Tom Holmberg June 3 Share June 3 On 5/31/2024 at 4:44 PM, chessiegal said: At the end of the episode, Ned Brown (Hale) says he's going on vacation to a deserted island. Cue the music from the theme song for Gilligan's Island. The Gilligan's Island references were fun, but Alan Hale Jr. doesn't do much as West's sidekick. 1 Link to comment
chessiegal June 3 Author Share June 3 45 minutes ago, Tom Holmberg said: The Gilligan's Island references were fun, but Alan Hale Jr. doesn't do much as West's sidekick. Well, he is just a chemist (says this chemist) 😅 1 Link to comment
chessiegal June 7 Author Share June 7 On Saturday June 8 at 10 am ET, MeTV will air Season 4 Episode 18 "The Night of the Janus". Original air date February 14, 1969. Quote While solving the murder of a fellow Secret Service agent, Jim West and Jeremy Pike must uncover a traitor at the service academy with their only clue a sheet of music left by the dead agent. The above recap is from the IMDb for the episode. Jeremy Pike is back as West's partner. Ross Martin does not appear in this episode. He was recovering from a heart attack. There are familiar faces in the cast. The Villian, Alan Thorpe, is played by comedian and actor Jack Carter. Warren Blessing is played by Anthon Eisley, who was a lead detective on Hawaiian Eye, where he worked with Robert Conrad. Singer-songwriter Jackie DeShannon plays Torrey. Professor Montague is played by Arthur Maglet, a veteran film and tv actor. The professor creates gadgets for the agents. He's a 19th century Q. Robert Conrad played Milo Janus on Columbo "An Exercise in Fatality", Season 4 Episode 1. If your name is Swanson, you must be a mortician. In this episode the mortician is named Swanson, the same as the mortician, played by Jim Backus, in the previous episode "The Night of the Sabatini Death". 1 Link to comment
Tom Holmberg June 8 Share June 8 16 hours ago, chessiegal said: Warren Blessing is played by Anthony Eisley, who was a lead detective on Hawaiian Eye, where he worked with Robert Conrad. Too bad none of the retro channels I get show this. They did show other older shows like "Route 66", "Naked City", or "77 Sunset Strip" in the past, but now its all 80s and 90s action shows, like "Renegade", "Hunter", "Walker, Texas Ranger", etc. 1 Link to comment
chessiegal June 8 Author Share June 8 Last time I looked, Hawaiian Eye wasn't available on DVD, but you could get audio. 🤷♀️ 1 Link to comment
Tom Holmberg June 12 Share June 12 Dan Ackroyd, staff announcer for "The Wild Wild West" on Toronto TV 1 Link to comment
chessiegal June 14 Author Share June 14 On Saturday June 15 at 10 am ET, MeTV is airing Season 4 Episode 19 "The Night of the Pistoleros". Original air date February 21, 1969. Quote West and Gordon are ambushed by a Mexican gang called the Pistoleros, who attempt to kidnap the latter. Gordon sets off for Tohachi, Arizona to investigate a picture of himself found on one of the bandits; West continues to their original destination, Fort Challenge. There Sergeant Charlie Tobin (Richard O'Brien), an old friend, tells West that an impostor has taken the place of Lt. Murray (Robert Pine), one of the fort's most important officers. West's attempts to investigate are hindered and Tobin soon ends up dead. Gordon, meanwhile, is drugged and abducted by Armando Galiano (Henry Wilcoxon), a mysterious older man. West eventually makes his way to Tohachi to try and locate his partner, who knew Murray and can verify his identity. Things appear to be resolved when Gordon turns up and says that Murray is the real thing. However, only a few minutes afterwards, some Pistoleros appear and gun Gordon down. West now has to expose a conspiracy, prevent a war... and, of course, get revenge. Disguises used by Artie: General Rodell(47:05) The above recap is from tvtopes The Night of the Pistoleros This episode was filmed before Ross Martin had his heart attack on August 17, 1968. It was the 84th episode filmed. "The Night of the Janus" that aired last week was #96 in shooting order. The IMDb page for the episode says this is Martin's first after recovering from his heart attack. This is not true. I've found other information on IMDb that is incorrect, so I verify their information when something doesn't seem right if I can find another source. After this episode, there are 5 episodes left in the series. Ross Martin appears in 3 episodes. I'll post more on Martin's heart attack in a separate post. This is a very "Western" West episode. Conrad has a major wardrobe malfunction with his tight pants splitting up the seam in a fight scene, not for the first time. Link to comment
