ILLUSTRATED EPISODE GUIDE
STAR INFO
The Western series WILDSIDE debuted in March of 1985, with almost everything going for it. It was an action-filled, light-hearted Disney production with a solid cast led by the compelling, always reliable (and in this part even funny) William Smith as the leader of the Chamber of Commerce of Wildside, five stalwart citizens who went on special missions for the Governor of California. Wildside featured interesting characters, exceptional cinematography, flashy stunts, great costumes, invigorating music, quirky dialogue and innovative, garish plots. What Wildside did not have was a viable time slot. In 1985, as in most subsequent years, NBC ruled Thursday nights. Wildside [ABC] was dropped into the 8 p.m. Thursday slot owned by COSBY. What audience could be stolen from COSBY had already gone to the popular MAGNUM P.I. [CBS] [Even Magnum abandoned the Thursday slot in 1986 for Wednesday.] The powers-that-be dumped it after only six episodes without trying it in a better time slot. [Other ABC series in that time slot were also either quickly cancelled or moved.]The six episodes of Wildside are available at amazon.com in a three-tape boxed set. For details see our sources page.
The basic premise of Wildside was that California Governor Summerhayes had a trusty but secret band of five men -The Wildside Chamber of Commerce - led by his old friends Brodie Hollister & Bannister Sparks which he could call upon for sensitive law enforcement assignments. The Five had special talents which were put in play on these “hunting trips” - two master gunfighters; an explosives expert; a knife throwing, bolo twirling gaucho and a rope artist, head-butting strong man.
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