The Wild Wild West - General Discussion

[Tom Holmberg]

On 2/16/2024 at 1:49 PM, chessiegal said:

Professor Crane's home, both interior and exterior, are the set of the Barkley Ranch on The Big Valley.

I think the government should investigate the Barkley's, so much evil occurs in their house!

On 2/16/2024 at 1:49 PM, chessiegal said:

Hassan Amir Ortuglo, Arab dealer in exotic weaponry(17:35)

More than a little bit racist in the current way of looking at things.

[chessiegal]

On Saturday February 24 at 10 am ET MeTV is airing "The Night of the Juggernaut", Season 4, Episode 3. Original air date October 11, 1968.

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West and Gordon receive a request for help from a farmer in Grey Ridge, New Mexico, but when they arrive at his farm they find him dead and themselves under attack by a large, armored vehicle. Upon further investigation they find that someone has been trying to drive the local farmers off their land. The culprit appears to be Theodore Bock (Simon Scott), a local businessman who is trying to acquire the farmers' property for reasons of his own and who is more than willing to use intimidation, torture and murder to achieve his goal. However, Bock's most powerful weapon is the Juggernaut, a primitive tank that he uses to crush anything (and anyone) in his way.

Disguises used by Artie: Ellsworth B Caldwell, Wealthy Texan (19:35)

The above recap is from tvtropes The Night of the Juggernauts.

Heavy Weight boxing champion Floyd Patterson plays the part of Lyle Dixon.

Ross Martin had a broken leg when this was filmed. IMDb has the following to say about his injury.

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Artemus Gordon (Ross Martin) is nursing a broken leg in this program. On June 26, 1968, during filming of "The Night of the Avaricious Actuary," whose broadcast date was pushed out December of that year, Martin broke the fibula of his right leg during filming of an action sequence in which fired a Colt repeater with pump handle and, after tossing it aside, caromed back and he accidentally stepped on the barrel, rolled his foot over it, and instantly broke it. As a result, the script for the next program filmed, "The Night of the Juggernaut," was re-written to have Martin's character suffering a leg injury. The injury was worked into a few subsequent shows while Martin recovered. A lot of Martin's on screen minutes during his recovery are spent sitting down or stationary. Fortunately, Martin was a quick healer. Three weeks after the accident, the cast was removed and by the end of the week, Martin was back driving again. As it happened, the scene in which Martin was injured was finished later after the he was able to move around and walk again.

The town of Grey Ridge is the set of Gunsmoke. The county clerk's office is a re-arranged Marshall Dillon's office. Miss Kitty's Longbranch Saloon appears unchanged.

At the county clerk's office, West asks about the Falk property. Falk is Conrad's birth name.

The Juggernaut tank type vehicle fits with the Steampunk genre of the show.

[chessiegal]

Knowing Martin had a broken leg, in the opening scene, you can see the actor playing Artemus is Martin's stunt double.

[chessiegal]

On Saturday March 2 at 10 am ET MeTV is airing Season 4 Episode 4 "The Night of the Sedgewick Curse". Original air date October 8, 1968.

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West and Gordon are sent to meet with a government official, but he disappears very mysteriously from his hotel room before they can do so. Gordon checks into the same hotel (in disguise) while West tracks down a desk clerk who appears to be involved; however, the clerk turns up dead and Gordon ends up nearly so. Enter Lavinia Sedgewick (Sharon Acker) in a runaway carriage. West saves her and accompanies her home, earning an invitation to dinner that night. However, a little research turns up some suspicious facts about the Sedgewicks and soon both agents find themselves the unwilling house guests of a very strange family...

The above recap is from tvtropes The Night of the Sedgewick Curse

This is one of the more bizarre episodes of the series, entering into science fiction territory. Season 1 Episode 26 "The Night of the Burning Diamonds" where the villain distills diamonds into a liquid that causes him to move faster than the eye can see in order to steal diamonds also has a sci-fi feel. Gene c**** used a similar trope in the 1969 Star Trek episode "Wink of an Eye".

The set for Dodge City from Gunsmoke is the town of Sedgewick, with Dodge Hotel as the setting of the Sedgewick Spa.

In the scene with the runaway carriage carrying Lavinia Sedgewick, you can clearly see that both Lavinia and West are played by stunt men.

Jay Robinson who plays Dr. Maitland played Caligula in the movie The Robe.

Lavinia calls her brother a biochemist. That term wasn't coined until 1894.

Two of the regular stunt men, Red West and Dick Cangey, get credited roles. Red West even gets a speaking part.

ETA: Primetimer's filter won't let me spell Gene's last name. The first 2 asterisks are for "o" and the last for "n".

