I just finished going through the Honey West episodes for the second time in the last few years. Overall, it's a fun show. Anne Francis is fantastic as Honey. Smart, sexy, funny - she played Honey perfectly. As good as she is, I think John Ericson deserves as much credit for making the show what it was. Other than being a bit too overprotective at times, his Sam Bolt is an excellent partner for Honey. And I don't want to forget Irene Hervey as Aunt Meg. Her comic relief is generally well done.
When Honey West is good, it's very good. Episode #4 A Matter of Wife and Death, Episode #21 Like Visions and Omens... and All That Jazz, and Episode #30 An Eerie, Airy, Thing are three examples of Honey West at its very best. For anyone unfamiliar with the show, these would be good jumping off points. Unfortunately, the writing was incredibly uneven (to put it politely). Episode #24 Slay, Gypsy, Slay, Episode #25 The Fun-Fun Killer, and Episode #27 Little Green Robin Hood are among the worst. When Honey West was bad, it was real bad. While I would have liked to have seen Honey West with a longer run, the writing in the latter episodes is so bad that it's probably best things ended when they did.
A few other random thoughts:
When Honey West is good, it's very good. Episode #4 A Matter of Wife and Death, Episode #21 Like Visions and Omens... and All That Jazz, and Episode #30 An Eerie, Airy, Thing are three examples of Honey West at its very best. For anyone unfamiliar with the show, these would be good jumping off points. Unfortunately, the writing was incredibly uneven (to put it politely). Episode #24 Slay, Gypsy, Slay, Episode #25 The Fun-Fun Killer, and Episode #27 Little Green Robin Hood are among the worst. When Honey West was bad, it was real bad. While I would have liked to have seen Honey West with a longer run, the writing in the latter episodes is so bad that it's probably best things ended when they did.
A few other random thoughts:
- I may be alone, but I never cared for Bruce. It looked like he was going to rip-off someone's hand at any given moment.
- As sexy as Anne Francis could be, that AC Cobra she drove just might have been sexier. What an incredible looking car!
- I've complained about it any number of times, but one of the things that annoyed me the most about Honey West was the poor stunt double. He/she looked nothing like Francis.
- I've read all the comparisons and connections between Honey West and The Avengers. As mush as I enjoy Honey West, you really can't compare it with the innovative and creative "stuff" they were doing on The Avengers.