document_title: The Wild Wild West

question_text: where was wild wild west tv show filmed

question_tokens: where was wild wild west tv show filmed

text: The Wild Wild West

text: Plot[edit]

text: 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 on the staff of Ulysses Grant;[2] his "cover," at least in the pilot episode, is that of "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. According to the TV movies, West retires from the Service by 1880 and lives on a ranch in Mexico. Gordon, who was a captain in the Civil War, had also been in show business. When he retires in 1880 he returns to performing as the head of a Shakespeare traveling players troupe.

text: The show incorporated classic Western elements with an espionage thriller, science fiction/alternate history ideas (in a similar vein to what would later be called steampunk), in one case horror ("The Night of the Man Eating House") and plenty of humor. In the tradition of James Bond, there were always beautiful women, clever gadgets, and delusional arch-enemies with half-insane plots to take over the country or the world.

text: The title of each episode begins with "The Night" (except for the first-season episode "Night of the Casual Killer", which omitted the definite article "The"). This followed other idiosyncratic naming conventions established by shows like Rawhide, where each episode title began with "Incident at" or "Incident of," and The Man from U.N.C.L.E., where episodes were titled "The (Blank) Affair."

text: Characters[edit]

text: Leads[edit]

text: Robert Conrad starred as James West. Before The Wild Wild West, Conrad played private eye Tom Lopaka in ABC's Hawaiian Eye for four seasons, 1959-63. Conrad claimed to be the 17th actor to test for the role of James West. (Rory Calhoun was initially announced for the part.) Conrad performed nearly all of his own stunts on The Wild Wild West. "For the first few episodes we tried stuntmen," Conrad explained, "but the setup time slowed production down, so I volunteered. Things started moving quicker when I took the jumps and the spills. We started meeting the budget."[3] Early on he was doubled by Louie Elias or Chuck O'Brien.

text: On January 24, 1968, however, during filming of "The Night of the Fugitives", Conrad fell 12 ft (3.7 m) from a chandelier onto a concrete floor and suffered a concussion.[4] As a result, production of the series (then near the end of its third season) ended two weeks early. Conrad spent weeks in the hospital, and had a long convalescence slowed by constant dizziness. The episode was eventually completed and aired during the fourth season, with footage of the fall left in. Conrad later told Percy Shain of the Boston Globe, "I have the whole scene on film. It's a constant reminder to be careful. It also bolstered my determination to make this my last year with the series. Four seasons are enough of this sort of thing."[5]

text: Artemus Gordon was played by Ross Martin. Prior to The Wild Wild West, Martin co-starred in the CBS series Mr. Lucky from 1959 to 1960, portraying Mr. Lucky's sidekick, Andamo. The series was created by Blake Edwards, who also cast Martin in his films Experiment in Terror (1962) and The Great Race (1964).

text: Martin once called his role as Artemus Gordon "a show-off's showcase" because it allowed him to portray over 100 different characters during the course of the series, and perform dozens of different dialects. Martin sketched his ideas for his characterizations and worked with the makeup artists to execute the final look. Martin told Percy Shain of the Boston Globe, "In the three years of the show, I have run a wider gamut than even those acknowledged masters of disguise, Paul Muni and Lon Chaney. Sometimes I feel like a one man repertory company. I think I've proven to myself and to the industry that I am the No. 1 character lead in films today." The industry acknowledged Martin's work with an Emmy nomination in 1969.

text: Martin broke his leg in a fourth-season episode, "The Night of the Avaricious Actuary". He dropped a rifle, stepped on it, and his foot rolled over it. Martin told Percy Shain of the Boston Globe, "In the scene where I was hurt, my stand-in tried to finish it. When the shell ejected from the rifle, it caught him in the eye and burned it. We still haven't finished that scene. It will have to wait until I can move around again."[5]

text: A few weeks later, after completing "The Night of Fire and Brimstone", Martin suffered a heart attack on August 17, 1968. (This was exactly two years after Michael Garrison died.) Martin's character was replaced temporarily by other agents played by Charles Aidman (four episodes), Alan Hale, Jr. and William Schallert. Aidman said the producers had promised to rewrite the scripts for his new character, but this simply amounted to scratching out the name "Artemus Gordon" and penciling in "Jeremy Pike" (his character's name).[1] Pat Paulsen is frequently thought of as a Martin substitute, but he in fact appeared in one of Aidman's episodes, and his character would have been present even if Martin appeared.

text: Villains[edit]

text: The show's most memorable recurring arch-villain was Dr. Miguelito Quixote Loveless, a brilliant but petulant and megalomaniacal dwarf portrayed by Michael Dunn. Like Professor Moriarty for Sherlock Holmes, Loveless provided West and Gordon with a worthy adversary, whose plans could be foiled but who resisted all attempts to capture him and bring him to justice. Initially he had two constant companions: the huge Voltaire, played by Richard Kiel; and the beautiful Antoinette, played by Dunn's real-life singing partner, Phoebe Dorin. Voltaire disappeared without explanation after his third episode (although Richard Kiel returned in a different role in "The Night of the Simian Terror"), and Antoinette after her sixth. According to the TV movie The Wild Wild West Revisited, Loveless eventually dies in 1880 from ulcers, brought on by the frustration of having his plans consistently foiled by West and Gordon. (His son, played by Paul Williams, subsequently seeks revenge on the agents.)

text: Though several actors appeared in multiple villainous roles, only one other character had a second encounter with West and Gordon: Count Manzeppi (played flamboyantly by Victor Buono, who played another, different villain in the pilot), a diabolical genius of "black magic" and crime, who—like Dr. Loveless—had an escape plan at the end. (Buono eventually returned in More Wild Wild West as "Dr. Henry Messenger", a parody of Henry Kissinger, who ends up both handcuffed and turning invisible with the villainous Paradine.)

text: Agnes Moorehead won an Emmy for her role as Emma Valentine in "The Night of The Vicious Valentine". Some of the other villains were portrayed by Leslie Nielsen, Martin Landau, Burgess Meredith, Boris Karloff, Ida Lupino, Carroll O'Connor, Ricardo Montalban, Robert Duvall, Ed Asner, and Harvey Korman.

text: While the show's writers created their fair share of villains, they frequently started with the nefarious, stylized inventions of these madmen (or madwomen) and then wrote the episodes to capitalize on these devices. Henry Sharp, the series' story consultant, would sketch the preliminaries of the designs (eccentrically numbering every sketch "fig. 37"), and give the sketch to a writer, who would build a story around it.[6] Episodes were also inspired by Edgar Allan Poe, H. G. Wells, and Jules Verne.

text: Recurring characters[edit]

text:
Dr. Miguelito Quixote Loveless (Michael Dunn): Ten episodes. The agents' nemesis.
Colonel Richmond (Douglas Henderson) Ten episodes. West and Gordon's control officer in the Secret Service.
President Ulysses S. Grant: Seven episodes. (James Gregory in the pilot; Roy Engel thereafter.)
Antoinette (Phoebe Dorin): Six appearances. Loveless' female companion, often seen playing a piano or string instrument and singing duet with Loveless.
Jeremy Pike (Charles Aidman): Four episodes. One of several agents paired with Jim during Artemus' absence in the fourth season. Appears in the final Loveless episode, "The Night of Miguelito's Revenge."
Tennyson (Charles Davis): Three episodes. West's butler/valet during the first season.
Voltaire (Richard Kiel): Three episodes. Loveless' giant bodyguard. (Kiel also played Dimos Buckley in "The Night of the Simian Terror.")
Count Carlos Mario Vincenzo Robespierre Manzeppi (Victor Buono): Two appearances. A master of dark magic and leader of a handpicked teams of assassins. (Buono also played Juan Manolo in "The Night of the Inferno," the first episode, and Henry Messenger in "More Wild Wild West," the final production.)
Frank Harper (William Schallert): Another agent who worked with Jim in the fourth season. He appears in the series' only two-part episode, "The Night of the Winged Terror." (Schallert appeared in two other episodes as different characters.)

text: Production[edit]

text: Creation, writing and filming[edit]

text: In 1954, Michael Garrison and Gregory Ratoff purchased the film rights to Ian Fleming's first Bond novel, Casino Royale, for $600. CBS bought the TV rights for $1,000, and on October 21, 1954 broadcast an hour-long adaptation on its Climax! series, with Barry Nelson playing American agent ‘Jimmy Bond’ and Peter Lorre playing the villain, Le Chiffre. CBS also approached Fleming about developing a Bond TV series. (Fleming later contributed ideas to NBC's The Man From U.N.C.L.E.)

text: In 1955 Ratoff and Garrison bought the rights to the novel in perpetuity for an additional $6,000. They pitched the idea for a film to 20th Century Fox, but studio turned them down. After Ratoff died in 1960, his widow and Garrison sold the film rights to Charles K. Feldman for $75,000. Feldman eventually produced the spoof Casino Royale in 1967. By then, Garrison and CBS had brought a James Bond to television in a unique way.

text: The pilot episode, "The Night of the Inferno", was produced by Garrison and, according to Robert Conrad, cost $685,000.[7] The episode was scripted by Gilbert Ralston, who had written for numerous episodic TV series in the 1950s and 1960s. In a later deposition, Ralston explained that he was approached by Michael Garrison, who "said he had an idea for a series, good commercial idea, and wanted to know if I could glue the idea of a western hero and a James Bond type together in the same show."[8] Ralston said he then created the Civil War characters, the format, the story outline and nine drafts of the pilot script that was the basis for the television series. It was his idea, for example, to have a secret agent named Jim West who would perform secret missions for President Ulysses S. Grant. (Ralston later sued Warner Bros. over the 1999 motion picture Wild Wild West based on the series.)

text: As indicated by Robert Conrad on his DVD commentary, the show went through several changes in producers in its first season. This was apparently due to conflicts between the network and Garrison, who had no experience producing for television and had trouble staying on budget. At first, Ben Brady was named producer, but he was shifted to Rawhide, which had its own crisis when star Eric Fleming quit at the end of the 1964-65 season. (That series lasted for another thirteen episodes before it was cancelled by CBS.)

text: The network then hired Collier Young.[9] In an interview, Young said he saw the series as The Rogues set in 1870. (The Rogues, which he had produced, was about con men who swindled swindlers, much like the 1970s series Switch.) Young also claimed to have added the wry second "Wild" to the series title, which had been simply "The Wild West" in its early stages of production.[10] Young lasted three episodes (2–4). His shows featured a butler named Tennyson who traveled with West and Gordon, but since the episodes were not broadcast in production order, the character popped up at different times during the first season. Conrad was not sorry to see Young go: "I don't mind. All that guy did creatively was put the second 'wild' in the title. CBS did the right thing."[11]

text: Young's replacement, Fred Freiberger, returned the series to its original concept. It was on his watch that writer John Kneubuhl, inspired by a magazine article on Michael Dunn, created the arch-villain Dr. Miguelito Loveless. Phoebe Dorin, who played Loveless' assistant, Antoinette, recalled: "Michael Garrison came to see [our] nightclub act when he was in New York. Garrison said to himself, 'Michael Dunn would make the most extraordinary villain. People have never seen anything like him before, and he's a fabulous little actor and he's funny as hell.' And, Garrison felt, if Michael Dunn sang on every show, with the girl, it would be an extraordinary running villain. He came backstage and he told us who he was and he said he was going to do a television show called The Wild Wild West and we would be called. We thought, 'Yeah, yeah, we've heard all that before.' But he did call us and the show was a fantastic success. And that's how it started, because he saw the nightclub act."[12] Loveless was introduced in the show's sixth produced, but third televised episode, "The Night the Wizard Shook The Earth." The character became an immediate hit and Dunn was contracted to appear in four episodes per season. Because of health problems, Dunn could only appear in 10 episodes instead of 16.

