Wandering The Wild Wild West: A Critical Analysis of the CBS Television Series

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So little has been written about "The Wild Wild West" (CBS, 1965–69) that I eagerly awaited this book. It is a serious study that disappoints.The only comparable volume on the subject is Susan Kesler's "The Wild Wild West: The Series" (1988), whose excellence Presnell acclaims (p. 3). Kesler's study is by far superior, for some reasons that are no fault of Presnell. She had access to a treasure-trove of memoranda, interviews with key figures in the series, and photographs: stills from the series and a plethora of backstage photos. With one exception (p. 8), Prenell's book has no photos from the series. There is a P. R. shot of CBS stars Clint Eastwood, Paul Breniger ("Rawhide"), Tina Louise ("Gilligan's Island"), Bob Conrad and Ross Martin ("West"; p. 8). I'd bet that CBS/Paramount set an exorbitant price on the series' stills that Presnell and his publisher could not afford. Nearly all the artists and craftsmen of "West" have now left us, though Presnell does offer a very brief interview of Earl Barrett (1932– ), who, with Robert C. Dennis, cowrote seven "West" scripts that were produced. Presnell might be faulted for providing the reader so few of the production details in which Keeler excelled: the various producers involved, the artists and composers, the prop creators and stuntmen. Yet Kesler's book covers all that so thoroughly that, even if they were still living, it's hard to know how much more could have been added to her record.So what does this book do? Its heart lies in plot synopses, with principal cast and credits, for all 104 episodes of the series. Most are good. Presnell is unafraid to offer his opinions of the strong and the weak. Careful viewers of the series will find flaws. The heavy played by J. D. Cannon in "The Night of the Deadly Bed" (1965) is "Flory," not "Flori" (p. 21). Douglas Henderson (not "Anderson") made his first appearance as Col. Richmond in 1966 (p. 63; corrected elsewhere). West's "pistol-fired spotlight flare" did not first appear in "TNOT Arrow" (1967; p. 97) but, rather, in "TNOT Returning Dead" (1966). In the latter episode the heroes ' secret collaboration with the character played by Sammy Davis, Jr., is revealed in Act II, not Act IV (p. 53). Screenwriters Calvin Clements and his son Cal Clements, Jr., are mistaken as one and the same (p. 114). And so forth.Presnell puts some of the episodes in their historical context but misses other opportunities. He rightly points out (p. 53) that much of the power of "The Returning Dead" lay in its original telecast during the Civil Rights Era. On the other hand, he misses the allusions to Rachel Carson's "Silent Spring" (1962) in "TNOT Green Terror" (1966) and the Andersonville Civil War prison camp in "TNOT Underground Terror" (1968). He identifies Dr. Loveless's rage against colonial dispossession of his family's homeland (p. 22) but misses the same fury of Liston Day in "TNOT Man-Eating House" (1966): both creations of John Kneubuhl, one of "West"'s finest scribes. As for Kneubhul's underrated episode, "TNOT Two-Legged Buffalo" (1966), Presnell misses the delightfully quadruple-decker cons that all its characters spring on one another. In my view he also underrates the contribution of Gene L Coon, who, before boarding the Starship Enterprise, produced a half-dozen first-season episodes (early 1966) in which West and Gordon finally nailed their wit and comic rapport. Coon did the same for "Star Trek."Presnell describes the two CBS reunion movies (1979, 1980) and the despicable movie (1999): the less said about all of which, especially the last, the better.Instead of deep analysis of episodes, Presnell favors highlighting which actors returned in other roles or appeared in other series of the era (especially "The Twilight Zone" and "Star Trek"). The book includes odd diagrams ("infographics") that show crossovers between this series and others ("The Addams Family," 1964–67; "Columbo," 1971, 1974; "Spider-Man: The Animated Series"). How much you will enjoy these depends on your threshold for pictorial trivia.The book includes a fine bibliography and index. It is well edited and reasonably priced in softcovers.Truthfully, on a a scale of 1 to 5, I would rank this a 3—but I'm grading on the curve (1) because the author has done his research and is providing more than fluff, and (2) the Kesler volume is now hard to find and often expensively priced.

This is the third gook that I know of on The Wild Wild West, the first covers both the show and the short lived cartoon book series, it even gives story info on the latter. The second has a lot of behind the scenes info, once even covering a little of a never made episode that was to feature Sonny and Cher. Thus book concentrates in the show, as the subtitle promises, it is analytical, some of the entries are lacking and there are a few errors. Only two unmade episodes are covered, The Night of the Waxen Terror and The Night of the Sorcerer The two TVMs and the movie Wild Wild West are also covered, the latter is not all that bad, but it is not as good as the original show, in all fairness to those who do not care for it. Good, but I cannot help but wonder, why the author did not provide more, but his intro did give me a heads up on what this book is and what it is not. Oh, and yes, not a whole lot of pics. Just keep that in mind

I would recommend this book if only because so little is available for fans of the terrific TV series "The Wild Wild West". The author writes that it is his favorite television program, but his enthusiasm for the show remains somewhat muted. His use of occasional pictograms seems odd, but perhaps his students at ASU require these types of visual aides to keep from falling asleep in class. I don't know. Sometimes the book seems dry as dust, but overall it's o.k. I did read the entire book so it couldn't be too bad, but yes I was hoping for more.

I did not buy the book. I was searching for a book about the classic "Wild, Wild West" TV series here, and this one came up as a recommendation. I looked at the subtitle of the book and read through the sample pages on preview, and considered the information found in the other reviews of this book here on amazon.This is evidently not a book for the typical fan of the show. Being a fan of the series at the time it aired in the late 1960s, and still enjoying my DVDs of the episodes over 50 years later, at my age now I'm not interested in someone deconstructing the show and analyzing it in this way. I would rather buy and read a book that is a "celebration" of the show and not have to try and figure out why someone thinks something is that way, or the other. Can't we just enjoy the show as good entertainment?It's not surprising that the author is a college professor. I'm sure he is a fine instructor, but why write an entire book putting a 50+ year old classic TV show under the microscope? Did he do this primarily for use in one of his classes at the University? Is this book a required "textbook" for the students who are in his class? Why didn't he choose to "analyze" a more current TV show that the students have actually seen instead of going that far back?I have bought a couple other books that likewise were filled with analyses or criticisms of some of my favorite TV shows, and it spoils my enjoyment of the shows. Others might enjoy this type of book, but I'll pass.UPDATE: I chose to buy the book by Susan E. Kesler. It is fantastic and I would highly recommend it!

A detailed look at every episode, noting disguises, action, connections to other things in history, anarchronistic devices are highlighted, and general opinion of each episode. Each begins with a short synopsis of the show (though one episode has the word "Synopsis" but none follows). Nice feel to the cover. Worthwhile, though the reference to guest casts coming and going during the series is a bit much -- second last appearnce, last appearance, etc.