7.9/10463 votes#1 - The Night of the Inferno
Season 1 Episode 1 - Aired 9/17/1965
Jim is set up as a renegade as a cover for him and Artie to sneak into Texas and track down General Juan Manolo, who is trying to take over the region.
Director: Richard C. Sarafian
Writer: Gilbert Ralston
7.3/10351 votes#2 - The Night of the Deadly Bed
Season 1 Episode 2 - Aired 9/24/1965
Facing execution at the hands of a madman, West learns the crazed assassin plans to reclaim Mexico---as the new Napoleon.
Director: William Witney
Writer: N/A
8.2/10361 votes#3 - The Night the Wizard Shook the Earth
Season 1 Episode 3 - Aired 10/1/1965
West tries to protect Prof. Nielsen, a demolitions expert. But he fails: Nielson is blown up by the evil Dr. Miguelito Loveless.
Director: Bernard L. Kowalski
Writer: N/A
7.4/10283 votes#4 - The Night of Sudden Death
Season 1 Episode 4 - Aired 10/8/1965
Jim West suspects his search for counterfeiters is getting warm when he's shot at with arrows---and thrown to the crocodiles.
Director: William Witney
Writer: N/A
7.6/10271 votes#5 - The Night of the Casual Killer
Season 1 Episode 5 - Aired 10/15/1965
Jim and Artie set out to penetrate the stronghold of a corrupt political boss and return him to Washington for trial.
Director: Don Taylor
Writer: N/A
7.4/10276 votes#6 - The Night of a Thousand Eyes
Season 1 Episode 6 - Aired 10/22/1965
Ships along the Mississippi are being attacked by a gang of pirates known as the "Thousand Eyes". After Jim ducks an assassin, an attractive woman, he finds the leader of the Eyes: Captain Ansel Coffin, who was blinded and now seeks revenge. His gang use false lights to lead ships astray and crash them, and then plunder them. Jim is captured by Coffin and manages to escape a cage rigged to a lightning rod. He is blinded by a powder flash, and for a time he is at a decided edge against Coffin (who has long adapted to his blindness). Coffin manages to accidentally kill his wife. Enraged, Jim is saved by his recovering eyesight: he ducks, and Coffin falls into a pit to his death.
Director: Richard C. Sarafian
Writer: N/A
7.3/10251 votes#7 - The Night of the Glowing Corpse
Season 1 Episode 7 - Aired 10/29/1965
Jim and Artemus try to recover stolen radioactive materials nad have only one clue - a set of fingerprints found on the ankle of a pretty secretary.
Director: Irving J. Moore
Writer: N/A
6.9/10235 votes#8 - The Night of the Dancing Death
Season 1 Episode 8 - Aired 11/5/1965
To rescue a kidnapped princess, Jim runs into a booby-trapped doorknob and a fully armored man wielding a mace.
Director: Harvey Hart
Writer: Fred Freiberger, William Tunberg
7.6/10257 votes#9 - The Night of the Double-Edged Knife
Season 1 Episode 9 - Aired 11/12/1965
An Indian demand for gold must be met: they've threatened to kill five railroad workers a day until it is paid.
Director: Don Taylor
Writer: N/A
8.1/10274 votes#10 - The Night That Terror Stalked the Town
Season 1 Episode 10 - Aired 11/19/1965
West is lured to a ghost town peopled with lifelike dummies as part of an elaborate trap set for him by his nemesis Dr. Loveless.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
7.4/10232 votes#11 - The Night of the Red-Eyed Madmen
Season 1 Episode 11 - Aired 11/26/1965
West is sent to infiltrate an army of fanatics dedicated to overthrowing the U.S. Government. Getting in is no problem...but if he tries to leave he'll be shot.
Director: Irving J. Moore
Writer: N/A
7.2/10239 votes#12 - The Night of the Human Trigger
Season 1 Episode 12 - Aired 12/3/1965
A demented geologist can set off earthquakes where he chooses as part of an elaborate extortioin scheme. So West and Gordon head for Ellenville--the next town on the mad genius's list.