text: After ten episodes (5–14), Freiberger and executive producer Michael Garrison were, according to Variety, "unceremoniously dumped," reputedly due to a behind-the-scenes power struggle. Garrison was replaced by Phillip Leacock, the executive producer of Gunsmoke, and Frieberger was supplanted by John Mantley, an associate producer on Gunsmoke. The exchange stunned both cast and crew. Garrison, who owned 40% of The Wild Wild West, knew nothing about the changes and hadn't been consulted. He turned the matter over to his attorneys. Freiberger said, "I was fired for accomplishing what I had been hired to do. I was hired to pull the show together when it was in chaos."[13] Conrad said, "I was totally shocked by it. Let's face it, the show is healthy. I think Fred Freiberger is totally correct in his concept of the show. It's an administrative change, for what reason I don't know."[13]

text: Mantley produced seven (15–21) episodes then returned to his former position on Gunsmoke, and Gene L. Coon took over as associate producer. By then, Garrison's conflict with CBS was resolved and he returned to the executive producer role. Coon, however, left after six episodes (22–27) to write First to Fight (1967), a Warner Bros. film about the Marines. Garrison produced the last episode of season one and the initial episodes of season two.[14]

text: Garrison's return was much to the relief of Ross Martin, who once revealed that he was so disenchanted during the first season that he tried to quit three times. He explained that Garrison "saw the show as a Bond spoof laid in 1870, and we all knew where we stood. Each new producer tried to put his stamp on the show and I had a terrible struggle. I fought them line by line in every script. They knew they couldn't change the James West role very much, but it was open season on Artemus Gordon because they had never seen anything like him before."[15]

text: On August 17, 1966, however, during production of the new season's ninth episode, "The Night of the Ready-Made Corpse", Garrison fell down a flight of stairs in his home, fractured his skull, and died. CBS brought in Bruce Lansbury, brother of actress Angela Lansbury, to produce the show for the remainder of its run. In the early 1960s Lansbury had been in charge of daytime shows at CBS Television City in Hollywood, then vice president of programming in New York. When he was tapped for The Wild Wild West, Lansbury was working with his twin brother, Edgar, producing legitimate theater on Broadway.

text: The first season's episodes were filmed in black and white, and they were darker in tone. Cinematographer Ted Voightlander was nominated for an Emmy Award for his work on one of these episodes, "The Night of the Howling Light." Subsequent seasons were filmed in color, and the show became noticeably campier.

text: The Wild Wild West was filmed at CBS Studio Center on Radford Avenue in Studio City in the San Fernando Valley. The 70-acre lot was formerly the home of Republic Studios, which specialized in low-budget films including Westerns starring Roy Rogers and Gene Autry and Saturday morning serials (which The Wild Wild West appropriately echoed). CBS had a wall-to-wall lease on the lot starting in May 1963, and produced Gunsmoke and Rawhide there, as well as Gilligan's Island. The network bought the lot from Republic in February 1967, for $9.5 million. Beginning in 1971, MTM Enterprises (headed by actress Mary Tyler Moore and her then-husband, Grant Tinker) became the Studio Center's primary tenant. In the mid-1980s the western streets and sets were replaced with new sound stages and urban facades, including the New York streets seen in Seinfeld. In 1995 the lagoon set that was originally constructed for Gilligan's Island was paved over to create a parking lot.[16]

text: Among iconic locations used for filming were Bronson Canyon ("Night of the Returning Dead" S02E05) and Vasquez Rocks ("Night of the Cadre" S02E26).

text: Train[edit]

text: For the pilot episode, "The Night of the Inferno", the producers used Sierra Railroad No. 3, a 4-6-0 locomotive that was, fittingly, an anachronism: Sierra No. 3 was built in 1891, fifteen to twenty years after the series was set. Footage of this train, with a 5 replacing the 3 on its number plate, was shot in Jamestown, California. Best known for its role as the Hooterville Cannonball in the CBS series Petticoat Junction, Sierra No. 3 probably appeared in more films and TV shows than any other locomotive in history. It was built by the Rogers Locomotive and Machine Works in Paterson, New Jersey.

text: When The Wild Wild West went into series production, however, an entirely different train was employed. The locomotive, a 4-4-0 named the Inyo, was built in 1875 by the Baldwin Locomotive Works in Philadelphia.[17] Originally a wood-burner, the Inyo was converted to oil in 1910. The Inyo, as well as the express car and the passenger car, originally served the Virginia and Truckee Railroad in Nevada. They were among V&T cars sold to Paramount Pictures in 1937–38. The Inyo appears in numerous films including High, Wide, and Handsome (1938), Union Pacific (1939), The Marx Brothers' Go West (1940), Meet Me in St. Louis, (1944), Red River (1948), Disney's The Great Locomotive Chase (1956) and McLintock! (1963). For The Wild Wild West, Inyo's original number plate was temporarily changed from No. 22 to No. 8 so the train footage could be flopped horizontally without the number appearing reversed. Footage of the Inyo in motion and idling was shot around Menifee, California, and reused in virtually every episode. (Stock footage of Sierra No. 3 occasionally resurfaced as well.)

text: These trains were used only for exterior shots. The luxurious interior of the passenger car was constructed on Stage 6 at CBS Studio Center. (Neither Stage 6 or the western streets still exist.) Designed by art director Albert Heschong,[18] the set reportedly cost $35,000 in 1965 (approximately $250,000 in 2011 dollars).[19] The interior was redesigned when the show switched to color for the 1966-67 season.

text: The train interior was also used in at least one episode of Gunsmoke ("Death Train," aired January 27, 1967), and in at least two episodes of The Big Valley ("Last Train to the Fair," aired April 27, 1966, and "Days of Wrath," aired January 8, 1968). All three series were filmed at CBS Studio Center and shared other exterior and interior sets. Additionally, the interior was used for an episode of Get Smart ("The King Lives?", aired January 6, 1968) and the short-lived Barbary Coast ("Funny Money," aired September 8, 1975).

text: After her run on The Wild Wild West, the Inyo participated in the Golden Spike Centennial at Promontory, Utah, in 1969. The following year it appeared as a replica of the Central Pacific's "Jupiter" locomotive at the Golden Spike National Historical Site. The State of Nevada purchased the Inyo in 1974; it was restored to 1895 vintage, including a wider smoke stack and a new pilot (cow catcher) without a drop coupler. The Inyo is still operational and displayed at the Nevada State Railroad Museum in Carson City. The express car (No. 21) and passenger car (No. 4) are also at the museum.

text: Another veteran V&T locomotive, the Reno (built in 1872 by Baldwin), was used in the two The Wild Wild West TV movies.[20] The Reno, which resembles the Inyo, is located at Old Tucson Studios.

text: The 1999 Wild Wild West motion picture used the Baltimore & Ohio 4-4-0 No. 25, one of the oldest operating steam locomotives in the U.S. Built in 1856 at the Mason Machine Works in Taunton, Massachusetts, it was later renamed The William Mason in honor of its manufacturer. For its role as "The Wanderer" in the motion picture, the engine was sent to the steam shops at the Strasburg Railroad for restoration and repainting. The locomotive is brought out for the B&O Train Museum in Baltimore's "Steam Days".

text: The Inyo and The William Mason both appeared in the Disney film The Great Locomotive Chase (1956).

text: Gadgets[edit]

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tag: table

text: The Wild Wild West featured numerous, often anachronistic, gadgets. Some were recurring devices, such as James' sleeve gun or breakaway derringer hidden in his left and right boot heels. Others appeared in only a single episode.

text: Most of these gadgets are concealed in West's garments:

text:
Sleeve gun (a Remington Double Derringer[21]), featured in many episodes as an unexpected concealed carry alternative to his openly carried full-sized revolver. In a few episodes, the ejecting arm of the device dispensed other useful gadgets, such as a tiny squirt-can containing acid, iron climbing-claws, and various blades.
A breakaway Remington Derringer. Usually the frame (handle and trigger mechanism) was located in one hollowed-out boot heel, while the double-barrel assembly was located in the other heel; the two pieces snapped together and locked. Bullets were dispensed from a secret compartment in his belt-buckle, or the chambers were preloaded.
A breakaway blowtorch, hidden in the hollowed-out boot heels. ("The Night of the Raven")
Lock-pick or passkey concealed under the lapel of the bolero-style jacket.
Throwing knife concealed in a pocket inside the back of the jacket.
Various explosive devices (i.e. smoke bombs, impact flares, gas grenades, anti-lock key,[22] explosive putty[23] etc.) carried in his jacket pockets, belt buckle, hat, a secret compartment in his holster, and the hollowed-out heels of one or both boots. Various lengths and types of fuses were sewn into the hem of his jacket or the waistband of his pants.
A flat metal barbed climbing-spike (piton), with an attached cord, cable or wire. The piton fit the muzzle of either his derringer or revolver and was fired into a wooden beam or wall. West would then use a pulley with a handle to zip-line above obstacles. The equipment was usually carried in his jacket's many inside pockets.
A small, hand-held motor-driven winch. When used in conjunction with the piton and wire, the winch could either hoist him upwards, to a building's roof for instance, or lower him into a pit.
A thin, telescopic probing rod (similar to a long modern-day car antenna). When extended fully, West could probe approximately ten feet around him. He used this to probe and trigger traps in the Secret Service training room depicted in "The Night of the Janus".
A spring-loaded, swing-out knife blade (switchblade) beneath the toe-box of his boot.
A glass cutter with a suction cup. A cutting arm rotated to score the glass in a complete circle and the suction cup was used to remove the cut piece. ("The Night of the Camera")
A thin but strong wire, coiled and fitted in the inner lining of the crown of his hat; the wire had multiple uses, and was even capable of sawing through a steel bar.
Knockout gas in a clay pipe.
A battery-powered (or spring-driven) electric drill, that in one episode was roughly the size of a large avocado and used to assist West's escape from a metal cage.
West's saddle horn was booby-trapped with a dynamite bullet shell. ("The Night of the Returning Dead")

text: Aboard the train:

text:
A mobile telegraph set concealed in a false book set on desk.
Two pistols on a wooden swivel-stand on desk, activated and controlled by a knob on the fireplace.
The fireplace concealed a secret escape door and an emergency flare signal; also had side shelves for chemicals and a primitive phone mouthpiece for communication with the engine.
Several pistols, rifles, shotguns, and other assorted weaponry were mounted on a concealed pull-down panel on the train. A sliding closet located in the same area contained his clothes and other useful paraphernalia.

text: - Clockwork-powered lock-picking device used by Artie

text:
A shotgun hidden under a revolving table-top.
Cages for two carrier pigeons. In the pilot episode, the pigeons (named Henry and Henrietta) were located in a compartment above the door in the same room where West usually dressed and equipped himself. In subsequent episodes the carrier pigeons were usually located in a compartment above the fireplace.
Decorative lion heads that spew knockout gas when triggered. ("The Night of the Big Blackmail")
A toy train set along with life-sized cutouts of West's and Gordon's heads. ("The Night of the Big Blackmail")
Elastic wire in watch. ("The Night of the Poisonous Posey")
A surprise joke snake in the cigar humidor ("The Night of the Iron Fist")

text: Other gadgets:

text:
An exploding pocket watch.
Exploding billiard balls (the cue ball in the series' pilot episode, but sometimes other balls as well).
Cue stick with a rapier hidden inside. ("The Night of the Inferno" (pilot episode))
Cue stick that fires a bullet. ("The Night of the Inferno" (pilot episode))
Stage coach with ejector-seat. ("The Night the Wizard Shook the Earth")
A telegraph mechanism in a cane.
A blow torch disguised as a cigar.
Rubber mask disguises (similar to Mission Impossible) for both heroes and villains.
A net-throwing bazooka. ("The Night of the Big Blast")
Gas mask. ("The Night of the Bottomless Pit")
A cane that expels smoke. ("The Night of the Bottomless Pit")
Knockout gas in an apple. ("The Night of the Brain")
Knockout gas in a balloon. ("The Night Dr Loveless Died")
Bulletproof vest. ("The Night of the Glowing Corpse", "The Night Dr Loveless Died")

text: The villains often used equally creative gadgets, including:

