Honey West (TV series)

Did You Know?

• Anne Francis first played Honey West in a Burke's Law episode titled 'Who Killed the Jackpot?'.
• The series was one of the first network TV shows whose title was the name of a female lead character, another being Hazel in 1961.
• Among guest stars were Dick Clark, Maureen McCormick, and Wayne Rogers.

Creation

The character Honey West was created by Gloria and Forrest E. "Skip" Fickling under the pseudonym "G.G. Fickling" in the late 1950s. Skip had served as a U.S. Army Air Forces air gunner during World War II and later in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve during the Korean War. The initials G.G. stood for Gloria Gautraud, whom he married in 1949, and were chosen to keep the author's sex ambiguous. Gloria stated that most writing was done by Forrest, while Forrest credited Gloria with ideas that made the female character plausible and with providing Honey's dress sense. Forrest told the Los Angeles Times that he first thought of Marilyn Monroe and then of detective Mike Hammer, deciding to combine them, and that the name came from "Honey" as a term of endearment and "West" as her residence. Anne Francis first played Honey West in a second-season episode of Burke's Law broadcast on April 21, 1965, which led to this spin-off series. Producer Aaron Spelling first offered the role to Honor Blackman, who declined. Francis's fashions were by Nolan Miller, and action scenes were choreographed by Gene LeBell. The series was developed for television by Gwen Bagni and Paul Dubov.

Synopsis

Honey West works with partner Sam Bolt, who communicates with her via a radio hidden in her lipstick case. She keeps a pet ocelot named Bruce and wears animal-print clothing and a black bodystocking for night work. West uses James Bond-like gadgets including a high-tech surveillance van, an exploding compact, a garter-belt gas mask, and tear-gas earrings. Both she and Sam are black-belts in judo, and Sam is an ex-Marine. Some episodes were scripted by Richard Levinson and William Link, later known for Columbo and Murder, She Wrote. Episode 3, "The Abominable Snowman", features cocaine smuggled inside snow globes, an early TV reference to cocaine as "snow".

Reception

Honey West was cancelled after one season, largely due to competition from Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. and financial considerations; ABC executives reportedly decided it was cheaper to import The Avengers than produce the series. Despite its short run, the series was a career highlight for Anne Francis, who received a Golden Globe nomination and won a Best Actress Emmy. The series was rerun in the late 1990s on TV Land and later aired on Decades (now Catchy Comedy).

Print adaptations

In September 1966, Gold Key Comics put out a single-issue comic book adaptation of the show, written by Paul S. Newman and drawn by Jack Sparling. A novel, Honey West - This Girl For Hire, came from Overlook Press in 2005. Between 2010 and 2013, Moonstone released Honey West comics, a hardcover novel, and two paperbacks. BearManor Media produced a 228-page illustrated tribute in 2011, packed with interviews, episode summaries, and an appendix.