Saying goodbye to a television series can always feel hard, especially when viewers find that they've deeply connected to the characters on their television screens.

At first glance, The Wild Wild West might have appeared to be the same carbon cutout of every Western series that was oversaturating television during the 1960s. However, the series covered new ground as it bent the confines of its genre. Series creator Michael Garrison introduced fantasy elements into the series, combining the grit of the Western with a more eccentric tone that delighted audiences everywhere.

With the series helmed by talented actors like Robert Conrad and Ross Martin, it seems unthinkable that a show like this could fail. But even incredible acting could not stop the vicious cycle of the television machine. In 1969, the network decided that the fourth season of The Wild Wild West would be its last.

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"I was in New York doing some charity work and got this call from the president of CBS," said actor Robert Conrad during an interview with SFGate. "He broke the news that the show had been canceled. He said he appreciated my contribution to the network. I told him I appreciated the call. I meant it."

Surprisingly, when Robert Conrad heard the news, he took it in stride. "In my heart, I didn't feel any adverse emotion," said the actor. "Four seasons of make-believe. It was time to be over, to move on to other projects. Ross and I had done it all, and we were proud."

The sad news did nothing to dent Conrad's stride, and the actor went on to star as Pappy Boyington in Black Sheep Squadron.