text:
A device to trigger earthquakes. ("The Night of the Human Trigger")
Brainwashing techniques using intense light and sound.
A cyborg. ("The Night of the Steel Assassin")
An early flamethrower. ("The Night of the Circus of Death")
Life-sized steam-powered puppets. ("The Night of the Puppeteer")
Jars that preserved disembodied human brains to draw upon their knowledge and psychic force.
The Juggernaut, a steam-powered, wedge-shaped tank with a battering ram. ("The Night of the Juggernaut")
A potion, made from liquefied diamonds, which enabled a man to move so fast as to be invisible. ("The Night of the Burning Diamond")
An LSD-like hallucinogen, capable of driving men into fits of killing madness. ("The Night of the Murderous Spring")
A cathode-ray tube (television).
A torpedo disguised as a dragon capable of homing on a radio signal. ("The Night of the Watery Death")
A force-field that disintegrates anything that comes in contact with it. ("The Night of the Watery Death")
A drug capable of shrinking a man down to a height of six inches. ("The Night of the Raven")
A exoskeleton suit of armor. ("The Night of the Green Terror")
A device that triggers tidal waves. ("The Night of the Deadly Bubble")
A sonic device that allowed paintings to be used as portals to other dimensions. ("The Night of the Surreal McCoy")
Crystals that, when surgically implanted inside the brain and shattered by a high-pitched noise, caused the subject to turn into a criminal.
A giant falcon-shaped cannon, capable of devastating a small town with a single shot.
A giant tuning fork that created destructive sound waves. ("The Night of the Avaricious Actuary")
A locomotive modified with a large battering ram to collide with oncoming trains and derail them.
Reanimated human corpses (similar to Frankenstein's monster) turned into human bombs. ("The Night of the Big Blast")
A steam-powered revolving blade. ("The Night of the Big Blackmail")
A pair of large metal hands with a deadly electric field. ("The Night of the Eccentrics")
A large live-action periscope for spying. ("The Night of the Eccentrics")
A flying "pie plate" (balloon filled with flares). ("The Night of the Flying Pie Plate")
Knock-out gas masks. ("The Night of the Flying Pie Plate")
Bomb gavel. ("The Night of the Poisonous Posey")
Poison-tipped diamond. ("The Night of the Poisonous Posey")
Revolving gun organ pipes. ("The Night of the Poisonous Posey")
A robot suit of medieval armor. ("The Night of the Green Terror")
Explosive glass bulbs. ("The Night of the Green Terror")
Explosive mace head. ("The Night of the Green Terror")
Balloon-borne powder which sets forest fires. ("The Night of the Green Terror")
A computer dating machine. ("The Night of the Vicious Valentine")
A backwards firing pistol. ("The Night of the Brain"; "The Night of the Bogus Bandits"; "The Night of the Winged Terror Part 1" )
Phosgene gas. ("The Night Dr Loveless Died")
Androids. {"The Night of Miguelito's Revenge"}

text: Theme music[edit]

text: The main title theme was written by Richard Markowitz, who previously composed the theme for the TV series The Rebel. He was brought in after the producers rejected two attempts by film composer Dimitri Tiomkin.

text: In an interview by Susan Kesler (for her book, The Wild Wild West: The Series) included in the first season DVD boxed set, Markowitz recalled that the original Tiomkin theme "was very, kind of, traditional, it just seemed wrong." Markowitz explained his own approach: "By combining jazz with Americana, I think that's what nailed it. That took it away from the serious kind of thing that Tiomkin was trying to do... What I did essentially was write two themes: the rhythmic, contemporary theme, Fender bass and brushes, that vamp, for the cartoon effects and for West's getting himself out of trouble, and the heraldic western outdoor theme over that, so that the two worked together."

text: Session musicians who played on the theme were Tommy Morgan (harmonica); Bud Shank, Ronnie Lang, Plas Johnson, and Gene Cipriano (woodwinds); Vince DeRosa and Henry Sigismonti (French Horns); Uan Rasey, Ollie Mitchell, and Tony Terran (trumpets); Dick Nash, Lloyd Ulyate, Chauncey Welsch, Kenny Shroyer (trombones). Tommy Tedesco and Bill Pitman (guitars); Carol Kaye (Fender bass); Joe Porcaro (brushes); Gene Estes, Larry Bunker, and Emil Richards (timpani, percussion).

text: Markowitz, however, was never credited for his theme in any episode; it is believed[by whom?] that this was due to legal difficulties between CBS and Tiomkin over the rejection of the latter's work. Markowitz did receive "music composed and conducted by" credits for episodes he'd scored (such as "The Night of the Bars of Hell" and "The Night of the Raven") or where he supplied the majority of tracked-in cues (for example in "The Night of the Grand Emir" and "The Night of the Gypsy Peril"). He finally received "theme by" credit on both of the TV movies, which were scored by Jeff Alexander rather than Markowitz (few personnel from the series were involved with the TV movies).

text: Graphics[edit]

text: The animated title sequence was another unique element of the series. Created by Michael Garrison Productions and DePatie-Freleng Enterprises, it was directed by Isadore "Friz" Freleng and animated by Ken Mundie,[24] who designed the titles for the film The Great Race and the TV series Secret Agent, Rawhide, and Death Valley Days.

text: The screen was divided into four corner panels surrounding a narrow central panel that contained a cartoon "hero". The Hero, who looked more like a traditional cowboy than either West or Gordon, encounters cliché western characters and situations in each of the panels. In the three seasons shot in color, the overall backdrop was an abstracted wash of the flag of the United States, with the upper left panel colored blue and the others containing horizontal red stripes.

text: The original animation sequence is:

text:
The Hero strikes a match, lights a cigar, and begins walking in profile to the right.
Behind the Hero, in the lower left panel, a robber backs out of a bank; the Hero subdues him with a karate chop to the back.
In the upper right panel, a cardsharp tries to pull an ace of spades from his boot, but the Hero draws his gun and the cardsharp drops the ace.
In the upper left panel, a gunman points a six-shooter at the Hero, who drops his gun and puts his hands up. The Hero shoots the gunman with his sleeve derringer; the gunman's hand falls limp. The Hero then quickly retrieves his gun and puts it back in his holster.
A woman in the lower right panel taps the Hero on the hat with her parasol. He pulls her close and kisses her. She draws a knife but, mesmerized by his kiss, turns away and slumps against the side of the frame. He tips his hat and walks away with his back to the camera. There were two versions of this vignette; this one appears during the first season. When the show switched to color, the Hero knocked the woman down with a right cross to the jaw. This variant also appears in the original pilot episode (included on the DVD release) when the series was titled The Wild West. Despite this, James West never hit a woman in any episode, although he grappled with many. The closest he came was when he slammed a door against the shotgun holding evil Countess Zorana in "The Night of the Iron Fist". In "The Night of the Running Death" he slugged a woman named Miss Tyler, but "she" was a man in drag (actor T. C. Jones). The original animation, with the Hero winning the woman over with a kiss, was a more accurate representation of West's methods than the right cross. Ironically, it is another example of the emphasis on violence of the show.
The Hero walks off into the distance, and the camera zooms into his panel. The title The Wild Wild West appears. The camera then swish pans to an illustration of the train, with Conrad's and Martin's names on the ends of different cars.

text: This teaser part of the show was incorporated into The History Channel's Wild West Tech (2003–5).

text: Each episode had four acts. At the end of each act, the scene, usually a cliffhanger moment, would freeze, and a sketch or photograph of the scene faded in to replace the cartoon art in one of the four corner panels. The style of freeze-frame art changed over the course of the series. In all first-season episodes other than the pilot, the panels were live-action stills made to evoke 19th-century engravings. In season two (the first in color) the scenes dissolved to tinted stills; from "The Night of the Flying Pie Plate" on, however, the panels were home to Warhol-like serigraphs of the freeze-frames. The end credits were displayed over each episode's unique mosaic except in the final season, when a standardized design was used (curiously, in this design the bank robber is unconscious, the cardsharp has no card and the lady is on the ground, but the sixshooter in the upper left-hand panel has returned). The freeze-frame graphics were shot at a facility called Format Animation.[citation needed] The pilot is the only episode in which the center panel of the Hero is replaced by a sketch of the final scene of an act; in the third act he is replaced by the villainous General Cassinello (Nehemiah Persoff).

text: During the first season, the series title "The Wild Wild West" was set in the font Barnum,[25] which resembles the newer font P.T. Barnum. In subsequent seasons, the title appeared in a hand-drawn version of the font Dolphin (which resembles newer fonts called Zebrawood, Circus, and Rodeo Clown). Robert Conrad's name was also set in this font. Ross Martin's name was set in the font Bracelet (which resembles newer fonts named Tuscan Ornate and Romantiques). All episode titles, writer and director credits, guest cast and crew credits were set in Barnum. During commercial breaks, the title "The Wild Wild West" also appeared in Barnum.

text: Dates given in series[edit]

text: The series is generally set during the presidency of Ulysses S. Grant, 1869–77; occasional episodes indicate a more precise date:

text:
"The Night of the Glowing Corpse" is set during the Franco-Prussian War of July 19, 1870 – May 10, 1871.
"The Night of the Steel Assassin" takes place during July 4 Holiday.
"The Night of the Eccentrics" takes place four years after the execution in 1867 of Emperor Maximilian I of Mexico i.e. 1871
In "The Night of the Eccentrics" Count Manzeppi hums "Ride of the Valkyries" which was first performed on June 26, 1870.
"The Night of the Big Blast" takes place during New Orleans Mardi Gras
"The Night of the Returning Death" is set 13 years after the start of the Civil War i.e. 1874
"The Night of the Man Eating House" states that Liston Day has been in solitary confinement for 30 years and later that he was arrested April 23, 1836. This would put it around 1866 three years before the Grant presidency begun.
In "The Night of the Brain" Artemus Gordon shows James West a newspaper dated July 12, 1872. West states, "July 12, that's an interesting date, but it happens to be tomorrow." After the events described happen they again get tomorrow's newspaper and we see the date: July 14, 1872.
"The Night of the Lord of Limbo" takes place seven years after the end of the Civil War, making it 1872.
"The Night of the Whirring Death" opens with the caption San Francisco 1874.
In "The Night of the Flaming Ghost", West says, "If the real John Brown had lived he'd be almost 75 years old by now." Brown was born May 9, 1800.
In "The Night of the Arrow", a cavalry officer resigns his commission as of April 6, 1874.
In "The Night of the Avaricious Actuary", the heading of a letter shown on screen is dated 1875.
In "The Night of the Underground Terror", the sadistic commandant of a POW camp is said to have escaped justice for ten years, presumably from the end of the war in 1865.
In "The Night of the Samurai," Baron Saigo says Admiral Perry took the sword over 30 years earlier. Assuming the date of Perry's first visit to Japan (July 8, 1853), that would mean the episode takes place after 1883 or some six years after the end of the Grant presidency.
In "The Night that Terror Stalked the Town", Loveless has a headstone prepared for West, showing his birthdate as July 2, 1842

text: Cancellation and syndication[edit]

text: Some episodes were violent for their time, and that, rather than low ratings, ultimately was the series' downfall (citation?). In addition to gunplay, there were usually two fight sequences per episode. These were choreographed by Whitey Hughes and performed by Conrad and a stock company of stuntmen, including Red West, Dick Cangey, and Bob Herron (who doubled for Ross Martin).

text: After he suffered a concussion filming "The Night of the Fugitives," the network insisted that Conrad defer to a double. (His chair on the set was newly inscribed: "Robert Conrad, ex-stuntman, retired by CBS, Jan. 24, 1968.") "[W]hen I came back for the fourth season I was limited to what I could do for insurance reasons," Conrad explained. "So I agreed and gradually I did all the fights but couldn't do anything five feet off the ground and of course that went out the window."[26] He was doubled by Jimmy George. Often, George would start a stunt, such as a high fall or a dive through a window, then land behind boxes or off camera, where Conrad was concealed and waiting to seamlessly complete the action. This same ploy was sometimes used by Ross Martin and Bob Herron.

