petticoat Junction, Sierra No. 3 probably appeared in more films and TV shows than any other locomotive in history. It was built by the Rogers Locomotive and Machine Works in Paterson, New Jersey.
When The Wild Wild West went into series production, however, an entirely different train was employed. The locomotive, a 4-4-0 named the , was built in 1875 by the Baldwin Locomotive Works in Philadelphia. Originally a wood-burner, the Inyo was converted to oil in 1910. The Inyo, as well as the express car and the passenger car, originally served on the Virginia and Truckee Railroad in Nevada. They were among several V&T cars sold to Paramount Pictures in 1937-8. The Inyo appears in numerous films, including High, Wide, and Handsome, Union Pacific, The Marx Brothers' Go West, Meet Me in St. Louis,, Red River, Disney's The Great Locomotive Chase and McLintock!. For The Wild Wild West, Inyo's original number plate was temporarily changed from No. 22 to No. 8 so that footage of the train could be flipped left or right without the number appearing reversed. Footage of the Inyo was shot around Menifee, Calif., and re-used countless times during the run of the show. (Stock footage of Sierra No. 3 occasionally resurfaced as well!)
These trains were used only for exterior shots. The luxurious interior of the passenger car was constructed on Stage 6 at CBS Studio Center. (Neither Stage 6 or any of the western streets still exist.) Designed by art director
The interior of West and Gordon's train was used in an episode of Gunsmoke titled "Death Train" (aired 1/27/67).
After her run on The Wild Wild West, the Inyo participated in the Golden Spike Centennial at Promontory, Utah, in 1969. The following year it appeared as a replica of the Central Pacific's "Jupiter" locomotive at the . The State of Nevada purchased the Inyo in 1974; it was restored to 1895 vintage, including a wider smoke stack and a new pilot (cow catcher) without a drop coupler. The Inyo is still operational and currently displayed at the Nevada State Railroad Museum in Carson City. The express car and passenger car are also at the museum.
Another veteran V&T locomotive, the (built in 1872 by Baldwin), was used in the two Wild Wild West TV movies and in the 1999 theatrical film starring Will Smith. The Reno is located at Old Tucson Studios.
Theme music, cartoon, graphics and Star TrekThe main title theme was written by Richard Markowitz, who was brought in after the producers rejected two attempts by famed film composer Dimitri Tiomkin. However, Markowitz was never credited for his theme on any episode of the series (although he did receive "music by" credit for episodes he'd scored or where he supplied the majority of tracked-in cues); it is generally believed that this was due to legal difficulties between CBS and Tiomkin over the rejection of the latter's work. Markowitz had previously composed the theme to the TV series "The Rebel."
The cartoon teaser for the opening credits was another unique element of the series. The screen was divided into five panels, the center containing a cartoon "hero" who interacted with characters in the surrounding panels. The cartoon Hero actually bears more of a resemblance to Clint Eastwood in Rawhide or James Arness in Gunsmoke than Conrad or Martin, and the vignettes in the teaser reflect Western movie clichés rather than the fanciful situations typical of The Wild Wild West.
The original sequence is as follows:
- Hero strikes match, lights a cigarette and begins walking in profile
- Behind the Hero, in the lower left panel, a robber backs out of a bank; the Hero subdues him with a karate chop
- In the upper right panel, a cardshark tries to pull an ace from his boot; the Hero draws his gun and the cardshark drops his card
- In the upper left panel, a gunman points a six shooter at the Hero, who drops his gun and puts his hands up. Hero then shoots the gunman with his sleeve derringer; gunman's hand falls limp
- A woman in the lower right panel taps Hero with her parasol. He pulls her close and kisses her. She is about to stab him but turns away and slumps against the side of the frame, still holding the knife, mesmerized by his kiss. He tips his hat and walks away from camera. This final vignette changed when the series changed to color: the Hero knocks her out with a right cross to the jaw! [Note: This variant can be seen in the original pilot version of the opening credits (included on the DVD release) when the series was under the title The Wild West.] Despite the new version, James West never hit a woman in any episode, although he grappled with some. The original animation, with the Hero winning the woman over with a kiss, was a more accurate representation of West's methods than the right cross. Ironically, it is another example of the emphasis of violence of the show.
- The camera then zooms into the middle panel and the title The Wild Wild West appears. Camera swish pans to an illustration of the train, with Conrad's and Martin's names on the ends of different cars.
