The character of Honey West was created by husband-and-wife writing team Skip and Gloria Fickling (also known as G.G. Fickling) in a series of novels published in the late 1950s to early 1960s. On April 21, 1965, the character was introduced to television audiences in a Burke's Law episode, "Who Killed the Jackpot?," and, true to form, Honey outwitted the dapper detective played by Gene Barry. Producer Aaron Spelling spun the character off into a separate series of 30-minute episodes that premiered September 17, 1965.

     Operating her late father's detective agency, Honey West used many talents in her fight against crime. She was expert at judo and held a black belt in karate. Beautiful and shapely, her feminine wiles were accentuated by form-fitting black leather jumpsuits, a sexy mole on her right cheek, tiger coats, and "Jackie O" sunglasses. Like James Bond, she also owned an arsenal of weapons filled with "scientific" gadgets, including a specially modified lipstick tube and martini olives that camouflaged her radio transmitters.

    For undercover work, Honey and her admiring partner, Sam Bolt (John Ericson), drove a specially equipped van labeled "H.W. Bolt and Co., TV Service." Her principal base of operation was her Los An­geles apartment, complete with secret office behind a fake living-room wall. Bruce, her pet ocelot, and Meg West (Irene Hervey), her sophisticated aunt, also lent assistance and comfort as necessary.

    Honey West premiered to reasonably good reviews. Citing the show's sensual aspects, smooth production values, and Honey's ability to bounce Muscle Beach types off the wall with predictable regularity, Variety's 1965 evaluation predicted some success "as a short­ subject warm-up to The Man from U.N.C.L.E." Season-opening Nielsen ratings ranked the show in a tie for 19th place, but this level of viewership proved short-lived, as the show's CBS competition, Gomer Pyle, knocked it quickly out of the top 40.

     Contrasted with Variety's review, Jon Lewis and Penny Stempel note that while the "Honey West concept was good and the character deserves credit for working in a man's world, the series suffered from unimaginative plots and poor production quality." In fact, say Lewis and Stempel, Honey West is "mostly memorable for the fight scenes in which a man with a blonde wig was quite obviously wheeled in to do the stunts."

     Often compared to Emma Peel, the character played by Diana Rigg in the British series The Avengers from 1965-67, Honey West simply did not have Miss Peel's style or longevity and lasted a total of 30 episodes. Providing a notable change to the male-dominated detective genre so prevalent from the earliest days of network television, Honey West broadcast its last original show on April 8, 1966.