Season three, which ran from 1967-1968, included only 24 episodes. This was due to the Conrad concussion mentioned earlier. Other changes were a move away from the fantasy and more toward the western aspects as well as a move to the villains becoming more political. Because of Michael Dunn's health problems there was only one Dr. Loveless episode in season three.
The best of these include "Night of the Bubbling Death" which has West and Gordon trying to save the U.S. constitution which has been stolen. In "The Night of the Samurai," to save U.S. and Japanese political relationships, our heroes must return a sword to its rightful owner. Finally there is "Night of the Simian Terror" were they visit the plantation of a Senator whose family secret has to do with experimentation with apes.
Season four took up where season three left off for more than just finishing the episode that had to be completed because of Conrad's concussion. During the filming of "The Night of the Avaricious Actuary," Ross Martin suffered a hairline fracture in his shin and had to be "put on assignment to Washington" while he recovered. There were several replacements for his character. Then Martin had a massive heart attack, providing a further setback. He ended up filming in the last three episodes of the season and by then the series had been canceled.
While this season is by far the least of the bunch it does have a couple of moments. First is "The Night of the Egyptian Queen" where West and Gordon are on the trail of a ruby stolen from the Sun God Ra, and "The Night of the Fugitives," the one scheduled for season three where they try to expose a mining company. This episode has Conrad's fall that ended season three.
The Wild Wild West: The Complete TV Series is truly an amazing set as well as a series. The packaging is solid and well put together and looks great on the shelf. The discs come in two little boot heel packs that also look good as well. The conversion to DVD is good. The color is better than the black and white but all are acceptable. The audio is mono and seasons two through four are clearer than season one, but none presented a problem.
Article comments
1 - Marilyn Bertrand-Lawson
This is my all time favorite show. Never missed an episode when it originally aired. Wrote to both Robert Conrad and Ross Martin and got fantastic pics from both...this show has stood the test of time. This is one complete box set that will be on my shelf