text: It was hazardous work. Hughes recalled, "We had a lot of crashes. We used to say, 'Roll the cameras and call the ambulances.'" Conrad recalled in 1994, "The injuries started at the top. Robert Conrad: 6-inch fracture of the skull, high temporal concussion, partial paralysis. Ross Martin: broken leg. A broken skull for Red West. Broken leg for Jimmy George. Broken arm for Jack Skelly. And Michael Dunn: head injury and a spinal sprain. He did his own stunts. And on and on."[27]

text: Following the 1968 assassinations of Dr. Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy, President Lyndon Johnson created the National Commission on the Causes and Prevention of Violence. One of the questions it tackled was whether violence on television was a contributing factor to violence in American society. (This also included graphic news coverage of the Vietnam War.) The television networks, anticipating these allegations, moved to curtail violence on their entertainment programs before the start of the 1968-69 season.[28] Television reporter Cynthia Lowrey, in an article published in August 1968, wrote that The Wild Wild West "is one of the action series being watched by network censors for scenes of excessive violence, even if the violence is all in fun."[29]

text: However, despite a CBS mandate to tone down the mayhem, "The Night of the Egyptian Queen" (aired November 15, 1968) contains perhaps the series' most ferocious barroom brawl. A later memo attached to the shooting script of "The Night of Miguelito's Revenge" (aired December 13, 1968) reads: "Note to Directors: The producer respectfully asks that no violent acts be shot which are not depicted in the script or discussed beforehand. … Most particularly stay away from gratuitous ad-libs, such as slaps, pointing of firearms or other weapons at characters (especially in close quarters), kicks and the use of furniture and other objects in fight scenes." Strict limits were placed on the number of so-called "acts of violence" in the last episodes of the season (and thus the series). James West rarely wears a gun, and rather than the usual fisticuffs, fight sequences involved tossing, tackling or body blocking the villains.

text: In December 1968, executives from ABC, CBS and NBC appeared before the President's Commission. The most caustic of the commissioners, Rep. Hale Boggs (D-La.), decried what he called "the Saturday morning theme of children's cartoon shows" that permit "the good guy to do anything in the name of justice." He also indicted CBS for featuring sadism in its primetime programing (The Wild Wild West was subsequently identified as one example). The Congressman did, however, commend CBS for a 25% decline in violence programming in prime time compared to the other two networks.[30]

text: Three months later, in March 1969, Sen. John O. Pastore (D-R.I.) called the same network presidents before his Senate communications subcommittee for a public scolding on the same subject. At Pastore's insistence, the networks promised tighter industry self-censorship, and the Surgeon General began a $1 million study on the effects of television. Congress’s concern was shared by the public: in a nationwide poll, 67.5% of 1,554 Americans agreed with the hypothesis that TV and movie violence prompted violence in real life.[31]

text: Additionally, the National Association for Better Broadcasting (NABB), in a report eventually issued in November 1969, rated The Wild Wild West "as one of the most violent series on television."[32]

text: After being excoriated by two committees, the networks scrambled to expunge violence from their programming. The Wild Wild West received its cancellation notice in mid-February, even before Pastore’s committee convened.[33] Producer Bruce Lansbury always claimed that "It was a sacrificial lamb … It went off with a 32 or 33 share which in those days was virtually break-even, but it always won its time period."[34] This is confirmed by an article by Associated Press reporter Joseph Mohbat: "Shows like ABC's 'Outcasts' and NBC's 'Outsider', which depended heavily on violence, were scrapped. CBS killed 'The Wild, Wild West' despite high ratings, because of criticism. It was seen by the network as a gesture of good intentions."[35] The networks played it safe thereafter: of the 22 new television shows that debuted in the fall of 1969, not one was a western or detective drama; 14 were comedy or variety series.[36]

text: Conrad denounced Pastore for many years, but in other interviews he admitted that it probably was time to cancel the series because he felt that he and the stunt men were pushing their luck. He also felt the role had hurt his craft. "In so many roles I was a tough guy and I never advanced much," Conrad explained. "Wild Wild West was action adventure. I jumped off roofs and spent all my time with the stuntmen instead of other actors. I thought that's what the role demanded. That role had no dimension other than what it was—a caricature of a performance. It was a comic strip character."[37]

text: In the summer of 1970, CBS reran several episodes of The Wild Wild West on Mondays at 10 p.m. as a summer replacement for the Carol Burnett Show. These episodes were "The Night of the Bleak Island" (aired July 6); "The Night of the Big Blackmail" (July 13); "The Night of the Kraken" (July 20); "The Night of the Diva" (July 27); "The Night of the Simian Terror" (August 3); "The Night of the Bubbling Death" (August 11); "The Night of the Returning Dead" (August 17); "The Night of the Falcon" (August 24); "The Night of the Underground Terror" (August 31); and "The Night of the Sedgewick Curse" (September 7). Curiously, none of these featured Dr. Loveless.

text: TV critic Lawrence Laurent wrote, "The return of Wild Wild West even for a summer re-run isn't surprising. CBS-TV was never really very eager to cancel this series, since over a four-year run that began in 1965 the Wild Wild West had been a solid winner in the ratings. Cancellation came mainly because CBS officials were concerned about the criticism over televised violence and to a lesser degree because Robert Conrad had grown slightly weary of the role of James West. Ever since last fall's ratings started rolling in, CBS has wished that it had kept Wild Wild West. None of the replacements have done nearly as well and, as a result, all of the Friday programs suffered."[38]

text: That fall, CBS put the program into syndication, giving it new life on local stations across the country. This further antagonized the anti-violence lobby, since the program was now broadcast weekdays and often after school. One group, The Foundation to Improve Television (FIT), filed a suit on November 12, 1970, to prevent WTOP in Washington, D.C., from airing The Wild Wild West weekday afternoons at 4 pm.[39] The suit was brought in Washington, D.C., specifically to gain government and media attention. The suit said the series "contains fictionalized violence and horror harmful to the mental health and well-being of minor children", and should not air before 9 pm. WTOP's vice president and general manager, John R. Corporan, was quoted as saying, "Since programs directed specifically at children are broadcast in the late afternoon by three other TV stations, it is our purpose to counter-program with programming not directed specifically at children." US District Court Judge John J. Sirica, who later presided over the trial of the Watergate burglars and ordered US President Richard Nixon to turn over White House recordings, dismissed the lawsuit in January 1971, referring FIT to take their complaint to the FCC.[40] FIT appealed, but a year and a half later the U.S. Court of Appeals upheld the district court decision dismissing the suit on the grounds that FIT had not exhausted the administrative remedies available to them. By then, WTOP had stopped broadcasting the series altogether.[41] At that time, the show was in reruns on about 57 other local stations across the country, including WOR in New York and WFLD in Chicago.

text: In October 1973 the Los Angeles-based National Association for Better Broadcasting (NABB) reached a landmark agreement with KTTV, a local station, to purge 42 violent cartoon programs, including Mighty Mouse, Magilla Gorilla, Speed Racer, and Gigantor. Additionally, the NABB cited 81 syndicated live-action shows that “may have a detrimental influence on some children who are exposed to such programming without parental guidance or perspective” when they are telecast before 8:30 p.m. This list included The Wild Wild West, The Avengers, Batman, Man from UNCLE, Roy Rogers, Wanted Dead or Alive, and The Lone Ranger. In Los Angeles, such shows opened with a cautionary announcement: “Parents — we wish to advise that because of violence or other possible harmful elements, certain portions of the following program may not be suitable for young children.” The NABB hoped to use the cartoon ban and warning announcement as a model for similar agreements with other local stations.[42]

text: By then The Wild Wild West was running on 99 local stations.[43] Its ongoing popularity throughout the 1970s prompted two television movies, The Wild Wild West Revisited (1979) and More Wild Wild West (1980) (see below). By the spring of 1985 the original series was still carried on 74 local stations.[44]

text: In the late 1980s the series was still seen on local stations in Boston, Hartford, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Los Angeles, among other cities. Significantly, WGN (Chicago), which carried the show at 10 a.m. on Sundays, became available nationally through cable television.

text: In 1994, The Wild Wild West began running on Saturdays at 10 a.m. on Turner Network Television (TNT), which preferred the color episodes to the black and white shows. The series was dropped from WGN soon after. Hallmark Channel aired the series in 2005 as part of its slate of Saturday afternoon Westerns but dropped it after only a few weeks. In 2011 the series began running weekdays and/or weekends on MeTV, then Sundays on the Heroes and Icons digital channel. In 2016 The Wild Wild West returned to MeTV on Saturday afternoons. On January 1, 2018, MeTV began running the series weekday afternoons again, starting with second season (color) episodes. It also airs in the United Kingdom (as of 2015) on the Horror Channel on Sky channel 319, Virgin channel 149, Freeview channel 70 and Freesat channel 138.

text: Episodes[edit]

text: Episode list[edit]

text: TV movies[edit]

text: Conrad and Martin reunited for two television movies, The Wild Wild West Revisited (aired May 9, 1979) and More Wild Wild West (aired October 7–8, 1980). Revisited introduced Paul Williams as Miguelito Loveless Jr., the son of the agents' nemesis. (Michael Dunn, who played Dr. Loveless in the original show, had died in 1973.) Loveless planned to substitute clones for the crowned heads of Europe and the President of the United States. (This plot is similar to the second-season episode "The Night of the Brain".)

text: Most of the exterior filming took place at Old Tucson Studios where there were still many "Old West" buildings and a functioning steam train and tracks. Interiors were shot at CBS Studio Center. Ross Martin said, "We worked on a lot of the same sets at the studio, including the interiors of the old train. We used the same guns and gimmicks and wardrobes –  with the waistlines let out a little bit. The script, unlike the old shows, is played strictly for comedy. It calls for us to be ten years older than when we were last seen. There are a lot more laughs than adventure."[45]

text: More Wild Wild West was initially conceived as a rematch between the agents and Miguelito Jr., but Williams was unavailable for the film; his character was changed to Albert Paradine II and played by Jonathan Winters—this explains why the story begins with various clones of Paradine being murdered (the first film ends with Loveless having cloned himself and placed the doubles around the world). Paradine planned world conquest using a formula for invisibility (recalling the first-season episode "The Night of the Burning Diamond").

text: Both TV films were campier than the TV series, although Conrad and Martin played their roles straight. Both films were directed by veteran comedy Western director Burt Kennedy and written by William Bowers (in the latter case with Tony Kayden, from a story by Bowers); neither Kennedy nor Bowers worked on the original series. The Wild Wild West Revisited takes the agents to a town called Wagon Gap. This was a nod to the Abbott and Costello film, The Wistful Widow of Wagon Gap (1947), which was based on a treatment by Bowers and D. D. Beauchamp of a short story by Beauchamp.[46]

text: Conrad once revealed that CBS intended to do yearly TV revivals of The Wild Wild West.[47] Variety, in its review of the first TV movie, concurred: "A couple of more movies in this vein, sensibly spaced, could work in the future." [48] Ross Martin's death in 1981, however, put an end to the idea.

text: Conrad was later quoted in Cinefantastique about these films: "We all got along fine with each other when we did these, but I wasn't happy with them only because CBS imposed a lot of restrictions on us. They never came up to the level of what we had done before."

text: Home media[edit]

text: The first season of The Wild Wild West was released on DVD in North America on June 6, 2006 by CBS Home Entertainment (distributed by Paramount Home Entertainment). Although it was touted as a special 40th anniversary edition, it appeared 41 years after the show's 1965 debut. Robert Conrad recorded audio introductions for all 28 first-season episodes, plus a commentary track for the pilot. The set also featured audio interviews by Susan Kesler (for her book, The Wild Wild West: The Series), and 1970s era footage of Conrad and Martin on a daytime talk show. The second season was released on DVD on March 20, 2007; the third season was released on November 20, 2007; and the fourth and final season was released on March 18, 2008. None of the later season sets contained bonus material. A 27-disc complete series set was released on November 4, 2008.[49] It contains all 104 episodes of the series as well as both reunion telefilms.

text: On May 12, 2015, CBS Home Entertainment released a repackaged version of the complete series set, at a lower price, but did not include the bonus disc that was part of the original complete series set.[50] On June 13, 2016, the bonus disc was released as a standalone item.

text: In France, where the series (known locally as Les Mystères de l'Ouest) was a big hit, all four seasons were released in a DVD boxed set before their US release. The French set, released by TF1 Video, includes many of the extras on the US season one set, and many others. "The Night of the Inferno" is presented twice – as a regular episode in English with Conrad's audio commentary, and in a French-dubbed version. All of the episodes are presented in English with French subtitles, and several episode titles differ in translation from the original English titles. For example, "The Night of the Gypsy Peril", "The Night of the Simian Terror" and "The Night of Jack O'Diamonds" respectively translate as "The Night of the White Elephant", "The Night of the Beast" and "The Night of the Thoroughbred". Both TV movies are included as extras, but only in French-dubbed versions. The set also features a 1999 interview with Robert Conrad at the Mirande Country Music Festival in France.

