Sidekicks Megapoll: Round Four: Artemus Gordon vs Boo-Boo

[Zeener Diode]

Artemus Gordon



Artemus wanted to be a ladies’ man every bit as much as Jim West was but just could not compete in that department. He did quite well but not to the level of success that Jim had. When Artemus was on the scene, he was always helpful to Jim as the inside man.

Boo-Boo



It is not readily apparent whether Boo-Boo is a juvenile bear with a precocious intellect, or simply an adult bear who is short of stature.

[Rock]

Some trivia: Ross Martin, who played Artemus Gordon, was born in Gródek, Poland (now Horodok, Ukraine). He and his parents emigrated to New York City when he was an infant. Martin spoke Polish, Yiddish, and some Russian before learning English and later added French, Spanish, and Italian.

Martin attended City College of New York, where he graduated magna cum laude, then earned a law degree from the National University School of Law (later part of the George Washington University).

From the wiki article.

[Pogo]

Artemus does everything right for a sidekick.

[What Exit?]

Hey Boo-Boo why aren't you as good as Artemus.

[JackieLikesVariety]

Originally Posted by Rock

Martin spoke Polish, Yiddish, and some Russian before learning English and later added French, Spanish, and Italian.

Martin attended City College of New York, where he graduated magna cum laude, then earned a law degree from the National University School of Law (later part of the George Washington University).

respect!

[NAF1138]

So is Wild Wild West streaming somewhere and if so, is it actually worth me watching or is it just nostalgic?

[What Exit?]

Originally Posted by NAF1138

So is Wild Wild West streaming somewhere and if so, is it actually worth me watching or is it just nostalgic?

Streams on Amazon and other places. At least one of the free services has it.

It is a 60s show. Jim West is somewhat similar to Jim Kirk, including the lady of the week.

Overall, I think it is mostly nostalgia.

[Pogo]

Originally Posted by NAF1138

So is Wild Wild West streaming somewhere and if so, is it actually worth me watching or is it just nostalgic?

I love the show, although I like old shows (The Wild Wild West started before I was born.)

For a long time in the American consciousness, the most popular Genre fiction was Westerns. During the Cold War, especially after Dr. No came out in 1962, the Spy genre got to be big and Westerns almost completely fell out of favor by the mid-1970s as Spies, Sci-Fi, and Mystery continued to grow.

The Wild Wild West is a mashup (of Westerns, Spies, and Sci-fi) set in the 1870s American West. Jim West and Artemus Gordon are secret service agents out to foil megalomaniacal bad guys, solve mysteries, perform diplomatic services like protection, and stuff like that. As agents of the U.S. government, they have access to advanced technology and the bad guys often have that, too.

Some notes to look for if you watch:

• All the episodes start with "The Night" except overall episode #5 which starts with just "Night"
• The animated opening title sequence shows some Western action scenes that resolve in five windows. Cuts-to-commercial replace the animated resolution in one of four of the windows (not the center one) with the still-shot closeup of the final moment before that commercial.
• You'll see some famous actors as guest stars like Carroll O'Connor, Agnes Moorehead, John Astin, Ray Walston, Suzanne Pleshette, Harvey Korman, Victor Buono, Boris Karloff. Wait! I found a good link
• The production shared sets with Star Trek, so you might see some overlaps.
• Michael Dunn played the (super?)villain Miguelito Lovelace in a recurring role (10 episodes.)
• Many of Michael Dunn's episode's also featured his real life singing partner Phoebe Dorin as a companion. In those episodes, the pair would sing a Victorian-ish era song. One of them I linked to in the "Greatest Hit of the 60s" mega-poll.
• The show got cancelled because of two things. The most important was that some folks though it to be too violent - there are fist fights and gunshots in every episode. The other reason was that the high volume of action contributed to injuries to the stars.

[NAF1138]

That is the type of post I come to a megapoll for! Thanks @Pogo

[Zeener Diode]

The Star Trek comparisons are apt as the show was also a mix of genres: western and sci-fi. I could argue Kirk/West are alike, as well as Artemus/Spock: Artemus was exceptionally bright and practically an "alien" among those he encountered, as well as being loyal to his superior officer and friend.