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The Wild Wild West (TV series) (view source)

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* [[Captain Ersatz]]: James West to [[James Bond]].
* [[The Cast Showoff]]: Tough call. On the one hand, Ross Martin actually called his role "a showoff's showcase"; on the other hand, Robert Conrad really (and often literally) threw himself into the fight scenes, so much so that he was prone to splitting his pants (something not always fixed in the editing room - see "The Night of the Pistoleros").
* [[Cattle Punk]]: More or less invented the genre, which makes ''The Wild Wild West'' the [[Ur Example]] but an [[Unbuilt Trope]].
* [[Christmas Episode]]: "The Night of the Whirring Death"
* [[Cool Train]]: The Wanderer, West and Gordon's mobile headquarters.
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* [[Diving Save]]: "The Night of the Gruesome Games". Artemus Gordon sees a woman about to be shot by a cannon. He runs over and pulls her out of the way just before it fires.
* [[Dramatic Thunder]]: Especially in "The Night of a Thousand Eyes."
* [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin]]: Some episodes have somewhat misleading titles (like "The Night of the Druid's Blood") but a lot don't, most notably "The Night of the Grand Emir" {{spoiler|(which does indeed take place all in one night)}}.
* [[Executive Meddling]]: The show was canceledcancelled due to content, not because of declining ratings. (At the end of [[The Sixties]], [[CBS]] executives got nervous about fictional violence after all the [[Real Life]] violence of that decade.) Also, Ross Martin was sadly never allowed to ''fully'' unleash his [[Master of Disguise]] skills, thanks to [[Viewers are Morons|worries about "confused" viewers]].
** And the show ended up being lucky to survive its first season. After the show was picked up by the network, and placed on the fall schedule, one of the biggest television corporate bloodlettings happened, taking out nearly all of the network executives who helped develop the show. The new regime, wanting to put the past regime behind them, changed the new schedule as best as they could in the short time available to them, dropping a number of shows that were developed for the new season. ''[[The Wild Wild West (TV series)|The Wild Wild West]]'' survived this purge, but barely, as the new executives didn't get the show, and were concerned about the show's cost, which was expensive for a show of that era. Had the show not become a hit from the get-go, it's likely it would have been canned faster than you can say Artemus Gordon.
* [[Explosion Propulsion]]
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* [[Fake Defector]]
* [[Fake Nationality]]: All over the place, particularly Pilar Seurat as a very un-Chinese-looking Chinese princess in "The Night The Dragon Screamed," Paul Wallace doing an [[Fake Brit|English accent]] that isn't even good enough to be called excruciating in "The Night of the Eccentrics" and Ricardo Montalban as a Confederate Army colonel in "The Night of the Lord of Limbo." (And this being Ricardo Montalban, [[Not Even Bothering with the Accent|he doesn't even bother with an accent]].)
** In-universe examples: "The Night of the Inferno" has {{spoiler|Wing Fat (a Mexican pretending to be Chinese)}}, in "The Night of the Sudden Plague" {{spoiler|Dr. Kirby is also Chinese}}, and in "The Night of the Man-Eating House" {{spoiler|Liston Day [[Berserk Button|prefers to be referred to as "Diaz,"]] since his grandfather - who came from Mexico - wanted to belong among Americans but his son/Liston's dad saw himself as Mexican, and so does Liston}}.
* [[Foot Focus]]: In "The Night of the Undead", a woman walks barefoot over hot coals.
* [[Giant Spider]]: "The Night of the Raven" [[Playing with a Trope|plays with]] this trope. Technically, it's a normal-sized spider since Jim and the episode's [[Girl of the Week]] have been shrunk by Loveless. On the other hand, [[Wild Wild West (film)|the movie]] ''does'' have a [[Giant Spider]], albeit a mechanical one.
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* [[Mix and Match]]
* [[The Mole]]: Sir Nigel Scott in "The Night of the Bleak Island".
** Also {{spoiler|Silas Grigsby}} in "The Night of the Bubbling Death".
* [[The Napoleon]]: Dr. Loveless.