The four corner panels were then utilized for the commercial breaks. Each episode was divided into four acts. At the end of each act, the scene (usually a cliffhanger moment) would freeze and a sketch or photograph of the scene would replace one of the panels. (The commercial break freeze frames usually didn't follow in the same order as the main title; they only do so in four episodes - "The Night of the Two-Legged Buffalo," "The Night of the Man-Eating House," "The Night of the Deadly Blossom," and "The Night of the Winged Terror, Part 2.")
The freeze-frame art changed over the course of the series. In all first season episodes other than the pilot, the panels were live-action stills made to evoke 19th century engravings. In season two (the first in color) the scenes dissolved to tinted stills; from "The Night of the Flying Pie Plate" on, however, the panels were home to Warhol-like serigraphs of the freeze-frames. The end credits were displayed over each episode's mosaic in every season but the last, when a standardized design was used. The pilot episode is the only episode in which the center panel of the Hero is replaced by a sketch of the final scene of an act — in the third act, he is replaced by the villainous General Cassinello.
During the first season, the series title "The Wild Wild West" was set in the font P.T. Barnum. In subsequent seasons, the title appeared in a hand-drawn version of the font Dolphin (which resembles other fonts called Zebrawood, Circus, and Rodeo Clown). Robert Conrad's name was also set in this font. Ross Martin's name was set in the font Bracelet (which resembles Tuscan Ornate and Romantiques). All episode titles, writer and director credits, guest cast and crew credits were set in P.T. Barnum. During commercial breaks, the title "The Wild Wild West" also appeared in P.T. Barnum. This teaser part of the show was incorporated into The History Channel's Wild West Tech (2003-5).
Notice that six first season episodes were produced by Gene L. Coon, also of Star Trek fame. In fact, there are some suspicious similarities between two episodes of the two shows as well as sound effects. Robert Conrad himself points to one in his introduction to the episode "The Night of the Burning Diamond" on The Wild, Wild West 40th Anniversary DVD Collection. This episode features a man who, by distilling a certain liquid from burning diamonds, can make himself faster than the eye can see. For fans of the original Star Trek series, this would instantly bring to mind the episode "Wink of an Eye" where the planet Scalos' water causes the same effect. In addition in the same Wild, Wild West episode, we hear a sound described as the individual sound waves produced by people speaking, which became the signature sound of the Star Trek communicator.
TV-moviesConrad and Martin reunited for two television movies, The Wild Wild West Revisited (aired May 9, 1979) and More Wild Wild West (aired October 7-8, 1980). "Revisited" introduced Paul Williams as Miguelito Loveless Jr., the son of the agents' arch-nemesis. Loveless planned to substitute clones for the crowned heads of Europe and the President of the United States. (This plot was borrowed from the second season episode "The Night of the Brain.") "More" was initially conceived as a rematch between the agents and Miguelito Jr., but Williams was unavailable for the film. His character was changed to Albert Paradine II and played by Jonathan Winters. Paradine planned world conquest using a formula for invisibility. (This recalls the first season episode "The Night of the Burning Diamond.") Both TV films were campier than the TV series, although Conrad and Martin played their roles straight.
In other mediaThe series spawned several merchandising spin-offs, including a seven-issue comic book series by Gold Key Comics, and a paperback novel, Richard Wormser's The Wild Wild West, published in 1966 by Signet (ISBN 0-451-02836-8), which adapted the episode "The Night Of the Double-Edged Knife".
In 1988, Arnett Press published The Wild Wild West: The Series by Susan E. Kesler (ISBN 0-929360-00-1), a thorough production history and episode guide.
In 1990, Millennium Publications produced a four-part comic book series ("The Night Of The Iron Tyrants") scripted by Mark Ellis with art by Darryl Banks. A sequel to the TV series, it involved Dr. Loveless in a conspiracy to assassinate President Grant and the President of Brazil and put the Knights of the Golden Circle into power. The characters of Voltaire and Antoinette were prominent here, despite their respective early departures from Dr. Loveless' side in the original program. A review from the Mile High Comics site states: "This mini-series perfectly captures the fun mixture of western and spy action that marked the ground-breaking 1960s TV series." The storyline of the comics mini-series was optioned for motion picture development.
In 1998, Berkeley Books published three novels by author Robert Vaughan - The Wild Wild West (ISBN 0-425-16372-5), The Night of the Death Train (ISBN 0-425-16449-7), and The Night of the Assassin (ISBN 0-425-16517-5).
