Syndication Files 07.29.09: Get Smart
Posted by Porfirio Diaz on 07.29.2009
Before Mel Brooks was well known for his amazing cinematography, he was known for co-creating the brilliantly spy spoofed show, Get Smart. Follow Maxwell Smart and the lovely Agent 99 against the forces of evil through comedic timing, extreme cases of luck and…well mostly luck. Now listen carefully and click on the link now for this week’s installment of the Syndication Files.
Sorry, this column isn't about the version that the Rock was in. This column is 100% Dwayne Johnson free (err…99%).
Syndication Files # 7
Get Smart
Now you know where all those "passageways with multiple doors" parodies comes from
And down from the phone booth he goes.
Before there was Blazing Saddles, Young Frankenstein, and Spaceballs, there was Get Smart. The show was created by none other than satirist legend Mel Brooks and his companion Buck Henry. According to Henry, the creation of the show came from a request by a person named Daniel Melnick. He suggested that the two should capitalize on "the biggest things in the entertainment world today." Back in the 1960s, the two biggest things going around were James Bonds and Inspector Clouseau of Blake Edward's famed Pink Panther series. The two geniuses set to work and came up with a spy genre spoof that very well resembled Melnick's vision. Get Smart premiered on the NBC network on September 18, 1965.
Get Smart centers around a clumsy and ridiculously awkward secret agent who goes by the name Maxwell Smart (Don Adams), also known as Agent 86. You've think being defined as clumsy and awkward would deny his entry into a top secret government profession yet there he is. Not only that, but his major goof-ups are a recurring theme throughout the show. He completes his missions every time, but it's overwhelming due to bumbling luck. To his credit, he's moderately skilled in the fine arts of secret agency (hand to hand combat, coincidently having the right gadgets during certain situations, perfect sharpshooter, extremely case of luck, what have you) but it's his verbal gaffe that saves the day. He confuses coworkers and villains with complex verbal explanations, usually followed by his trademark eye roll or one of his various catchphrases ("Would you believe…", "Now listen carefully…", "Missed it by THAT much", etc.) that made Maxwell Smart into a television sensation with the public. The quirk facial expressions and weird body language made fans love Don Adams even more.
Door locking wasn't in the secret agent handbook
He also never goes anywhere without his famous shoe phone.
As written in the spy genre rulebook, where there's a spy there's also a sidekick. Enter the adorable Agent 99 (Barbara Feldon). 99 assists Smart in many of his undercover missions and proves to be more proficient than Smart. She also never tells anyone about her real name in the series. The team of Smart and 99 provides many of the shows comical moments, showing off their great chemistry with each other. But they were also one of the early "will they or will they not" couples. The tension was there but the show never gave any indication that the two agents would become more than just partners…until the fourth season. Smart and 99 would get married in the fourth season, as well as having twins in the fifth season.
The tension was soooo there
Now we can't have a spy show without a chief. So here comes The Chief (Edward Platt), the intelligent but often grouchy chief of the secret U.S. government counter-espionage agency, CONTROL. The long-suffering Chief often puts up with Smart's frequent mistakes, whereas Smart acts oblivious to his frustration.
Together under the organization of CONTROL, the trio works together to rid of the various threats to the world. Their archenemy is known as KAOS, which is described as "an international organization of evil". Sounds more like the sort of things that should be in the old Super Friends cartoons. By the way, CONTROL and KAOS are not acronyms. They don't mean anything. I'm sure there is some sort of inside joke there.
James Bonds he's not
As in James Bonds movies, the show contains every stereotype known within the spy genre: enemies, high-tech gadgets, robots, some sort of death ray, evil plans, evil plans revealed to heroes thinking its safe to tell them in their final moments only for the heroes to escape at the last possible moment, etc. The most noticeable gadgets used are the shoe phone and the Cone of Silence, a pair of transparent plastic hemisphere that would lower onto Smart and the Chief. The irony of the Cone of Silence is that neither party inside the cone can hear each other, requiring them to shout loudly and be overheard by a third party member outside the cone.
Not to mention Hymie the robot (Richard "Dick" Gautier).
Well he is programmed for neatness
As previously stated, Get Smart is nothing more than a spoof of the spy genre or the anti-Bonds ("Do what they did except just stretch it half an inch" - Mel Brooks). Whereas Bond movies feature a suave character with serious threats, Get Smart features light hearted comedy with cartoonish villains. The show displayed its brilliant through the writing, acting, and high-for-the-time production values. Of course when Mel Brooks is involved, you know it's going to be good. The show won two Golden Globes awards and 7 of their 14 Emmy nominations, with Don Adams winning Outstanding Continued Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Comedy Series (whew!) three consecutive times (1967-69) and the show winning Outstanding Comedy Series for two years in a row (1968-69).
Alas after the fourth season, NBC no longer had any use for the show. The last episode on NBC was on April 12, 1969. After that, the CBS network picked it up for one final television run. Get Smart premiered on their network on September 26, 1969. While that particular season was good, it wasn't up to high standards of the NBC version. The series' original television run finished on September 11, 1970, ending at 138 total episodes.
But that's not where our story ends. As a result of their success, three movie versions of Get Smart were produced: The Nude Bomb (Don Adam was one of two cast members from the television series to return for the film), Get Smart, Again! (featuring almost all of the television cast members), and of course the recent 2008 version with Steve Carell. The Nude Bomb failed to capture the adaption of the television show and bombed in the box office. Get Smart, Again was a made-for-TV movie on ABC that ended up better received by the audience.
There was also the 1995 television revival (only on FOX!) of Get Smart that featured the return of Don Adams and Barbara Feldon in their respective roles, but the revival failed miserably. The show canceled after a few weeks (January 15, 1995-February 19, 1995).
Then there's the 2008 version. I'll admit that I have not watched that film adaption yet, but according to the wail of fans and critics, the 2008 version also failed to ignite the original style of the show. Here's a clip of the comparison between the original television series and the 2008 film version. Decide for yourselves if the film holds up to the original.
I think the film is trying too hard. Apparently many agree
At first viewing, I'll say the original wins but that cannot be my final conclusion until I have watched the film…if the film is even worth watching. What say you, readers?
Commercial Break
Turn down the volume for this one
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Ending Credits
Super awesome breaking news: did you guys know that Brett Favre is staying retired?! No really! This is the biggest story of the month and good enough to stay on ESPN's top headline for many more weeks! And this time, he's staying retired. Yup, no more speculating on whether he's thinking of trying to change his mind on whether or not he even slightly wants to come back to the game he loves so much. He loves his football, darn it!
