The "Honey West" 4 single-sided disc DVD release contains all 30 (half-hour) B & W episodes, which ran on ABC during the 1965-66 television season. Also included are some vintage commercials and several promos for other ABC shows. The set is nicely made from high quality recordings of the original episodes. If you are unfamiliar with the show it is like a blend of Honor Blackman's "Avengers" episodes and Gene Barry's "Burke's Law" stuff. In fact, the title character and her associate Sam Bolt (John Ericson) had been first introduced to television audiences in the "Who Killed the Jackpot" episode of "Burke's Law". It did not approach the imaginative whimsy of Diana Rigg's "Avenger" episodes. It was played pretty straight, putting it a bit behind the times as shows like "The Wild Wild West" and "The Man From U.N.C.L.E." were following "The Avengers" down the self-parody road. This odd disconnect was one reason the series never made it past its first season. Another problem (obvious at the time even to a pre-teen like myself) was the casting of a high mileage actress like Anne Francis in the title role. Francis had been tantalizing eye candy back in the 1950's (see "Forbidden Planet" and "Susan Slept Here"). Unfortunately by 1965 she looked like my Cub Scout den mother, but with too much make-up and a much more tacky wardrobe. Poor Anne had gotten a little chunky by this time and you felt sorry for her trying to go after the same demographic as the svelte and much younger looking Diana Rigg. And they wonder why these things get weak ratings. The half-hour format also hurt the series as there was not sufficient time for either character development or interesting misdirection. The production design was pretty basic and generally low budget. They did manage a few gimmicks like a pet ocelot (named Bruce), high tech gadgets, and a nicely understated attraction between Honey and Sam. Honey is more Cathy Gale than Mrs. Peel, using her feminine wiles and a few judo moves. Francis and her stunt coordinator were not up to Mrs. Peel's fighting skills so Honey mostly resorts to a gun. The action sequences are generally pretty lame, so you can imagine that after a few tries at staging fights the producers decided that it would be a good idea to give Honey marksmanship ability. Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child.

Honey West/Anne Francis was certainly my favorite back then (on TV, second was Diana Rigg - in the movies, I liked Raquel Welch).Honey had an attitude that Donna Reed & Doris Day did not have. For a kid in the 60's, she was something different & special.My folks let me watch because they thought I liked the cat - duh... I had a crush on Anne Francis... (I was 15).And the ocelot's full name was Bruce Bite-A-Bit.I don't remember much else. Maybe some studio would do a re-make with a current star as Honey (sorry, Anne, but you are in your 70's now, and still very good looking, but you're just not convincing as a karate-chopping PI any more - maybe you could be the new Honey's "office manager" or something... that way, we could still enjoy your screen-presence).

Honey West's sex appeal did indeed sell the show for guys as well as my Dad, however, I remember thinking, here's the first strong and sexy female character who can kick butt too--cool. Makes a woman proud, even though I was 9 yrs old, the impression stuck. I never was attracted to Sam Bolt and his brotherly attentions to Honey was also confusing. I could tell he was attracted to her but their relationship always left me cold. Of course, Honey didn't make any real attempts either. There was no sexual tension. If a 9 yr old can notice that, something's wrong. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the show anyway and I thought the ocelot was cool as well.

The sort of show that epitomised mid 60's Hollywood hip-great clothes and cars,fab music,graced with the presence of slim beautiful Anne Francis as the foxy sleuth.Okay the plots are elementary at best,and can veer towards silliness("Little green Robin Hood" anyone?),and the show is too darn short at half an hour to do real justice to itself.Also it's in black and white-but who cares-just watch Francis and John Ericson in action.Like the "Burke's Law" series-where Honey West first appeared on screen-there's quite a lot of wit in the writing(this show,like "Burke's Law",is from "4 star" television productions).And there's Bruce,Honey's amusingly roguish ocelot.Some interesting guest stars include Everett Sloane(in one of his final appearances),Edd Byrnes,Alan Reed(Fred Flinstone!)and Dick Clark!Special mention should be made of the brilliant montage of pictures accompanying the jazzy opening credits.