Tom Holmberg June 17 Share June 17 On 6/14/2024 at 5:12 PM, chessiegal said: On Saturday June 15 at 10 am ET, MeTV is airing Season 4 Episode 19 "The Night of the Pistoleros". Original air date February 21, 1969. The above recap is from tvtopes The Night of the Pistoleros This episode was filmed before Ross Martin had his heart attack on August 17, 1968. It was the 84th episode filmed. "The Night of the Janus" that aired last week was #96 in shooting order. The IMDb page for the episode says this is Martin's first after recovering from his heart attack. This is not true. I've found other information on IMDb that is incorrect, so I verify their information when something doesn't seem right if I can find another source. After this episode, there are 5 episodes left in the series. Ross Martin appears in 3 episodes. I'll post more on Martin's heart attack in a separate post. This is a very "Western" West episode. Conrad has a major wardrobe malfunction with his tight pants splitting up the seam in a fight scene, not for the first time. Good to see Martin back. Still wonder if they'll run the season one episodes. 1 Link to comment
chessiegal June 18 Author Share June 18 The MeTV web site doesn't show daily airings past the end of June. The pdf schedule that just lists shows has WWW Saturday mornings. 🤷♀️ Link to comment
chessiegal June 21 Author Share June 21 On Saturday June 22 MeTV is airing Season 4 Episode 20 "The Night of the Diva" at 10 am ET. Original air date March 7, 1969. Quote Gordon returns from his assignment in Washington, D.C., accompanied by Rosa Montebello, an Italian opera singer. That evening she is attacked while appearing on-stage in Lucia di Lammermoor. The culprits appear to be a mysterious society known as the Order of Lucia. What is behind this attack? What happened to the three other divas who, over the last five years, have disappeared after singing the role of Lucia - women whose ghosts are now said to haunt the opera house? And what's the connection to Karl Crenshaw, the reclusive brother of Max Crenshaw, wealthy opera aficionado? Disguises used by Artie: Count Vladislav deRaja, Russian Duke(14:25) The above recap is from tvtropes The Night of the Diva. This is my favorite episode of Season 4, and I think it is one of the best of the series. It is an homage to The Phantom of the Opera. The IMDb page for this episode correctly notes this is Martin's first episode filmed after recovering from his heart attack. Martin looks good and is about 10 pounds thinner. The part of Rosa Montebello is played by coloratura Patrice Munsel, nicknamed "Princess Pat", who at age 18 was the youngest singer to star with the Metropolitan Opera. In addition to her beautiful voice, she does a great job acting in this role. In the opening scene, Gordon is reading The Taming of the Shrew, appropriate to his dealing with the demanding diva. Set inaccuracy - there are backgrounds of hills that you would not find in New Orleans. The IMDb page says at one point when Gordon's carriage is pulling away you can see skyscrapers in the background. Robert Conrad also gets to sing, singing "Buffalo Gals". Dick Cangey, one of the regular stunt men, gives an accounting of the climactic scene with the stunt where character Ellen Collingswood, a Secret Service secretary under cover, falls from a staircase onto a table. In Cangey's book Inside The Wild Wild West, he says the stunt crew discusses where the table should be placed, ending up doing several takes to get it "right". 1 Link to comment
chessiegal June 28 Author Share June 28 On Saturday June 29 at 10 am ET, MeTV is airing Season 4 Episode 21 "The Night of the Bleak Island". Original air date - March 4, 1969. Quote West finds himself invited to the aptly-named Bleak Island owned by a single wealthy family, who, with some servants, are the island's sole occupants. A howling (which West first attributes to a hound, but is told there are no pets) attributed to a local monster (but which is no such thing, of course) is heard by West and later at dinner. Beverly Garland, in a rare icy role, is quite incisive as Celia Rydell, the cold and domineering sister of the man (Joseph Bleak) whose will is to be read. The estimable veteran British thespian John Williams -- who played Chief Inspector Hubbard, the Scotland Yard detective who figures out the truth and tricks Ray Milland's character into revealing himself as the would-be wife killer in Dial M for Murder (1954) -- appears as Sir Nigel Scott, another Scotland Yard detective role, who is an acquaintance of West, having worked on a case in London together some five years earlier. The two had no idea the other would be on the island. They investigate the mysteries and murders. Jana Taylor and Mark Chambers play Celia's attractive ward and handsome artist nephew, Alicia Crane and Mark Chambers, who are secretly in love. The hound (which turns out to be real, in an ironic twist), the creepy but luxurious mansion, and the remote island accessible to the mainland only by boat, are tropes in homage to "Ten Little Indians" and "The Hound of the Baskervilles", but there the convoluted similarities end. Some big surprises await West and the audience as well as an unsurprising finale.—Rms125a@hotmail.com The above recap is from the IMDb page for the episode. Ross Martin does not appear in this episode as it was filmed when he was recovering from a heart attack. Our ultimate villain Sir Nigel Scott is played by veteran British actor John Williams. Some may recognize John as Chief Inspector Hubbard in Dial M for Murder and the chauffeur in Sabrina. This episode is an homage to The Hound of the Baskervilles. It was a dark and stormy night. And stays that way throughout the episode. Passengers are soaking wet in the storm-tossed boat but miraculously are dry once on shore. In the tag, West is in the train car with Nancy Conrad. Nancy Conrad is the name of one of Robert Conrad's daughters. 1 Link to comment
Tom Holmberg July 1 Share July 1 On 6/28/2024 at 6:06 PM, chessiegal said: "The Night of the Bleak Island". A bunch of "That Guys" (character actors with famous faces) in this episode. Link to comment
chessiegal July 1 Author Share July 1 IMDb tells me I should recognize Beverly Garland who played Ceilia, but I don't. Link to comment
chessiegal July 5 Author Share July 5 On Saturday, July 6 at 10 am ET, MeTV will air Season 4 Episode 22 "The Night of the Cossacks". Original air date - March 21, 1969. This is the last episode of The Wild Wild West filmed, but not the last aired. There are 2 more episodes in Season 4. Quote Prince Gregor of Karovnia (Guy Stockwell) is on his way to New Petersburg with his family. West and Gordon are tasked with making sure the royal party arrives safely, since a gang led by Count Balkovitch (John Van Dreelen) is determined to see the royals dead in order to prevent the establishment of peace in their mutual homeland. Balkovitch also hopes to steal the sacred Icon of New Karovnograd, which is concealed in New Petersburg; the residents get wind of this and begin leaving town in droves, while cowardly Sheriff Corby (Norman Leavitt) refuses to get involved in any shooting. When Princess Lina (Jennifer Douglas) is kidnapped shortly afterward, it becomes apparent that there's a traitor within the royal party. The agents must find the traitor, recover the princess and ensure that the icon doesn't fall into the wrong hands. The above recap is from tvtropes The Night of the Cossacks. Karovnia is a fictional country that appears to be in Eastern Europe. Let no good film go to waste: West getting out of a hole is footage from Season 3 Episode 16 "The Night of the Arrow". The part of Princess Lina is played by Mary Frann aka Jennifer Douglas, the name that appears in the credits. Frann played the part of Joanna Loudon on Newhart (1982-1990). Duchess Sophia is played by Nina Foch, who had a long career in acting. In 1951, Foch played Milo Roberts in An American in Paris. She was nominated for Best Supporting Actress for her role in Executive Suite. Among her many roles, she appeared in 2 episodes of NCIS in 2005 and 2006 as Victoria Mallard, the eccentric mother of beloved M.E. Dr. Donald "Ducky" Mallard, played by David McCallum for 458 episodes from 2003 until his passing in 2023. Since NCIS was still in production, his death was written into the show. Many viewers first knew McCallum as Illya Kuryak in The Man from U.N.C.L.E (1964-1968). As of today (July 5, 2024), MeTV is not showing their schedule of individual shows beyond Friday July 19. With 2 episodes left in the series, it is unclear what MeTV will air after that. MeTV skipped most of the first season, which was filmed in black and white. Perhaps they will air the rest of Season 1, which had some good episodes. 1 Link to comment