 

Edited March 1 by chessiegal

[Tom Holmberg]

On 3/1/2024 at 11:43 AM, chessiegal said:

"The Night of the Sedgewick Curse".

Kind of more a "Fall of the House of Usher" deal than scifi.

[chessiegal]

I'm not familiar with the "Fall of the House of Usher". I was thinking this episode also has elements of horror genre.

I didn't mention the rare blood disorder the Sedgewick's suffered from, Lubbock's Distemper, is fictional. 

[chessiegal]

On Saturday, March 9 at 10 am ET, MeTV will be airing Season 4 Episode 5 "The Night of the Gruesome Games". Original air date October 25, 1968.

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West and Gordon are after Dr. Theobald Raker (Robert Ellenstein), who has stolen a germ culture which, if it gets too warm, will burst its container and unleash a deadly plague. Raker ends up in a river while trying to escape but when the agents fish his body out they don't find the vial, only an invitation to the house of the very rich and very eccentric Dr. Rufus Kraus (William Schallert). Gordon takes Raker's place, West poses as Raker's bodyguard, and the agents soon find themselves at Kraus' house, playing, along with a group of colorful fellow-guests, various strange games in which the stakes are life and death.

Disguises used by Artie: Drunkyard (04:00); Dr Raker ,Criminal Scientist(12:25); Rufus Kraus, Millionaire(42:25)

The above recap is from tvtropes The Night of the Gruesome Games.

IMDb notes that at about 9 minutes when the camera points upward from the bottom of the ravine that Dr. Raker had fallen into, an airplane is visible in the upper right-hand corner. 

Rufus Kraus, the eccentric millionaire, is played by William Shallert, who will always be Patty Duke's father to me. This is the second of 4 appearances by Shallert on WWW. His first appearance was in Season 3 Episode 1 "The Night of the Bubbling Death". His last 2 were as Frank Harper, a Secret Service agent standing in for Artie, who was on assignment in Washington (The Night of the Winged Terror, Parts 1 and 2 (Season 4, Episodes 15 and 16). Ross Martin suffered a heart attack during Season 4 and missed some episodes. 

The lovely Sherry Jackson plays Lola Cortez. IMDb has this to say about the character.

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The character Lola Cortez, introduced as a dancer and actress, may be a reference to Lola Montez (1821-1861), a dancer who was notorious for her connection to famous men of her era, including Franz Liszt and King Ludwig I of Bavaria, from whom she received the title Countess of Landsfeld. Her last years were spent in New York.

All in all, I found this to be an entertaining episode.

Edited March 8 by chessiegal
Add original air date.

[chessiegal]

I did not see the airplane when Raker fell into the water or after. I looked at my DVD of the 
Gruesome Games episode. You can see the airplane before Raker falls in the water. It's been edited out for syndication.

[Tom Holmberg]

On 3/8/2024 at 3:05 PM, chessiegal said:

The lovely Sherry Jackson plays Lola Cortez

Us old timers will remember Sherry Jackson as the oldest daughter on the Danny Thomas "Make Room for Daddy" show. Later she tended to often play guest star "sexpots" on a variety of shows.

[chessiegal]

Someone commented on the IMDb page that Shallert was chewing the scenery as Rufus Kraus. I thought he did a good job playing Kraus. Kraus was written as a rich eccentric out for revenge in some cases.

 Two instances where I'm sure a stunt man filled in for Conrad -near the beginning when the rockets cause West's horse to fall down and when West jumps from a second story balcony to chase Raker. The stunt man lands behind some white sacks, and then Conrad pops up to the right of where the stunt man landed. Nor surprising since the studio was not letting Conrad do the more dangerous stunts in Season 4.

 

[chessiegal]

 

6 hours ago, Tom Holmberg said:

Us old timers will remember Sherry Jackson as the oldest daughter on the Danny Thomas "Make Room for Daddy" show.

I remember watching Make Room for Daddy as a child, but I don't remember Sherry Jackson. You have a better memory than I do.

 

[chessiegal]

On Saturday, March 16 at 10 am ET, MeTV will air "The Night of the Kraken." Original air date November 1, 1968.

