The Wild Wild West

In 1965 television took a new turn in programming, cashing in on the James Bond craze.  What developed was a sudden trend of secret agent and spy shows that literally controlled the prime-time airwaves.  The Western format that was so prominent in the 1950s and early 1960s was virtually being pushed aside, making way for intrigue, espionage and adventure.  Thank goodness someone found a way to combine the popularity of the Western series with spy power because the Wild Wild West would never have been born.  The pitch to the television executives was “James Bond on a horse.”  The concept was quickly embraced.  James T. West was the James Bond of the Westerns.  West was an undercover agent for President Grand whose assignments usually involved exposing or undermining the attempts of various radical, revolutionary, or criminal groups to take over all or part of the U.S.  Helping him was his fellow Secret Service agent, Artemus Gordon, a master of disguises and dialects.  The two of them traveled in a special railroad car that supplied them with the materials to concoct all sorts of bizarre weapons and devices to foil their adversaries.   Beautiful women, contrived situations, and fantastic devices populated this series throughout its four-year run.  One villain who had remarkable facility for evading capture, or escaping from prison if caught, was the evil genius Dr. Miguelito Loveless.  Loveless was a brilliant antagonist bent on taking over the world.  The Wild Wild West ran from September 17, 1965 to September 7, 1970.  I have watched the reruns for this show over and over again and enjoy them each time I see them.  It’s mindless fun and Robert Conrad isn’t bad to look at either.