View Full Version : Classic TV Westerns- The Wild Wild West (1965–1969)



ethanedwards
August 3rd, 2011, 05:38 AM
THE WILD WILD WEST

BRUCE LANSBURY PRODUCTIONS
MICHAEL GARRISON PRODUCTIONS
COLUMBIA BROADCASTING SYSTEM(CBS)

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Information from IMDb

Plot Summary
James West and Artemus Gordon are two agents of President Grant
who take their splendidly appointed private train through the west to fight evil.
Half science fiction and half western, the Artemus designs a series
of interesting gadgets for James that would make Inspector Gadget proud.
A light hearted adventure series.
Written by John Vogel

Series Cast
Robert Conrad ... James T. West / ... (104 episodes, 1965-1969)
Ross Martin ... Artemus Gordon (99 episodes, 1965-1969)
Dick Cangey ... Henchman / ... (44 episodes, 1966-1969)
Whitey Hughes ... Henchman / ... (36 episodes, 1966-1969)
Red West ... Henchman / ... (30 episodes, 1967-1969)
Tommy J. Huff ... 4th Guard / ... (17 episodes, 1968-1969)
Fred Stromsoe ... Henchman / ... (14 episodes, 1966-1969)
Bob Herron ... Henchman / ... (14 episodes, 1965-1968)
Mickey Golden ... Butler / ... (14 episodes, 1965-1969)
Michael Dunn ... Dr. Miguelito Loveless (10 episodes, 1965-1968)
Douglas Henderson ... Col. James Richmond / ... (10 episodes, 1966-1969)
and many, many more ......notably Richard Kiel

Series Directed
Irving J. Moore (26 episodes, 1965-1969)
Alan Crosland Jr. (11 episodes, 1965-1968)
Marvin J. Chomsky (11 episodes, 1967-1969)
and many more......

Series Produced
Leonard Katzman .... associate producer (90 episodes, 1965-1969)
Bruce Lansbury .... producer (69 episodes, 1966-1969)
Michael Garrison .... producer / executive producer (23 episodes, 1965-1966)
Joe Kirby .... assistant producer (22 episodes, 1968-1969)
and many more......

Series Writing Credits
Michael Garrison (101 episodes, 1965-1969)
Henry Sharp (10 episodes, 1965-1968)
and many more....

Series Original Music
Richard Markowitz (29 episodes, 1965-1967)
Richard Shores (14 episodes, 1966-1969)
Jack Pleis (9 episodes, 1967-1969)
and more.....

Series Cinematography
Ted Voigtlander (55 episodes, 1965-1967)
Edward R. Plante (28 episodes, 1967-1969)
Richard L. Rawlings (19 episodes, 1967-1969)

Trivia
Charles Aidman was added to the cast to fill in while Ross Martin was recovering from a mild heart attack.

Rory Calhoun was originally cast to play Jim West.

Miguelito Loveless' middle name is Quixote.

Jim West's birthday is July 2, 1842. He was named after his father's brother.

Jim and Artie had two different trains. The first was a dark-paneled model used in the seasons the show was filmed in B&W. The second was a more functional model decorated in green and gold. It's this train, which houses the unique gadgets associated with the show, that most people remember.

Jim West was a captain in the army before he joined the Secret Service.

The series was ultimately canceled due to CBS being uncomfortable with the "excessive" violence of the series, rather than declining ratings.

Though Richard Markowitz wrote the theme, he wasn't credited for it on any episode of the series (or on the 1999 movie).

The name of Jim and Artemus's rail car was The Wanderer 1.

Miguelito means "little Michael".

did all his own "fight choreography", including the stunts, until he almost killed himself when one of them backfired.

Robert Conrad (5'8") wore 3" heels as Jim West and the CBS casting office had orders not to hire any women over 5'6" for the show.

Ross Martin read the script. Then he did a pen and ink drawing of the character he was going to play, down to the last detail, glasses, mustached, clothes, posture, shoes, etc. Then he brought sketch to make-up man Don Schoenfeld, and together they molded his face until it looked like the drawing.

The only episode whose title doesn't begin with "The Night..." is "Night of the Casual Killer."

The show was originally titled "The Wild West West" but was renamed when it was decided that The Wild Wild West sounded better.

Television shows of the era that filmed at the same studios often shared minor cast members. It is common to see familiar faces in episodes of Star Trek, Batman, Mission: Impossible and The Wild Wild West.

Three veterans of The Wild Wild West, stuntman Whitey Hughes, makeup artist Ken Chase and actor Richard Kiel, reminisce about the series and star Robert Conrad in the book "A Sci-Fi Swarm and Horror Horde" (McFarland & Co., 2010) by Tom Weaver.

All the action that took place inside the train was shot on a set in the studio. The "car" had removable walls so that the camera could maneuver. This is especially obvious when someone is coming in or going out since there is always a bush visible outside which blocks the interior of the sound stage. Even when the long shot shows a desert with nothing around the car the bush is still seen.

The opening credits as originally designed for the pilot (and included on
the season 1 DVD) show the animated cowboy knocking down the woman trying
to stab him. In the first season as aired, the cowboy kisses the woman, who
dreamily turns away instead of trying to stab him. Later episodes
reinstated the cowboy knocking the woman down.

Filming Locations
Bronson Canyon, Griffith Park - 4730 Crystal Springs Drive, Los Angeles, California, USA
CBS Studio Center - 4024 Radford Avenue, Studio City, Los Angeles, California, USA
California, USA
Iverson Ranch - 1 Iverson Lane, Chatsworth, Los Angeles, California, USA
Vasquez Rocks Natural Area Park - 10700 W. Escondido Canyon Rd., Agua Dulce, California, USA

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ethanedwards
August 3rd, 2011, 05:39 AM
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."
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.

User Review


Author: Brian Washington (Sargebri@att.net) from Los Angeles, California
Have Gun, Will Travel Meets the Avengers,
In 1965 someone had the bright idea to mix the two most popular genres at that time, spy shows and westerns, and came up with this classic series. The western elements were obviously the horses, Indians and a strong hero and the espionage elements were the gadgets and megalomaniacal villains. Robert Conrad was excellent as Jim West and Ross Martin was just as great as the master of disguise Artemis Gordon. This chemistry between the two leads helped to make this show a classic. However, Michael Dunn pretty much stole the show as Miguelito Loveless, or as Artie would often call him, "The Little Wizard". This show will always be one of the wildest things about the decade of the 60's.