[DVD Get]
“Would you believe…?”
Get
Smart was a weekly, half-hour television comedy series that
spoofed the James Bond and Inspector Clouseau films. Created by Mel Brooks and
Buck Henry, it ran for five seasons (1965-1970) with only the pilot episode
being filmed in black and white.
“Missed me by that much.”
The stories revolved around
CONTROL, a bungling secret spy agency in the US government based in Washington,
DC with offices throughout the world. Its major adversary was KAOS, an equally
inept, international spy agency staffed with former Nazis, evil scientists, and
other dastardly criminals with outrageous plots to take over the world.
“Sorry about that, Chief”
It starred Don Adams as inept
Secret Agent 86 Maxwell Smart, Barbara Feldon as competent Secret Agent 99 (we
never learn her real name), and Edward Platt as the long-suffering Chief of
CONTROL.
“The old bomb-in-the-snack-truck
trick.”
Much of the fun revolved around the
gadgets such as his shoe phone, the protective devices installed inside Max’s
apartment, a giant cannon that no one would hear go off because of the equally
giant silencer, and the Cone of Silence – which rarely worked.
“I asked you not to tell me that”
Not to mention Agents 13 and 44
always assigned to ridiculous locations on stakeout such as a locker at the
airport, a trash can on the street, and a washing machine at a laundromat.
“This is KAOS, we don’t ‘shush’
here.”
A favorite villain was Siegfried
from KAOS, a former Nazi with an extravagant German accent played by Bernie
Kopell (who would go on to play Doc on “Love Boat”) and his enthusiastic
sidekick Starker (always pronounced “Shtarker!”) played by King Moody (who
would play Ronald McDonald in the 1960s and 1970s).
“I asked you not to tell me that.”
We also meet Hymie the Robot
(played by Dick Gautier), initially created by KAOS but reprogrammed by Max
“for goodness and kindness.” Unfortunately, as a logical robot he is literal in
the extreme.
“Missed me by that much.”
As inept as Max is, he somehow
manages to save the world for another day.
“And, loving it.”
The library owns all five seasons.
A fun, well-written, witty, hilarious series that also managed to make sly
comments on our government, current fashion, and politics. The show won several
awards for Best Comedy, Best Writer, Best Comedy Series, and Best Actor. Keep
an eye out for cameos by stars from that time period.
[Surprisingly, there were several Get Smart tie-in novels published back in the 1960s when the show was on the air. You can see a list of those on our TV Tie-Ins booklist on BookGuide.]
[ Internet Movie Database entry for this TV series ] | [ Get Smart description on Wikipedia ]
Recommended
by Charlotte M.
Bennett Martin Public Library — Public Service
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