Sorry it's been forever since I've posted on here. I guess I just need to accept the fact that I am going to be a very, very sporadic blogger. Other things keep interfering (like having a busy life away from the computer, and the fact that I'll start on an article and then realize that it's not really that interesting). Anyway, I think I've finally come up with another good post. Since my character comparison between "Hogan's Heroes" and "F Troop" was pretty popular by random blog follower standings, I thought I'd give another one a shot, this time by comparing the main characters of two buddy-style Western TV shows.
As I've blogged about previously, I am a pretty big fan of the show Alias Smith & Jones from the early '70s. It is a show about Hannibal Heyes and "Kid" Curry, two Western train robbers who decide to go straight and are told they have to earn their amnesty by staying out of trouble AND not getting arrested until they have "earned" it.
Until recently, Smith and Jones was my only go-to for a fun, action-packed Western with some good humor mixed in. But that changed a few months ago on my last birthday, when my mom gave me the first season of The Wild Wild West, which is a show set in the 1870s about James West and Artemis Gordon, two US secret service men who go all around the States (primarily west of the Mississippi) breaking up gangs, overthrowing evil plots, and generally saving the good ol' United States of America from all kinds of destruction. It's a James Bond-meets-John Wayne kind of show. And I have to admit, I was hooked within two episodes.
Apparently Wild Wild West was removed from the air after the fourth season because its fight sequences had become "too violent" by '60s standards. As far as the first season goes, there's only been a couple episodes that had fight scenes or other material that made me wince, so either it got a lot more violent as the show progressed or society's (and mine along with it) definition of what is violent has changed a lot. But there are definitely a lot of fight scenes and some villains with twisted, almost insane, minds, much more so than in Smith and Jones, where pretty much all you encounter are some bloodless shootouts and greedy landowners/bankers who aren't above working behind the law to get what they want. Because of this, the story lines of the Smith and Jones episodes are generally more "feasible" and easier on the emotions.
On the other hand, Wild Wild West has a more positive message behind it. Its stars are two guys who are determined to do what is right and protect their country no matter what the cost, while in Smith and Jones, the primary objective for the two main characters is much more self-centered. It is admirable that they are trying to go straight, but in all honesty, the main reason they even considered the possibility is because being an outlaw was becoming too difficult. Their main motivation is to protect their own hides until they can earn their amnesty so that they don't have to spend more than half their lives in prison. They do wind up risking their amnesty, and occasionally even their lives, for the good of others at times, even saving the life of a bounty hunter who was after them in one episode, which does show that the boys do have a compassionate, selfless side that can come out when they'll let it, but it is not the first thought on their minds like it is with the Wild Wild West fellas, who risk their lives for the good of people they don't even know in every episode.
As I started thinking about doing a comparison post with these two shows, it hit me that, unlike my last one, there are no really obvious counterparts between the two shows other than their basic role as "head guy" or "sidekick", and even those lines get blurred at times in Smith and Jones. It's implied in some episodes that the Kid is Heyes' second in command, but in other episodes they treat each other as equal partners. So this has been a very interesting character study. And here's what I've come up with...
Hannibal Heyes (aka Joshua Smith) v. Capt. James West
- They trust almost no one, especially women. The people they DO truly trust can be counted on one hand.
- They both have something of a silver tongue, which they use to their advantage when they need something, especially if it's from a woman or from their at-the-time reluctant best bud.
- They're tall, dark, handsome, and they have pretty good taste in fashion.
- They both like black horses.
Differences: - The way they handle tight situations is very different. While Heyes is the ultimate strategist, almost over-analyzing situations at times, Jim jumps right into the middle of a situation and uses his brilliant cunning to get himself out of it unscathed.
- While both of them are smooth talkers, Jim is way more of the "ladies man", using his charisma more often than his smooth tongue, while Heyes has the stronger talking-himself-out-of-things skills. Heyes also hardly ever gets romantically involved with any of the ladies he encounters. He enjoys their company, sure, but he only sets out to woo only a handful. And on a couple of the occasions where he does, he winds up getting emotionally attached, which Jim never, ever does. Ever.
- To be perfectly honest, Heyes has more personality than Jim. While Jim is always the true, noble, dedicated guy who always knows the right thing to do and always does it with courage and the occasional glimpse of humor, Heyes is more complex. He shows when he's annoyed, you see him backpedal and regroup when he's thrown a curve ball, he alternately jokes around good-naturedly and uses sarcasm, he sometimes shows biases and you see him struggle to make a decision between following what he knows is right and his own selfish desires. He's more...human, I guess.
- Jim is always getting into fights, while Heyes typically does what he can to avoid violence. He will draw his gun when he needs some extra motivational help, but he only punches a couple of people through the show's run, while it's a rare episode where Jim doesn't have at least one fistfight.
Jed "Kid" Curry (aka Thaddeus Jones) v. Artemis Gordon
Similarities: - They are both very loyal, even to the point of being willing to get beaten up for their buddy. Artie does this more often than the Kid, but in at least one episode Kid purposely starts a fight to buy Heyes time to complete a job.
- Both of them can be worriers and get fussy with their partner fairly regularly. The reasons they get fussy might on the surface seem different, but at the base of it, it's because they are concerned about something or someone.
- Both are more susceptible to women's charms than their partners and are more inclined to give a woman the benefit of the doubt in a situation unless she has done something to prove her true bad colors. After that happens they immediately put her on their permanent black list.
-They are both more likely to provide the comic relief in a situation, both intentionally and unintentionally. In either one of those situations, they can easily produce a pretty on-point wisecrack.
- They both can pull off a very smooth Southern gentleman impersonation. ;)
Differences: - Their fighting styles are very different. While Artie swings quite a few punches (although not half as many as Jim, and he hardly ever comes out on top in any of his fights), Kid almost always uses his fast-draw to get his point across. Of course, he usually doesn't have to fire in those cases, and he only kills one person during the show's three seasons (and that was in self defense).
- While Artie is a very inventive, intelligent fellow who can match Jim in brains (and is actually the better strategist when you get down to it), Kid's mind works in a very practical, everyday man, down-to-earth way that sometimes runs in the opposite way from Heyes'. Fairly often when he hears one of Heyes' schemes, he responds with a "Say what?" and is usually very pessimistic about their feasibility.
- In a related vein, while Artie as a former actor has a somewhat classy, educated demeanor, Kid is obviously of the working class. The level of his literacy and manners fluctuates between episodes, but at his best he usually reaches Artie's average casual demeanor and never his level of education.
- About the only kind of impression you see Kid perform is his Southern gentleman impression, while Artie has all kinds of impressions he pulls off, at least one different one in each episode (he did over a hundred during the run of the show).
It would be impossible to pick a top favorite among these four guys. They each have their own endearing qualities, as well as their own personal foibles. That's why the two teams offset each other so well, I suppose. The strong points of one character balance out the weaknesses of his partner. And in both shows it's obvious that both sets of characters really care for each other like brothers and don't see each other as "just a coworker".
I know it could have never happened since the shows were aired about five years apart, but I think it could have been fun if they'd had a crossover episode between these two shows. They could have brought the actors who played Jim (Robert Conrad) and Artie (Ross Martin) to be guest stars in Smith and Jones, even if they weren't playing the same characters. But, they didn't, so we'll never know what that would have been like. It's neat to think about, though. :)
