The Wild Wild West told the story of the country's first two Secret Service agents - James West, the charming gunslinger, and Artemus Gordon, the brilliant gadgeteer and master of disguise - in their unending mission to protect president Ulysses S. Grant and the United States from all manner of dangerous threats. The show incorporated classic Western elements with an espionage thriller, as well as science fiction/alternate history ideas and plenty of comedy. In the finest James Bond tradition, there were always beautiful women, there were always arch-enemies -- and there were always half-insane plots to take over the world.