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West and Gordon are in San Francisco to meet an old friend, Lt. Dave Bartlett of the U.S. Navy, who has discovered something he doesn't feel he can reveal to his superior, Admiral Charles Hammond (Ford Rainey). Unfortunately, Bartlett is killed by what appears to be a gigantic sea monster before he can reveal his secret. Hammond tells the agents that the monster, which he calls a kraken, is real. Not only that, it's been killing local fishermen (most of whom are Portuguese immigrants), so he's banned all fishing until the creature is caught. Jose Aguila (Anthony Caruso), spokesman of the fishing community, barges in and announces that his family is starving because of the embargo, so he's going out despite the risks. Ignoring Daniel (Ted Knight), a local preacher who rambles about the "coming of Leviathan", Aguila and West go out to sea. There, West manages to cut off a piece of one of the kraken's tentacles—which turns out to be made of rubber—but the creature claims Aguila as its latest victim. Meanwhile, Gordon uncovers a new type of diving apparatus which Bartlett invented and then concealed. The agents decide to reveal their findings to Hammond, but a bomb silences him just as he decides to trust them; however, the explosion reveals something in his office—a hidden model of an underwater fortress. Together the agents must make their way to the bottom of the sea and expose the truth behind the myth of the kraken.

Disguises used by Artie: Portuguese Sailor(2:10);Swedish Repairman(39:10); Portuguese Mechanic(43:20)

The above recap is from tvtropes The Night of the Kraken.

Our male villain is none other than Ted Knight, who played broadcaster Ted Baxter on The Mary Tyler Moore Show. Marj Dusay, who plays Dolores Hammond, Adm. Hammond's wife turns out to be part of the plot to kill Adm. Farragut. Dusay is best known for her work on soap operas.

The waterfront area is a well disguised Dodge City set from Gunsmoke.

The show says the new ironside ship is the USS Missouri. The Navy did not have a ship named Missouri during the Grant administration.

This is the second episode of the series that deals with killing Admiral Farragut. The first was Season 2 Episode 9, The Night of the Watery Death.

In the last scene, the agents remark that the owner who gave them a little black book, who is getting married, is Irving Moore. Irving J. Moore directed 26 episodes of WWW (but not this one) and 14 episodes of Hawaiian Eye, a series that featured Robert Conrad.

[Tom Holmberg]

21 hours ago, chessiegal said:

Our male villain is none other than Ted Knight, who played broadcaster Ted Baxter on The Mary Tyler Moore Show.

It's always interesting to see actors in these earlier shows who are iconic for their later roles.  You can't not think that Ted Baxter is the villain.

[chessiegal]

I have to say TNOT Kraken was rather boring. They spent 2/3 of the episode setting up for the underwater complex. Add lots and lots of West swimming, which I'm sure was almost all footage shot previously, as filler. Best part of the episode is shirtless Conrad. 😉

Edited March 23 by chessiegal

[chessiegal]

On Saturday March 23 at 10 am ET MeTV will be airing "The Night of the Fugitives", Season 4 Episode 7, original air date November 8, 1968.

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West and Gordon pursue Norbet Plank (J.S. Johnson), murderer and bookkeeper for a crime syndicate, to the town of Epitaph, Colorado, where he expects to be protected by his boss, "Diamond Dave" Desmond (Simon Oakland). The agents hope to bring down the syndicate by capturing Plank and forcing him to turn over the organization's records. Working from within and without Desmond's gang, the agents do finally manage to get hold of Plank, but getting into Epitaph proves to be a whole lot easier than getting out again.

Disguises used by Artie: Hallelujah Harry, Con Artist posing as a preacher(18:40)

The above recap is from tvtropes The Night of the Fugitives

This episode is the great fall where Conrad loses his grip swinging from a chandelier and falls 15 feet onto a concrete floor. Filming was stopped, and this episode was finished months later when Conrad recovered. This episode was supposed to be part of Season 3, but was delayed because of the fall. The film of Conrad hitting the floor was left in.

Again, the set of Dodge City from Gunsmoke was used, this time for the town of Epitaph.

Wires were often used to aid moving Conrad around when he was using his zip line. IMDb says you can see the wire, attached to Conrad's belt in the back, as West and Plank are lowered to the ground from the clock tower.

 

Edited March 23 by chessiegal

[chessiegal]

TNOT Fugitives:

Never underestimate the power of alliteration. We have Diamond Dave Desmond, Hallelujah Harry, and Rhoda Ransome.

I'd forgotten that Diamond Dave was played by veteran tough guy Simon Oakland.

The visible wire holding Conrad was seen when West zip lines out of the hotel window, not the clock tower.

 

[Tom Holmberg]

On 3/22/2024 at 4:58 PM, chessiegal said:

This episode is the great fall where Conrad loses his grip swinging from a chandelier and falls 15 feet onto a concrete floor.

You can really see how he hurt himself.  He was lucky his injuries weren't worse.

[chessiegal]

On Saturday, March 30 at 10 am ET, MeTV will be airing Season 4, Episode 8 "The Night of the Egyptian Queen". Original air date - November15, 1968.