text: In other media[edit]

text: The series spawned several merchandising spin-offs, including a seven-issue comic book series by Gold Key Comics, and a paperback novel, Richard Wormser's The Wild Wild West, published in 1966 by Signet (ISBN 0-451-02836-8), which adapted the episode "The Night of the Double-Edged Knife".

text: Books[edit]

text: In 1988, Arnett Press published The Wild Wild West: The Series by Susan E. Kesler (ISBN 0-929360-00-1), a thorough production history and episode guide.

text: In 1998, Berkeley Books published three novels by author Robert Vaughan –  The Wild Wild West (ISBN 0-425-16372-5), The Night of the Death Train (ISBN 0-425-16449-7), and The Night of the Assassin (ISBN 0-425-16517-5).

text: Comics[edit]

text: In 1990, Millennium Publications produced a four-part comic book series ("The Night of the Iron Tyrants") scripted by Mark Ellis with art by Darryl Banks. A sequel to the TV series, it involved Dr. Loveless in a conspiracy to assassinate President Grant and the President of Brazil and put the Knights of the Golden Circle into power. The characters of Voltaire and Antoinette were prominent here, despite their respective early departures from Dr. Loveless' side in the original program. A review from the Mile High Comics site states: "This mini-series perfectly captures the fun mixture of western and spy action that marked the ground-breaking 1960s TV series." The storyline of the comics mini-series was optioned for motion picture development.

text: In the 75th volume of the French comic book series Lucky Luke (L'Homme de Washington), published in 2008, both James West and Artemus Gordon have a minor guest appearance, albeit the names have been changed to "James East" and "Artémius Gin".

text: Television[edit]

text: When Robert Conrad hosted Saturday Night Live on NBC (January 23, 1982), he appeared in a parody of The Wild Wild West. President Lincoln states his famous quip that, if General U.S. Grant is a drunk, he should send whatever he's drinking to his other less successful generals. Lincoln dispatches West and Gordon (Joe Piscopo) to find out what Grant drinks. They discover that Grant is held captive by Velvet Jones (Eddie Murphy).

text: Soundtrack album[edit]

text: On July 11, 2017, La-La Land Records released a limited edition 4-disc set of music from the series, featuring Richard Markowitz's theme, episode scores by Markowitz, Robert Drasnin, Dave Grusin, Richard Shores, Harry Geller, Walter Scharf, Jack Pleis and Fred Steiner, and Dimitri Tiomkin's unused theme music.[51]

text: Motion picture[edit]

text: In January 1992, Variety reported that Warner Bros. was planning a theatrical version of The Wild Wild West directed by Richard Donner, written by Shane Black, and starring Mel Gibson as James West (Donner directed three episodes of the original series). Finally, in 1999, a theatrical motion picture loosely based on the series was released as Wild Wild West (without the definite article used in the series title). Directed by Barry Sonnenfeld, the film made substantial changes to the characters of the series, reimagining James West as a black man (played by Will Smith), and Artemus Gordon (played by Kevin Kline) as egotistical and bitterly competitive with West. Additionally, significant changes were made to Dr. Loveless (Kenneth Branagh in the film). No longer a dwarf, he was portrayed as a double amputee confined to a steam-powered wheelchair (similar to that employed by the villain in "The Night of the Brain"). Loveless' first name was changed from Miguelito to Arliss, and he was given the motive of a bitter Southerner who sought revenge on the North after the Civil War.

text: Robert Conrad reportedly was offered the role of President Grant, but turned it down. He was outspoken in his criticism of the new film, now little more than a comedic Will Smith showcase with virtually no relationship to the action-adventure series. In a New York Post interview (July 3, 1999), Conrad stated that he disliked the movie and that contractually he was owed a share of money on merchandising that he was not paid. He had a long-standing feud with producer Jon Peters, which may have colored his opinion. He was offended at the racial aspects of the film, as well as the casting of Branagh as a double amputee, rather than a little-person actor, in the role of Loveless.

text: Conrad took special delight in accepting the Razzie Awards for the motion picture in 1999. It was awarded Worst Picture, Worst Screenplay, and Worst Original Song.

text: In 2009, Will Smith apologized publicly to Conrad while doing promotion for Seven Pounds:

text: I made a mistake on Wild Wild West. That could have been better. ... No, it's funny because I could never understand why Robert Conrad was so upset with Wild Wild West. And now I get it. It's like, 'That's my baby! I put my blood, sweat and tears into that!' So I'm going to apologize to Mr. Conrad for that because I didn't realize. I was young and immature. So much pain and joy went into [my series] The Fresh Prince that my greatest desire would be that it's left alone.

text: Contemporary merchandise[edit]

text: As with many television series, The Wild Wild West had several merchandise tie-ins during its run. These are listed below.[52]

text:
Year
Item(s)
Manufacturer
or Publisher

1966
Paperback novel by Richard Wormser
Signet Books

1966
Board Game
Transogram Co.

1966(?)
Ross Martin and Robert Conrad Note Pads
Top Flight Paper Co.

1966
Secret "Sleeve Gun"[1]
Ray Plastics

1966–1969
Gold Key Comic Books (7 issues)
Western Publishing Co.

1969
Lunch Box and Thermos
Alladin Co.

Notes

^a This item was not marketed with the series' name. However, The Wild Wild West was the only television series at the time that featured the item.

text: Revivals[edit]

text: On October 5, 2010, Entertainment Weekly's website reported that Ron Moore and Naren Shankar were developing a remake of The Wild Wild West for television,[53] but the project apparently stalled. In December 2013, Moore told Wired, "Wild Wild West and Star Trek were two of my great loves. I watched both in syndication in the ’70s. Wild Wild West was really interesting, that combination of genres—a Western and secret agent, and they dabbled in the occult and paranormal. I really wanted to do a new version for CBS. I still think it’s a great property. Someday I hope to go back to it."[54]

text: A new fan-produced webseries, Back to the Wild Wild West, began production in November 2011, but apparently has stalled.[55]


document_title: List of Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees

question_text: first female rock and roll hall of fame

question_tokens: first female rock and roll hall of fame

root

text: Inductees[edit]

text: Performers[edit]

text: The performers category is meant for recording artists and bands that have "influence and significance to the development and perpetuation of rock and roll."[2] Artists become eligible for induction in that category 25 years after the release of their first record. In order to be inducted, an artist must be nominated by a committee that selects anywhere from nine to a dozen candidates. Ballots are sent to 600 "rock experts" who then evaluate the candidates and vote on who should be inducted. The performers who receive the highest number of votes and more than 50 percent of the vote are inducted. In 2011, the number inducted was five. The rest of the categories are voted on by special committees.[2] In 2012, six additional bands and groups were inducted as performers by a special committee, due to the controversial nature of their band being excluded when their lead singer was inducted. "There was a lot of discussion about this," said Terry Stewart, a member of the nominating committee. "There had always been conversations about why the groups weren't included when the lead singers were inducted. Very honestly, nobody could really answer that question – it was so long ago... We decided we'd sit down as an organization and look at that. This is the result."[10]

tag: p

text:
Year
Image
Name
Inducted members
Inducted by[11]

1986

Berry, ChuckChuck Berry

Keith Richards[N2]

1986

Brown, JamesJames Brown

Steve Winwood[N2]

1986

Charles, RayRay Charles

Quincy Jones[N2]

1986

Cooke, SamSam Cooke

Herb Alpert[N2]

1986

Domino, FatsFats Domino

Billy Joel[N2]

1986

Everly Brothers !The Everly Brothers
Don Everly and Phil Everly.[12]
Neil Young[N2]

1986

Holly, BuddyBuddy Holly

John Fogerty[N2]

1986

Lewis, Jerry LeeJerry Lee Lewis

Hank Williams Jr.

1986

Little Richard

Roberta Flack

1986

Presley, ElvisElvis Presley

Julian and Sean Lennon

1987

Coasters !The Coasters
Carl Gardner, Cornell Gunter, Billy Guy, and Will "Dub" Jones.[13]
Lester Sill

1987

Cochran, EddieEddie Cochran

Mick Jones

1987

Diddley, BoBo Diddley

ZZ Top[N2]

1987

Franklin, ArethaAretha Franklin

Keith Richards[N2]

1987

Gaye, MarvinMarvin Gaye

Nick Ashford and Valerie Simpson

1987

Haley, BillBill Haley

Chuck Berry[N3]

1987

King, B.B.B.B. King

Sting[N2]

1987

McPhatter, ClydeClyde McPhatter

Ben E. King[N2]

1987

Nelson, RickyRicky Nelson

John Fogerty[N2]

1987

Orbison, RoyRoy Orbison

Bruce Springsteen[N2]

1987

Perkins, CarlCarl Perkins

Sam Phillips[N3]

1987

Robinson, SmokeySmokey Robinson

Daryl Hall[N2] and John Oates[N2]

1987

Turner, Big JoeBig Joe Turner

Doc Pomus[N2]

1987

Waters, MuddyMuddy Waters

Paul Butterfield[N2]

1987

Wilson, JackieJackie Wilson

Peter Wolf

1988

Beach Boys !The Beach Boys
Al Jardine, Mike Love, Brian Wilson, Carl Wilson, and Dennis Wilson.[14]
Elton John[N2]

1988

Beatles !The Beatles
George Harrison, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, and Ringo Starr.[15]
Mick Jagger[N2]

1988

Drifters !The Drifters
Ben E. King, Rudy Lewis, Clyde McPhatter, Johnny Moore, Bill Pinkney, Charlie Thomas, and Gerhart Thrasher.[16]
Billy Joel[N2]

1988

Dylan, BobBob Dylan

Bruce Springsteen[N2]

1988

Supremes !The Supremes
Florence Ballard, Diana Ross, and Mary Wilson.[17]
Little Richard[N3]

1989

Dion !Dion

Lou Reed[N2]

1989

Redding, OtisOtis Redding

Little Richard[N3]

1989

Rolling Stones !The Rolling Stones
Mick Jagger, Brian Jones, Keith Richards, Ian Stewart, Mick Taylor, Charlie Watts, Ronnie Wood, and Bill Wyman.[18]
Pete Townshend[N2]

1989

Temptations !The Temptations
Melvin Franklin, Eddie Kendricks, David Ruffin, Otis Williams, Paul Williams, Dennis Edwards.[19]
Daryl Hall[N2] and John Oates[N2]

1989

Wonder, StevieStevie Wonder

Paul Simon[N2]

1990

Ballard, HankHank Ballard

Boz Scaggs

1990

Darin, BobbyBobby Darin

Paul Anka

1990

Four Seasons !The Four Seasons
Tom DeVito, Bob Gaudio, Nick Massi, and Frankie Valli.[20]
Bob Crewe

1990

Four Tops !Four Tops
Renaldo "Obie" Benson, Abdul "Duke" Fakir, Lawrence Payton, and Levi Stubbs.[21]
Stevie Wonder[N3]

1990

Kinks !The Kinks
Mick Avory, Dave Davies, Ray Davies, and Pete Quaife.[22]
Graham Nash[N2]

1990

Platters !The Platters
David Lynch, Herb Reed, Paul Robi, Zola Taylor, and Tony Williams.[23]
Phil Spector[N3]

1990

Simon & Garfunkel
Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel.[24]
James Taylor[N2]

1990

Who !The Who
Roger Daltrey, John Entwistle, Keith Moon, and Pete Townshend.[25]
Bono[N2]

1991

Baker, LaVernLaVern Baker

Chaka Khan

1991

Byrds !The Byrds
Gene Clark, Michael Clarke, David Crosby, Chris Hillman, and Roger McGuinn.[26]
Don Henley[N2]

1991

Hooker, John LeeJohn Lee Hooker

Bonnie Raitt[N2]

1991
—
Impressions !The Impressions
Curtis Mayfield, Sam Gooden, Fred Cash, Arthur Brooks, Richard Brooks, and Jerry Butler.[27]
Tracy Chapman

1991

Pickett, WilsonWilson Pickett

Bobby Brown

1991

Reed, JimmyJimmy Reed

ZZ Top[N2]

1991

Turner, Ike & TinaIke & Tina Turner
Ike Turner and Tina Turner.[28]
Phil Spector[N3]

1992

Bland, Bobby !Bobby "Blue" Bland

B.B. King[N3]

