Honey West

Honey West was cool, liberated, and above all, sexy. My first love on TV. She went off the tube almost as soon as I'd found her, and I had to subsist on a diet of Donna Reed, Doris Day, and other actresses that didn't have the same erotic spark.

The same building housed "H. West & Company, Private Investigators" and "Charles Townsend Associates, Private Investigations." Whenever I see the camera shots of the exterior of that building I always wonder, did Hank West (Honey's father) and Charlie know each other? Did Honey West and Charlie's Angels ever run into each other from 1976 on? Surely Honey's macho partner Sam Bolt must have been aware of the Angels, hehe, but then again, he was secretly stuck on Honey.

Over a decade earlier it was September of 1965 and I was eight years old when Honey West sizzled the airwaves. Producer Aaron Spelling had been inspired to bring the pulp fiction heroine to television after viewing Honor Blackman play Dr. Catherine Gale, the blond anthropologist partner of secret agent John Steed in the original episodes of the British television series "The Avengers." All I remember about "Honey West" from that time is seeing her face in the honeycomb cells during the title sequence. Then it was off to another channel to watch good ol' Gomer Pyle.

Most people don't know that the enormously popular "Make Room For Daddy/Danny Thomas Show" spun off the enormously popular "Andy Griffith Show", which in turn spun off the enormously popular "Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.". With Honey West in the same Friday night time slot as Gomer Pyle, how could she buck a tradition like that? On Friday nights the people who would be more devoted to watching "Honey West" would probably be out on the town anyway. What's more, Anne Francis said in an interview that the second season was going to be in color but there was a dispute between ABC and Four Star Productions, so ABC decided they could just air "The Avengers" cheaper than they could make "Honey West." They also thought they didn't need two catsuit-clad, karate-chopping women on the air at the same time. I disagree. Cathy Gale's successor Emma Peel was British -- played by Diana Rigg, she was the first Avenger woman to be seen in the States -- and Honey West was American. I would have watched both because I loved "The Avengers," and now I know I would have loved "Honey West" too.

When the TV Land channel aired a "Honey West" marathon during the late 1990's ("brought to you in VertiVision, the vertical stacking modern marathon miracle where you know what show is coming up next by the show you're watching now!"), a friend of mine videotaped several of the episodes for me. Yowsa! I soon realized that Honey West knew the secret of being a great entertainer: she left me wanting more! And not just because of her sex appeal; she was strong, she was smart, and the stories brought back that wonderful world of thirty-minute dramas and mysteries which we just don't see anymore. I also dug that crazy jazz score, which I can listen to over and over again without getting tired of it. With a little bit of suspension of disbelief, "Honey West" is credible to me; and contrary to the sleazy pulp fiction novels on which it was based, the TV series can be safely watched by the whole family. I'm so glad those DVDs are finally available!

I am a bit perplexed by a lot of the negative comments I have read about this show on this website. Granted, I have only seen three episodes as an adult, but still . . .

I first saw this program during the sixties when I was only 9 or 10 years old. There was enough action (the fist-fights and most of the Judo moves still look great now) and gadgets (only in more recent years do you see readily commercially available some of the things they purported to have then) to make it entertaining to kids at that age and both my younger sister and I enjoyed watching it. In the past few years, however, when I became interested in revisiting the shows I had watched growing up when they became available for the first time on video, I made no particular effort to see it when I learned that it was canceled after only a single year on the air. I naturally assumed that must have not been very good, something only a ten-year-old looking for action and gadgets would think was worthwhile. Maybe I would find it would turn out to be as bad as *Lost In Space* (which ran for three seasons) did, for example.

Just recently I had a chance to see the three episodes alluded to previously ("The Owl and the Eye", "A Neat Little Package", and "The Abominable Snowman") and based on that I'm just plain amazed this show was canceled so soon. The writing overall was excellent, the score very reminiscent of a lot of what you heard on *I Spy* or even *Peter Gunn*, and the rest of the production values were every bit as good as anything else that you would see on TV in the mid-sixties. It was much more plausible in every respect than the comparatively cheesy *It takes a Thief* with Robert Wagner, which lasted three seasons, and the terrific dialog and character development and relationships light-years better than the famed *Hawaii Five-O*, which ran for a total of 11 in prime time. I can't disagree enough with the reviewer who said that the only reason to see this show was to appreciate the blonde bombshell appeal of Anne Francis. He really ought to go back and look at it again as an adult over 40 or 50.

