The Wild Wild West

Ross Martin read a script when it was first given to him, then did a pen-and-ink drawing of the character he was going to play, down to the last detail, glasses, mustache, clothes, posture, shoes, et cetera. Then he brought the sketch to make-up artist Don Schoenfeld, and together they molded his face until it looked like the drawing.

The United States Secret Service is frequently employed as bodyguards for President Grant. But this was not the case in the 19th century, when the Service was a Treasury operation used to catch counterfeiters. The duty of being presidential bodyguards was assigned to the Secret Service in 1901 after President William McKinley's murder. McKinley's immediate successor Theodore Roosevelt was the first chief executive to benefit from this change.

The opening credits as originally designed for the pilot (and included on the season 1 DVD) show the animated cowboy knocking down the woman trying to stab him. In the first season as aired, the cowboy kisses the woman, who dreamily turns away instead of trying to stab him. Later episodes reinstated the cowboy knocking the woman down.

Edited into Alias Smith and Jones: Alias Smith and Jones (1971)