giovannif7 July 5 Share July 5 Pluto TV has been showing episodes of The Wild Wild West on their Western TV channel. As of July 2024, however, they have created a channel dedicated to The Wild Wild West, which continuously streams episodes and apparently includes the episodes from all 4 seasons of the show. The WWW channel is listed in the Westerns section on the app, and can be favorited so that it shows up in your Favorites list at the top of your self-curated Pluto TV feed. 1 Link to comment
Tom Holmberg July 6 Share July 6 22 hours ago, chessiegal said: Duchess Sophia is played by Nina Foch, who had a long career in acting. In 1951, Foch played Milo Roberts in An American in Paris. She was nominated for Best Supporting Actress for her role in Executive Suite. Among her many roles, she appeared in 2 episodes of NCIS in 2005 and 2006 as Victoria Mallard, the eccentric mother of beloved M.E. Dr. Donald "Ducky" Mallard, She was married to James Lipton of "Inside the Actor's Studio" fame. 1 Link to comment
chessiegal July 9 Author Share July 9 In "The Night of the Cossacks", Princess Lina is wearing an aquamarine dress with brown lace. The costume department must have liked it. Similar dresses were used in at least 2 earlier episodes. This dress is from the tag of Season 2 Episode 16 "The Night of the Tottering Tontine". Link to comment
Tom Holmberg July 12 Share July 12 According to this site: https://www.tvinsider.com/network/metv/schedule/ Me-TV will be starting over with Season 2, Episode 1. Once again they skip over B&W season one. 1 Link to comment
chessiegal July 12 Author Share July 12 1 hour ago, Tom Holmberg said: According to this site: https://www.tvinsider.com/network/metv/schedule/ Me-TV will be starting over with Season 2, Episode 1. Once again they skip over B&W season one. What a bummer! There are some good episodes in Season 1, including 4 with Michael Dunne as Dr. Loveless. Oh, well. Episode 14 "The Night of the Howling Light" was nominated for an Emmy for cinematography. Link to comment
Tom Holmberg July 12 Share July 12 6 minutes ago, chessiegal said: What a bummer! There are some good episodes in Season 1, including 4 with Michael Dunne as Dr. Loveless. Oh, well. Episode 14 "The Night of the Howling Light" was nominated for an Emmy for cinematography. They show other B&W shows, so why they won't run WWW isn't clear. 1 Link to comment
chessiegal July 12 Author Share July 12 On Saturday, July 13 at 10 am ET, MeTV is airing Season 4 Episode 23 "The Night of the Plague". Original air date: April 4, 1969. This episode is the penultimate episode aired, but the last to be filmed for the series. For some reason, the on-screen guide has it identified as Season 4 Episode 24. I recorded this episode when it aired on fetv, and it also says it is Episode 24, which it is not. The last episode aired is "The Night of the Tycoon", Episode 24. MeTV will be airing that episode July 20, with the on-screen guide saying it is episode 23, which it is not. My recording of the airing on fetv also shows TNOT Tycoon as episode 23. 🤷♀️ Quote West and Gordon set up a sting operation to catch a gang which has been robbing stagecoaches, but Averi Trent (Lana Wood), the territorial governor's daughter, gets in the way and is kidnapped. West goes after the gang while Gordon, at the relay station where the stagecoach was originally headed, learns that the outlaws are carrying a highly communicable, deadly disease. West does his best to get an unhelpful Trent away from the outlaws while Gordon tries to locate West, the girl and the gang before it's too late for the medicine he's carrying to save them. Disguises used by Artie: Kevin Kimble, Actor(25:55); Falstaff, Fictional Character from the Henry IV plays(27:10) The above recap is from tvtropes The Night of the Plague. Our girl of the week is Averi Trent, played by Lana Wood, younger sister of actor Natalie Wood. This is the second appearance by Lana, her first was playing the part of Sheila "Vixen" O'Shaugnessy in "The Night of the Firebrand", Season 3 Episode 2. In both appearances, Wood plays the part of a spoiled young lady with a father in a position of power. Never let good footage be used for just 1 episode. West repelling down cliffs to rescue Averi is from "The Night of the Jack O'Diamonds", Season 3 Episode 5. We see a return to Vasquez Rocks, a favorite location for Hollywood and WWW. In the tag, Robert Conrad plays Averi's mustached fiancée, Donald, causing raised eyebrows from West and Gordon. 😉 2 Link to comment
