The Wild Wild West

7.6
196550m

The Wild Wild West is an American television series. 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." Set during the administration of President Ulysses Grant, the series followed Secret Service agents James West and Artemus Gordon as they solved crimes, protected the President, and foiled the plans of megalomaniacal villains to take over all or part of the United States. The show also featured a number of fantasy elements, such as the technologically advanced devices used by the agents and their adversaries. The combination of the Victorian era time-frame and the use of Verne-esque style technology have inspired some to give the show credit for the origins of the steam punk subculture.

Production

Logo for CBS

Seasons

28 Episodes • Premiered 1965

Still image for The Wild Wild West season 1 episode 1: The Night of the Inferno

1. The Night of the Inferno

6.0

Jim is set up as a renegade as a cover for him and Artie to sneak into Texas and track down General Juan Manolo, who is trying to take over the region.

Still image for The Wild Wild West season 1 episode 2: The Night of the Deadly Bed

2. The Night of the Deadly Bed

6.0

Facing execution at the hands of a madman, West learns the crazed assassin plans to reclaim Mexico---as the new Napoleon.

Still image for The Wild Wild West season 1 episode 3: The Night the Wizard Shook the Earth

3. The Night the Wizard Shook the Earth

6.0

West tries to protect Prof. Nielsen, a demolitions expert. But he fails: Nielson is blown up by the evil Dr. Miguelito Loveless.

Still image for The Wild Wild West season 1 episode 4: The Night of Sudden Death

4. The Night of Sudden Death

Jim West suspects his search for counterfeiters is getting warm when he's shot at with arrows---and thrown to the crocodiles.

Still image for The Wild Wild West season 1 episode 5: The Night of the Casual Killer

5. The Night of the Casual Killer

Jim and Artie set out to penetrate the stronghold of a corrupt political boss and return him to Washington for trial.

Still image for The Wild Wild West season 1 episode 6: The Night of a Thousand Eyes

6. The Night of a Thousand Eyes

Ships along the Mississippi are being attacked by a gang of pirates known as the "Thousand Eyes". After Jim ducks an assassin, an attractive woman, he finds the leader of the Eyes: Captain Ansel Coffin, who was blinded and now seeks revenge. His gang use false lights to lead ships astray and crash them, and then plunder them. Jim is captured by Coffin and manages to escape a cage rigged to a lightning rod. He is blinded by a powder flash, and for a time he is at a decided edge against Coffin (who has long adapted to his blindness). Coffin manages to accidentally kill his wife. Enraged, Jim is saved by his recovering eyesight: he ducks, and Coffin falls into a pit to his death.

Still image for The Wild Wild West season 1 episode 7: The Night of the Glowing Corpse

7. The Night of the Glowing Corpse

Jim and Artemus try to recover stolen radioactive materials nad have only one clue - a set of fingerprints found on the ankle of a pretty secretary.

Still image for The Wild Wild West season 1 episode 8: The Night of the Dancing Death

8. The Night of the Dancing Death

To rescue a kidnapped princess, Jim runs into a booby-trapped doorknob and a fully armored man wielding a mace.

Still image for The Wild Wild West season 1 episode 9: The Night of the Double-Edged Knife

9. The Night of the Double-Edged Knife

An Indian demand for gold must be met: they've threatened to kill five railroad workers a day until it is paid.

Still image for The Wild Wild West season 1 episode 10: The Night That Terror Stalked the Town

10. The Night That Terror Stalked the Town

West is lured to a ghost town peopled with lifelike dummies as part of an elaborate trap set for him by his nemesis Dr. Loveless.

Still image for The Wild Wild West season 1 episode 11: The Night of the Red-Eyed Madmen

11. The Night of the Red-Eyed Madmen

West is sent to infiltrate an army of fanatics dedicated to overthrowing the U.S. Government. Getting in is no problem...but if he tries to leave he'll be shot.

Still image for The Wild Wild West season 1 episode 12: The Night of the Human Trigger

12. The Night of the Human Trigger

A demented geologist can set off earthquakes where he chooses as part of an elaborate extortioin scheme. So West and Gordon head for Ellenville--the next town on the mad genius's list.

Still image for The Wild Wild West season 1 episode 13: The Night of the Torture Chamber

13. The Night of the Torture Chamber

Jim and Artie take on an obsessed museum curator who has private designs on the state treasury.

Still image for The Wild Wild West season 1 episode 14: The Night of the Howling Light

14. The Night of the Howling Light

West is captured by a doctor who uses Pavlovian training to condition the Secret Service agent into becoming an assassin.

Still image for The Wild Wild West season 1 episode 15: The Night of the Fatal Trap

15. The Night of the Fatal Trap

Jim goes to arrest a Mexican bandit disguised as a notorious outlaw...but the villain's girlfriend recognizes him.

