Jeff#
Screenwriter
- Joined
- Jan 29, 2005
- Messages
- 1,942
In 2003 and 2004, CBS Video duplicated the entire first season (28 episodes) of
The Wild Wild West on DVD, as well as 3 episodes from the second season: "The Night of the Golden Cobra" (first episode filmed in color, and guest-starring Boris Karloff and Audrey Dalton), "The Night of the Raven" (dwarf actor Michael Dunn returns for the fifth time as Dr. Migeulito Loveless, who shrinks West down to 6 inches in height!), and what CBS originally aired as the 1966 season premiere "The Night of the Eccentrics" (first of 2 appearances of Victor Buono as magician Count Manzeppi).
Columbia House released 10 volumes, most of which have only 3 episodes. Volume 9, however, has 4 episodes. Last fall I purchased all of them in 3 lots for $19.95 for the first volume and $11.97 + postage for the others that I purchased in each shipment. While it's unfortunate that there are no extras and no interviews with Robert Conrad on these discs, there was a definitive book on The Wild Wild West that came out in the 1980s.
By purposely merging the genres of western, fantasy, and spy drama, the excellence of this series is undisputed. Although the special FX and filming techniques are dated, the aspect of 20th century technology being utilized in the 19th century, remains as fresh as ever! In the early 1990s FOX unsuccessfully tried to rework this concept with The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr.. Yet the original WWW is in a class by itself. The disasterous big-screen remake with Will Smith insulted even Robert Conrad, who made his feelings clear in a 1999 magazine interview.
The film and transfer quality are pristine. I don't like that the packaging features the exact same B & W photos of Conrad & Martin on ALL of the sets (front and back sides of the nearly paper thin disc boxes). The only ways to tell them apart are by the episode titles and airdates on the reverse sides. The Volume numbers on the edge are irrelevant.
I find it unusual that CBS Video puts entire box sets of
Have Gun, Will Travel for sale in stores, but not WWW or even other classic CBS westerns that have long been available on home video through Columbia House by mail: such as GUNSMOKE (also on DVD) and Rawhide.
Nearly a third of the 104 episodes of the series are on disc, but CBS Video apparently hasn't released any additional WWW DVD's in at least a year.
The Wild Wild West on DVD, as well as 3 episodes from the second season: "The Night of the Golden Cobra" (first episode filmed in color, and guest-starring Boris Karloff and Audrey Dalton), "The Night of the Raven" (dwarf actor Michael Dunn returns for the fifth time as Dr. Migeulito Loveless, who shrinks West down to 6 inches in height!), and what CBS originally aired as the 1966 season premiere "The Night of the Eccentrics" (first of 2 appearances of Victor Buono as magician Count Manzeppi).
Columbia House released 10 volumes, most of which have only 3 episodes. Volume 9, however, has 4 episodes. Last fall I purchased all of them in 3 lots for $19.95 for the first volume and $11.97 + postage for the others that I purchased in each shipment. While it's unfortunate that there are no extras and no interviews with Robert Conrad on these discs, there was a definitive book on The Wild Wild West that came out in the 1980s.
By purposely merging the genres of western, fantasy, and spy drama, the excellence of this series is undisputed. Although the special FX and filming techniques are dated, the aspect of 20th century technology being utilized in the 19th century, remains as fresh as ever! In the early 1990s FOX unsuccessfully tried to rework this concept with The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr.. Yet the original WWW is in a class by itself. The disasterous big-screen remake with Will Smith insulted even Robert Conrad, who made his feelings clear in a 1999 magazine interview.
The film and transfer quality are pristine. I don't like that the packaging features the exact same B & W photos of Conrad & Martin on ALL of the sets (front and back sides of the nearly paper thin disc boxes). The only ways to tell them apart are by the episode titles and airdates on the reverse sides. The Volume numbers on the edge are irrelevant.
I find it unusual that CBS Video puts entire box sets of
Have Gun, Will Travel for sale in stores, but not WWW or even other classic CBS westerns that have long been available on home video through Columbia House by mail: such as GUNSMOKE (also on DVD) and Rawhide.
Nearly a third of the 104 episodes of the series are on disc, but CBS Video apparently hasn't released any additional WWW DVD's in at least a year.