chessiegal July 17 Author Share July 17 I was looking at MeTV's homepage today and not seeing a place to contact them when my cat sat on the keyboard and a place to contact them popped up. 🤣 I asked them why they were not airing Season 1. I got a computer-generated response that included they read every contact and refer to the appropriate department (I requested programming). We'll see if they get back to me. fetv did when I told them how disappointed I was they dropped WWW, saying they were happy to air it for 2 years, but were moving on. 1 Link to comment
chessiegal July 20 Author Share July 20 (edited) Saturday, July 20 at 10 am ET, MeTV is airing Season 4 Episode 24 "The Night of the Tycoons". Original air date April 11, 1969. This is the 104th and last episode to air. It was the 101th episode to be filmed. Quote West discovers that several members of the Jupiter Corporation, an arms manufacturer that supplies the government, have recently died. All were involved in a scheme to dump stock, cause a panic, and make tons of money off of the cheap stock. West knows the board members are being murdered, but chairwoman Amelia Bronston (Jo Van Fleet) refuses to allow him to offer them his official protection. She eventually changes her mind—but only if West is appointed acting chairman until he finds the killer. The above recap is from tvtropes The Night of the Tycoons. Ross Martin does not appear in this episode. I found this episode to be disappointing. It ends with West telling Lionel to keep his woman in the kitchen. That is so misogynistic, he might as well have added barefoot and pregnant. And so, WWW goes out with a whimper. Two TV movies were made. The Wild Wild West Revisited aired May 9, 1979, and More Wild Wild West aired October 7 and 8, 1980. Both were very campy. Edited July 20 by chessiegal 1 Link to comment
chessiegal July 20 Author Share July 20 Interesting piece of trivia from IMDb on why Tycoons was aired last. Quote This episode was not meant to be the final episode. It was scheduled March 28, 1969, the day former President Dwight Eisenhower died. All network programming that night was pre-empted (including the final episode of Star Trek). It was rescheduled following the originally scheduled final episode ("The Night of the Plague," April 4, 1969). 1 Link to comment
chessiegal July 27 Author Share July 27 (edited) After airing the series finale last week, today, Saturday July 27, MeTV is presumably skipping Season 1 and airing Season 2 Episode 1 "The Night of the Eccentrics". The original air date was September 16, 1966. This is the first episode aired in color. It was the 6th episode filmed for Season 2. MeTV has not answered my inquiry about why they are not airing Season 1, which was filmed in black and white. When MeTV started airing WWW, they aired the pilot and a few episodes from Season 1, so I assume they have the rights to air it. Quote Agents West and Gordon are notified by another agent about an assassination plot. Later, they find the agent dead with a knife in his back through a flyer for the Echo Amusement Park. Lured to a deserted amusement park, he meets Count Manzeppi, master of trickery and corruption, and his circus-style henchmen (and henchwoman). West is given the option of joining the troupe and becoming wealthy beyond his dreams -- or dying. The troupe intends to kill the soon-to-be newly-installed Mexican President Juarez. West, however, is told he must prove himself by killing Gordon. Things soon get even more convoluted.—Tiff Banks The above recap is from the IMDb page for the episode. Today's villain, Count Manzeppi, is played by Victor Buono. Buono played the villain in the series premiere "The Night of the Inferno". Manzeppi makes one more appearance in "The Night of the Feathered Fury", Season 2 Episode 17. Buono played Dr. Messenger in the TV movie "More Wild Wild West". In addition to Season 2-4 being filmed in color, the train car set saw modifications in layout. The use of rich Victorian colors is prominent. Richard Pryor plays the role of one of the Eccentrics, a ventriloquist named Villar. This is Pryor's first TV appearance in a dramatic role. The voice of Villar's dummy is done by Ross Martin. IMDb has this trivia info: Quote The voice of Giulio, Richard Pryor's dummy, was provided by an uncredited Ross Martin. Martin had used an identical voice for Punchy, the cartoon character in Hawaiian Punch commercials. Edited July 27 by chessiegal 1 Link to comment
Tom Holmberg July 27 Share July 27 4 hours ago, chessiegal said: Today's villain, Count Manzeppi, is played by Victor Buono. Buono played the villain in the series premiere "The Night of the Inferno". Manzeppi makes one more appearance in "The Night of the Feathered Fury", Season 2 Episode 17 Too bad they didn't use Count Manzeppi in additional episodes. He's no Dr Loveless, but Victor Buono makes him an interesting villain. But WWW didn't seem to like recurring villains (other than Dr Loveless). Link to comment
