Get Smart

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For the 80's alt rock band, see Get Smart!.
Get Smart

Title card for the fifth season of Get Smart, and its only season on CBS, in 1969.
Format Sitcom
Created by Mel Brooks
Buck Henry
Starring Don Adams
Barbara Feldon
Edward Platt
Country of origin Flag of the United States United States
No. of episodes 138, +7 revival
Production
Running time approximately 25 minutes
Broadcast
Original channel NBC (1965-1969)
CBS (1969-1970)
ABC (Get Smart, Again, 1989)
FOX (1995)
Original run September 18, 1965 – September 11, 1970
(revival ran January 15, 1995-February 1995)
External links
IMDb profile

Get Smart was an American comedy television series that satirized the secret agent genre. Originally sponsored by Lever Brothers (makers of Lifebuoy Soap) and R. J. Reynolds (makers of Salem cigarettes), it aired on the NBC television network from September 18, 1965 to April 12, 1969, after which it moved to CBS for its final season, running from September 26, 1969 to September 11, 1970. A total of 138 episodes were broadcast. The show was quite popular in the mid-1960s, and continues to enjoy a cult following.

The series, created by Mel Brooks with Buck Henry, won seven Emmy Awards and was nominated for an additional fourteen, as well as two Golden Globe Awards.

The show is often rerun around the world in syndication.

Contents

The series centered around bungling secret agent Maxwell Smart (Don Adams), also known as Agent 86. His partner is Agent 99 (Barbara Feldon), whose real name is never revealed.[1] Even after Smart marries her, he continues to address her as "99" because he never actually learns her real name. Smart and 99 work for CONTROL, a secret U.S. government spy agency based in Washington, D.C. (at 123 Main Street). Together, the pair investigate and thwart various threats to the world, though Smart's bungling incompetence invariably causes complications. However, at each story's climax, Smart never fails to save the day, typically thanks to his own dumb luck and 99's skill. Looking on is the long-suffering Chief of CONTROL, played by Edward Platt, who is always addressed as "Chief." Unlike Agent 99, Chief is revealed to have a first name--Thaddeus--on a few occasions. He also has a code letter--Q--which was never used. The nemesis of CONTROL is KAOS (pronounced chaos), and KAOS's Vice President of Public Relations and Terror, Siegfried (Bernie Kopell), shows up often as Maxwell Smart's foe, or would-be assassin. Though on opposite sides, Max and Siegfried click personally, and speak fondly of one another--even when trying to kill each other. Despite being capitalized, CONTROL and KAOS are not acronyms and do not stand for anything.[2]

Other characters included Hymie the Robot (Dick Gautier), a powerful android (built originally by KAOS but reprogrammed to work for CONTROL) who tends to take orders too literally; Agent 13 (Dave Ketchum), who is always being stationed inside weird, unlikely places, such as mailboxes, washing machines, lockers, and other objects; Agent 44 (Victor French), who regularly suffers the same fate as Agent 13 (the main difference between them being that while Agent 13 grumbles and rages about his situation, 44 pouts and cries); the Chief's slow-witted assistant Agent Larrabee (Robert Karvelas), the only CONTROL agent known to be more inept and more of a bungler than Max; Siegfried's chief henchman Shtarker (King Moody); and Fang (Agent K-9), a badly-trained CONTROL dog.

Filmed and presented in black and white, the first episode has Max leaving a show and across the road walking down some outside stairs and then the title sequence begins with Max going through several steel doors and finally into a phone booth; after picking up the phone, dialing, then hanging up, an ultra-fast elevator drops Smart off camera, presumably depositing him at CONTROL's underground headquarters. In following episodes, he would go through the doors of a building to enter CONTROL HQ. He has not been to CONTROL HQ (which is situated in Washington DC and was set up in 1957) for a while and meets the Chief again. The Cone of Silence (a worthless invention where nothing can be heard outside as well as inside) is shown. Sent on a mission to stop KAOS, which is back in business after a long break, Max meets 99 for the first time; Fang (Agent K-13) the dog also makes an appearance. In this episode, Max removes the whole sole of his shoe to use it as a telephone instead of later episodes just swivelling the heel.

Perhaps the most recognizable 'gag' from the show was Smart's shoe phone, which has become somewhat of a comic icon: Smart would communicate with CONTROL using a rotary-dialed telephone concealed in his shoe, similar to a modern cell phone. While such a device was decades ahead of its time in real life (see Sneaker Phone), its numerous design flaws--such as the loud bell ("Excuse me, I think your shoe is ringing!"), the need to take off his shoe to use it and that it required a dime to place a call--led to various humorously awkward situations. This was possibly a parody of The Man from U.N.C.L.E. wherein the agents's communicators made a loud sound but only they ever seemed to hear it.