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An exhibition of artifacts from the tomb of Ho Tem Ra is about to take place in San Francisco and West and Gordon are put in charge of security. As the agents arrive to meet with Logan, the museum curator, and Heisel (Sorrell Booke), the Egyptian representative, men in gas masks break in and steal a large ruby from one of the statues. The ruby is part of Egyptian Princess Miasmin's (Cindy Hunter) dowry; without it, her wedding to another potentate will not take place, threatening peaceful relations between the two countries. The agents receive a ransom note for the ruby but the exchange ends in disaster - the mastermind gets away, his lackey Ferret (Hal K. Dawson) is killed and the ruby disappears along with Rosie (Penny Gaston), the belly dancer who was wearing it on her big toe. A three-way contest for the ruby begins between the agents, the original thieves and a new group who wants the jewel for their own mysterious purposes...

Disguises used by Artie: Captain Hull, former Captain of the Northcumberland(10:30)

The above recap is from tvtropes The Night of the Egyptian Queen

I haven't seen this episode recently, but one thing that sticks out to me are the cartoonish outfits on the bad guy ninjas early in the episode. They looked like mutant bumblebees.

In Susan Kesler's book, The Wild Wild West, The Series, she notes that this episode has the best fight scene in the series. This episode was directed by Marvin Chomsky. Chomsky said he assembled about 25 of the best stunt men and let them do what they do best. An effort was made to highlight a stunt man, and the next and so on. IMDb notes that the fight scene was voted in the top 10 fight scenes of TV history.

 

[Tom Holmberg]

On 3/29/2024 at 5:52 PM, chessiegal said:

Season 4, Episode 8 "The Night of the Egyptian Queen"

William Marshall, who played Amalek, is best known for playing the title role in the blaxploitation movie Blacula.

[chessiegal]

On Saturday April 6 at 10 am ET MeTV will be airing Season 4 Episode 9 "The Night of Fire and Brimstone". Original air date November 22, 1968.

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West and Gordon arrive in the town of Brimstone to meet with Professor Philip Colecrest (John Crawford). They are unaware that a gang led by Zack Morton (Charles Macaualay) has captured the professor and is torturing him for information. Morton attempts to capture the agents as well and everyone ends up in the old mine shafts below town. West and Gordon elude Morton, then find Colecrest, who has escaped his captors but been injured in the process. Gordon goes for the local doctor, Emmett Sloan (Bill Quinn) and the end result is that Brimstone's tunnels are full of people - the agents, Dr. Sloan, Sloan's daughter Dooley (Leslie Charleson), the gang, the professor, and, on top of it all Captain Lyman Butler (Dabbs Greer), a mysterious old man who haunts the shafts like a ghost...

Disguises used by Artie: Dr Emmet Sloan(41:10); Robert E Lee, Confederate General(47:30)

The above recap is from tvtropes The Night of Fire and Brimstone.

Two of the permanent gang of stuntmen, Dick Cangey and Red West, have credited parts.

Ross Martin suffered a heart attack a few weeks after filming this episode.

 

[chessiegal]

I was curious about the salute Artie gives at the end when he is impersonating Lee. Captain Butler returns the same salute - back of hand to forehead, palm turned out. I can't find any evidence this was somehow a Confederate salute.

IMDb says the insignia on Lee's uniform were not correct. Certainly not something I would ever notice.

[Tom Holmberg]

On 4/5/2024 at 5:33 PM, chessiegal said:

On Saturday April 6 at 10 am ET MeTV will be airing Season 4 Episode 9 "The Night of Fire and Brimstone". Original air date November 22, 1968.

The above recap is from tvtropes The Night of Fire and Brimstone.

Two of the permanent gang of stuntmen, Dick Cangey and Red West, have credited parts.

Ross Martin suffered a heart attack a few weeks after filming this episode.

 

Dabbs Greer, who played Capt. Butler, was a very busy character actor, appearing in, according to IMDB, 321 shows and movies.

[Tom Holmberg]

6 hours ago, chessiegal said:

I was curious about the salute Artie gives at the end when he is impersonating Lee. Captain Butler returns the same salute - back of hand to forehead, palm turned out.

That's a "French salute." The palm down salute began as a naval salute. The Confederacy used the palm out inherited from the British. Federal pickets started using a more palm down form to give a visual clue that they were federal.

[chessiegal]

The Night of Fire and Brimstone is Dabbs Greer's second appearance on WWW. His first was as Sen. Buckley in The Night of the Simian Terror, Season 3 Episode 23.

[chessiegal]

On Saturday April 13 at 10 am ET MeTV will air Season 4 Episode 10"The Night of the Camera" Original air date November 29, 1968.

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Agents West and Jeremy Pike (Charles Aidman) are on the trail of an opium gang. They receive some dubious help from Bosley Cranston (Pat Paulsen), a meek and seemingly incompetent agent on his first field assignment. However, Cranston has some special talents that will prove invaluable.