chessiegal July 27 Author Share July 27 Susan Kesler says in her book The Wild Wild West The Series that Manzeppi was popular with fans but not critics. TNOT Eccentrics was written by Charles Bennett who wrote for Hitchcock. 1 Link to comment
chessiegal August 3 Author Share August 3 (edited) On Saturday August 3 at 10 am ET MeTV is airing Season 2 Episode 2 "The Night of the Golden Cobra". Original air date September 23, 1966. Quote The Indian Commissioner of the Pawnee Indians recruits James West to investigate the strange occurrences at the reservation. In his search, West is bitten by a cobra snake rendering him unconscious. When he awakens, Jim finds himself in the palace of the Maharajah of Rampor, also known as Mr. Singh.—Anonymous The above recap is from the IMDb entry for the episode. This is the first episode filmed in color. However, the studio decided to air "the Night of the Eccentrics" as the season premiere. Michael Garrison, creator of the show, was acting as producer at this point. He personally reached out to Boris Karloff to play our villain of the week, Mr. Singh. Karloff, born William Henry Pratt, is described by IMDb as one of the icons of horror actors. He portrayed Frankenstein's monster in the 1931 film Frankenstein. Garrison loved getting name actors. When Garrison was asked how he did it, he said - you pick up the phone and call them. Another familiar face is British actor Michael York, who plays one of Singh's sons, Gupta. Irving J. Moore directed the episode. He recalls that Garrison was angry when he didn't get the entire elephant in a shot. Garrison said he paid for an elephant, and he wanted to see the whole elephant. Moore said there was no way to do that, and Garrison never forgave him for it. Moore said Karloff was a joy to work with, although he hated animals and children. From IMDb trivia: Quote First appearance of West sliding down a wooden chute. This scene is re-used in several future episodes: 1. The Night of the Raven (1966). 2. The Night of the Poisonous Posey (1966). 3. The Night of the Feathered Fury (1967). Also: Quote The image of Singh's castle is a matte painting overlay onto Vasquez Rocks. Edited August 3 by chessiegal 1 Link to comment
chessiegal August 3 Author Share August 3 (edited) On 8/3/2024 at 9:22 AM, chessiegal said: Quote Incorrect info deleted. Edited August 8 by chessiegal Additional info Link to comment
chessiegal August 9 Author Share August 9 (edited) On Saturday August 10 at 10 am ET MeTV is airing Season 2 Episode 3 "The Night of the Raven". Original air date September 30, 1966. Quote Wanakee, daughter of the chief of the Blackfoot tribe, has been kidnapped and a note demands that West and Gordon come to Grave Town or she will be killed, while her fiancé and her father threaten war if she is not brought back within three days. When the agents arrive they find that Dr. Loveless is behind the plot; he captures them and eventually reveals that he has a new invention which he wants to test on West - shrinking powder. The above recap is from tvtropes The Night of the Raven. This is the 5th encounter with the inimitable Dr. Loveless, the first for Season 2. This episode has the series delving into special effects new to the show runners. According to Susan Kesler in her book The Wild Wild West The Series, Director Irving J. Moore and co-producer Leonard Katzman used blue screen, split screens, and serious planning to keep things in proportion with the shrunken West and Princess Wanakee. Kesler also says that Moore told her that Michael Garrison, show creator and producer, wanted to get Sonny and Cher to play Princess Wanakee and her fiancé Chawtaw. Princess Wanakee is played by Phyllis Newman. I recognize Newman but looking at her acting credits I'm not sure why. West tells Dr. Loveless that he and Artie have defeated Loveless 3 times previously when it is actually 4 times. The eating plant that Loveless feeds is eerily similar to Morticia's meat eating plant Cleopatra in the original The Addams Family tv series. West's descent in a chute is film from "The Night of the Cobra", albeit a mirror image. West is wearing a blue suit heading into the chute, but the suit as he goes down the chute is green, as it was in TNOT Cobra, and he emerges wearing a blue suit. We see some of West's tricky tools - a miniature blow torch hidden in West's heel. Conrad gets a chance to show off his athletic abilities in the episode. In the end, Dr. Loveless and Antionette shrink themselves and escape on the back of the title Raven, to live to see another day. Edited August 10 by chessiegal correction Link to comment
