The Wild Wild West
The Night of Sudden Death
TV Flash files “The Night of Sudden Death” as hour 4 of 104 in the TV Flash guide — The Wild Wild West (1965–1969) on CBS, season 1, episode 4, aired 1965-10-08, 60 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S01E04: listed hour 4 of 104 in the The Wild Wild West guide, hour 4 of 28 in season 1. It aired 1965-10-08 (60 min). The listed hour before it is “The Night the Wizard Shook the Earth” (S01E03). Next is “Night of the Casual Killer” (S01E05).
Viewer FAQ
Where does The Night of Sudden Death sit in the The Wild Wild West guide?
S01E04 is listed hour 4 of 104 — hour 4 of 28 in season 1, season 1 episode 4.
When did The Wild Wild West S01E04 air?
The Night of Sudden Death aired 1965-10-08 and is listed at 60 minutes.
Where should I start?
Any West-and-Gordon hour with a master villain, a gadget, and a disguise bit is the hybrid contract. Conrad does the stunts; Martin does the transformations.
In the series
Why this series still plays
James West and Artemus Gordon fought masterminds with gadgets, disguises, and Western scenery — secret-service fantasy in a train car full of toys. Robert Conrad's stunt bravado and Ross Martin's disguise wizardry made proto-steampunk before the term existed. Cowboy sci-fi never had a better suit.
The group chat keeps calling it steampunk, which is cute, because CBS's *The Wild Wild West* (1965–1969; 104 episodes) was doing train-car Secret Service fantasy before anyone had the term. James West and Artemus Gordon fought diabolical masterminds with gadgets, disguises, and Western scenery. Robert Conrad's stunt bravado. Ross Martin's disguise wizardry. Michael Garrison mixed Bond and frontier. **Cowboy sci-fi never had a better suit.** (I said spoiler-free. The toys are in the car from night one.)
Filed against
- Robert Conrad as James T. West
Robert Conrad's James T. West fought masterminds on The Wild Wild West with gadgets, disguises, and stunt bravado — secret-service fantasy in a train car full of toys, Ross Martin's Artemus Gordon as the disguise wizard. Proto-steampunk…
- Ross Martin as Artemus Gordon
Ross Martin's Artemus Gordon disguised The Wild Wild West into a train car full of toys — gadgets, masterminds, Western scenery, Robert Conrad's stunt bravado as the other half. Secret-service fantasy, proto-steampunk before the term. TV…