HONEY WEST ahead and behind its times

The short-lived, television female private eye action series, featuring the lovely, 5'8" Anne Francis from the 1957 sci-fi hit, "Forbidden Planet", is a curious example of what I would perceive to be ahead of its time and behind the times, which spelled its demise.

First, the use of black and white ruined the prosterity of Honey West for all time. Filming in color was possible by 1965, but the producers presumed that since all Americans were watching black-and-white televisions, why bother? Watching Honey West in color would be a delight today. I don't know if digital coloring would work.

Honey West appeared to be something of a cross between a female Sam Spade private eye and a female James Bond or Avengers Diana Rigg/Emma Peal construct. Either way, it worked. Honey West was not a parody of herself. Anne Francis played the character with believability. Here was an intelligent, athletic, and man-loving female femme fatale action heroine.

But Honey West was already behind the eight ball. Studios were going in for more flash and action style Batman and Robin and 007 type action. If only the studios had more faith in themselves and their winning Honey West television show, possibly they could have run it for 3 years at least. All that was needed was some tweaking and fine-tuning to keep up with the times. Eventually Honey West would be shown in color. She would be wearing a miniskirt. She might now have a love interest.

Would a Honey West-type television show work today? It's hard to say. The studios briefly experimented with SHE SPIES and BIRDS of PREY back in 2001, all featuring female action leads. But each lasted only two seasons. Perhaps some sex appeal might have helped but that would be treading risky politically-correct ground. Charlie's Angels of 1977 helped squash the sex appeal element.

I believe a cable version of HONEY WEST might work. It would be free of many self-imposed artistic and theatrical constraints from the major studios and networks. And if the cable version were slotted for the mature audience after 10:00 pm there would be even more risque freedom. Ever notice that in the spy action movies and tv shows, the supervillains capture the good femme fatales and often tie them up, but then nothing happens. These dudes stand there and guffaw and laugh and tell preposterous tales of what they're going to do to these restrained ladies, giving ample time for the super hero to rescue them or for them to escape. Often these villains are effete. In the interest of political correctness, the super villains are probably gay and have no interest in women. (tongue-in-cheek) LOL. There were a number of made-for-video, un-rated, action/crime/erotic thrillers produced in the early 90s that tried to feature the all-around action femme fatale who has a healthy sex life of her own, but that was then. This is now. A theatrical movie is possible but I suspect it would be a PG-13 release. A major networks reproduction for 2009, in my opinion, will follow the same fate as She Spies and Birds of Prey. Initial high interest will fade with the second season. If the networks don't mind a 2-season version of modern Honey West, that's okay. But if they're reaching for 4 to 7 seasons, cable television is probably the best way to go. Only, the profit payoff is presumably lower.