chessiegal August 16 Author Share August 16 For those watching WWW on Saturday mornings on MeTV, tomorrow, August 17, they will be airing Season 2 Episode 4 "The Night of the Big Blast" at 10 am ET. Original air date October 7, 1966. This is one of the few episodes where Artemis Gordon is the lead hero and romantic lead. Ross Martin was a good fencer and does much of his own fencing in the episode. Hollywood legend Ida Lupino plays this week's villain, Dr. Faustina, channeling Dr. Frankenstein. Gordon's love interest in the episode is Lily Fortune played by Mala Powers. Martin and Powers had dated IRL prior to filming this episode. Patsy Kelly plays Prudence Fortune, Lily's mother, doing a great job chewing up the scenery throughout the episode. Kelly returns to WWW in Season 2 Episode 28 "The Night of the Bogus Bandits" where she continues her scenery chewing ways. Robert Conrad loved to play the ponies. It's reported he requested a West light episode so he could go off to the races. He filmed all his scenes in 1 day. Link to comment
chessiegal August 23 Author Share August 23 On Saturday, August 24, MeTV is airing Season 2 Episode 5 "The Night of the Returning Dead". Original air date October 14, 1966. Quote Agents West and Gordon are called to investigate a mysterious Confederate night rider who comes to the ranch of Carl Jackson, its wealthy owner. When the agents are charged by the ghost rider, they discover that the rider's appearance coincides with the stable boy's eerie flute music. West and Gordon soon learn that Jeremiah, the stable boy, has been living with a secret since his childhood, but others are trying their best to keep the agents from discovering the truth.—Tiff Banks The above recap is from the IMDb entry for the episode. And the Hollywood figures keep on coming. Last episode we had Ida Lupino. This episode we have two rat pack members, Peter Lawford, playing Carl Jackson, and Sammy Davis Jr., playing Jeremiah. I kept expecting to see Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra show up. 😂 Sammy Davis Jr. was performing in Vegas when this episode was filmed, working until 2 am every day. The show sent an ambulance to Vegas to pick up Sammy so he could sleep on the gurney on the way to the studio, arriving at 6:30 am. After filming until 3 or 4 pm, they took him to the airport so he could fly back to Vegas for his show. Sammy did this for over a week. A fun episode with interesting twists. Link to comment
chessiegal August 30 Author Share August 30 (edited) On Saturday August 31 at 10 am ET MeTV is airing Season 2 Episode 6 "The Night of the Flying Pie Plates". Original air date October 21, 1966. The MeTV on-screen description for this episode says "A bizarre extortion plot involves green men from Venus who need gold for spaceship fuel." Men - really? Three lovely green women emerge the fake spaceship. This reminds me that Robert Conrad said one of the perks of playing West was going to work and kissing pretty girls. In this episode, the pretty girl is the lovely Lesley Parrish. This is Parrish's second of 2 appearances on WWW. The first was in Season 1 Episode 3 "The Night the Wizard Shook the Earth". Another familiar face is William Windom who plays Ben Victor, part of the scheme to steal gold. IMDb has this interesting piece of trivia: Quote In this episode, Robert Conrad (James T. West) carves a dollar sign into the saloon mirror with a suspected diamond. In the film "The Giant Spider Invasion", Robert Easton (Kestor) carves a dollar sign in his kitchen window with a suspected diamond. Both co-star Leslie Parrish. This is the first episode done without the creative input of Michael Garrison, the show's creator. Garrison died August 17, 1966, falling down the marble staircase of his Bel Air mansion that he purchased with income from the success of WWW. Edited August 31 by chessiegal 1 Link to comment
Tom Holmberg August 31 Share August 31 22 hours ago, chessiegal said: "The Night of the Fluing Pie Plates" Robert Conrad talks Pie Plates https://flashbackuniverse.blogspot.com/2020/11/revisiting-wild-wild-west-night-of_11.html 1 Link to comment
