Honey West
1965 - 1966
/ ABC "Try to get HONEY WEST in here if you can. Based on the character from a series of fairly risque paperbacks and spun off into her own show after a guest-starring role on BURKE'S LAW, Honey (Anne Francis) was something of a trendsetter, one of television's first liberated females. "Despite
fairly healthy ratings, ABC canceled the show after one season. Their
rationale was that they had just acquired the American rights to THE
AVENGERS and that one sexy,karate-kicking female per network was all
their viewers would believe. Hey, it was the Sixties." Honey
West was a sly mixture of 'Man From Uncle' and '77 Sunset Strip'
from the Four-Star studios, with episodes produced by a young Aaron
Spelling and written by TV's finest writers, William Link and Richard
Levinson ('Rockford Files', 'Columbo', 'Murder She Wrote').
"Honey
West' has its tongue planted firmly in cheek, but was out of step by
1965 - Warner Brothers' private eye shows had fallen out of favor for
more gimmicky shows like 'Lost in Space' and 'Batman'.
Honey (Anne
Francis) inherited her spying business from her dad, a top private eye.
She also got his partner in the deal, rough and tumble (of course, handsome)
Sam Bolt, played by John Ericson. There was a simmering attraction between
the partners, but Honey West's only true love was adventure - and her
pet ocelot, Bruce.
Anne Francis
really delivered as the high-kicking
PI. She was so effective because she never overplayed the character,
as was the style of the day. This actress displayed an unmatched, unmistakable
aura of cool that captivated the boys and started little girls of the
Sixties thinking about what they might want to be when they grew up.
Honey
West was a judo/karate master that tooled around town in a cool little
white sportscar like a super-sixties Barbie doll, complete with scarves,
sunglasses and leopard-print coats (costumes by Nolan Miller, later
of 'Dynasty' fame). She even had her own mobile spy unit disguised as
a TV repair truck and high-tech mini-cameras and microphones (thirty
years early!). Don't break up with this chick!
Even when
the stories fell flat, those great Four-Star (from Warner Brothers)
shows from the Sixties were entertaining to watch - top notch production
values, attention to stylistic detail, superior art direction, music
and main titles gave new meaning to style over substance as it applied
to television.
Even though
Honey was more than a match for her many opponents, her most deadly
foe turned out to be 'Gomer Pyle' over on CBS - he proved fatal to her
ratings.
Honey
West was first featured on an episode of 'Burke's Law', also
a Four-Star Studios show. |
A
catalog of all Everything you're looking for
is here
|
|
|
|
Save money! |