Greg Newton
07-03-2011, 06:42 PM
I was at the library looking at DVD's the other day and noticed they had one of my childhood favorites, The Wild Wild West with Robert Conrad. Now as a kid, this was pretty heady stuff and it was considered quite violent for mid-sixties television. Forbidden to watch it by my mother, my brother and I had to sneak to watch it, even when it was on Saturday afternoon syndication.
There would be four commerical breaks during an episode and the frame would freeze, normally on some chortling villian who'd unmasked himself or on West in some dire predicament, and it would morph into an artist rendering as part of a four part montage. I'll never forget that feeling of anticipation to see what would happen next.
I've been watching the series this weekend and I've been quite surprised at how good the episodes were. Robert Conrad plays a secret service agent in post Civil War America. Drawing heavily on writers like Jules Verne, Arthur Conan Doyle, and Edgar Allen Poe, the series writers created episodes with a Victorian science fiction and occult flavor. In every episode the plots twist and turn in very unique directions that rivet you into the story.
Of course, every episode you get to see the steely eyed James West, played by Conrad and who did all his own stunts, get clubbed, blown up, or gassed, only to return to fist fight a half dozen thugs, go crashing through a wall or stairwell, and make love to some beautiful girl. It is great, escapist fun, and a series I'd highly recommend. They sure don't make TV like that anymore.
Greg
http://china-dvd-online.com/images/20110607/userfiles/wild-wild-west.jpg
There would be four commerical breaks during an episode and the frame would freeze, normally on some chortling villian who'd unmasked himself or on West in some dire predicament, and it would morph into an artist rendering as part of a four part montage. I'll never forget that feeling of anticipation to see what would happen next.
I've been watching the series this weekend and I've been quite surprised at how good the episodes were. Robert Conrad plays a secret service agent in post Civil War America. Drawing heavily on writers like Jules Verne, Arthur Conan Doyle, and Edgar Allen Poe, the series writers created episodes with a Victorian science fiction and occult flavor. In every episode the plots twist and turn in very unique directions that rivet you into the story.
Of course, every episode you get to see the steely eyed James West, played by Conrad and who did all his own stunts, get clubbed, blown up, or gassed, only to return to fist fight a half dozen thugs, go crashing through a wall or stairwell, and make love to some beautiful girl. It is great, escapist fun, and a series I'd highly recommend. They sure don't make TV like that anymore.
Greg
http://china-dvd-online.com/images/20110607/userfiles/wild-wild-west.jpg