* [[Not with the Safety On, You Won't]]
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* [[Punny Name]]/[[Epunymous Title]]: The Wild Wild...James West?
* [[Real Life Writes the Plot]]: Ross Martin's health problems forced him to sit out a few episodes, which led to the [[Suspiciously Similar Substitute]] played by Charles Aidman. It also affected at least one episode Martin ''did'' appear in; when he broke his leg while filming the climax of "The Night of the Avaricious Actuary"<ref>which necessitated a stand-in to complete the scene - who unfortunately looked ''nothing'' like him -</ref> the opening of the next episode to be filmed, "The Night of the Juggernaut," was rewritten so that Artie broke his leg when the machine attacked our heroes. (Incidentally, "The Night of the Juggernaut" aired ''before'' "The Night of the Avaricious Actuary.")
* [[Recycled in Space]]: It's [[James Bond]] IN''in'' [[The Wild West]]!
* [[Recycled Soundtrack]]: Episodes used music from ''[[Gunsmoke]]'' and, believe it or not, ''[[Hawaii Five-O]]'' (see "The Night of the Bleak Island" and "The Night of the Winged Terror, Part 2").
* [[Retroactive Precognition]]
* [[Reunion Show]]: The TV Movies ''The Wild Wild West Revisited'' and ''More Wild Wild West''.
* [[Rogues Gallery]]: Dr. Miguelito Loveless and Count Manzeppi are the only recurring main villains. But there's also Loveless' loyal assistants Antoinette and Voltaire - although Antoinette vanishes during season 2 and Voltaire never appears after season 1<ref> unlike his portrayer Richard Kiel, who returns in another role in "The Night of the Simian Terror"</ref>.
* [[Romantic Runner-Up]]: Originally Artemus Gordon, despite saving the day or having an equal part in saving the day as Jim, rarely got the girl; many episodes in the first season end with him looking on forlornly as Jim kisses the [[Damsel in Distress]] [[Girl of the Week]] (although even then there were exceptions - both Jim and Artie get lucky in "The Night of the Torture Chamber" and "The Night of the Glowing Corpse," and "The Night of Sudden Death" is a rare example where ''Jim'' is the [[Romantic Runner-Up]] as Artie literally walks away with '''two''' ladies!). From season two onwards neither agent was lacking in female companionship.
* [[Shoe Phone]]: James West's favorite place to carry some moldable explosive was in the false heel of his shoe. The other shoe's heel held the blasting cap.
* [[Skeleton Key]]: Jim West carried onea lock-pick under his lapel that seemed able to open almost any lock he encountered. as easily as a key.
** That was a lock-pick under his lapel, but you are right in that it does seem to unlock doors as easily as a key.
* [[Steampunk]]
* [[Stunt Double]]: Not for Conrad so much as his opponents - see in particular "The Night The Dragon Screamed" {{spoiler|in which during the climax Ben Wright, as the [[Big Bad]], suddenly turns into someone who ''isn't'' 15 years older than Robert Conrad and then turns into a dummy when Conrad flings him onto a bed of spikes}}.
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* [[Sword Cane]]: Sword ''pool cue'' actually.
* [[Ten Little Murder Victims]]: "The Night of the Tottering Tontine", "The Night of the Bleak Island"
** {{spoiler|In the latter, it being from the final season, only two people get killed - and one of them is the bad guy.}}
* [[Time Stands Still]]: "The Night of the Burning Diamond"
* [[The Wild West]]
* [[Wig, Dress, Accent]]: Artemus Gordon's disguises are generally of this variety.
* [[Wouldn't Hit a Girl]]: Usually true, although subverted in "The Night of the Firebrand" {{spoiler|where Jim uses an [[Expy]] of the [[Star Trek|Vulcan nerve pinch]] whenever the [[Girl of the Week]] is getting above herself}}. Averted in "The Night of the Running Death" when Jim punches out Miss Tyler {{spoiler|- well, it ''would'' be averted if Miss Tyler wasn't a man in drag.}}
* [[X Meets Y]]: James West is [[James Bond]] meets [[John Wayne]].
 
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