User Reviews

John Kneubuhl's 'The Night The Wizard Shook The Earth' introduced the vertically challenged Michael Dunn as the villainous 'Dr.Migelito Loveless', who became a kind of 'Moriarty' to Jim's 'Sherlock Holmes'. When we first see him, he - along with his extraordinarily tall henchman 'Voltaire' ( Richard Kiel, before he became 'Jaws' in the Roger Moore 'James Bond' films ) - are at some foggy docks, awaiting the arrival by boat of one 'Professor Nielsen', inventor of a powerful new explosive. The Professor believes it should be used for peaceful purposes, but Loveless has other ideas. Jim pretends to be Nielsen, but the doctor is not fooled, and kills the scientist using ( of all things ) a peashooter! Loveless then sets a trap for Jim using ( what else? ) a pretty girl - this one is 'Greta Lundquist' ( the stunning Leslie Parrish ). A monkey falls on Jim in the street. Then Loveless tries to kill him using a crossbow. Loveless believes he owns most of California, and wants it handed back to him, or else he will start blowing up major cities with Nielsen's explosive...

Produced by Fred Freiberger, this episode ( the third broadcast ) saw the show's title beginning to fulfil its promise of wild escapism. It is glorious hokum from start to finish. If the sight of Loveless using a peashooter fitted with a telescopic sight does not make you laugh, nothing will! Better yet, we get a horse-driven coach fitted with ejector seats akin to James Bond's Aston Martin! As 'Loveless', Dunn is splendid, coming across at times like a brilliant but spoilt child. In one amusing scene, he claims to have invented a means of transmitting and receiving live pictures! Dunn reprised the role in nine more episodes, and the character was resurrected by Paul Williams in the 1979 reunion movie, and by a badly miscast Kenneth Branagh in the 1999 film. But Dunn's version is the definitive one. Not much of Arte, alas, but the finale in the clock tower is exciting and enjoyable.

"The Night The Wizard Shook The World" introduced "WWW"'s most memorable villain, Dr. Miguelito Loveless, played by the brilliantly cast Michael Dunn. As episodes go this one has just about everything that made this series so much fun to watch. There's an explosive capsule delivered by blow gun; a stagecoach equipped with ejector seats and wall-mounted strangling calipers; an intimidating henchman played by Richard "Jaws" Kiel, and for the ladies, Robert Conrad makes one of his frequent appearances without his shirt. Why there's even a nasty little monkey thrown in for good measure.

The music of Richard Markowitz and Robert Drasnin nicely enhances the presence of super cool Secret Service agent James West. Also introduced in this one was the Dr. Loveless theme, an effective musical signature that captures both that character's menacing and child-like qualities.

James West is pretty much your typical reserved hero with a dry wit. However, in certain scenes, Michael Dunn's exuberant performance seems to inspire a more emotive portrayal from series star Robert Conrad and both are particularly good in the final showdown: a countdown sequence in which West literally races against time to deactivate a tower clock set to explode. Using Loveless' cane, West manages to halt the clock leading to guest star Dunn performing his own stunt as he leaps onto a giant pendulum to re-start the clock.

Though the script is far from perfect, (one overly-long scene at the house of Loveless features a song), under Marvin J. Kowalski's capable direction this one features some great action sequences, one of the more suspenseful episode climaxes, and set the bar pretty high for all future episodes featuring the diminutive doctor.

Dr. Loveless! When you think of the TV show, "The Wild Wild West", Dr. Loveless is one of the first characters who comes to mind. Actor Michael Dunn plays "Miguelito Loveless" to the hilt. His performance here is Shakespearean; it is absolutely epic.

In this episode, James West has his first encounter with the brilliant, scheming Dr. Loveless. The writers did a great job with the introduction to Loveless. What could be more cold-blooded than an assasination attempt? And the bodyguard of Dr. Loveless is Richard "Jaws" Kiel. An excellent choice by casting!

This show features plenty of action, including fistfights and explosions. We see brilliant weapons and intricate security devices deployed by both James West and by Dr. Loveless. (The ejector-seat in the carriage is straight out of "James Bond").

There is also a lot of science fiction and steampunk, which will become a sub-theme and a hallmark of The Wild Wild West tv show.

The only flaws in this episode involve a little too much character development. Yes, we need to know that Dr. Loveless has a warped and twisted sense of values (5000 human beings are expendable; but a helpless fly drowning in a teacup needs to be set free). The writers drag that out too long. Then we are exposed to the real-life musical talent of Michael Dunn, where he sings a duet with Phoebe Dorin (in real life, the two performed together in a nightclub act known as "Michael Dunn and Phoebe"). But the song they sing in this episode goes on too long; it distracts from the story line.

But those flaws can be overlooked. This show is defined by a great plot, suspense, action, romance, and incredible sets (especially the house and laboratory of Dr. Loveless).

The show ends with Artemus talking about Loveless going to prison. But we just know that he will be back. And he did come back! During the 4 year run of the show, Dr. Loveless appeared in 10 episodes.

Michael Dunn, as "Dr. Miguelito Loveless", is timeless. Bravo!

*Spoiler/plot- The wild wild wild West, 1965. 'The Night the Wizard Shook the Earth'. Two brilliant scientists have developed an incredibly powerful explosive for the US government, but one of the men is Dr. Miguelito Loveless. LOveless wants to keep the new weapon for himself. He plans to destroy an entire city as revenge for the countries past crimes against his ancient family. Agent West races to discover the bomb plot and stop the citywide disaster.

*Special Stars- Robert Conrad, Ross Martin. Micheal Dunn.

*Theme- Ethical lawmen will set things right.

*Trivia/location/goofs- Aired Sept 7, 1965. B & W. TV show.

*Emotion- A suspenseful and action packed first episode for this well beloved TV show. This show introduces the TV series best and baddest villains and how he is diabolical in his plots to attack the U.S Government. This send agents, West and Gordon into the danger to stop the threat. This is great stuff of excitement and mystery.

*Based On- James Bond and spy films and show of the early 60's.