The Night of the Sabatini Death

At last, so close to the series ending, an awful episode. yes, it is possible. I have never been so deceived by an episode from my all time favourite Tv show - with the exception of THE AVENGERS. yes this story is boring, lame, lousy, totally hollow. The only originality is the one time appearance of Alan Hale Jr, the one time Partner of Jim West, in replacement of Arte. But I will always place this series, mong my all time favourites, with the addition of...

This Is an episode that combines actors from two of my favorite tv shows - Wild Wild West and Gilligan's Island. Due to required recovery and rehabilitation from a heart attack Ross Martin (Agent Artemis Gordon) was absent from filming 8 episodes of the 1968-69 season. During that time, Robert Conrad (Agent James West) was temporarily teamed with a series of guest agents taking place of his partner, Agent Artemus Gordon. During this episode, Robert Conrad /Agent James West was teamed up with Alan Hale Jr aka The Skipper from Gilligan's Island, as Agent Ned Brown. Hale's Gilligan's Island co-star Jim Backus aka Thurston Howell III also makes an appearance in this episode as Fabian Swanson. The payoff for Gilligan fans is in the final minutes of the episode, as Agent Brown is leaving West's private train "The Wanderer". West asks what Brown has planned next. Brown (Hale) replies that he's going to take some time off from the Secret Service and pursue a long time dream of spending some time alone on a tropical island. As Hale exits the train, the iconic closing theme music from Gilligan's Island plays over the closing credits. Sure it was corny and cheesy, but it was a fun wink and nod on a show known for its camp humor. Unfortunately, there were only seven more episodes of this series after this episode, followed by two made for TV movies in the 80's. This low budget series is far superior to the terrible 1999 big budget effects laden film starring Will Smith and Kevin Kline, which failed to capture the fun at the heart of the series.

This outing of this series features Alan Hale & Jim Backus about 2 seasons after CBS had stranded them on a desert island. Backus role is short and brief as a mortician who becomes a victim of his own business. Alan Hale replaces the ailing Ross Martin who is missing a fair part of the last season.

The plot revolves around a mobster named Johnny Sabatini who wants to leave a stolen half million dollar payroll to his niece Caroline. He dies before he can give West many clues to help him solve the mystery. The trail leads through the town of Caliope, Missouri. No one in the town is very friendly and everyone is after the stolen loot.

The treasure is not the cash that everyone thinks it is. While the story is predictable, it is very satisfying to see how nice it looks on the CBS DVD of the fourth season. There are a couple of physical sequences and for fans of the series, you will recognize the mansion outside of town from several other episodes. The stairway in the mansion was also used in other shows. It is interesting how many of these shows used the same sets over and over.

CBS is busy budget cutting during this last season of West but this show looks good compared to some others this season.

Contrary to another reviewer (whose inaccuracies put him/her at the top of the review list at time of writing), Wild Wild West was not filmed at Desilu.

It was filmed as was Gilligan's Island, whose lagoon frequently pops up in other episodes, and The Big Valley (whose mansion appears in this episode) at CBS (formerly Republic Studios).

Gunsmoke was filmed in later years at CBS

Star Trek was filmed at Desilu Studios (formerly RKO), and Paramount after they took over the Desilu Studios.

Referring to the show, a fun episode of a series which generally hid key information from the viewer until near the end (which assists in making it compelling to continue viewing).

Jill Townsend's performance is delightful (and her makeup/hairdresser excel -i.e she looks good) , and while Ross Martin is missed. Alan Hale Jr. is ideal cast as Jim West's support.

This is not a bad 'West', but what it lacks in story it makes up with in atmosphere. What's really great about it is that it stars Alan Hale and Jim Backus from 'Gilligan's Island' on the show and even plays the 'Gilligan's' theme song briefly at the end of the episode. Dawn Wells had also starred on the show earlier in it's run. And why not,both shows were on CBS. Even though Hale is a good sidekick we again miss Arte and his disguises. The spooky sets are fine and remind me of a scooby doo episode but the plot we've seen a thousand times For that reason the show is a little dry but sit back and take a three hour tour of the Wild Wild West. It's a fun episode