The above recap is from tvtropes The Night of the Camera.

Ross Martin is not in this episode. Ross suffered a heart attack after filming TNO Fire and Brimstone. On August 17, 1968, Martin developed chest pains and ended up in the ICU at UCLA Medical Center. In the episode we learn that Artemus Gordon is on assignment in Washington, DC.

Pat Paulson plays the part of Secret Service Agent Bosley Cranston who is on his first field assignment. The bumbling Cranston adds comedic relief but has talents that come in quite handy.

The plot of this episode is to bring down an opium ring. IMDb has this to say about this plot line.

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Opium smuggling, the basis for the plot, is not plausible, as the events were probably before there were any legal restrictions at all on opium sale or use. In 1875 (probably after the events in this episode occurred), San Francisco passed an ordinance making opium parlors illegal but did not otherwise restrict its sale or use (and was motivated more by anti-Chinese than anti-drug sentiments). In 1897, the state of California passed a law requiring warning labels on narcotics and that purchases be registered. In 1907, opium was further restricted to prescription sales and was finally outlawed altogether (along with opium pipes) in 1909.

While Artemus Gordon is in Washington, DC (and Ross Martin is recovering from his heart attack) Secret Service Agent Jeremy Pike, played by Charles Aidman, makes his first of 4 appearances. 

[Tom Holmberg]

Charles Aidman isn't bad but he's no Ross Martin. People will remember Pat Paulsen from his campaign for president on the Smother Bros Comedy Hour

 

[chessiegal]

I'm so old I thought everyone would know who Pat Paulson is. 🤣 

[chessiegal]

On Saturday April 20 at 10 am ET MeTV will air Season 4 Episode 11 "The Night of the Avaricious Actuary". Original air date December 6, 1968. 

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Rich financier John Taney's (Harold Gould) home is destroyed in an earthquake caused by a giant tuning fork, the latest in a series of attacks on millionaires' mansions. West and Gordon suspect that the newly-formed Cyclops Insurance Company is involved; West investigates the company while Gordon tries and fails to convince the other men who have received offers of "insurance" from the firm not to pay up. Based on what West manages to recover from the company offices, the agents determine that the mastermind behind the operation is Dr. Tebor Kovacs, a tuning fork expert who was once jailed for selling classified information. They set about tracking down Kovacs and breaking up his extortion racket.

Disguises used by Artie: Salvatore, Italian Waiter(27:30); Old Gas Inspector(43:25)

The above recap is from tvtropesThe Night of the Avaricious Actuary

Our villain of the week is John Taney played by Harold Gould. Gould played Martin Morgenstern, Rhoda's father on Rhoda, and Niles on Golden Girls.

Ross Martin broke his right fibula during the shooting gallery scene. He tossed a rifle that hit a wall and bounced back to hit his right leg. There's a somewhat clumsy cut to another actor playing the gas inspector.

 

[Tom Holmberg]

14 hours ago, chessiegal said:

On Saturday April 20 at 10 am ET MeTV will air Season 4 Episode 11 "The Night of the Avaricious Actuary". Original air date December 6, 1968. 

The above recap is from tvtropesThe Night of the Avaricious Actuary

Our villain of the week is John Taney played by Harold Gould. Gould played Martin Morgenstern, Rhoda's father on Rhoda, and Niles on Golden Girls.

Ross Martin broke his right fibula during the shooting gallery scene. He tossed a rifle that hit a wall and bounced back to hit his right leg. There's a somewhat clumsy cut to another actor playing the gas inspector.

 

Artie's disguise was one the few where he really didn't look like himself (even though he wasn't entirely himself because of the accident).

Jenny Maxwell who was in this episode was murdered, along with her husband under somewhat mysterious circumstances in 1981.

Next week is, I believe, the final Dr. Loveless episode. 😪

I wonder if, when the finish the season, they'll finally show the B&W episodes?

[chessiegal]

Yes, next week is the final Dr. Loveless episode - "The Night of Miguelito's Revenge".

There are 24 episodes in Season 4. If MeTV continues showing WWW in order on Saturday mornings, they should air the series finale on July 20th. One of my favorite episodes is episode 20 "The Night of the Diva". Ross Martin returns after recovering from his heart attack, 10 pounds thinner and looking quite handsome.

[chessiegal]

On Saturday April 27 at 10 am ET, MeTV will air Season 4 Episode 12 "The Night of Miguelito's Revenge". Original air date December 13, 1968.