Still image for The Wild Wild West season 1 episode 16: The Night of the Steel Assassin

16. The Night of the Steel Assassin

A series of mysterious deaths of military personnel bring Jim face to face with the indestructible Col. "Iron Man" Torres. Crippled in an explosion that he blames on the other men of his company, Torres rebuilt himself as a 19th century "cyborg", and is seeking revenge on those he thinks wronged him...and President Grant was one of the men he served with.

Still image for The Wild Wild West season 1 episode 17: The Night the Dragon Screamed

17. The Night the Dragon Screamed

Jim and Artie have only one clue to track down the smugglers of opium and Chinese aliens: a fortune cookie.

Still image for The Wild Wild West season 1 episode 18: The Night of the Flaming Ghost

18. The Night of the Flaming Ghost

Jim is assigned to stop abolitionist John Brown. The only problem - he was pronounced dead 20 years ago.

Still image for The Wild Wild West season 1 episode 19: The Night of the Grand Emir

19. The Night of the Grand Emir

West must protect a visiting despot from the fatal charms of Ecstasy La Joie, who brandishes such baubles as an explosive garter and a deadly ring.

Still image for The Wild Wild West season 1 episode 20: The Night of the Whirring Death

20. The Night of the Whirring Death

Intent on making California a kingdom for children, evil Dr. Loveless makes his play for the state with a series of toys---which explode.

Still image for The Wild Wild West season 1 episode 21: The Night of the Puppeteer

21. The Night of the Puppeteer

A Supreme Court justice will not believe his life is in danger---until a puppet-show marionette fires a gun at him.

Still image for The Wild Wild West season 1 episode 22: The Night of the Bars of Hell

22. The Night of the Bars of Hell

West, posing as a prison inspector, hunts for clues to a pillaging outlaw band.

Still image for The Wild Wild West season 1 episode 23: The Night of the Two-Legged Buffalo

23. The Night of the Two-Legged Buffalo

West tries to protect a pleasure-loving prince who insists on visiting a plush spa---where assassins eagerly await his arrival.

Still image for The Wild Wild West season 1 episode 24: The Night of the Druid's Blood

24. The Night of the Druid's Blood

West is furious: his superiors have refused him permission to investigate the murder of a close friend who was burned to death before his eyes.

Still image for The Wild Wild West season 1 episode 25: The Night of the Freebooters

25. The Night of the Freebooters

West poses as an ex-con to gain admittance to renegade Army leader Thorald Wolfe.

Still image for The Wild Wild West season 1 episode 26: The Night of the Burning Diamond

26. The Night of the Burning Diamond

West tries to convince a Serbian official to hide the Kara Diamond. Then the gem disappears---and West is blamed.

Still image for The Wild Wild West season 1 episode 27: The Night of the Murderous Spring

27. The Night of the Murderous Spring

West helps a powerfully built girl carry her trunk, not knowing it contains his shrewd enemy---diminutive, giggling Dr. Loveless.

Still image for The Wild Wild West season 1 episode 28: The Night of the Sudden Plague

28. The Night of the Sudden Plague

West finds Willow Springs looted and its citizens completely immobile---victims of a mysterious paralysis.

Cast

Photo of Robert Conrad

Robert Conrad

James T. West

Photo of Ross Martin

Ross Martin

Artemus Gordon

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Reviews

M

MagicMark

10/10

I was born after the show had been off the air for a few years, so of course I discovered it in reruns.

It was syndicated all over the country by then, and locally it aired on Sunday nights at 6pm (a fairly wise strategy, since airing episodes once a week meant they wouldn't run through them too quickly).

My father was a fan of the show, and we watched it together every Sunday evening after dinner. When we started this ritual I was too young to enjoy most of the shows my dad enjoyed, but this had everything I could want; good guys, bad guys, lots of action, inventive plots, gadgets, and humor.

It might be the only show that I enjoyed at that age that I still enjoy today because of its quality. (I can still watch Happy Days or the Dukes of Hazzard and remember WHY I enjoyed them at that age, but they don't hold up).

The writers were inventive, and the show was able to mix sci-fi with the western genre very well, with some really nice gothic horror touches and mystery elements along the way.

Robert Conrad deserves praise for his stunt work, which was a hallmark of the show, along with Ross Martin and his many disguises and accents.

Probably the best part of the show was the villain each week, sometimes bent on world domination, but always creative.

The show spawned two reunion movies, which failed to recapture the spirit of the original series but were both pleasant diversions for a few hours. Unfortunately the show was unable to escape the 'old tv show turned into a big screen movie' machine in Hollywood, and the results were a mess.

You've reached the end.