The Wild Wild West
The Night of the Puppeteer
TV Flash files “The Night of the Puppeteer” as hour 21 of 104 in the TV Flash guide — The Wild Wild West (1965–1969) on CBS, season 1, episode 21, aired 1966-02-25, 60 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S01E21: listed hour 21 of 104 in the The Wild Wild West guide, hour 21 of 28 in season 1. It aired 1966-02-25 (60 min). The listed hour before it is “The Night of the Whirring Death” (S01E20). Next is “The Night of the Bars of Hell” (S01E22).
Catalog log
Broadcast listing — not a TV Flash recap.
A puppeteer sentenced to death for murder tries to enact revenge on the Supreme Court that refused to hear his appeal... and uses puppets as his murder weapons.
Viewer FAQ
Where does The Night of the Puppeteer sit in the The Wild Wild West guide?
S01E21 is listed hour 21 of 104 — hour 21 of 28 in season 1, season 1 episode 21.
When did The Wild Wild West S01E21 air?
The Night of the Puppeteer aired 1966-02-25 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…