Quote

While West gets a shave at the barbershop, he becomes anesthetized by a hot towel and awakens in a fun-house. West soon learns of a series of kidnappings with clues leading to a traveling circus. There, West encounters the demented Dr. Miguelito Loveless with his latest invention, a powerful mechanized man. After the mechanical man knocks out West, places him in a coffin and throws the agent into a river, Loveless plans to hold a mock trial for his abducted victims and sentence them to death.—Tiff Banks

The above recap is from the IMDb page for the episode.

Ross Martin does not appear in this episode as he was recovering from his heart attack. The script has Artie on assignment in DC.

This is the 10th and last appearance of Dr. Loveless. At the end of the episode, Loveless vows to return again. Alas, it was not to be.

[Tom Holmberg]

On 4/26/2024 at 6:03 PM, chessiegal said:

This is the 10th and last appearance of Dr. Loveless. At the end of the episode, Loveless vows to return again. Alas, it was not to be.

Too bad that Dr Loveless didn't get at least one more episode.  Would have been nice if he was in the final episode.

[chessiegal]

Dunn was under contract to appear in 4 episodes per season. Because of health issues, he wasn't able to appear in more episodes.

Once again, we see the set from Gunsmoke in the opening scenes.

The poem "Monday's Child" is used to identify the people Loveless feels have done him wrong. The script reverses the attributes of Friday and Saturday. 

We see a shirtless West trapped in a coffin-like box under water. Somehow in stripping West of upper clothing, it leaves West with a gadget in his pants to open the coffin. Scenes of West swimming when he escapes are most likely from previous episodes.

Kesler says in her book The Wild Wild West, The Series that the studio mixed episodes of Gordon being on assignment in Washington, DC with Gordon appearing in episodes so as not to make Gordon's absence seem jarring. Ross Martin was recovering from a heart attack in the episodes where he is does not appear.

 

 

 

[chessiegal]

On Saturday May 4 at 10 am ET MeTV is airing Season 4 Episode 13 "The Night of the Pelican". Original air date December 27, 1968.

Quote

West and Pike are on the trail of a stolen a supply of fulminate of mercury from a military arsenal. Their trail leads to the prison at Alcatraz, which has been taken over by the evil Din Chang. The agents must stop Chang's plan to attack the US Navy with rockets, then take control of San Francisco. (In case you're wondering, and as Pike tells Jim, "'Alcatraz' is Spanish for 'pelican'!")

The above recap is from tvtropes The Night of the Pelican.

Gordon/Martin does not appear in this episode as Martin was recovering from a heart attack.

Lots of beefcake as West/Conrad spends about half the episode shirtless.

The IMDb page for this episode has lots of interesting information.

The Night of the Pelican

 

 

 

 

[chessiegal]

When I was looking at the cast of "The Night of the Pelican" on the IMDb page I saw a familiar face and name - Stanley Kamel. He had a very brief part near the beginning of the episode as a policeman taking a prisoner away. Kamel played Dr. Kroger, Monk's therapist, from 2002-2008 of Monk. Kamel passed away of a heart attack in 2008 and his death was written into the script of Monk.

Looking at his acting career, WWW was his tv acting debut.

[Tom Holmberg]

On 5/3/2024 at 4:56 PM, chessiegal said:

The Night of the Pelican

A nice change of pace with a Chinese character made up to look European.

[Tom Holmberg]

On 5/3/2024 at 4:56 PM, chessiegal said:

On Saturday May 4 at 10 am ET MeTV is airing Season 4 Episode 13 "The Night of the Pelican". Original air date December 27, 1968.

Khigh Dhiegh, who was not Asian, was somewhat typecast as Oriental villains, best known as Wo Fat on Hawaii Five-O.  He got his own series as a Chinese detective in San Francisco's Chinatown, which lasted only five episodes.

[chessiegal]

On Saturday May 11 at 10 am ET, MeTV will air Season 4 Episode 14 "The Night of the Spanish Curse". Original air date January 3, 1969.

Quote

A group of "ghostly" conquistadors has been robbing towns along the Mexican border. West and Gordon follow their trail across the border to San Pedro, where they learn that the raiders are using a secret pass in the mountains to reach a hidden valley. Upon riding out there they encounter and rescue Juan Ramirez and his daughter, Cosina. The two are residents of Buena Vista, a town in the hidden valley which sits in the shadow of a volcano inhabited by the conquistadors and their leader, the white "god" Cortez. Cosina guides the agents to the village and they set about ending Cortez's reign of terror.

Disguises used by Artie: Mexican Musician(5:35); Senor Ramirez(29:20)

The above recap is from tvtropes The Night of the Spanish Curse.

From a review on the episode's IMDb page: "This episode is one of the more mundane efforts of the series." I'll leave it at that.

It's good to see Artie back. He's the highlight of the episode.