1992

Booker T. & the M.G.'s
Booker T. Jones, Steve Cropper, Donald "Duck" Dunn, Al Jackson Jr., and Lewie Steinberg.[29]
Jim Stewart

1992

Cash, JohnnyJohnny Cash

Lyle Lovett

1992

Isley Brothers !The Isley Brothers
Ernie Isley, Marvin Isley, O'Kelly Isley Jr., Ronald Isley, Rudolph Isley, and Chris Jasper.[30]
Little Richard[N3]

1992

Hendrix Experience, The JimiThe Jimi Hendrix Experience
Jimi Hendrix, Mitch Mitchell, and Noel Redding.[31]
Neil Young[N2]

1992

Sam & Dave
Sam Moore and Dave Prater.[32]
Billy Joel[N2]

1992

Yardbirds !The Yardbirds
Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton, Chris Dreja, Jim McCarty, Jimmy Page, Keith Relf, and Paul Samwell-Smith.[33]
The Edge[N2]

1993

Brown, RuthRuth Brown

Bonnie Raitt[N2]

1993

Cream
Ginger Baker, Jack Bruce, and Eric Clapton.[34]
ZZ Top[N2]

1993

Creedence Clearwater Revival
Doug Clifford, Stu Cook, John Fogerty, and Tom Fogerty.[35]
Bruce Springsteen[N2]

1993

Doors !The Doors
John Densmore, Robby Krieger, Ray Manzarek, and Jim Morrison.[36]
Eddie Vedder[N2]

1993

Lymon & The Teenagers, FrankieFrankie Lymon & The Teenagers
Herman Santiago, Jimmy Merchant, Sherman Garnes, Frankie Lymon, and Joe Negroni[37]
Boyz II Men

1993

James, EttaEtta James

k.d. lang

1993

Morrison, VanVan Morrison

Robbie Robertson[N2]

1993

Sly and the Family Stone
Gregg Errico, Larry Graham, Jerry Martini, Cynthia Robinson, Freddie Stone, Rosie Stone, and Sly Stone.[38]
George Clinton[N2]

1994

Animals !The Animals
Eric Burdon, Chas Chandler, Alan Price, John Steel, and Hilton Valentine.[39]
Dave Pirner

1994

Band !The Band
Rick Danko, Levon Helm, Garth Hudson, Richard Manuel, and Robbie Robertson.[40]
Eric Clapton[N3]

1994

Eddy, DuaneDuane Eddy

Mick Jones

1994

Grateful Dead
Tom Constanten, Jerry Garcia, Donna Jean Godchaux, Keith Godchaux, Mickey Hart, Robert Hunter, Bill Kreutzmann, Phil Lesh, Ron McKernan, Brent Mydland, Bob Weir, and Vince Welnick.[41]
Bruce Hornsby

1994

John, EltonElton John

Axl Rose[N2]

1994

Lennon, JohnJohn Lennon

Paul McCartney[N2]

1994

Marley, BobBob Marley

Bono[N2]

1994

Stewart, RodRod Stewart

Jeff Beck[N3]

1995

Allman Brothers Band !The Allman Brothers Band
Duane Allman, Gregg Allman, Dickey Betts, Jai Johanny Johanson, Berry Oakley, and Butch Trucks.[42]
Willie Nelson

1995

Green, AlAl Green

Natalie Cole

1995

Joplin, JanisJanis Joplin

Melissa Etheridge

1995

Led Zeppelin
John Bonham, John Paul Jones, Jimmy Page, and Robert Plant[43]
Steven Tyler[N2] and Joe Perry[N2]

1995

Martha and the Vandellas
Rosalind Ashford, Annette Beard, Betty Kelly, Lois Reeves, and Martha Reeves.[44]
Fred Schneider and Kate Pierson

1995

Young, NeilNeil Young

Eddie Vedder[N2]

1995

Zappa, FrankFrank Zappa

Lou Reed[N2]

1996

Bowie, DavidDavid Bowie

Madonna[N2] and David Byrne[N2]

1996

Knight & the Pips, GladysGladys Knight & the Pips
William Guest, Gladys Knight, Merald "Bubba" Knight, and Edward Patten.[45]
Mariah Carey

1996

Jefferson Airplane
Marty Balin, Jack Casady, Spencer Dryden, Paul Kantner, Jorma Kaukonen, and Grace Slick.[46]
Mickey Hart[N3] and Phil Lesh[N3]

1996

Little Willie John

Stevie Wonder[N3]

1996

Pink Floyd
Syd Barrett, David Gilmour, Nick Mason, Roger Waters, and Rick Wright.[47]
Billy Corgan

1996

Shirelles !The Shirelles
Shirley Alston Reeves, Addie Harris, Doris Kenner-Jackson, and Beverly Lee.[48]
Merry Clayton, Marianne Faithfull and Darlene Love[N2]

1996

Velvet Underground !The Velvet Underground
John Cale, Sterling Morrison, Lou Reed, and Maureen Tucker.[49]
Patti Smith[N2]

1997

Bee Gees
Barry Gibb, Maurice Gibb, and Robin Gibb.[50]
Brian Wilson[N3]

1997

Buffalo Springfield
Richie Furay, Dewey Martin, Bruce Palmer, Stephen Stills, and Neil Young.[51]
Tom Petty[N2]

1997

Crosby, Stills & Nash
David Crosby, Graham Nash, and Stephen Stills.[52]
James Taylor[N2]

1997

Jackson 5, TheThe Jackson 5
Jackie Jackson, Jermaine Jackson, Marlon Jackson, Michael Jackson, and Tito Jackson.[53]
Diana Ross[N3]

1997

Mitchell, JoniJoni Mitchell

Shawn Colvin

1997

Parliament-Funkadelic
Jerome Brailey, George Clinton, Bootsy Collins, Raymond Davis, Tiki Fulwood, Glenn Goins, Michael Hampton, Fuzzy Haskins, Eddie Hazel, Walter Morrison, Cordell Mosson, William "Billy Bass" Nelson, Garry Shider, Calvin Simon, Grady Thomas, and Bernie Worrell.[54]
Prince[N2]

1997

Rascals !The (Young) Rascals
Eddie Brigati, Felix Cavaliere, Gene Cornish, and Dino Danelli.[55]
Steven Van Zandt[N2]

1998

Eagles
Don Felder, Glenn Frey, Don Henley, Bernie Leadon, Randy Meisner, Timothy B. Schmit, and Joe Walsh.[56]
Jimmy Buffett

1998

Fleetwood Mac
Lindsey Buckingham, Mick Fleetwood, Peter Green, Danny Kirwan, Christine McVie, John McVie, Stevie Nicks, and Jeremy Spencer.[57]
Sheryl Crow

1998

Mamas & The Papas !The Mamas & the Papas
Denny Doherty, Cass Elliot, John Phillips, and Michelle Phillips.[58]
Shania Twain

1998

Price, LloydLloyd Price

Tony Rich

1998

Santana
Jose Chepito Areas, David Brown, Michael Carabello, Gregg Rolie, Carlos Santana, and Michael Shrieve.[59]
John Popper

1998

Vincent, GeneGene Vincent

John Fogerty[N3]

1999

Joel, BillyBilly Joel

Ray Charles[N3]

1999

Mayfield, CurtisCurtis Mayfield

Sean Combs

1999

McCartney, PaulPaul McCartney

Neil Young[N3]

1999

Shannon, DelDel Shannon

Art Alexakis

1999

Springfield, DustyDusty Springfield

Elton John[N3]

1999

Springsteen, BruceBruce Springsteen

Bono[N2]

1999

Staple Singers, TheThe Staple Singers
Cleotha Staples, Mavis Staples, Pervis Staples, Pops Staples, and Yvonne Staples.[60]
Lauryn Hill

2000

Clapton, EricEric Clapton

Robbie Robertson[N3]

2000

Earth, Wind & Fire
Philip Bailey, Larry Dunn, Johnny Graham, Ralph Johnson, Al McKay, Fred White, Maurice White, Verdine White, and Andrew Woolfolk.[61]
Lil Kim

2000

Lovin' Spoonful, TheThe Lovin' Spoonful
Steve Boone, Joe Butler, John Sebastian, and Zal Yanovsky.[61]
John Mellencamp[N2]

2000

Moonglows, TheThe Moonglows
Prentiss Barnes, Harvey Fuqua, Peter Graves, Billy Johnson, and Bobby Lester.[61]
Paul Simon[N3]

2000

Raitt, BonnieBonnie Raitt

Melissa Etheridge

2000

Taylor, JamesJames Taylor

Paul McCartney[N3]

2001

Aerosmith
Tom Hamilton, Joey Kramer, Joe Perry, Steven Tyler, and Brad Whitford.[62]
Kid Rock

2001

Burke, SolomonSolomon Burke

Mary J. Blige

2001

Flamingos, TheThe Flamingos
Jake Carey, Zeke Carey, Johnny Carter, Tommy Hunt, Terry "Buzzy" Johnson, Sollie McElroy, Nate Nelson, and Paul Wilson.[63]
Frankie Valli[N3]

2001

Jackson, MichaelMichael Jackson

NSYNC

2001

Queen
John Deacon, Brian May, Freddie Mercury, and Roger Taylor.[64]
Dave Grohl[N2] and Taylor Hawkins

2001

Simon, PaulPaul Simon

Marc Anthony

2001

Steely Dan
Walter Becker and Donald Fagen.[65]
Moby

2001

Valens, RitchieRitchie Valens

Ricky Martin

2002

Hayes, IsaacIsaac Hayes

Alicia Keys

2002

Lee, BrendaBrenda Lee

Jewel

2002

Petty and the Heartbreakers, TomTom Petty and the Heartbreakers
Tom Petty, Ron Blair, Mike Campbell, Howie Epstein, Stan Lynch, and Benmont Tench.[66]
Jakob Dylan

2002

Pitney, GeneGene Pitney

Darlene Love[N2]

2002

Ramones
Dee Dee Ramone, Joey Ramone, Johnny Ramone, Marky Ramone, and Tommy Ramone.[67]
Eddie Vedder[N2]

2002

Talking Heads
David Byrne, Chris Frantz, Jerry Harrison, and Tina Weymouth.[68]
Anthony Kiedis[N2]

2003

AC/DC
Brian Johnson, Phil Rudd, Bon Scott, Cliff Williams, Angus Young, and Malcolm Young.[69]
Steven Tyler[N3]

2003

Clash, TheThe Clash
Terry Chimes, Topper Headon, Mick Jones, Paul Simonon, and Joe Strummer.[70]
The Edge[N2] and Tom Morello

2003

Costello & the Attractions, ElvisElvis Costello & the Attractions
Elvis Costello, Steve Nieve, Bruce Thomas, and Pete Thomas.[71]
Elton John[N3]

2003

Police, TheThe Police
Stewart Copeland, Sting, and Andy Summers.[72]
Gwen Stefani

2003

Righteous Brothers, TheThe Righteous Brothers
Bobby Hatfield and Bill Medley.[73]
Billy Joel[N3]

2004

Browne, JacksonJackson Browne

Bruce Springsteen[N3]

2004

Dells, TheThe Dells
Verne Allison, Chuck Barksdale, Johnny Carter, Johnny Funches, Marvin Junior, and Michael McGill.[74]
Robert Townsend

2004

Harrison, GeorgeGeorge Harrison

Tom Petty[N3] and Jeff Lynne[N2]

2004

Prince

Outkast and Alicia Keys

2004

Seger, BobBob Seger

Kid Rock

2004

Traffic
Jim Capaldi, Dave Mason, Steve Winwood, and Chris Wood.[75]
Dave Matthews

2004

ZZ Top
Frank Beard, Billy Gibbons, and Dusty Hill.[76]
Keith Richards[N3]

2005

Guy, BuddyBuddy Guy

Eric Clapton[N3] and B.B. King[N3]

2005

O'Jays, TheThe O'Jays
Eddie Levert, Bobby Massey, William Powell, Sammy Strain, and Walter Williams.[77]
Justin Timberlake

2005

The Pretenders
Martin Chambers, Pete Farndon, James Honeyman-Scott, and Chrissie Hynde.[78]
Neil Young[N3]

2005

Sledge, PercyPercy Sledge

Rod Stewart[N3]