DVDThe first season of The Wild Wild West was released to DVD in North America on June 6, 2006, as a special 40th anniversary edition by CBS Home Entertainment. For the first season set, Robert Conrad recorded special audio introductions for all 28 episodes and the set also included interviews and 1970s era footage of Conrad and Martin being interviewed. The second season was released on March 20, 2007 but the set contained no special features. The third season was released on November 20, 2007. The fourth and final season was released on March 18, 2008. In France, all four seasons (known locally as Les Mystères de l'Ouest) have already been released in a DVD boxed set.
A new fan-made Wild Wild West series is being developed by the creators of
Motion pictureIn January 1992, Variety reported that Warner Bros. was planning a theatrical version of The Wild Wild West directed by Richard Donner, written by Shane Black, and starring Mel Gibson as James West. (Donner directed three episodes of the original series.) Donner and Gibson instead made a theatrical version of TV's Maverick in 1994. The Wild Wild West motion picture continued in the development stage, with Tom Cruise rumored for the lead in 1995. Cruise instead revived Mission: Impossible the following year.
Finally, in 1999, a theatrical motion picture loosely based on the series was released. Directed by Barry Sonnenfeld, the film Wild Wild West (without the definite article used in the series title) made substantial changes to the characters of the series, reimagining James West as an African-American (played by Will Smith), almost completely ignoring the racial issues that certainly would have made it difficult, if not impossible, for a black man to be a United States secret service agent in the late 1800s. (However, at the end of the TV episode "The Night of the Returning Dead", West and Gordon did invite an African-American character played by guest star Sammy Davis Jr. to join the department.)
Significant changes were made to Dr. Loveless (played by Kenneth Brannagh in the film). He went from a dwarf (TV) to a man without legs (film); his name was also changed to Arliss Loveless and he was given the motive of a Southerner who sought the defeat of the North after the Civil War. Kevin Kline plays Gordon, whose character was similar to the version played by Ross Martin, except that he was bitterly competitive with James West, and much more egotistical. The film script had Kline's Gordon invent more ridiculous, humor-related, and implausible contraptions than those created by Martin's Gordon in the television series.
The film also depicted West and Gordon as competitive rivals (almost to the point of a mutual dislike and distrust of one another), whereas in the television series, West and Gordon had a very close friendship and trusted each other with their lives.
Robert Conrad reportedly was offered a cameo in the role of President Grant, but turned it down. He was outspoken in his criticism of the new film. In a New York Post interview, Conrad stated that he disliked the movie and that contractually he was owed a share of money on merchandising that he was not paid. He had a long-standing feud with producer Jon Peters, which may have colored his opinion. He was also offended at the racial aspects of the film, as well as the casting of Brannagh as a double amputee, rather than a little-person actor, in the role of Loveless.
DatesThe series is set during the presidency of Ulysses Grant, 1869-77; occasional episodes indicate a more precise date.
- "The Night of the Glowing Corpse" is set during the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-1.
- "The Night of the Eccentrics" takes place four years after the assassination of Emperor Maximilian I of Mexico, placing the episode in 1871.
- In "The Night of the Brain" Artemus Gordon shows James West a newspaper dated July 12, 1872. West states, "July 12, that's an interesting date, but it happens to be tomorrow." Later they again get tomorrow's newspaper and we see the date: July 14, 1872.
- In "The Night that Terror Stalked the Town", Loveless has a headstone prepared for West, showing his birthdate as July 2, 1842.
- "The Night of the Whirring Death" opens with the caption San Francisco 1874.
- In "The Night of the Flaming Ghost", Jim West says, "If the real John Brown had lived he'd be almost 75 years old by now," placing this episode not long before May 9, 1875.
- In "The Night of the Arrow", President Grant reads a request from General Baldwin to be relieved from active duty on April 6, 1874, and comments that he will honor the request.
- In "The Night of the Avaricious Actuary," the heading of a letter shown on screen is dated 1875.
- In "The Night of the Samurai", it is stated that Perry's diplomatic expeditions to Japan in 1852 and 1854 occurred "30 years ago", but this is an error given the bulk of evidence above.
- In "The Night of the Infernal Machine," a character quotes from Emma Lazarus' The New Colossus, which wasn't written until 1883.
See also
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