During this week's snowy days, James West and his buddy, Artemus Gordon, have been constant friends. They don't mind if I'm ironing, making supper, or even writing a post or two. They just keep on exploring, fighting, smooching the latest girl, then moving on in that ever-running locomotive.
Depending on your age, you may remember this futuristic punk-Western (1965-1969) that was the forerunner of Steampunk. I used to watch it as a kid, and remember it well -- although as a farm kid in rural Michigan, the frequent mentions of the West (let alone Colorado and Denver - !!!) sounded impossibly exotic. Little did I know...
Much to my pleasure, I just found an online interview with Robert Conrad, discussing The Wild, Wild West. Tidbits included:
*His clothes were too tight! He had to hold his breath...and stop wearing 'tighty-whities' because when he ripped his pants (which was often, according to Conrad), the white would show. (Conrad switched to dark blue underwear.)
*He and Ross Martin were good friends...but with markedly different tastes. On weekends, Conrad went off to the fights -- but Martin had tickets for the ballet. (Martin said, "Bob does the stunts...and I do the acting." Conrad agreed with him! He wished he could have had more acting -- in fact, he said he stopped reading the scripts the last year of the show -- "I just read my part.")
*Conrad did all his own stunts. He said it 'didn't look right,' otherwise. Needless to say, he paid for it with injurities -- including a broken skull that took five months to recover from. ('Didn't the insurance companies say you couldn't?' asked the interviewer. "I ignored them," Conrad replied.)
Conrad is one of the very few actors who was admitted to the Stuntman's Hall of Fame. Sounds like he earned it.
*The show was still popular, holding its own in market share, when it was cancelled. "Aren't the critics and public the same? I think they are," Conrad said. "The public liked the show..." but the network thought it was too violent.
Watch and Listen entertainment magazine polled television producers and critics from 80 different countries on the best tv shows of all time -- and The Wild Wild West was first, by a country mile. (Seinfeld was a distant second.)
I would have loved to hear what Ross Martin thought about the show -- but he died back in 1981. Re-watching these wonderful shows back-to-back reminds that the duo are what make the show special, even though Conrad would have liked more dialogue (and less smooching??), and Martin's "drag costumes" get a bit hokey at times. All the same, I love that mixture of inventiveness, deep voices, history (with a lot of imagination thrown in) and intensity. (Ok - the tight pants, too.)
At any rate, you can hear Conrad's interview for yourself, on the Archive of American Television site. If you're a fan of American television shows, this site (also host to the Emmys) has interviews with a number of iconic actors. When I visited recently, S. Epatha Merkerson's interview had just gone online -- you may know her better as the crusty lieutenant of Law and Order. (She's also a dedicated quilter!)
Go here for Robert Conrad's interview -- enjoy.
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