The Wild Wild West

If you think The Wild Wild West is just another dusty old Western, you’ll be surprised to know that this gloriously oddball TV series was so much more. Airing on CBS from 1965 to 1969, The Wild Wild West mashed up genres in a way that shouldn’t have worked, but absolutely did. Think classic Western, espionage thriller, and science fiction romp, all rolled into one, with a good helping of humour. In short, it was “James Bond on horseback.”

That wasn’t just a clever tagline either — it was the concept pitched by creator Michael Garrison. At a time when TV Westerns were on the decline and spy shows were booming, Garrison saw an opportunity to blend the two. Inspired by the popularity of James Bond, he envisioned a heroic secret agent galloping across the American frontier armed with gadgets, charm, and steely resolve.

Garrison wasn’t new to the world of spy fiction. In fact, back in 1954, director Gregory Ratoff had purchased the film rights to Ian Fleming’s first Bond novel, Casino Royale, for just $600. CBS even bought the TV rights and broadcast an hour-long adaptation that same year on its Climax! series — with Barry Nelson playing "Jimmy Bond" and Peter Lorre as Le Chiffre. Garrison later partnered with Ratoff to try to bring Casino Royale to the big screen through a new production company, with 20th Century Fox set to distribute. But the film never got off the ground — they couldn’t secure the necessary financing. When Ratoff died in 1960, his widow sold the rights to Charles K. Feldman, who eventually produced the satirical Casino Royale film in 1967. So while Garrison was involved early in the saga of Bond adaptations, his own spy fantasy would eventually ride out in a very different direction.

That direction was The Wild Wild West, and it began with a pricey pilot — “The Night of the Inferno” — filmed in 1964 for $685,000. Garrison worked with screenwriter Gilbert Ralston, who crafted the show's core concept: a Western hero with the flair and tech of James Bond, working in the service of President Ulysses S. Grant. Ralston created the Civil War-era characters, the episodic format, and key ideas like the secret agent James West, who would take on covert missions to protect the Union.

And so was born the tale of two Secret Service agents: the fearless and handsome James West (Robert Conrad), and Artemus Gordon (Ross Martin), a brilliant inventor, gadgeteer and master of disguise. Together, they travelled aboard their private train — the Wanderer — solving crimes, saving the Republic, and foiling countless plots to overthrow or destabilise the United States. West, a former Union cavalry officer, was suave and action-ready, while Gordon was the brains and theatrics of the pair — a perfect dynamic.

Set between 1869 and 1877, during President Grant’s administration, the show took massive liberties with history, blending Victorian-era style with wildly advanced tech. The result was a kind of proto-steampunk aesthetic: secret weapons, hidden laboratories, mechanical assassins, and fantastical inventions, all couched in Old West charm. It’s no surprise that steampunk fans often cite The Wild Wild West as a key influence on the genre, especially after the technology-heavy tone of the 1999 film adaptation.

The episodes often leaned into pulp fiction and classic literature, drawing inspiration from the likes of Edgar Allan Poe, H.G. Wells and Jules Verne. Each week delivered beautiful women, bizarre plots, deadly gadgets, and one or more mad villains with delusions of grandeur. It was essentially a live-action comic book, with just enough seriousness to keep you hooked — and just enough camp to let you enjoy the ride.

Robert Conrad brought a dashing bravado to the role of James West — and plenty of bruises too. Having starred in Hawaiian Eye from 1959 to 1963, he auditioned for The Wild Wild West while filming Young Dillinger and claimed he was the 17th actor to test for the part. (He also claimed that John Derek walked out of the audition without reading.)

Conrad insisted on doing nearly all his own stunts — until reality intervened. During the third season, while filming “The Night of the Fugitives,” he fell from a chandelier, fracturing his skull and spending days in intensive care. The scene, astonishingly, made it into the final cut. Afterward, he still fought his own fights but left the more dangerous stunts to professionals.

Ross Martin, meanwhile, found the role of Artemus Gordon to be an actor’s dream. He played more than 100 different characters across the series, creating his own makeup sketches and performing a staggering range of dialects. His work earned him an Emmy nomination in 1969. But Martin, too, suffered setbacks: he broke his leg filming one episode and then had a heart attack in 1968. During his recovery, the show brought in substitute agents played by the likes of Charles Aidman and Alan Hale Jr.

Martin returned for the final stretch of the fourth season.

No review of The Wild Wild West is complete without mentioning its most iconic villain: Dr. Miguelito Quixote Loveless. Played with gleeful menace by Michael Dunn, Loveless was a brilliant, vengeful dwarf with a passion for invention and a serious grudge against society. His original henchmen included Voltaire, a giant played by Richard Kiel (later famous as Bond villain Jaws), and Antoinette, a singer played by Dunn’s real-life stage partner Phoebe Dorin. Both characters eventually disappeared from the show — reportedly due to tensions in Dunn’s personal life — but Loveless himself made ten unforgettable appearances.

Another notable recurring foe was Count Manzeppi, a flamboyant criminal magician portrayed by Victor Buono. He, like Loveless, was a master of escape and eccentric villainy. Buono also appeared in the pilot episode as a different character, and later returned in the reunion film More Wild Wild West as a parody of Henry Kissinger.

The series also featured a rotating cast of villainous guest stars, with appearances from a who’s who of screen legends: Agnes Moorehead (who won an Emmy for her role as Emma Valentine), Robert Duvall, Ricardo Montalbán, Boris Karloff, Richard Pryor, Leslie Nielsen, Burgess Meredith, Ida Lupino, Sammy Davis Jr. — and many more.

Despite its success and solid ratings, The Wild Wild West was cancelled in 1969, largely due to increasing pressure from Congress to reduce television violence. Still, its legacy endured. Two made-for-TV reunion films aired in 1979 and 1980, and in 1999, Hollywood released a big-budget feature film starring Will Smith and Kevin Kline. The film leaned hard into steampunk visuals and broad comedy, but it failed to capture the charm of the original — something fans haven’t forgotten.

So, if you’re ever in the mood for something madcap, stylishly retro, and wildly inventive, The Wild Wild West is worth your time. It’s a show where gadgets meet gunfights, villains cackle with theatrical flair, and the Old West becomes a playground for 19th-century spycraft. A true original — and a brilliant bit of telly.