Director: Jus Addiss
Writer: N/A
7.5/10212 votes#13 - The Night of the Torture Chamber
Season 1 Episode 13 - Aired 12/10/1965
Jim and Artie take on an obsessed museum curator who has private designs on the state treasury.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
7.7/10221 votes#14 - The Night of the Howling Light
Season 1 Episode 14 - Aired 12/17/1965
West is captured by a doctor who uses Pavlovian training to condition the Secret Service agent into becoming an assassin.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
7.2/10203 votes#15 - The Night of the Fatal Trap
Season 1 Episode 15 - Aired 12/24/1965
Jim goes to arrest a Mexican bandit disguised as a notorious outlaw...but the villain's girlfriend recognizes him.
Director: Richard Whorf
Writer: N/A
7.8/10233 votes#16 - The Night of the Steel Assassin
Season 1 Episode 16 - Aired 1/7/1966
A series of mysterious deaths of military personnel bring Jim face to face with the indestructible Col. "Iron Man" Torres. Crippled in an explosion that he blames on the other men of his company, Torres rebuilt himself as a 19th century "cyborg", and is seeking revenge on those he thinks wronged him...and President Grant was one of the men he served with.
Director: Lee H. Katzin
Writer: Calvin Clements Sr.
7.3/10219 votes#17 - The Night the Dragon Screamed
Season 1 Episode 17 - Aired 1/14/1966
Jim and Artie have only one clue to track down the smugglers of opium and Chinese aliens: a fortune cookie.
Director: Irving J. Moore
Writer: N/A
7.0/10198 votes#18 - The Night of the Flaming Ghost
Season 1 Episode 18 - Aired 1/21/1966
Jim is assigned to stop abolitionist John Brown. The only problem - he was pronounced dead 20 years ago.
Director: Lee H. Katzin
Writer: Robert Hamner
7.4/10212 votes#19 - The Night of the Grand Emir
Season 1 Episode 19 - Aired 1/28/1966
West must protect a visiting despot from the fatal charms of Ecstasy La Joie, who brandishes such baubles as an explosive garter and a deadly ring.
Director: Irving J. Moore
Writer: N/A
7.7/10261 votes#20 - The Night of the Whirring Death
Season 1 Episode 20 - Aired 2/18/1966
Intent on making California a kingdom for children, evil Dr. Loveless makes his play for the state with a series of toys---which explode.
Director: Mark Rydell
Writer: N/A
8.1/10245 votes#21 - The Night of the Puppeteer
Season 1 Episode 21 - Aired 2/25/1965
A Supreme Court justice will not believe his life is in danger---until a puppet-show marionette fires a gun at him.
Director: Irving J. Moore
Writer: N/A
7.3/10199 votes#22 - The Night of the Bars of Hell
Season 1 Episode 22 - Aired 3/4/1966
West, posing as a prison inspector, hunts for clues to a pillaging outlaw band.
Director: Richard Donner
Writer: N/A
6.8/10202 votes#23 - The Night of the Two-Legged Buffalo
Season 1 Episode 23 - Aired 3/11/1966
West tries to protect a pleasure-loving prince who insists on visiting a plush spa---where assassins eagerly await his arrival.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
7.2/10197 votes#24 - The Night of the Druid's Blood
Season 1 Episode 24 - Aired 3/25/1966
West is furious: his superiors have refused him permission to investigate the murder of a close friend who was burned to death before his eyes.
Director: Ralph Senensky
Writer: N/A
7.1/10194 votes#25 - The Night of the Freebooters
Season 1 Episode 25 - Aired 4/1/1966
West poses as an ex-con to gain admittance to renegade Army leader Thorald Wolfe.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
The Best Episodes of The Wild Wild West Season 1
Every episode of The Wild Wild West Season 1 ranked from best to worst. Discover the Best Episodes of The Wild Wild West Season 1!
The Wild Wild West is an American television series. Developed at a time when the television western was losing ground to the spy genre, this...
Genres:Action & AdventureComedyDramaWesternSci-Fi & Fantasy
Network:CBS
Season 1 Ratings Summary
"The Night of the Inferno" is the best rated episode of "The Wild Wild West" season 1. It scored 7.9/10 based on 463 votes. Directed by Richard C. Sarafian and written by Gilbert Ralston, it aired on 9/17/1965. This episode is rated 0.6 points higher than the second-best, "The Night of the Deadly Bed".