Undercover USA

These two had amaz8ng chemistry together this was the most fun you could have after school and before supper at my house as a kid Again so much crap on tv put on some of the good stuff that we enjoyed

West and Gordon are back in action, after a little comic arm-twisting. This time, they're trying to thwart an evil genius who wants to spark a world war (an over-the-top Jonathan Winters).

Like "The Wild Wild West Revisited" this entry is directed by Burt Kennedy, most famous for the "Support Your Local . . ." movies with James Garner. He's turned a subtly tongue-in-cheek television series into out-and-out comedies.

West and Gordon (Robert Conrad, Ross Martin) are still good together. But this time around West seems to have a burr in his saddle.

Harry Morgan is back as their boss. Also, for this final act of WWW, is Victor Buono, who was in the very first broadcast episode of the original series.

The first reunion movie, "The Wild Wild West Revisited," was heavy on the comedy but was sad only because of the loss of Michael Dunn, replaced by the less adequate Paul Williams. Ross Martin's loss shortly after this movie was also sad. But this was clearly West and Gordon's swan song. Our stars are still game, but the story is tired.

I only watched about a half hour of this, but since no one else has commented I might as well say something.

I had high hopes. The original series was excellent and I recognized the director as the guy who did the very funny Support Your Local Sheriff, but the movie immediately felt a little off. The series was a clever, light-hearted action show with a weird sense of humor, but the movie went for very broad, not especially funny comedy. Martin was in pretty good form but Conrad seemed a little worn out, as though he had become an organic farmer lured back to reprise a role he was no longer too comfortable with. There was also a really dumb British spy.

The best thing was Jonathan Winters, who seems to have watched the series and understands that the villains are not comedic buffoons but rather clever, forceful madmen. Unfortunately he wasn't on screen enough in the first half hour to keep me watching.

This is a made for TV movie attempting to cash in on one of the more violent 60s series. With westerns being somewhat blaze', the writers and production company decided to go the way of slapstick comedy.

To that end, they bring in Jonathan Winters as a Loveless substitute, only less intertaining. I'm not sure who I feel worse for: Conrad and Martin for being sucked into this mess or Winters for trying to adapt his talent to get this boat to float.

The best of this is watching Ross Martin in one of his final roles. A man of impeccable talent, he gives his best while everyone else seems to be phoning it in. The only real reason to watch this film is to complete the set.

The classic espionage TV series The Wild Wild West, which ran from 1965 to 1969 on CBS, was followed by two TV movie sequels: The Wild Wild West Revisited (1979) and More Wild Wild West (1980). The original series episodes ranged from thrilling espionage episodes to more comedic and campy ones, but the follow-up TV movies continued only in the campy and comedic vein. That was considered a let down by some fans of the series who were hoping for something closer to the more serious episodes of the show. I can understand their viewpoint, but I found both movies entertaining for what they were: a fun bit of escapism featuring the reunion of two favorite characters and the actors who played them. The chemistry between these guys can't be beat. Both movies have their weak points, but Conrad and Martin, reunited as an older West and Gordon, make for fun viewing.