“The Night of the Camera” is the first of many, sporadic episodes to not feature Artie as Jim’s partner. Ross Martin suffered a heart attack shortly after the previous and missed twelve weeks of filming. It is casually mentioned that Artie is “off in Washington.”Artie’s first replacement is my favorite of all of the temps, Jeremy Pike. Pie, played by Charles Aidman, is much like Artie. He is a master of disguise with a encyclopedic knowledge of every subject which conveniently pops up during misadventures with Jim.
“The Night of the Camera” also features a bonus partner in comedian Pat Paulsen as Bosely Cranston. Cranston is an clumsy, nebbish scientist with the Secret Service who begged for his field assignment, a job for which he is not ready. But he does have a photographic memory, a skill which comes in handy amid the comic relief he nebbishly offers.
Paulsen was fresh off his comedic run for president in 1968, a running gag on The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, whe he made his appearance. You may recall Rosie Grier, former football great and bodyguard to RFK, was featured in an episode during the third season. The Wild Wild West had quite a few connections to the Democratic side fateful 1968 presidential campaign. Robert Corad is a Republican who played G. Gorfon Liddy I a television movie in 1982. Oneassumes hewasa Richard Nixon man.
Jim and Jeremy are working at exposing the members of a nationwide opium smuggling rig when Bosely’s bumbling ruins their best lead. They wind up finding a use for him when they discover he has a photographic memory. They need to sneak him into the mansion of the suspected ringleader of the opium smuggling business so he can secretly memorize the names of addresses of all the accomplices from two books hidden away in the ringleader’s office.
Bosely’s Steve Urkel ways nearly blow it many times while sneaking around and breaking into the mansion’s library, but he not only succeeds, but surprisingly does kung fu to subdue the escaping ringleader. Implausible, but very humorous. Doubly so because of the obvious stuntman during the kung fu fighting.
The entire episode is played more for laughs than any other before or since. Paulsen was clearly the centerpiece for the episode. The plan pays off beautifully. It is such a fun romp, it almost makes pedantic little old me forget opium was not illegal in the 1870’s, therefore it was not a crime to transport or sell. I almost forgot that.
Rating: *** (out of 5)
