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Sometimes I
feel like I say this a little too often,
because there are so many older shows I
love, but I'm here again to talk about one
of my absolute favorites. It is a show I
watched over and over again growing up,
and since the very first moment I realized
that TV on DVD was making the scene I hoped
that it would get released. Every month
I would check the listings of upcoming releases
waiting to see the title. Then, a few short
months ago month… there it was. "The
Wild, Wild West."
Yes! Finally, the suits at Paramount saw
fit to begin releasing full season sets
of "The Wild, Wild West", and
are already gearing up to release the 4th
and final season next week. Finally, I could
sit down and watch the exploits of Federal
Agents James West (Robert Conrad) and Artemus
Gordon (Ross Martin) as they fought their
way through a list of villains a mile long.
Finally, my wife got to stop hearing me
nag incessantly about how the series still
wasn't coming out.
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"The Wild, Wild West", I think I should
point out, must not be mistaken for the train
wreck of a film that was released a few years
back starring Will Smith and Kevin Kline. No,
"The Wild, Wild West" I'm talking about
was a TV series that ran back in the 60's and
starred the aforementioned Conrad and Martin.
Set in the 1870's, the series was akin to seeing
James Bond in the old West. Our intrepid agents,
West and Gordon, worked for General Ulysses S.
Grant and traveled the country in a lavish train
car pulled by a single steam engine. They had
all sorts of gadgets and gizmos at their disposal,
my favorite being West's 'derringer up the sleeve'
apparatus. What was so cool about seeing some
of this high-tech equipment was that the writers
and prop guys were very careful to make them look
like it was possible for them to exist back then.
As for the cast, Robert Conrad's James West was
the ultimate TV hero at the time. He was smooth
and debonair when he wanted to be and tough as
nails when he needed to be. He was a skilled marksman
and a practitioner of the martial arts. Often
the bad guys didn't even know what hit them. He
was also a highly accomplished escape artist,
which we got to see first hand in almost every
episode. Then there was Ross Martin as Artemus
Gordon. Martin was a familiar face to TV audiences
back then, having appeared in a number of shows,
but of all his roles this was my favorite. He
was generally West's voice of reason, even though
his advice was largely ignored. He was also a
master of disguise, a fact made even more fun
by the knowledge that Gordon often did his own
makeup. The two had a terrific rapport and I honestly
cannot think of a TV duo I enjoyed watching so
much.
When Paramount's DVD of the 1st season originally
made it to my doorstep, I couldn’t wait
to start watching it. I had almost forgotten that
the show was originally filmed in black &
white, but when the first strains of the memorable
theme music started… everything came flooding
back. Memories of watching the show with my folks,
favorite episodes (some of which aren’t
even in this season), and even of watching the
show religiously in Germany… on a German
station… in German. (Didn’t matter
that I couldn’t understand the dialogue…
just wanted to see the show…)
So for the next few days, I once again sat transfixed…
and transported back to my younger days. The overall
quality of the transfers was nearly perfect. There
were occasional blemishes, but for the most part
the prints looked beautiful. It was cool seeing
the evil Dr. Miguelito Loveless again, played
with such relish by actor Michael Dunn. Even though
Loveless was physically a 'little person', his
desire for power was stronger than any villain
our heroes ever faced. He was so popular a villain
that his role became a recurring one, and he was
considered to be West's version of Moriarty. He
was an evil genius and over the course of the
series came closer to killing West than anyone.
The one major loss this season (besides its being
the final season) was Martin’s presence
in the final few episodes. He had unfortunately
suffered a heart attack and had to bow out (though
he did return for a couple of reunion films a
few years later… which I hope will also
be released on DVD… hint hint hint). In
the series, Artemus was sent on special assignment
to Washington and West’s new partners came
in the form of actor Charles Aidman and William
Schallert. Both performed their roles well, but
neither brought the charm that Martin brought
to the series.
My only disappointment with this final set was
in the lack of special features. The first season
set was full of materials, but there has been
nothing since. Perhaps Paramount exhausted their
library of "Wild, Wild West" extras
on that first set. I really can't complain much
about the lack of features though. Paramount has
given me the opportunity to re-visit some of my
favorite childhood heroes and for that…
I thank them.
Episodes:
The Night of the Big Blackmail
The Night of the Doomsday Formula
The Night of the Juggernaut
The Night of the Sedgewick Curse
The night of the Gruesome Games
The Night of the Kraken
The Night of the Fugitives
The Night of the Egyptian Queen
The Night of Fire and Brimstone
The Night of the Camera
The Night of the Avaricious Actuary
The Night of Miguelito’s Revenge
The Night of the Pelican
The Night of the Spanish Curse
The Night of the Winged Terror, Part 1
The Night of the Winged Terror, Part 2
The Night of the Sabatini Death
The Night of the Janus
The Night of the Pistoleros
The Night of the Diva
The Night of Bleak Island
The Night of the Cossacks
The Night of the Plague
The Night of the Tycoons
Starring: Robert Conrad, Ross Martin
Extras: None
Specifications: Full Screen, Dolby Digital Mono
Studio: Paramount
Release Date: 3/18/2008
Region 1
MPAA Rating: NR
Website
We'll give Wild Wild West: Season 4 a B+.
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