Tom Holmberg September 16 Share September 16 The Night of the Bottomless Pit featured Mabel Albertson, the sister of Jack Albertson. Mabel is best known for frequently playing stereotypical mothers-in-law and judgemental women. 1 Link to comment
chessiegal September 16 Author Share September 16 When I see Mabel Albertson, I always think of Samantha Stephen's mother-in-law. I was a huge Bewitched fan back in the day. 😄 The other actor who was familiar to me in The Night of the Bottomless Pit is Steve Franken who played Le Fou, who was also on Bewitched in various roles. 1 Link to comment
Tom Holmberg September 27 Share September 27 Dr Loveless returns this Sat. (Sept. 28), in "The Night Of The Green Terror," with Loveless playing Robin Hood. Also the last appearance of Antoinette. 1 Link to comment
chessiegal September 27 Author Share September 27 In "The Night of the Green Terror" Susan Kesler notes that writer John Kneubuhl does a good job keeping the Loveless tradition of using elaborate schemes to rule the world. She gives the episode a 9 out of 10 on the Loveless scale. 😁 1 Link to comment
chessiegal October 5 Author Share October 5 Did I miss something? Looks like MeTV skipped "The Night of the Ready Made Corpse" and went to "The Night of the Man-Eating House". From promos, looks like MeTV is doing spooky programming October 5, so this fits. Ahh, I see they will be going back to TNOT Ready made Corpe next week. Link to comment
Tom Holmberg October 9 Share October 9 On 10/5/2024 at 9:10 AM, chessiegal said: Did I miss something? Looks like MeTV skipped "The Night of the Ready Made Corpse" and went to "The Night of the Man-Eating House". From promos, looks like MeTV is doing spooky programming October 5, so this fits. Ahh, I see they will be going back to TNOT Ready made Corpe next week. Halloween programming. Did they ever respond about the Season 1 B&W episodes? Link to comment
chessiegal October 9 Author Share October 9 1 minute ago, Tom Holmberg said: Halloween programming. Did they ever respond about the Season 1 B&W episodes? Nope. The only channel that ever responded to me was fetv when I protested them dropping WWW after airing it for 2 years. They said they were happy to air it but were making room for other programming. 1 Link to comment
Tom Holmberg October 13 Share October 13 I don't get the Robert Conrad thinking Carroll O'Connor upstaging him bit. All the villains "upstaged" him - they were always larger than life. That was his character, Mr. Cool. Ross Martin "upstaged" him every week. 1 Link to comment
chessiegal October 13 Author Share October 13 What can I say about Conrad's ego? He made a cushy living out of being athletic and purty. He really had no reason to complain. 1 Link to comment
Tom Holmberg October 13 Share October 13 I started watching Will Smith's "Wild Wild West" to see if it was as bad as I remember. Basically, it was. If you're going to make a movie version of a TV classic, don't trash it. 1 1 Link to comment
chessiegal October 13 Author Share October 13 I saw that was on yesterday, but didn't watch. I'll have to reread "WWW The Movie" in the October 1999 issue of the magazine Cinefantastique that I got. They panned it big time. Link to comment
chessiegal October 19 Author Share October 19 "The Night of the Skulls". Writers Robert C. Dennis and Earl Barret, their first for the series, said they wrote all their episodes with an intentionally comic flair. It's also the first appearance of Colonel Richmond, played by Douglas Henderson, who turned out to be a fan favorite, giving him more appearances. It's too bad the syndication cut that MeTV aired took out Artie suggesting throwing a rock into the bucket could lead to a new game - basketball. 1 Link to comment
Tom Holmberg October 28 Share October 28 The term "infernal machine" was first used for an assassination attempt on Napoleon. Here's an article I co-wrote on this: https://www.napoleon-series.org/research/miscellaneous/c_infernal.html Link to comment
Tom Holmberg Wednesday at 04:48 PM Share Wednesday at 04:48 PM Odd book: Hell-Bent for Leather: Sex and Sexuality in the Weird Western Kerry Fine, etal. ISBN: 9781496241900 "This new collection takes a deep dive into the myriad ways sex and sexuality are imagined in weird western literature, film, television, and video games, paying special attention to portrayals of power and privilege. ...Primary texts range from CBS’s campy BDSM-inflected steampunk western The Wild Wild West to the Star Wars franchise’s popular leather-daddy bounty hunter The Mandalorian,..." Link to comment
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