The Wild Wild West - The Fourth Season (1965)

My husband loves this!

Once the Wild, Wild West started release on DVD, my husband has eagerly awaited each new season. This one has not been a disappointment! July 20, 2008

Retro and Classic

We enjoyed the Wild Wild West when we were younger and we are enjoying these series even more. We can watch and not worry about the grandkids can watching it. These baby bommers are going retro and searching the classics from our young adulthood/childhood. Thumbs up!!! June 28, 2008

Great CD Set

Each season of Wild Wild West has been a gem and this last compilation doesn't disappoint. For fans of the show, it is a treasure! June 3, 2008

more then just a good western

You gotta love character of Jim West. He fits to role perfectly, much better then the Prince of Belair guy.:-) Apart from being handsome and has a "killer butt" (hetrosexually speaking of course) he is the paradigm of what a hero should be. Of course, when you add in Ross Martin's talent with his many character portrayals, it's a wonder to me why the show only lasted for only 4 seasons?!! Their arch nemesis Dr.Loveless,their luxurious train coach and their many "high tech 19th century gadgets" brought a special flavour to the show that stands apart from all those other cardboard generic westerns. In my opinion the 1st season was the best, and the others seasons were all good too, but not without a few flaws, such as the shows' endings were a little anti climatic and a little too predictable, but that's the way it was with most of the show in the 60's. But the chemistry that Arty & Jim created could never again be successfully copied, as evident of that awful remake movie that bombed big time a few years ago. May 12, 2008

The Wild,Wild West ends its four year run,better than I remember!

I hadn't seen the show since it went off the air in 1969.
I've bought and viewed now all four seasons.In my memories the last season was the worst of them all.If you had have asked me almost 40 years ago,my rating would barely be two stars.However,I think being able to see them 1) in good quality colour(no one I knew owned a colour set back then) and 2)and on MY time instead of a networks'(over a period of several months),it has changed my oppinion slightly.Actually seeing any TV shows on home video can't help but change the dynamic;some for the good,some for the bad.
I found the positives few and far between but nonetheless they were/are there.Michael Dunn returns as everyone's favourite villain Dr.Loveless.I don't think any Wild,Wild West fan ever disliked Dunn for his performances.
It is well known about Ross Martin and his health problem that resulted in him missing alot of the last season filming.It's obvious they held some shows in abeyance and ran them later instead of in shooting order because of the negative feedback they got from the public at the time about his "stand-ins".He was able to return for a precious few eps,but was unable to appear on the last.But every appearance he made,made you miss him all the more when he wasn't there.He was sorely missed which says alot about the man and the good actor he was.And speaking of acting it seems to me that Robert Conrad improved in that department as this season wound down.He stepped up when he had to and I thought his character was becoming more fleshed out also.He came into his own.This is in sharp contrast to earlier seasons when his good looks carried him farther than the quality of his acting and the lean scripts given him.
Another positive is the marvellous stunt work by Robert Conrad and his fellow actors/stuntmen.As a bit of trivia you may or may not know,Red West appeared in many Wild,Wild West eps as one of the actor/stuntmen.Red is well known to Elvis Presley fans as being part of Elvis' inner circle/entourage.
And speaking of stunt work you get to see a stunt Robert Conrad made that went terribly awry and by the look of it could have ended his career and/or life had it gone a little differently.It shows him jumping from a landing area at the top of a long flight of stairs.He grabs onto a chandelier but looses his grip and crashes to the ground.The camera cuts about a second after his landing and they "covered" the scene and went on,but it shows you how dedicated Conrad was in the making of this show.He bumped alot of heads with the shows' brass and other actors and even his co-star Martin at times.He didn't get his "tough-guy" image for nothing.But no one can ever say he didn't give his all during the making of this show and it's one of the reasons this show has remained a fan favourite since its' debut.
On the other side of the coin there is ALOT to say.The first shot must go to the man who had the unenviable task of first stepping in for Ross Martin when he fell ill.Charles Aidman was the worst choice for Martins' part.He simply tried too hard but came up short every time.He also had a terribly annoying "the-cat-that-ate-the-canary" smile on his face almost all the time.Then William Schallert stepped in for a bit.Schallert I didn't mind as much but he seemed to go to the opposite extreme of Aidman and was kind of a milquetoast.And of course two "Gilligans Island" refugees stepped in in the same ep and that was Jim Backus and Alan Hale Jr.And speaking of "Gilligans Island",the opening of the ep "The Night of Bleak Island" is the same opening from "Gilligans Island",the one showing the boat being pitched about in a storm!
It's obvious the budget for this season was next to non existent as the locations were becoming eerily similar,from ep to ep.In fact San Francisco was visited ALOT in this final season...must have been for the fresh ocean air! In fact any city that had a waterfront looked alot like San Francisco.
Footage was also pulled right out of a season three ep to make up time in one of this seasons' eps.It concerned Conrad getting put down a perilous deep hole and landing on a ledge which is close to breaking away.Same precarious position and he extracates himself exactly the same way because...it's the same footage.
I could go on but I'm sure you get the picture.
However this season,again like the others,has been remastered and most eps here are in good,crisp colour and haven't been seen this well ever.
In conclusion, there are alot of negatives which will be of concern to some and little to others,and visa versa.But there are also some positives and I think it's worth getting.When all is said and done and what matters most,is that Martin and Conrad helped create two unforgettable TV characters that have endured and stood the test of time.As long as you keep that in mind when you are watching this final season,it will help you overlook the drawbacks that creep in from time to time. May 7, 2008

More reviews at Amazon.com ...