Television Thursday Reviews: The Wild Wild West

Ross Martin as Artemus Gordon and Robert Conrad as James West

Wild Wild West (1965-1969)

Starring: Robert Conrad, Ross Martin, and Michael Dunn

Summary

Two United States Secret Service Agents, James West (Robert Conrad) and Artemus Gordon (Ross Martin) pose as wealthy gentlemen living on a luxury train during the late 1800s. They travel across the United States infiltrating villainous plans, saving the country from the worst of crimes. Ready to outwit any criminal, Jim West is stoic, dapper, and fit. With the most modern gizmos that can be found, he will find a way out of any situation. While his partner, Artie, is always up to something ingenious. Whether creating a new gadget or disguising himself in a myriad of get-ups, Artie won’t be beat.

Artie and Jim on a mission

Coming across dozens of criminals, including their arch-nemesis Dr. Miguelito Loveless (Michael Dunn), they are faced with dire straits all the time. The two agents keep their wits about them, however, always winning out in the end. Even while faced with these unbelievable odds, Jim and Artie continue to keep their playful banter going, sometimes using it to their advantage.

Dr. Loveless with West

Review

An entertaining series with fantastic music and a good premise. The dialogue between Jim and Artie can’t be beat! It’s quite obvious that Robert Conrad is the handsome one who always saves the day in the end, with an uncanny ability of having the perfect gadget or gizmo for the situation he’s in. However, I go for the foil character in Ross Martin. Both have unique parts and play them well, but who can beat Artie’s humor and ability. Ross Martin’s character is unique, because in the story he’s a former actor, but now as a spy, is still keeping his acting techniques up. Sometimes, it takes a while to figure out who he is when in disguise. Be on the lookout 😉

Artie in Disguise

The series has been scrutinized for the amount of violence in it, and indeed, each episode has some form of torture to it. Know this going in and exercise caution (especially around children). Also, there’s always a girl in distress (or sometimes she is the distress) that either falls for Robert Conrad or gets him to fall for her. However, this is not an unusual plot for a television series from the 1960s.

Aside from the aforementioned issues, there is adventure and excitement watching two “spies” from the 1800s get in and out of all kinds of trouble. It’s a unique perspective, wondering what kinds of gadgets they really could have had based on discoveries made at that time. The music is perfect for the show and it’s always thrilling when you hear the theme start toward the end and you know that James West will be getting them out of peril soon!

Jim with one of his many gadgets

Broken up into chapter segments, each one ends with a nail-biting situation. What will happen to Jim and Artie?? Of course, we know that all will be alright in the end, because…how can it not be? 😉

The Wanderer

Ellen Nolan

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