Communication contraptions on the show were not limited to footwear: The second episode had Max using a watch and one episode had the Chief using the hour and minute hands of a clock (detached from the clock face) to communicate. Max once used a 'Bunsen burner phone' with the flame as the microphone: he had to put "Code P" into effect, and the device repeatedly disconnected when Max's plosive "P"s blew the burner's flame out. Another example was the 'gun phone,' which resulted in the line, "I'll call you back; I think I'm gonna have to fire my phone." Also, the CONTROL hotline was discovered to be a log in Max's fireplace.

The shoe phone, along with the radio-in-a-pen from The Man from U.N.C.L.E. and real world code-breaking devices and other items, were on display at the Reagan Library's "Spies: Secrets from the CIA, KGB and Hollywood" exhibit from February 17 to July 14, 2002.

Another of the show's recurring gags was the Cone of Silence. Smart would pedantically insist on following CONTROL's security protocols; when in the Chief's office he would insist on speaking under the Cone of Silence--two transparent plastic hemispheres which were electrically lowered on top of Smart and the Chief--which invariably malfunctioned, requiring the characters to shout loudly to even have a chance of being understood by each other, and even then, most of the time that failed. In one episode, the device worked so badly that an outside observer, who could hear everything spoken inside, had to relay messages to the people inside because they could not even hear each other. At other times, the Cone of Silence would malfunction while being lowered and fail to stop at the proper desk level; the device would then repeatedly crush down onto Agent 86 and the Chief, resulting in loud anguished screams. The Cone actually worked as intended once. However, at the end of the conversation, the Cone malfunctioned leaving the Chief trapped within, with silent screams of frustration as Agent 86 walked away. The 1989 reunion movie Get Smart, Again! revealed that Max and 99 had purchased a surplus Cone and placed it over their bed--it was no more workable than any other Cones Of Silence, meaning not at all.

Three movie versions were produced years after the end of the NBC/CBS run of the TV series:

The relative success of Get Smart, Again! eventually prompted the development of a short-lived 1995 weekly series on FOX, also titled Get Smart, with Don Adams and Barbara Feldon reprising their characters, with Maxwell Smart now being the Chief of CONTROL, as their bungling son, Zach (Andy Dick), becomes CONTROL's star agent.

With the revival series on FOX, Get Smart became the first television franchise to air new episodes on each of the aforementioned current four major American television networks, although several TV shows in the 1940s and 1950s aired on NBC, CBS, ABC and DuMont. The different versions of Get Smart did not all feature the original lead cast intact.

The prominent first-run network series was forsaken in 1970, after low ratings, hence, the original show is often re-run around the world in syndication and on TV Land.

AMT, a major producer of model car kits, later bought out by Ertl, produced a replica of the 1965 Sunbeam Tiger roadster Smart drove in the opening credits. Complete with a hoard of hidden weapons, it is the only kit of the Tiger produced to date and is highly coveted by collectors. The start of the 1968 season put Smart in a Volkswagen Karmann Ghia for the opening credits; the car never appeared in the show itself. He also began driving a 1969 Opel GT, with a variation of the shoe phone, namely a giant rotary telephone dial covering the steering wheel.

CONTROL and KAOS did not seem to be above everyday bureaucracy and business quirks. KAOS is a Delaware corporation for tax purposes. CONTROL's union is the Guild of Surviving Control Agents, and Max is their negotiator; when a captured KAOS agent tells him about their survivors's benefits, the Chief is within earshot, and Max promptly uses the information for his labor talks.

In one episode, where Max infiltrates a KAOS-run garden shop, Max refuses to arrest the manager until after 5 p.m., so he can collect a full day's pay from the shop. The Chief threatens to fire him, but Max is not afraid; according to CONTROL's seniority policy, "If I get fired from CONTROL, Larrabee moves up!" The Chief gives in and lets Max stay on the job, rather than risk having the inept Larrabee take Max's place.

In another episode, Siegfried and Max casually discuss the various flavors of cyanide pills they have been issued. It was Raspberry that month at CONTROL, and Max offered Siegfried a taste. In that same episode Max and Siegfried have a show and tell of various weapons they have--Max boasts of having a deadly non-regulation pistol--from a Chicago Mail Order House. (The prop in use is actually an 1896 Mauser C96 pistol.)

Cover names were common, but sent up as being used unwisely--in an art gallery, a phone call is announced for an alias, and Max identifies himself as the person in question. Second, third and fourth calls come in, each with its own alias--the last of which was his own name (Maxwell Smart), which he initially does not answer--and Max tells the skeptical gallery owner that those are his names as well, making it obvious to any spy that he is taking calls from fellow agents and informants. Max then proceeds to make himself even more visible by tangling the handset cords of the four phones together.