2005

U2
Bono, Adam Clayton, The Edge, and Larry Mullen, Jr..[79]
Bruce Springsteen[N3]

2006

Black Sabbath
Geezer Butler, Tony Iommi, Ozzy Osbourne, and Bill Ward.[80]
James Hetfield[N2] and Lars Ulrich[N2]

2006

Blondie
Clem Burke, Jimmy Destri, Nigel Harrison, Debbie Harry, Frank Infante, Chris Stein, and Gary Valentine.[81]
Shirley Manson

2006

Davis, MilesMiles Davis

Herbie Hancock

2006

Lynyrd Skynyrd
Bob Burns, Allen Collins, Steve Gaines, Ed King, Billy Powell, Artimus Pyle, Gary Rossington, Ronnie Van Zant, and Leon Wilkeson.[82]
Kid Rock

2006

Sex Pistols
Paul Cook, Steve Jones, Glen Matlock, John Lydon, and Sid Vicious.[83]
Jann Wenner[N3]

2007

Grandmaster Flash and The Furious Five
Melvin "Melle Mel" Glover, Nathaniel "The Kidd Creole" Glover, Eddie "Scorpio" Morris, Joseph "Grandmaster Flash" Sadler, Robert Keith "Keef Cowboy" Wiggins, and Guy Todd "Rahiem" Williams.[84]
Jay-Z

2007

R.E.M.
Bill Berry, Peter Buck, Mike Mills, and Michael Stipe.[85]
Eddie Vedder[N2]

2007

Ronettes, TheThe Ronettes
Estelle Bennett, Ronnie Spector, and Nedra Talley.[86]
Keith Richards[N3]

2007

Smith, PattiPatti Smith

Zack de la Rocha

2007

Van Halen
Michael Anthony, Sammy Hagar, David Lee Roth, Alex Van Halen, and Eddie Van Halen.[87]
Velvet Revolver

2008

Clark Five, The DaveThe Dave Clark Five
Dave Clark, Lenny Davidson, Rick Huxley, Denis Payton, and Mike Smith.[88]
Tom Hanks

2008

Cohen, LeonardLeonard Cohen

Lou Reed[N2]

2008

Madonna

Justin Timberlake

2008

Mellencamp, JohnJohn Mellencamp

Billy Joel[N3]

2008

Ventures, TheThe Ventures
Bob Bogle, Nokie Edwards, Gerry McGee, Mel Taylor, and Don Wilson.[89]
John Fogerty[N3]

2009

Beck, JeffJeff Beck

Jimmy Page[N3]

2009

Little Anthony and the Imperials
Clarence Collins, Anthony Gourdine, Tracy Lord, Glouster "Nat" Rogers, Sammy Strain, and Ernest Wright Jr.[90]
Smokey Robinson[N3]

2009

Metallica
Cliff Burton, Kirk Hammett, James Hetfield, Jason Newsted, Robert Trujillo, and Lars Ulrich.[91]
Flea[N2]

2009

Run-DMC
Darryl "D.M.C." McDaniels, Jason "Jam-Master Jay" Mizell, and Joseph "DJ Run" Simmons.[92]
Eminem

2009

Womack, BobbyBobby Womack

Ron Wood[N3]

2010

ABBA
Benny Andersson, Agnetha Fältskog, Anni-Frid Lyngstad, and Björn Ulvaeus.[93]
Barry[N3] and Robin Gibb[N3]

2010

Genesis
Tony Banks, Phil Collins, Peter Gabriel, Steve Hackett, and Mike Rutherford.[94]
Trey Anastasio

2010

Cliff, JimmyJimmy Cliff

Wyclef Jean

2010

Hollies, TheThe Hollies
Bernie Calvert, Allan Clarke, Bobby Elliott, Eric Haydock, Tony Hicks, Graham Nash, and Terry Sylvester.[95]
Steven Van Zandt[N2]

2010

Stooges, TheThe Stooges
Dave Alexander, Ron Asheton, Scott Asheton, Iggy Pop, and James Williamson.[96]
Billie Joe Armstrong[N2]

2011

Alice Cooper
Alice Cooper, Michael Owen Bruce, Glen Buxton, Dennis Dunaway, and Neal Smith.[97]
Rob Zombie

2011

Diamond, NeilNeil Diamond

Paul Simon[N3]

2011

Dr. John

John Legend

2011

Love, DarleneDarlene Love

Bette Midler

2011

Waits, TomTom Waits

Neil Young[N3]

2012

Beastie Boys
Michael "Mike D" Diamond, Adam "Ad-Rock" Horovitz, and Adam "MCA" Yauch.[98]
Chuck D[N2] and LL Cool J

2012
—
Blue Caps !The Blue Caps[N1]
Backing band for Gene Vincent. Inducted: Tommy Facenda, Cliff Gallup, Dickie Harrell, Bobby Jones, Johnny Meeks, Jack Neal, Paul Peek, and Willie Williams.[99]
Smokey Robinson[N3]

2012

Comets !The Comets[N1]
Backing band for Bill Haley. Inducted: Joey Ambrose, Franny Beecher, Danny Cedrone, Johnny Grande, Ralph Jones, Marshall Lytle, Rudy Pompilli, Al Rex, Dick Richards, and Billy Williamson.[100]
Smokey Robinson[N3]

2012

Crickets !The Crickets[N1]
Backing band for Buddy Holly. Inducted: Jerry Allison, Sonny Curtis, Joe B. Mauldin, and Niki Sullivan.[101]
Smokey Robinson[N3]

2012

Donovan

John Mellencamp[N3]

2012

Famous Flames !The Famous Flames[N1]
Backing vocal group for James Brown. Inducted: Bobby Bennett, Bobby Byrd, Lloyd Stallworth, and Johnny Terry.[102]
Smokey Robinson[N3]

2012

Guns N' Roses
Steven Adler, Duff McKagan, Dizzy Reed, Axl Rose, Slash, Matt Sorum, and Izzy Stradlin.[103]
Green Day[N2]

2012
—
Midnighters !The Midnighters[N1]
Backing vocal group for Hank Ballard. Inducted: Henry Booth, Billy Davis, Cal Green, Arthur Porter, Lawson Smith, Charles Sutton, Norman Thrasher, and Sonny Woods.[104]
Smokey Robinson[N3]

2012

Miracles !The Miracles[N1]
Backing vocal group for Smokey Robinson. Inducted: Claudette Rogers, Bobby Rogers, Ronald White, Marv Tarplin, and Pete Moore.[105]
Smokey Robinson[N3]

2012

Nyro, LauraLaura Nyro

Bette Midler

2012

Red Hot Chili Peppers
Flea, John Frusciante, Jack Irons, Anthony Kiedis, Josh Klinghoffer, Cliff Martinez, Hillel Slovak, and Chad Smith.[106]
Chris Rock

2012
—
Small Faces/Faces
Kenney Jones, Ronnie Lane, Ian McLagan, Steve Marriott, Rod Stewart, and Ronnie Wood.[107]
Steven Van Zandt

2013

Heart
Michael DeRosier, Roger Fisher, Steve Fossen, Howard Leese, Ann Wilson, and Nancy Wilson.[108]
Chris Cornell

2013

King, AlbertAlbert King

John Mayer

2013

Newman, RandyRandy Newman

Don Henley[N3]

2013

Public Enemy
Flavor Flav, Professor Griff, Terminator X, and Chuck D.[109]
Harry Belafonte and Spike Lee

2013

Rush
Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson, and Neil Peart.[110]
Dave Grohl[N2] and Taylor Hawkins

2013

Summer, DonnaDonna Summer

Kelly Rowland

2014

Gabriel, PeterPeter Gabriel

Chris Martin

2014

Hall & Oates
Daryl Hall and John Oates.[111]
Questlove

2014

Kiss
Peter Criss, Ace Frehley, Gene Simmons, and Paul Stanley.[112]
Tom Morello

2014

Nirvana
Kurt Cobain, Dave Grohl, and Krist Novoselic.[113]
Michael Stipe[N3]

2014

Ronstadt, LindaLinda Ronstadt

Glenn Frey[N3]

2014

Stevens, CatCat Stevens

Art Garfunkel[N3]

2015

Butterfield Blues Band, The PaulThe Paul Butterfield Blues Band
Paul Butterfield, Mike Bloomfield, Elvin Bishop, Mark Naftalin, Jerome Arnold, Billy Davenport, and Sam Lay.[114]
Peter Wolf

2015

Jett & the Blackhearts, JoanJoan Jett & the Blackhearts
Joan Jett, Gary Ryan, Lee Crystal, and Ricky Byrd.[115]
Miley Cyrus

2015

Reed, LouLou Reed[116]

Patti Smith[N3]

2015

Green Day
Billie Joe Armstrong, Tré Cool, and Mike Dirnt.[117]
Fall Out Boy

2015

Vaughan, Stevie RayStevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble
Stevie Ray Vaughan, Chris Layton, Tommy Shannon, and Reese Wynans.[118]
John Mayer

2015

Withers, BillBill Withers

Stevie Wonder[N3]

2016

Cheap Trick
Bun E. Carlos, Rick Nielsen, Tom Petersson, and Robin Zander.[119]
Kid Rock

2016

Chicago
Peter Cetera, Terry Kath, Robert Lamm, Lee Loughnane, James Pankow, Walter Parazaider, and Danny Seraphine.[120]
Rob Thomas

2016

Deep Purple
Ritchie Blackmore, David Coverdale, Rod Evans, Ian Gillan, Roger Glover, Glenn Hughes, Jon Lord, and Ian Paice[121]
Lars Ulrich[N3]

2016

N.W.A
DJ Yella, Ice Cube, MC Ren, Eazy-E, and Dr. Dre[122]
Kendrick Lamar

2016

Miller, SteveSteve Miller

The Black Keys

2017

Electric Light Orchestra
Bev Bevan, Jeff Lynne, Richard Tandy, and Roy Wood[123]
Dhani Harrison

2017

Baez, JoanJoan Baez

Jackson Browne[N3]

2017

Journey
Jonathan Cain, Aynsley Dunbar, Steve Perry, Gregg Rolie, Neal Schon, Steve Smith, and Ross Valory[124]
Pat Monahan

2017

Pearl Jam
Jeff Ament, Matt Cameron, Stone Gossard, Dave Krusen, Mike McCready, and Eddie Vedder[125]
David Letterman

2017

Tupac Shakur

Snoop Dogg

2017

Yes
Jon Anderson, Bill Bruford, Steve Howe, Tony Kaye, Trevor Rabin, Chris Squire, Rick Wakeman, and Alan White[126]
Geddy Lee[N3] and Alex Lifeson[N3]

2018

Bon Jovi
Jon Bon Jovi, David Bryan, Hugh McDonald, Richie Sambora, Alec John Such and Tico Torres[127]
Howard Stern

2018

The Cars
Elliot Easton, Greg Hawkes, David Robinson, Ric Ocasek and Benjamin Orr[128]
Brandon Flowers

2018

Dire Straits
Alan Clark, Guy Fletcher, John Illsley, David Knopfler, Mark Knopfler and Pick Withers[129]
John Illsley[N4]

2018

The Moody Blues
Graeme Edge, Justin Hayward, Denny Laine, John Lodge, Mike Pinder and Ray Thomas[130]
Ann Wilson[N3]

2018

Nina Simone

Mary J. Blige

text: ^ Note 1. These backing bands were inducted by a separate committee, and not by the ballot voting used for all other performer inductees.

text: ^ Note 2. This artist was later inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame after inducting someone else.

text: ^ Note 3. This artist was already a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame when they inducted someone else.

