Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Cornelius Loves Robert Conrad!

My first gay crush was Robert Conrad, and the creative team behind the gayest show ever - "The Wild Wild West"

Every episode had the same formula:
a crazed super villain's plot was foiled by the studly Robert Conrad.


And also there is his 'friend' Artemis Gorden, a drag queen – oops, they called it 'master of disguise' in those days.


From the opening credits (where he punches a woman in the face, knocking her down), you knew this was a man's world. A world where a hard man would fight hard - with the camera on his skin-tight pants and perfect ass, please.


Once he lost the initial battle and was captured, the real fun began. Each week they found new ways to tie him up, usually shirtless, always tortured, while the sweat dripped down his face and chest so that the camera could end up back at his ass.

I know it sounds unbelievable, but I swear I remember one episode where an evil toymaker held him prisoner in a top secret toy bomb factory. The set included a few over-sized children's blocks in the background. There was something about that pre-Stonewall era that allowed the letters F, A, and G on the face of those blocks with no complaint – or awareness.

Cornelius - Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
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3 comments:

William Dameron said...

This was my first gay crush! So happy to see I was not the only one...

UkuleleDavey said...

Very fun. People forget - Artemis is the name of the Greek goddess of the hunt, named Diana by the Romans. The Asian guy on 21 Jump Street wanted to take that as his American name because of Wild Wild West - seemed so odd to me.

Mark said...

I was looking for images of Robert Conrad who was my gay crush as well and found your blog. I just found out Robert Conrad died from COVID-19. Such a gorgeous man although he was not my first. Michael Landon was. OH. Ross Martin was Artemis I believe.