CONTROL also has a policy of burning pertinent documents after cases are closed; the reasons why were detailed in their rules and regulations book, but nobody can read them, since they burned the only copy.

In the interest of company morale, both CONTROL and KAOS have their own bowling teams.

Smart and Agent 99 married in the fourth season, and she gave birth to twins in the fifth season, a boy and a girl. The short-lived 1995 Fox revival starred Andy Dick as one of the twins, Zachary Smart, who was every bit the bungler his father had been. Despite appearances by Adams (Max now being the Chief of CONTROL) and Feldon (99 now being a congresswoman though her name was still left unrevealed), the show failed to recapture the spirit of the original. The last episode of the 1995 series shows that just as Siegfried is leaving a room, Maxwell Smart accidentally activates an atomic bomb just before the end of the show. (The teaser for the episode shows an atomic bomb going off.) This ending is similar to a device used by the Get Smart-inspired series Sledge Hammer! at the end of its first season.

Two movie versions were produced years after the end of the NBC/CBS run of the TV series. First was the theatrically released The Nude Bomb (also known as The Return of Maxwell Smart or Maxwell Smart and the Nude Bomb) in 1980. Mel Brooks, who had created the original series with Buck Henry, complained about having no say in the making of the movie. Of the original lead cast, only Adams was featured. Edward Platt (who had played the Chief) had died a few years before, and Barbara Feldon was at that time not interested in reviving the character of 99. With Feldon's unwillingness to participate it was decided that rather than attempt to recast the role, 99 should not be featured at all. Feldon did return in the made-for-TV Get Smart, Again! in 1989. Adams starred in a series of local commercials for New York City electronics chain Savemart as Maxwell Smart. The slogan was "Get Smart. Get SaveMart Smart".[1] In addition, Adams starred in a series of commercials for White Castle in 1992, homaging his Get Smart character with his catch phrase, "Would you believe...?" [2]

Adams again played a bungling secret agent in the animated series Inspector Gadget (which later became a feature film titled Inspector Gadget,starring Matthew Broderick in the title role) and its prequel series Gadget Boy and Heather, neither of which was related to Get Smart. He portrayed Maxwell Smart in a series of TV commercials for Toyota New Zealand for the 1990 model Toyota Starlet in the late 1980s. While it is usual for the actor to go to New Zealand, Adams's apparent intense dislike of long-distance flying meant that the New Zealand specification car had to be shipped to the US for filming. He also appeared in another series of popular Canadian ones in the late 1990s for a dial-around long distance carrier.

Time-Life now offers the complete series of Get Smart in DVD season sets or one 25-disc box set through their Web site[3]. The discs were originally scheduled for release on November 13, 2006[4], but were delayed by a week because of a problem with one of the three parts that make up the set's packaging. [5]

A series of original novels based upon the series were published in the late 1960s. In addition, Dell Comics published a comic book for 8 issues during 1966 and 1967, drawn in part by Steve Ditko.

Main article: Get Smart (film)

A new big-screen version of Get Smart is in production, starring Steve Carell as Maxwell Smart (Agent 86), Anne Hathaway as Agent 99, Alan Arkin as Thaddeus (The Chief), and Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson as new character Agent 23. Shooting began in March 2007 and the film is scheduled to be released in June 2008. A made-for-DVD sequel focusing on minor characters will be released 10 days later.[3]

The entire series (except the final season) was produced for NBC by Talent Associates. When it moved to CBS, it became an in-house production of the latter network, with Talent Associates as silent partner. The series was later sold to NBC Films for syndication. Distribution has changed hands in the intervening decades, from National Telefilm Associates to Republic Pictures, to Paramount Domestic Television, and finally, to the current distributor, CBS Television Distribution (ironically, its parent company, CBS, produced the final season). All of this is due to corporate changes involving their respective owners, and especially the 2006 split of Viacom (owners of Paramount Pictures) into two separate companies. Note, however, that CBS owns only the television syndication rights, and not home video, due to the assets of Talent Associates now at the hands of HBO (currently part of the Time Warner empire, and thus any future feature film incarnation of Get Smart, namely the upcoming 2008 version, will be made by HBO sister studio Warner Bros.). The series copyright, however, is said to be held by CBS.

