SPECIAL TO WILDWEST2-L
 
 
 
The never-before-published unabridged version
of Craig Reid's
Wild, Wild West Retrospective

 
 
 
(abridged version -- CINEFANTASTIQUE, OCT. 1999)

 

 
 

 

THE WILD, WILD WEST: INTRODUCTION

Six years ago I was sitting in my living room in New Haven, Connecticut and the phone rang.

 

RICHARD DONNER

I met Richard Donner on the set of LETHAL WEAPON 4 while they were shooting an action scene with Jet Li.

 

DR. MIGUELITO LOVELESS: A DUNN DEAL

Robert Conrad, Fred Freiberger, Bruce Lansbury, Whitey Hughes or anyone else who remembers the show all agree that the ultimate villain of THE WILD, WILD WEST was none other than the childlike, psychotic, dwarf-sized madman Doctor Miguelito Loveless.

 

STORY EDITOR HENRY SHARP

Henry Sharp wrote some of the best episodes of THE WILD, WILD WEST and was the only writer to survive all four seasons and work with all the major producers.

 

ROSS MARTIN: NOT JUST A SIDEKICK

Who can ever forget those moments when West's fighting abilities would fail him or he'd run out of tricks or it looked like he would become some kind of animal fodder, where things just weren't looking good?

 

RICHARD KIEL: VOLTAIRE SPEAKS

Did you ever wonder what happened to the limerick-fearing Voltaire, the infantile, body crushing, pituitary gigantic assistant to Dr. Miguelito Loveless?

 

WILLIAM SCHALLERT: GUEST AGENT--GUEST STAR

When "Mr. Gordon goes to Washington," as kids we didn't realize that "Artemus" (Ross Martin) had actually suffered a serious heart attack.

 

KEN KOLB ON GENE COON & WRITING FOR WILD, WILD WEST

When I called Ken Kolb, one of the top writers in the TV industry for 25 years and who penned 8 cool episodes of THE WILD WILD WEST and THE 7TH VOYAGE OF SINBAD, he was in the middle of writing a memorial service for a dear friend that was responsible for bringing he and his wife of 47 years together and taught him how to drink without getting paralyzed or obnoxious.

 

ROBERT CONRAD SPEAKS ABOUT THE SHOW AND THE MOVIE

In an unprecedented move, I got a call one day from Robert Conrad who was willing to give me a rare interview about THE WILD, WILD WEST.

 

WHITEY HUGHES: HEAD OF CONRAD'S CREW

After talking to all the executives, the stars and the filmmakers that made THE WILD, WILD WEST happen, it's time to talk to the real nuts and bolts of what made the show a pure, visual, pugilistic spectacle, the likes that have never been seen before on American TV.

 

THE WILD WILD.... STAR TREK?

When I immigrated to the United States during the '60s the thing that removed the sorrow of leaving England was American TV, specifically the two shows that totally captured my imagination and allegiance, THE WILD, WILD WEST and STAR TREK.

 

MORE WILD WILD WEST REVISITED

As the years go past, people become nostalgic, wanting to go back to the good ole' days. TV is the same, so on February 9th, 1979 the first WILD, WILD WEST film started shooting.

 

THE WILD, WILD WEST TOP 20 EPISODE GUIDE

Together, the natty, nervy James T. West and the resourceful master of disguise Artemus Gordon adventurously and bravely prevented dastardly villains and intellectual madmen from taking over America or the world in 104 episodes from 1965-1969.


 

 
 

 
 
 
Previously-Featured Articles:
 
  • Where the Sun Always Sets
     
  • Of Spies and Six-Guns (title "Wild Wild West") part 3
     
  • Of Spies and Six-Guns part 2
     
  • Of Spies and Six-Guns part 1
     
  • How the West was Wild
     
  • Classic Westerns: The Wild, Wild West
     
  • Baby Boomer Collectables - The Wild, Wild West

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