 

Edited May 11 by chessiegal

[Tom Holmberg]

18 hours ago, chessiegal said:

On Saturday May 11 at 10 am ET, MeTV will air Season 4 Episode 14 "The Night of the Spanish Curse". Original air date January 3, 1969

Thayer David was a long time member of the cast of "Dark Shadows" playing many different roles, including Ben Stokes, Count Petofi, Matthew Morgan, Professor Timothy Stokes, Victor Fenn-Gibbon, Mordecai Grimes, Sandor Rakosi

[chessiegal]

This was Thayer David's second appearance on WWW. His first was as Hannibal Egloff in Season 3 Episode 6 "The Night of the Samurai". 

Gordon gets to use the same red timer bombs he used in "The Night of the Doomsday Formula" Season 4 Episode 2.

[chessiegal]

I was watching an episode of Murder, She Wrote and saw Bruce Lansbury was the writer of the episode. The first season of WWW saw quite a turnover of producers while the show was finding its footing. Bruce came on in 1966 as producer, helping get the show on track and produced the rest of the series.

Bruce is the sister of actor Angela Lansbury, who was the star of Murder, She Wrote. He was heavily involved with the show, both writing (15 episodes) and producing (88 episodes).

Edited May 13 by chessiegal

[chessiegal]

On Saturday May 18 at 10 am ET, MeTV is airing Season 4 Episode 15 The Night of the Winged Terror - Part 1". Original air date January 17, 1969.

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James West is dispatched to a town after the U.S. receives a warning of an impending catastrophe. The Secret Service agent is unable to prevent the town's mayor from blowing up a new railroad trestle. West is assigned to work with agent Frank Harper on the case. Harper arrives too late to prevent a museum official from slashing paintings and destroying other artwork. President Grant departs Washington to personally brief the agents about the case, in which prominent people inexplicably commit acts of destruction. West arrives just in time to stop a dedicated sheriff from releasing a vicious gang from his jail. The sheriff, like the other prominent people involved, had received a free pair of spectacles from a Dr. Occularis. It turns out there are at least two doctors dispensing the free spectacles. Harper takes the place of a mayor who is scheduled for a visit from Dr. Occularis and he nearly kills West. The Secret Service man is captured and is informed by Professor Toombs that a group called Raven is behind all this and it intends to rule the world scientifically. West is then freed to pass an ultimatum to President Grant. As the episode ends, West has managed to find Raven's headquarters and observes Tycho, the leader of Raven who has an enormous head.—Bill Koenig

The above recap is from the IMDb page for the show.

This is the only 2-part episode of the series.

Artie is on assignment in DC and does not appear in the episode. Ross Martin was recovering from his heart attack.

Frank Harper is West's partner in this episode and the next. Harper is played by William Shallert, who will always be, in my mind, Patty Duke's father on The Patty Duke Show. This is Shallert's 3rd appearance on WWW. He previously appeared in Season 3 Episode 1 "The Night of the Bubbling Death" and Season 4 Episode 5 "The Night of the Gruesome Games".

West/Conrad has shaggy hair in need of a haircut.

In the opening of the show, the chyron says "State Capitol" implying it is the seat of government. The spelling is incorrect - it should be Capital. A Capitol is a building.

The first Dr. Occularis is played by Bernard Fox. Viewers might recognize him as Dr. Bombay on Bewitched.

Laurette is played by Michele Carey. This is her second appearance on WWW. Her first was in Season 2 Episode 17 "The Night of the Feathered Fury". 

Mayor Pudney is played by Jackie Coogan. The veteran actor (started at age 5) played Uncle Festus on The Addams Family. This is Coogan's second WWW appearance. The first was as Sheriff Koster in Season 3 Episode 11 "The Night of the Cut-Throats".

The kinetoscope shown wasn't invented until the late 1880s, after the time frame of the show during Grant's presidency.

Ken Pettus wrote the episode, 1 of 7 he did for WWW.

I read that the shape of Tycho's head was for a Star Trek character but ever used.

[Tom Holmberg]

On 5/17/2024 at 5:22 PM, chessiegal said:

Harper is played by William Shallert, who will always be, in my mind, Patty Duke's father on The Patty Duke Show.

I can't really buy him as a Western character, he seems too "modern" to me even with a mustache.

[chessiegal]

I think that mustache on Shallert had to be the worst fake mustache I have ever seen. It was fake, right?

[Tom Holmberg]

2 hours ago, chessiegal said:

I think that mustache on Shallert had to be the worst fake mustache I have ever seen. It was fake, right?

He had two fake mustaches in this episode as well as fake eyebrows in his Occularis disguise.

[chessiegal]

On 5/17/2024 at 6:22 PM, chessiegal said:

I read that the shape of Tycho's head was for a Star Trek character but ever used.