The complete Get Smart series is currently available in the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand as a boxed set from Time Life Video. Currently the set is only available through Time Life, and the company has said that the DVDs will not be available in stores for Region 2 until fall 2007. According to TV Shows on DVD, Time Life has a one year exclusive on selling the complete series in the U.S. That would put the series in retail stores around January 2008.[4][5]

Time Life has also released all Seasons in Australia and New Zealand as either individual discs with 4 to 5 episodes per disc or as season sets. Like the Region 1 release, this edition is only available through the Time Life website.[6]

DVD Name Cover Art Region 1 December 2006 Region 2 Fall 2007 Region 4 January 2007
Seasons 1-5 DVD Collection Seasons 1-5 DVD Collection January 7, 2007 TBA TBA

Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines.
The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.
  • Brooks and Henry originally wanted Tom Poston to play Maxwell Smart, but NBC executives insisted on Adams because he was already under contract to the network. Many of Smart's gags and one-liners were added by Adams himself from a secret-agent comedy routine he'd performed in the past; the voice he used in character was a parody imitation of William Powell's voice.
  • In a TV Land special on the series the producers said during the first year of the series they received many inquiries from the CIA. It seems that some of the corny or silly "spy equipment" actually existed. The CIA asked, "Where did [the producers] get this info on this device?" etc., and the producers told them honestly they made it up. After the first year, the producers decided that after filming an episode, they would send a copy to CIA Headquarters with a letter saying, "There might be something here that you probably could use."
  • Barbara Feldon was two inches taller than Don Adams, but the show sought to depict Maxwell Smart as taller than 99. Although Long shots often showed that Feldon was taller, when possible, Feldon would often crouch, wear flats or stocking-feet; and/or Adams would stand on a small platform.
  • In an episode in which Maxwell Smart is in court and calls the Chief to the stand, asked to give his full name, the Chief replies, "That is classified information." The judge then asks if he can give only his first name; he replies "Thaddeus." (The installment in question is titled "The Day Smart Turned Chicken.")
  • According to one episode, the Chief's "number" was Q. He was an agent before they started using numbers.
  • One episode had Smart going up against a villain named Dr. Yes, a parody of Dr. No. Dr. Yes even had a similar scheme to Dr. No, using radio waves to send US rockets out of control.
  • Though Zachary Smart's name was revealed in the FOX revival, his sister's name remains as yet unrevealed.
  • In a 1980 all-celebrity episode of Family Feud, Don Adams and Bernie Kopell once again found themselves on opposite sides, playing on behalf of charities. This time, Kopell's side won.
  • In episodes where 99's mother appeared, her character was listed in the credits as "99's mother."
  • In an episode of The Gilmore Girls a group of Logan's friends said, in reference to Rory after she and Logan had been arrested for stealing a yacht, "Looks like Logan's found his 99."
  • When Don Adams died on September 26, 2005, Barbara Feldon, Dick Gautier and Bernie Kopell became the only surviving main cast members of Get Smart.
  • Some of the secondary cast has been used several times as backup cast. For example, Larabee can be seen in the episode where Smart is wanted for murder and holding up a bank, as a member of the jury.
  • Don Adams is the only actor to appear in every episode of the series. Barbara Feldon appeared in the second highest amount of episodes, appearing in 131 of the 138 episodes.
  • In 1973, Dean Katz, a student at The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington and a long-time fan of Get Smart, founded the independent community radio station KAOS 89.3 FM, named after the evil syndicate that served as the principal villain in the series. The radio station still operates under the KAOS call letters today.
  • This series marks the debut of game show panelist turned actress Barbara Feldon.
  • In one episode, 99's mother mentions that 99's father was a spy.

  • Jim Boles appeared twice as KAOS Scientist Dr. Rattan. The error is that he "dies" twice. The first time he is shot and killed by his own creation Hymie the Robot. The second time he is killed by his own creation Grobo.
  • In Season 4, Episode 26, "A Tale of Two Tails," Max and 99 are not yet married even though they had gotten married in one of the first episodes of Season 4.

The black-and-white pilot is the only time the KAOS Boss, also known as "Mr. Big," is seen, played by Michael Dunn (although others played the head of KAOS in other episodes).

  • Johnny Carson - Herald in "The King Lives?", and Train Conductor in "Aboard the Orient Express."

  • Bob Hope - Room service attendant in "99 Loses Control."
  • Ernest Borgnine - TV viewer in "The Little Black Book, Part 2."
  • James Caan - Rupert of Rathskeller in "To Sire, With Love, Parts 1 and 2," credited as "Rupert of Rathskeller as Himself"
  • Don Rickles - Guard in "To Sire, With Love, Part 2". (Rickles also appeared as a credited guest star in "The Little Black Book, Parts 1 and 2.")
  • Milton Berle - Hotel Clerk in "Don't Look Back" Season 3 Episode 18.

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:

  1. ^ WouldYouBelieve.com Frequently Asked Questions - August 13, 2007
  2. ^ http://www.wouldyoubelieve.com/faq.html
  3. ^ Get Smart: DVD Sequel to Star Heroes' Oka, TV Series Finale, April 23, 2007
  4. ^ Time Life.com | Get Smart: The Complete Collection - December 15, 2006
  5. ^ tvshowsondvd.com | TV Shows on DVD: Get Smart DVD news - November 8, 2007
  6. ^ | Get Smart seasons 1 and 2 - February 1, 2007

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