Forget,
if you can, the garish, abominable feature film that it spawned, which
was good only for a few choice shots of Salma Hayek. Instead, cast your
mind back to the 1960s television show starring Robert Conrad, a
relatively daring mash-up of dusty Western serial and espionage
adventure. What’s that? Your parents didn’t permit “the talking picture
box” under their roof, nor card games, dancing and that confounded rock
’n’ roll music? Or maybe you weren’t yet alive? Fear not, now you can
rediscover small-screen escapades of years past with The Wild Wild West: The Complete First Season.

Set
in the dusty 1870s, the series centers around two Secret Service men —
ever resourceful ladies man James West (Conrad) and his colorful
sidekick Artemus Gordon (Ross Martin) — who crisscross the country in a
high-tech railroad car, executing impossible missions (long before
identity-altering plastic masks, it must be noted) handed to them
directly by President Ulysses S. Grant. Risking life and limb to
protect the security of the United States, these two professional
troubleshooters unravel a variety of wicked schemes — from art and
money counterfeiting and rogue-weapon technologies to stolen
radioactive elements and killer automatons — devised by an array of
criminal masterminds. Their chief adversary, though, is the diminutive
Dr. Miguelito Loveless (Michael Dunn), who would appear in 10 episodes
over the course of the show’s run.

The Wild Wild West was birthed in 1965, the same year that saw the debut of Hogan’s Heroes, Petticoat Junction and Lost in Space,
among other series. Its blend of genres is interesting, and some of its
stylistic gambits (scratched-frame effects to render an explosion, for
instance) still come off as casually brilliant, low-fi hurdles of
production means. Other bits don’t quite pass the smell test, however,
including West flirting with the secretary of a man he was charged with
protecting immediately on the heels of the latter’s death. Episode
highlights here include “The Night the Wizard Shook the Earth,” which
marks the first appearance of Dr. Loveless and includes future Bond
baddie Richard Kiel as his towering henchman Voltaire, as well as “The
Night of the Druid’s Blood,” in which West and Artemus investigate a
rash of murders involving distinguished scientists.

Spread out on seven discs housed in slimline cases in a cardboard
slipcase, Paramount’s collector’s edition presentation of the complete
first season of The Wild Wild West is a well packaged affair,
with a solid, if at times somewhat ornamental, slate of extras overseen
by DVD producer Paul Brownstein. The episodes themselves, all 28, are
presented in 1.33:1 full frame with an English language Dolby digital
mono track, and benefit from a quite fine restoration that reduces
grain to a minimum. Alongside a slew of audio introductions, Conrad
sits for a few commentary tracks, and there are all sorts of
promotional bumpers and commercials that further showcase Richard
Markowitz memorable theme song and Robert Drasnin’s scores.

The best extras, though, might just be a spate of 1988 audio
interviews conducted by author Susan Kester for her book on the show.
These tidbits include chats with Markowitz, writer John Kneubuhl,
producer Fred Freiberger and others. The most interesting is a
15-minute chat with late CBS executive Ethel Winant, who vividly
recalls the show’s challenging mix of period piece detail and
bigger-than-life villains, its roots in James Bond-esque spy games, the
difficulties in casting Conrad (not a big star at the time, and
considered far too short by many) and fired series creator Michael
Garrison’s lawsuit to win himself back a spot on the show. Alternate
versions of the theme music from the original master tapes and a photo
gallery are also included here, in a catalogue title set that admirably
goes the extra mile in its efforts to showcase to a younger generation
what made it special at the time. B (Show) A- (Disc)

Some spin-offs never really find their own authentic voice (cough, cough, Joey,
cough, cough…), while others establish their own roots so quickly and
effortlessly that you virtually forget about their offshoot status. The
latter is certainly the case with The King of Queens, a genial, well-worn comedy that took its leading cues from fellow CBS laffer Everybody Loves Raymond and eventually worked its own comfortable groove into couches all around America.

Created by Michael Weithorn and David Litt, The King of Queens
centers around parcel delivery truck driver Doug Heffernan (Kevin
James) and his wife Carrie (Leah Remini). In place of a brood of
precocious and/or ankle-biting kids, however, is Carrie’s father Arthur
(Jerry Stiller), who lives with the couple. As is typical of these
“oafish patriarch” shows, Doug spends plenty of time raging against
Carrie’s attempts to get him to lead a healthier lifestyle, and many
jokes come from the mindset and canted point of view of a
sports-obsessed guy’s guy. (“Great, I screwed up and ate all the
franks,” says Doug mournfully at one point. “Now all I have left is a
stupid bowl of beans.”) The regular addition of Mad TV’s Nicole
Sullivan as Arthur’s part-time caregiver Holly is an inspired touch,
and Victor Williams scores subtle points for his work as Doug’s
recently divorced best friend, Deacon Palmer.

Several of the episodes this season dip back into overly familiar
terrain, like Doug and Carrie’s nervousness and competitiveness with
their new, white-collar neighbors. But there’s some legitimate fun to
be had too. “Mentalo” works in a few flashbacks to Christmases past in
telling the mixed-up story of how the anticipation of others’ holiday
gifts leads to a chain of escalating spending wherein no one really
gets what they want. “Loaner Car” is amusing; Doug and Carrie attempt
to boost Deacon’s holiday spirits, leading one of his little kids to
pen a ruminative school paper in which he states, “Now we have no
family, so we’re having Thanksgiving with a white family.” Another
highlight is “Attention Deficit,” wherein Doug becomes obsessed with
having the best Super Bowl party, even getting decks of playing cards
with himself on the back printed up (“Look what happens when you flip
through them — they don’t move, just like me!”). Guest stars over the
course of the fifth season’s 25 episodes include Marcia Cross, Dave
Foley, Ted Lange, Anne Meara (co-star Stiller’s real-life wife) and Lou
Ferrigno as a sad-sack neighbor.

The King of Queens: 5th Season is presented on three discs
stored in attractive gatefold packaging that is in turn housed in a
cardboard slipcase. Episodes come in 1.33:1 full frame transfers, with
English Dolby surround sound audio. As is unfortunately too frequently
the case with later seasons of current day sitcoms, there are no
supplemental bonus features contained here. While there might not be a
lot for James or Remini at this point to say about their characters,
surely some of the series’ writers could offer up a handful of
interesting audio commentaries or interviews about the plotting out of
seasonal arcs or other such tidbits, which would be a nice morsel for
longtime fans. B- (Show) D (Disc)