From that perspective, too, the relationship between Sam & Honey is readily understandable. Sam is a classic protective male who out of uneasiness or even acute anxiety finds him constantly yelling at Honey that she needs to do or not do something on a case because, at a minimum, it makes him worry about her, but she totally fails to appreciate this. Instead, after promising to heed his concerns, without a second thought she then promptly goes off does exactly the opposite of what he advised, just as she always intended, leaving Sam looking rather hapless and helpless. The results are mixed but often include Sam having to physically come to the rescue in the end. The writers caught this kind of real-life battle-of-the-sexes dynamic perfectly and if you don't appreciate it when you see it it probable that you have never experienced it yourself. While it is much more prosaic than the intriguingly ambiguous relationship between Mrs. Peel and Mr. Steed of *Avengers* notability, it is also that much more likely and realistic.

Add to this some cleverly conceived supporting characters (not the least Bruce the Ocelot, played by Himself) and the most perfect choice of a car for Honey, a 1965 AC Cobra (that car could be worth as much as 1.5 million dollars today, depending on which version it was) and you have about as stylish and entertaining a detective show as was ever on American TV.

If this program had any weaknesses that I could see, it was in the acting or direction. I felt that the lead actors performed outstandingly well in some scenes yet appeared to lack the range to do as well with some of the other scenes that had been written for them. While actors in this situation tend to get blamed for this kind of thing, it could easily have been the fault of directors who asked them for the wrong kind of performances in the wrong scenes.

Anyway, the user rating of 7.8 that is on here at the time I'm posting this is well-deserved, and I think it is most definitely a must-see for anyone who likes vintage crime/private-eye TV. Moreover, I am delighted to be able to add that it has been released on DVD!

I mean that in a complimentary manner. Before there was Pamela, or Farrah, or Sigourney, there was...Anne Francis as Honey West. The producers of "Honey" knew exactly what their strong hand was in this series, and that is the sex appeal of Anne Francis as the smart, resourceful, but above all else, sexy Honey West. But, while she could play the soft and feminine sex object in one scene, in the next Honey could show she was no cupcake when it came to battling it out with the baddies on the street.

For those of us who remember the sexually liberated sixties, Honey West was the epitome of raw sexuality dressed up in evening clothes. Yet, at the same time, she had the same quality of femininity when wearing a skin tight jumpsuit ala Emma Peel of The Avengers. Anne Francis is one of those rare females who looks as if she could glide off the runway of a fashion show and slip into the working garb of a private investigator without a hair out of place or smudge of makeup.

The storylines of this series were by no means bad. They featured the usual blend of mystery and intrigue, spiced with some (for the time) techno-gadgetry (courtesy of Honey's partner, Sam, who spent many hours in his "Bolt's TV Repair" panel truck eavesdropping on the bad guys, and would pop out in the nick of time to assist or occasionally save Honey from peril), and a good amount of action. Honey could hold her own against the bad guys when it came to kickboxing or gun battles, and always did so with style and flair and her usual touch of femininity. But, make no mistake, the storylines are merely vehicles for the display, to the pleasure of male viewers, of the sex appeal of Miss Anne Francis.

While Miss Francis is the show's feature player, a nod goes to John Ericson as Honey's able assistant, Sam Bolt. Fans will recognize the ruggedly handsome character actor from his lead role in the 1960 movie Pretty Boy Floyd. Here, he goes over to the right side of the law, and provides the rough-edged male counterpart to Honey's cool and soft femininity. While there was sexual tension between Sam and Honey, I always thought that Sam also felt a protectiveness towards Honey since he was her father's partner in the business and retained that loyalty. Still, the episodes never showed Sam putting any serious (in today's context) moves on Honey, something that intrigued and puzzled by fevered adolescent brain to no end.

All in all, Honey West was a fun hour of escapism and distraction, and will be fondly remembered, thanks to the smoldering sexuality of Miss Francis, by legions of men like myself who came of age in the midst of the sexually liberated sixties.

I, too, have recently been enthralled by Honey West. I have 4 episodes (complete with glitches) that I watch over and over. This was a wonderful show. The batter is funny, too! Excellent job by all involved. But most of all there is the charming and glamorous Anne Francis. Knowing that Honor Blackman was originally in mind for the role is interesting, as I am a huge fan of the early Avengers episodes with Blackman. Anyone who loves The Avengers will love this show. It is too bad it only lasted one season, as it would have been great to have a color season as well, but what we do have are 30 fine half-hour episodes (plus the introduction of the character on an episode of "Burke's Law".) I am anxiously awaiting the release of "Honey West" on DVD here in America. It is already out in Europe, but a US release is coming in 2008. Can't wait.