Found it. I thought I found this info on the web, but going back and reading Susan Kesler's book The Wild Wild West The Series where she talks about makeup and disguises, the original head of makeup was Don Shoenfeld. He tired of the show in Season 3 and was replaced by Ken Chase. John Chambers had originally designed Tycho's head for several earlier episodes of Star Trek. 

Kesler said that the makeup people got the script for an episode 2-3 days before shooting, not much time. Since they used the same group of stuntmen, they used disguises so they would not be recognized. (I've found Red West, because of his height and red hair, to be recognizable even in disguise). When Ross Martin got a script, he would sketch what he wanted his disguised character to look like on the back of the script and give it to makeup.

[chessiegal]

On Saturday May 25 at 10 am ET MeTV is airing "The Night of the Winged Terror: Part II". Original air date January 24, 1969.

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West departs Raven's headquarters in a bid to ruin the organization's plot to kill a Mexican official. The Secret Service agent, though, doesn't realize he has been programmed to assassinate the official -- and it appears he has done just that. However, fellow agent Frank Harper disguised himself as the official and wore a bulletproof vest, enabling him to survive the attack by the brainwashed West. Meanwhile, West bides his time, pretending to join Raven until he could find out more about Raven leader Tycho who claims to know "all that ever was." Harper, meantime, and other agents research the background of Raven's Professor Toombs. Harper disguises himself as Toombs' mentor, a disgraced German scientist. The agents try to break the case before Raven can strike again.—Bill Koenig

The above recap is from the IMDb page for the episode.

The first episode is titled "Part 1", using the cardinal number 1. The second part is labeled "Part II", using Roman numerals.

Michele Carey who plays Laurette is credited as "Michelle" in the credits, the same as in Part 1.

Recycled Music: From IMDb:

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Stock music that Morton Stevens originally composed for Hawaii Five-O (1968) appears in this show. Examples include music at the end of acts II and III and an action sequence in Act IV.

Tycho escapes at the end, raising questions that if the series hadn't been cancelled, he might have become a recurring adversary ala Dr. Loveless.

[Tom Holmberg]

On 5/24/2024 at 4:00 PM, chessiegal said:

Tycho escapes at the end, raising questions that if the series hadn't been cancelled, he might have become a recurring adversary ala Dr. Loveless

I like when the genre shows have recurring villains, but Tycho was no Dr. Loveless. I believe that the head was from "Star Trek", it definitely looks like something they'd do. Apparently the main difference between earthlings and aliens are their foreheads.

[chessiegal]

Tycho's head was meant for Star Trek, according to Kesler's book when she talks about the make-up folks who worked on WWW. John Chambers never used it on Trek, so it got used here.

[chessiegal]

On Saturday, June 1 at 10 am ET, MeTV is airing Season 4 Episode 17 "The Night of the Sabatini's Death". Original air date February 7, 1969.

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Johnny Sabatini makes a dying request of his adversary, West: to ensure that a special young woman (Sylvia Nolan) receives the gift he is bequeathing her. The mission takes West and his able assistant, Ned Brown, to the spooky ghost town of Calliope, Missouri, where, according to the thuggish sheriff, outsiders come (looking for a reputed hidden fortune) but are never seen leaving.—Gary R. Peterson

The above recap is from the IMDb page for the episode.

Artie does not appear in this episode, as Ross Martin was recovering from his heart attack.

West's partner in this episode is Ned Brown, played by Alan Hale Jr. Viewers may recognize Alan as the Skipper on Gilligan's Island. 

Another familiar face is Jim Backus who plays Fabian Swanson. Backus was also on Gilligan's Island playing the role of Thurston Howell III. Backus played James Dean's father in Rebel Without a Cause, and was the voice of Mr. Magoo.

Ben Wright, who plays Clarence, makes his second of 2 appearances on WWW. The first was as Col. Clive Allenby-Smythe, the main villain in Season 1 Episode 17 "The Night the Dragon Screamed". Wright played Herr Zeller in The Sound of Music.

Sylvia Nolan is played by Jill Townsend. Townsend played Elizabeth Chynoweth in Poldark and Dulcey Coopersmith in Cimarron Strip.

At the end of the episode, Ned Brown (Hale) says he's going on vacation to a deserted island.

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James T. West: Back to Washington, huh, Ned?

Ned Brown: Nope. I'm off on a well-deserved vacation.

James T. West: London, Paris or Rome?

Ned Brown: [Shaking head no] I'm going to make a big dream come true. And do you know what my big dream is? I'm going to spend my vacation all alone... on a desert island.

Cue the music from the theme song for Gilligan's Island.

 

Edited June 1 by chessiegal