Robert Conrad And 'The Wild Wild West' Return To TV!

Among my all-time guilty pleasure TV shows is Wild Wild West, which I used to watch with a certain... warmth... during reruns as a pre-teen in the 1970s. I've been hoping for years that it might return to one of the many cable networks indulging golden oldie television programming... and at last it has.

ME-TV Network is owned by Weigel Broadcasting and distributed by MGM, airing classic television sitcoms and dramas from the 1950s through the 1980s; it's seen in 132 television markets with clearance in 82% of the U.S.

ME's Fall 2012 line-up includes many shows that haven't been seen on the tube in decades: The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Gunsmoke, Bonanza, Perry Mason, The Big Valley, Beverly Hillbillies, M*A*S*H, Cheers, That Girl, Maude, Emergency!, The Dick Van Dyke Show, Bob Newhart Show,The Rifleman, Kojak, Twilight Zone, Adam 12, Remington Steele, Night Gallery, Dragnet and Hawaii Five-0. Its line-up is here!

Wild Wild West, as I've written about before, ignited my little boy gay genes in a big way, as Robert Conrad regularly indulged the audience in his skin-tight royal blue suit, often finding a way to remove his shirt... revealing a body that just wasn't commonplace in that era. To this day, he remains my first gay crush. And now, decades later, I can relive that same... warm feeling, with grown-up understanding... WWW airs at 4 p.m. on the East Coast, Monday-Friday on Me-TV.

In New York, it airs on Time Warner Cable's Channel 144. On NYC's FIOS, it appears to air on Channel 19. There's tons more pics below the jump! *

First Gay Crush: Robert Conrad

What exactly was this strange fascination with Robert Conrad in Wild Wild West? No doubt, since the "James Bond on a horse" Western series originally aired from 1965 to 1969, I was catching it in afternoon reruns... but I recall eyeing Jim West in his form-fitting royal blue costume and those painted-on britches with an inexplicable appeal. Why, it was almost as if I had a crush... on a man.

I don't know a gay man who doesn't have a similar story, whether it was Batman & Robin or Shaun Cassidy or Sam Elliott or Rock Hudson... that ignition of a curious but powerful feeling... and suspecting that this isn't something the other boys feel. Now, of course, we know "It Gets Better." Oh yes, it certainly did. * (Photos: Daveland)

Happy Birthday Maxwell Caulfield

In May 2009, I wrote a post about teenage crushes, including Robert Conrad, Chad Everett and Sam Elliott. We can add to the list actor Maxwell Caulfield—who celebrates his 51st birthday today.

As a mid-teen wholly obsessed with "Grease" in 1978, I couldn't wait for sequel "Grease 2" in 1982. While it was thin and poorly received, there was no denying the magnetism of its leads: dreamy Max Caulfield and some chick named Michelle Pfeiffer. There were also a couple great tunes on the soundtrack: "Cool Rider" by Pfeiffer and cast number "Love Will Turn Back the Hands of Time."

For years, I had a pic hanging on my wall from SuperTeen mag, admiring Caulfield's blue eyes, stacked blonde hair and overall handsome demeanor...
Following "Grease 2," Max's PR machine proclaimed him "the next big thing," with accompanying fanzine coversa dnd beefcake pics to back the prediction.That, of course, is not exactly how things turned out. Maxwell's only other role of note was in "Dynasty" spin-off "The Colbys, from 1985-1987, in which he regularly shed his shirt... so who cares if the dude could act.I saw him in off-Broadway play "Salonika" at the Public Theatre in New York in 2006, starring opposite Jessica Tandy and Elizabeth Wilson. And when I say I saw Max, I mean business: He was nude during the majority of the production.Factoid: In 1980, Caulfield, then 21, became the third husband of actress Juliet Mills, who is 18 years his senior. They remain together today.Here's the video clip for "Love Will Turn Back the Hands of Time" from "Grease 2."

Happy Birthday Chad Everett (et al)

In honor of Chad Everett's birthday Friday, I offer an encore of this post from May 2009: "Childhood crushes." Mercy, it's hot in here!

As a youngster inexplicably focused on "admiring" men instead of crushes on Hollywood starlets, I recall watching "Wild Wild West" with curious fascination. Robert Conrad: For sure, I wouldn't mind being his Artemis Gordon.Meanwhile, my mammer was a fan of "Medical Center," no doubt because of the handsome young doctor played by Chad Everett. I wonder if she realized her son had the same crush.The discovery of "Lifeguard," helmed by a mustached and hairy-chested Sam Elliott in the late 1970s, turned up the heat a good 20 degrees, and left absolutely no question that my "crushes" on men were more than admiration for handsome chaps. Something oddly appealing if not forbidden was going on here. Remember, of course, there was no Internet, there were no role models, no open and out heroes to let a young man from Virginia know that he wasn't alone and if anything, was perfectly normal. Sadly, it would take another decade (and a move to Washington, D.C.) to fully embrace that ideal.Little did I know that Elliott actually embodied the definitive queer look of the day, as the burgeoning gay liberation movement in San Francisco was adopting exaggerated machismo as its calling card. The Taylor family took a cross-country trip in 1978 and in San Fran, I will never forget walking down the street and seeing two men holding hands. It was a snapshot that is indelibly locked into my mental hard drive. I must admit, I still prefer the look to today's smooth metrosexual overly groomed hard-bodied gay ideal. Elliott looks as hot here to me now as he did to 16-year-old Charles Lee.

Teen-Age Crushes

As a youngster with swirling hormones inexplicably focused on "admiring" men instead of the typical crushes on Hollywood starlets that my friends were indulging in, I vividly remember watching "Wild Wild West" with curious fascination. Why did Robert Conrad's tight britches foster a certain thrill? Why did I focus with such intensity every time Jim West's shirt came off (which the show's writers were wise enough to make sure was often)? How come I was so envious of his close friendship with Artemis Gordon?Meanwhile, my mammer was a fan of "Medical Center," no doubt because of the handsome young doctor played by Chad Everett. I wonder if she realized that her son had the same crush.The discovery of "Lifeguard," helmed by a mustached and hairy-chested Sam Elliott in the late 1970s, turned up the heat a good 20 degrees, and left absolutely no question that my "crushes" on men were more than admiration for handsome chaps. Something oddly appealing if not forbidden was going on here. Remember, of course, there was no Internet, there were no role models, no open and out heroes to let a young man from Virginia know that he wasn't alone and if anything, was perfectly normal. Sadly, it would take another decade (and a move to Washington, D.C.) to fully embrace that ideal.Little did I know that Elliott actually embodied the definitive queer look of the day, as the burgeoning gay liberation movement in San Francisco was adopting exaggerated machismo as its calling card. The Taylor family took a cross-country trip in 1978 and in San Fran, I will never forget walking down the street and seeing two men holding hands. It was a snapshot that is indelibly locked into my mental hard drive. I must admit, I still prefer the look to today's smooth metrosexual overly groomed hard-bodied gay ideal. Elliott looks as hot here to me now as he did to 16-year-old Charles Lee.