The Wild Wild West, the Series

I bought this because I am a fan of the TV show and wanted an episode guide for the show. This book is more than an episode guide! It tells you everything about the show and the actors who were on it and the episode synopses are very detailed! If you are a fan of this show you will be very pleased with this book!

good reading material was a fan

Being a lifelong fan of Wild Wild West, Im happy with my purchase of Susan Kessler's book, "The Wild Wild West- The Series".This book is clearly a labor of love written by a long-term fan of the show and is well researched, informative and provides insights to the mid to late 60s entertainment industry.While other books written about TV series consist of little more than an episode by plot synopsis, this book goes far beyond that minimal approach. Kessler provides information about the ship's production, interviews with those involved, behind the scenes stories and some blueprints of sets, gadgets including the Wanderer (West and Gordon's Government issue pimped-out train on loan from President U.S. Grant).Kessler explains how the show burned through 8 producers in it's first season, how because of the firing and replacement of upper level network execs at CBS the show was almost never aired. Included is information about the stars, guest stars, production team, studio "suits" and the group of stunt men that appeared regularly beginning with season 2.Personally, because I'm most interested in the show's design and steampunk aesthetic I would have been happy with more emphasis on the show's visual designs, but Kessler's book is balanced and informative.To be objective, my *only* complaint is that the few blueprints reproduced are low resolution. However, before purchasing this book, I had never even seen *any* of those images so I'm still very happy!All in all, I recommend this book for fans of the show! You'll find something to enjoy and even the most ardent Wild Wild West fan will learn something new. For example... do you remember the West and Gordon's British valet on the Wanderer named Tennyson? Do you know why he appeared in only 4 episodes?I didn't know either, before reading this is book. Who knows, I could be a question on Jeopardy.

I have to say that this book is a labor of love from Sue Kesler ... so thorough and so informative ... not just great summaries of all the episodes but the details of what was going on behind the scenes with each change and each season ... one of the main things I enjoyed about the book is learning about the sense of camaraderie and joy that the folks working on this series seem to have had ... it was Michael Garrison's vision but it was a vision that was mostly caught by other very creative individuals throughout the series run ... Robert Conrad and Ross Martin were the perfect actors to bring these exciting characters to life ... certainly the on-screen chemistry developed over time into something special but also everyone behind the scenes ,the writers, producers, directors and music composers all seemed to have enjoyed working on this series and the results were evident ... I recommend this to any Wild Wild West fan or any fan of classic TV shows who is interested in a deep dive regarding this wonderful and unique show ...

The 1960s 'The Wild Wild West' is a TV series I love - and this book has been one I have wanted to get hold of for some years. Long out of print, I have waited to get hold of a nice clean copy in good condition that was not too expensive to buy. Which has been hard and not so easy to do. I should have bought this book years ago... ( when it would have been a lot cheaper! ) This is really the definitive book on T.W.W.W. and if you have this TV series on DVD, then it is the ideal companion to it. Each episode is gone into in some detail and there is lot of behind the scenes and background information as well as photographs. The author obviously loves this series, which comes across in spades, as indeed I do - If you do too, then I strongly recommend buying it. Expensive - yes, very likely it will be, especially if in good condition. But I do not think that you will be disappointed.

I have been a huge fan of the WWW show since I was 8 when it first aired. Hard enough to loose Ross Martin and Michael Dunn many years ago and now with the passing of Robert Conrad in February, I wanted something special to remember them all. I have all the season's DVDs including the movie done many years after the show was cancelled but when I saw this book, I was sold as soon as I saw the cover. I am so glad I bought this book, I learned things I did not know and the pictures are worth their weight in gold. Every episode has a write up about it and photos of the many famous actors who starred in them. If you are a true WWW fan, you will not be disappointed.

The original 2008 edition of this book has long been considered the Bible for the series with episode summaries, notes, interviews, and production information and this updated edition is even better. This book is a “must have” for the true “Wild Wild West” fan. The only bone to pick that kept me from awarding the full five star rating is that some of the photos, especially of the production documents that I especially look for about my favorite shows, are reproduced a such a small size that they are for the most part illegible, even using a magnifying glass. Still, this is a great addition to the dedicated “Wild Wild West” fan’s library.

Bought the original version of this book off of eBay about 18 years ago, and found it to be useful, if spartan in its pictures and somewhat plagued with editorial errors. This one's much better: color photos; a bit more information; and a better format. If you grew up with the show (as I did), or are a fan of it, it's an interesting, useful book to add to your library, and the fact that Ms. Kesler has cared enough to update it some three decades later is a testament to her love for the series as well. Excellent companion volume to a great show from television's golden age!

A beautifully-assembled book. Truckloads of information, good-quality colour photographs, behind the scenes. Plus, fictional biographies of James and Artie. It's clearly a labour of love and dedication. What a pleasure it is to finally own a copy, the revised edition of a long out of print tome. I only discovered The Wild Wild West fifteen years ago and it was an astonishing revelation. Such fine fun and charming. I'm only surprised there aren't many more books based upon it. I'm certain a big retrospective and reassessment is not too long in our future.

Beaucoup d'informations inédites qui raviront les fans, par exemple un poème de Ross Martin, des croquis des gadgets et des engins extraordinaires vus dans la série ou encore des feuilles de présence sur le tournage (illisibles car trop petites). Petit bémol pour la mauvaise qualité d'impression sur un papier bas de gamme, certaines photos étant très petites elles en deviennent presque illisibles , ce livre aurait largement mérité du papier glacé.

I never knew much about this series until I purchased this book. I enjoyed reading about the programme so much that I bought the box set of the series on DVD. Cult TV at its excellent best.

même en anglais ce livre comblera tout fan des "mystères de l'ouest" les photos nous replongent dans la sérieEmballage correct.

Its a bit expensive but worth it for fans this is an updated version and go's into great detail about the Wild Wild West TV show with some amazing photography.