text: ^ Note 4. Dire Straits were the first artist in the hall's history to not have an official induction speaker. Band member John Illsley did the induction speech himself.[131]

text: Early influences[edit]

text: Artists inducted into the early influences category are those "whose music predated rock and roll but had an impact on the evolution of rock and roll and inspired rock's leading artists."[2] Unlike the performers category, these inductees are selected by a committee. The full process is not transparent and it is unclear who comprises this selection committee.[2]

text:
Year
Name

1986
Rodgers, JimmieJimmie Rodgers

1986
Yancey, JimmyJimmy Yancey

1986
Johnson, RobertRobert Johnson

1987
Jordan, LouisLouis Jordan

1987
Walker, T-BoneT-Bone Walker

1987
Williams, HankHank Williams

1988
Guthrie, WoodyWoody Guthrie

1988
Lead Belly

1988
Les Paul

1989
Ink Spots !The Ink Spots[A]

1989
Smith, BessieBessie Smith

1989
Soul Stirrers !The Soul Stirrers[B]

1990
Christian, CharlieCharlie Christian

1990
Armstrong, LouisLouis Armstrong

1990
Rainey, MaMa Rainey

1991
Howlin' Wolf

1992
James, ElmoreElmore James

1992
Longhair, ProfessorProfessor Longhair

1993
Washington, DinahDinah Washington

1994
Dixon, WillieWillie Dixon

1995
Orioles, TheThe Orioles[C]

1996
Seeger, PetePete Seeger

1997
Jackson, MahaliaMahalia Jackson

1997
Monroe, BillBill Monroe

1998
Jelly Roll Morton

1999
Bob Wills & His Texas Playboys[D]

1999
Brown, CharlesCharles Brown

2000
Cole, Nat !Nat King Cole

2000
Holiday, BillieBillie Holiday

2009
Jackson, WandaWanda Jackson

2012
King, FreddieFreddie King[E]

2015
5 Royalses !The "5" Royales[E][F]

2018
Tharpe, Sister RosettaSister Rosetta Tharpe[E]

text:
^ A. Inducted members: Bill Kenny, Charlie Fuqua, Deek Watson, and Orville "Hoppy" Jones.[132]
^ B. Inducted members: Roy Crain Sr., R. H. Harris, Jesse Farley, and E. A. Rundless.[133]
^ C. Inducted members: Sonny Til, Tommy Gaither, George Nelson, Johnny Reed, and Alexander Sharp.[134]
^ D. Inducted members: Bob Wills, Tommy Duncan, Leon McAuliffe, Johnny Gimble, Joe "Jody" Holley, Tiny Moore, Herb Remington, Eldon Shamblin, and Al Stricklin.[135]
^ E. Nominated as a performer.
^ F. Inducted members: John L. Tanner, Eugene Tanner, James E. Moore, Obadiah H. Carter and Lowman Pauling, Jr[136]

text: Non-performers (Ahmet Ertegun Award)[edit]

text: The non-performer category honors "songwriters, producers, disc jockeys, record executives, journalists and other industry professionals who have had a major influence on the development of rock and roll."[2] Several of the inductees in this category were in fact prominent performers as well. The inductees in this category are selected by the same committee that chooses the early influences. The full process is not transparent and it is unclear who comprises this selection committee.[2] This category has been criticized for inducting those that have "been coming to the dinner for years and paying for their tickets" and not revealing their full criteria.[137] In 2008, this category was renamed the "Ahmet Ertegün Award".[138]

text:
Year
Name

1986
Freed, AlanAlan Freed

1986
Phillips, SamSam Phillips

1987
Chess, LeonardLeonard Chess

1987
Ertegun, AhmetAhmet Ertegun

1987
Leiber !Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller

1987
Wexler, JerryJerry Wexler

1988
Gordy, Jr., BerryBerry Gordy, Jr.

1989
Spector, PhilPhil Spector

1990
Gerry Goffin and Carole King

1990
Holland–Dozier–Holland

1991
Bartholomew, DaveDave Bartholomew

1991
Bass, RalphRalph Bass

1992
Fender, LeoLeo Fender

1992
Graham, BillBill Graham

1992
Pomus, DocDoc Pomus

1993
Clark, DickDick Clark

1993
Gabler, MiltMilt Gabler

1994
Otis, JohnnyJohnny Otis

1995
Ackerman, PaulPaul Ackerman

1996
Donahue, TomTom Donahue

1997
Nathan, SydSyd Nathan

1998
Toussaint, AllenAllen Toussaint

1999
Martin, GeorgeGeorge Martin

2000
Davis, CliveClive Davis

2001
Blackwell, ChrisChris Blackwell

2002
Stewart, JimJim Stewart

2003
Ostin, MoMo Ostin

2008
Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff

2010
Geffen, DavidDavid Geffen

2010
Blackwell, OtisOtis Blackwell

2010
Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich

2010
Shuman, MortMort Shuman

2010
Stone, JesseJesse Stone

2010
Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil

2011
Holzman, JacJac Holzman

2011
Rupe, ArtArt Rupe

2012
Kirshner, DonDon Kirshner

2013
Adler, LouLou Adler

2013
Jones, QuincyQuincy Jones

2014
Epstein, BrianBrian Epstein

2014
Andrew Loog Oldham

2016
Berns, BertBert Berns

text: Award for Musical Excellence[edit]

text: This category, which replaced sidemen, "honors those musicians, producers and others who have spent their careers out of the spotlight working with major artists on various parts of their recording and live careers."

text:
Year
Name

2011
Russell, LeonLeon Russell

2012
Matassa, CosimoCosimo Matassa

2012
Dowd, TomTom Dowd

2012
Johns, GlynGlyn Johns

2014
E Street Band [G]

2015
Ringo Starr

2017
Nile Rodgers[139]

text: ^ G. Inducted members: Garry Tallent, Roy Bittan, Max Weinberg, Steven Van Zandt, Nils Lofgren, Patti Scialfa, Clarence Clemons, Danny Federici, Vini Lopez, David Sancious.

text: Singles[edit]

text: At the 2018 ceremony, a new induction category for singles was announced by Steven Van Zandt.[140] According to Van Zandt, the category is "a recognition of the excellence of the singles that shaped rock 'n' roll, kind of a rock 'n' roll jukebox, records by artists not in the Rock Hall -- which is not to say these artists will never be in the Rock Hall. They just are not in the Rock Hall at the moment."[140]

text:
Year
Artist
Song (Year)

2018
Jackie Brenston and his Delta Cats
"Rocket 88" (1951)[141]

2018
Link Wray
"Rumble" (1958) [141]

2018
Chubby Checker
"The Twist" (1960)[141]

2018
The Kingsmen
"Louie Louie" (1963)[141]

2018
Procol Harum
"A Whiter Shade of Pale" (1967)[141]

2018
Steppenwolf
"Born to Be Wild" (1968)[141]

text: Sidemen[edit]

text: Established in 2000, the sidemen category "honors those musicians who have spent their careers out of the spotlight, performing as backup musicians for major artists on recording sessions and in concert." A separate committee, composed mainly of producers, chooses the inductees.[2] In 2010, the category was renamed to "Award for Musical Excellence". According to Joel Peresman, the president of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation, "This award gives us flexibility to dive into some things and recognize some people who might not ordinarily get recognized."[142]

text:
Year
Name
Instrument

2000
Blaine, HalHal Blaine
Drums[143]

2000
Curtis, KingKing Curtis
Saxophone[144]

2000
Jamerson, JamesJames Jamerson
Bass guitar[145]

2000
Moore, ScottyScotty Moore
Guitar[146]

2000
Palmer, EarlEarl Palmer
Drums[147]

2001
Burton, JamesJames Burton
Guitar[148]

2001
Johnson, JohnnieJohnnie Johnson
Piano[149]

2002
Atkins, ChetChet Atkins
Guitar[150]

2003
Benjamin, BennyBenny Benjamin
Drums[151]

2003
Cramer, FloydFloyd Cramer
Piano[152]

2003
Douglas, SteveSteve Douglas
Saxophone[153]

2008
Walter, LittleLittle Walter
Harmonica[154]

2009
Black, BillBill Black
Bass guitar[155]

2009
Fontana, D. J.D. J. Fontana
Drums[156]

2009
Oldham, SpoonerSpooner Oldham
Keyboard[157]

text: Lifetime achievement[edit]

text: The following were inducted for "Lifetime Achievement in the Non-Performer Category."[2]

text:
Year
Name

1986
Hammond, JohnJohn Hammond

1991
Ertegun, NesuhiNesuhi Ertegun

2004
Wenner, JannJann Wenner

2005
Barsalona, FrankFrank Barsalona

2005
Stein, SeymourSeymour Stein

2006
Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss

text: Multiple inductees[edit]

text: As of 2017, 22 performers have been inducted twice or more; fourteen have been recognized as a solo artist and with a band and seven have been inducted with two separate bands. Eric Clapton is the only one to be inducted three times: as a solo artist, with Cream and The Yardbirds.[158] Clyde McPhatter was the first to ever be inducted twice and is one of three artists to be inducted first as a solo artist and then as a member of a band, the other artists being Neil Young and Rod Stewart. Stephen Stills is the only artist to be inducted twice in the same year. Crosby, Stills & Nash, inducted in 1997, is the only band to see all of its inducted members be inducted with other acts: David Crosby with The Byrds in 1991, Stephen Stills with Buffalo Springfield in 1997, and Graham Nash with The Hollies in 2010. The Beatles, inducted in 1988, is the second band to have all of its members be inducted, as well as the only band to have each of its members be inducted for their solo careers as their second induction. Ringo Starr is the first inductee to be inducted twice in different categories (The Beatles were inducted in the performers category in 1988 and Starr was inducted as a solo artist in the Award for Musical Excellence category in 2015). He also holds the record for the longest time between first and second inductions, at 27 years. Both of Stills' inductions happened during the 1997 ceremony and Clapton and McPhatter were inducted in back-to-back years (1987/88 for McPhatter, 1992/93 for Clapton, as well as his solo induction in 2000). The Traveling Wilburys are the only band to have all of its members be inducted without the band itself having been inducted: Roy Orbison as a solo artist in 1987, Bob Dylan as a solo artist in 1988, George Harrison with the Beatles in 1988 and as a solo artist in 2004, Tom Petty with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers in 2002, and Jeff Lynne with the Electric Light Orchestra in 2017.

text:
Name
First
Year
Second
Year
Third
Year

Beck, JeffJeff Beck
Yardbirds !The Yardbirds
1992
zzzzz !Solo career
2009
—
—

Carter, JohnnyJohnny Carter
Flamingos !The Flamingos
2001
Dells !The Dells
2004
—
—

Clapton, EricEric Clapton
Yardbirds !The Yardbirds
1992
Cream
1993
Solo career
2000

Crosby, DavidDavid Crosby
Byrds !The Byrds
1991
Crosby, Stills & Nash
1997
—
—

Gabriel, PeterPeter Gabriel
Genesis !Genesis
2010
Solo career
2014
—
—

Harrison, GeorgeGeorge Harrison
Beatles !The Beatles
1988
zzzzz !Solo career
2004
—
—

Jackson, MichaelMichael Jackson
Jackson Five !The Jackson Five
1997
zzzzz !Solo career
2001
—
—

Lennon, JohnJohn Lennon
Beatles !The Beatles
1988
zzzzz !Solo career
1994
—
—

Mayfield, CurtisCurtis Mayfield
Impressions !The Impressions
1991
zzzzz !Solo career
1999
—
—

McCartney, PaulPaul McCartney
Beatles !The Beatles
1988
zzzzz !Solo career
1999
—
—

McPhatter, ClydeClyde McPhatter
zzzzz !Solo career
1987
Drifters !The Drifters
1988
—
—

Nash, GrahamGraham Nash
Crosby, Stills & Nash
1997
Hollies !The Hollies
2010
—
—

Page, JimmyJimmy Page
Yardbirds !The Yardbirds
1992
Led Zeppelin
1995
—
—

Reed, LouLou Reed
Velvet Underground !The Velvet Underground
1996
zzzzz !Solo career
2015
—
—

Rolie, GreggGregg Rolie
Santana
1998
Journey
2017
—
—

Simon, PaulPaul Simon
Simon and Garfunkel
1990
zzzzz !Solo career
2001
—
—

Starr, RingoRingo Starr
Beatles !The Beatles
1988
Award For Musical Excellence, Solo career
2015
—
—

Stewart, RodRod Stewart
zzzzz !Solo career
1994
Faces
2012
—
—

Stills, StephenStephen Stills
Buffalo Springfield
1997
Crosby, Stills & Nash
1997
—
—

Strain, Sammy !Sammy Strain
The O'Jays
2005
Little Anthony & The Imperials
2009
—
—

Wood, RonnieRonnie Wood
Rolling Stones !The Rolling Stones
1989
Faces
2012
—
—

Young, NeilNeil Young
zzzzz !Solo career
1995
Buffalo Springfield
1997
—
—