Post by Bo/CCPU Founder on Sept 18, 2015 10:11:28 GMT -6
"The Wild Wild West" starring Robert Conrad and Ross Martin by AmmO Mug@ www.gundistrict.com
Developed at a time when the television western was losing ground to the spy genre, this show was billed as "James Bond on horseback." Set during the administration of President Ulysses Grant (1869–77), the series followed Secret Service agents James West (Robert Conrad) and Artemus Gordon (Ross Martin) as they solved crimes, protected the President, and foiled the plans of megalomaniacal villains to take over all or part of the United States.
The Wild Wild West Full Episode Season 1 Episode 1 - The Night of the Inferno
The Wild Wild West told the story of two Secret Service agents: the fearless and handsome James T. West (played by Robert Conrad), and Artemus Gordon (played by Ross Martin), a brilliant gadgeteer and master of disguise. Their unending mission was to protect President Ulysses S. Grant and the United States from all manner of dangerous threats. The agents traveled in luxury aboard their own train, the Wanderer, equipped with everything from a stable car to a laboratory.
James West had served as an intelligence and cavalry officer in the US Civil War; his "cover," at least in the pilot episode, is that he is "a dandy, a high-roller from the East." Thereafter, however, there is no pretense, and his reputation as the foremost Secret Service agent often precedes him.
The Wild Wild West featured numerous gadgets. Some were recurring devices, such as James' sleeve gun or breakaway derringer hidden in his left and right boot heels. We'll focus on Jim West's and Artemis Gordon's firearms here.
Jim West's sleeve gun (a Remington derringer), featured in many episodes as an unexpected concealed carry alternative to his holstered and openly carried full sized revolver.
A breakaway Remington derringer (featured in numerous episodes). Usually the frame (handle and trigger mechanism) was located in the hollowed-out heel of one boot, while the double-barrel assembly was located in the other boot's hollowed-out heel; the two pieces snapped together and locked. Often bullets for this breakaway derringer were dispensed from a secret compartment in his belt-buckle, but most of the time the chambers were preloaded.
A breakaway blow-torch, each piece hidden in each hollowed-out boot heel.
Two pistols on a wooden swivel-stand on desk, activated and controlled by a knob on the fireplace. Several pistols, rifles, shotguns, and other assorted weaponry were mounted on a sliding pull-down panel in a small chamber at one end of the train car. A sliding closet containing his clothes and other useful paraphernalia was located in the same area also. A shotgun hidden under a revolving table-top.
Robert Conrad and Ross Martin created two characters that worked well together while approaching their prey from two very different strategies; Jim West the very direct rough and tumble swashbuckler and Artemis Gordon the master of disguise and trickery that was more of the tactics used by the IMF agents in Mission Impossible.
Developed at a time when the television western was losing ground to the spy genre, this show was billed as "James Bond on horseback." Set during the administration of President Ulysses Grant (1869–77), the series followed Secret Service agents James West (Robert Conrad) and Artemus Gordon (Ross Martin) as they solved crimes, protected the President, and foiled the plans of megalomaniacal villains to take over all or part of the United States.
The Wild Wild West Full Episode Season 1 Episode 1 - The Night of the Inferno
The Wild Wild West told the story of two Secret Service agents: the fearless and handsome James T. West (played by Robert Conrad), and Artemus Gordon (played by Ross Martin), a brilliant gadgeteer and master of disguise. Their unending mission was to protect President Ulysses S. Grant and the United States from all manner of dangerous threats. The agents traveled in luxury aboard their own train, the Wanderer, equipped with everything from a stable car to a laboratory.
James West had served as an intelligence and cavalry officer in the US Civil War; his "cover," at least in the pilot episode, is that he is "a dandy, a high-roller from the East." Thereafter, however, there is no pretense, and his reputation as the foremost Secret Service agent often precedes him.
The Wild Wild West featured numerous gadgets. Some were recurring devices, such as James' sleeve gun or breakaway derringer hidden in his left and right boot heels. We'll focus on Jim West's and Artemis Gordon's firearms here.
Jim West's sleeve gun (a Remington derringer), featured in many episodes as an unexpected concealed carry alternative to his holstered and openly carried full sized revolver.
A breakaway Remington derringer (featured in numerous episodes). Usually the frame (handle and trigger mechanism) was located in the hollowed-out heel of one boot, while the double-barrel assembly was located in the other boot's hollowed-out heel; the two pieces snapped together and locked. Often bullets for this breakaway derringer were dispensed from a secret compartment in his belt-buckle, but most of the time the chambers were preloaded.
A breakaway blow-torch, each piece hidden in each hollowed-out boot heel.
Two pistols on a wooden swivel-stand on desk, activated and controlled by a knob on the fireplace. Several pistols, rifles, shotguns, and other assorted weaponry were mounted on a sliding pull-down panel in a small chamber at one end of the train car. A sliding closet containing his clothes and other useful paraphernalia was located in the same area also. A shotgun hidden under a revolving table-top.
Robert Conrad and Ross Martin created two characters that worked well together while approaching their prey from two very different strategies; Jim West the very direct rough and tumble swashbuckler and Artemis Gordon the master of disguise and trickery that was more of the tactics used by the IMF agents in Mission Impossible.