Get Smart was truly a product of its time. In the mid 1960s, James Bond was all the rage, and Inspector Closseau was a hit across the pond, so comedy legend Mel Brooks, along with Buck Henry, decided one day to put those two together. That and Mel was tired of all the comedy shows being about families and wanted one starring an idiot. This was during the era when television comedies revolved around idiotic main characters. Shows like The Beverly Hillbillies, Gilligan's Island, and Car 54 Where Are You, took place in worlds where just because the main characters are idiots, this means everybody else has to be one too. That didn't happen in the '50s. Characters like Ralph Kramden, Ed Norton and Lucy Ricardo could be funny without being total idiots. With Get Smart, they did it a little different: Max was just a bit of an idiot, and the people around him were just below-average intelligence. Get Smart was a satirical parody of James Bond and the spy genre in general, where James was smart and suave, Max was incompetent and clumsy, and he just happened to get lucky in spite of his screw-ups. So, what is this show about? It's about an agency of good (CONTROL) battling an agency of evil (KAOS). The names don't stand for anything, but then, they don't really need to. Every episode details an agent or agents of KAOS doing something malevolent and so CONTROL has to dispatch its only two agents, Max and 99. Yeah, it's always them on every mission. The other CONTROL agents are usually messengers, informants, or worthless bitches who always seem to get themselves killed. Seriously, every other episode seems to be about a CONTROL agent who was killed and Max and 99 have to find out why. CONTROL kind of sucks, if you think about it. Who's in charge here? The most competent character, The Chief, heads CONTROL, and even though he's a very important figure, he shows no qualms risking his life to accompany Max on his missions. I guess he figures he's going to royally screw things up if he doesn't come along. Regardless, Max and Chief are terrific comic foils.
Get Smart is known for very creative gadgets, settings, and often times, characters. You all know them so there's no need to list them all. The one big problem I have with this show is just how ridiculous they try to make the whole thing. Max is basically a live-action cartoon character, he's overconfident, accident prone, and still, he manages to save the day. His character is inconsistent. Yes, I know it's a parody, but it really gets old after so much time. Just like the 1966 Batman show. It was a creative and clever premise, but it's only gimmick was making fun of itself, and so it got obnoxious after some time. That's Get Smart's problem as well, it illustrates just how silly everything is, it doesn't try to ignore how ludicrous this world is. Also, Max has a collection of catchphrases he spouts out in every episode, another cartoon trait. Max is accompanied by Agent 99, who was never given a real name for some reason, however given the absurdity of this show, I think 99 IS her real name. She's beautiful, cunning, and smarter than Smart, though in the first season she seemed to be amazed by everything Max does and think of him as some sort of superhero. Thank God they dropped that. Anyway, these two went everywhere together, and eventually they got married. It was bound to happen, as was the addition of the Smart twins. The babies were eventually phased out of the show because...I guess it was becoming a family sitcom, or so one of the producers said. Oh, and we got a new character in Season 5: Larrabee. If you thought Max was stupid, Larrabee makes him look like Einstein. I guess the Chief needed an assistant, but why did he hire a doofus like that? Also, Larrabee used to be a background agent, and a straight man before he became Chief's assistant. Again, CONTROL kinda sucks as an agency.
The series ran from 1965 to 1970. It was canceled when the networks were looking to change their images from silly comedies into the next generation. Hardcore stuff like All in the Family. As for GS, it had an unsuccessful 1980 movie spin-off and a 1989 reunion movie, then in 1995, some idiots at Fox thought it would be a good idea to relaunch the series... it wasn't. There was a 2008 remake film, but I wouldn't shake two craps at it. If being a nonsensical parody of the spy genre is what they set out to achieve, the original Get Smart definitely does its job. It is what it supposed to be and doesn't try to be anything more. Folks who grew up in that era will appreciate this show and probably love it to death. That's fine, but I personally find it extremely obnoxious and just too removed from reality. Some villains were creative, and some were downright stupid, like the one who brainwashed Max to kill the Chief. And let's not forget all the deus ex machinas they pulled out of their asses at the last minute: Max and 99 drowning in a phone booth, as they're moments from death, 99 suddenly remembers her diamond ring. Oh, and when Max commands Fang to drop a bomb down an elevator chute. I forgot to mention Fang. He's a dog. Agent K-13. Why 13? Why not K-10 or K-8. I don't get it. But anyway, performers Don Adams, Barbara Feldon and Edward Platt were all very good in their portrayals as secret agents in a back-ass-wards world. People who like silly comedies will love this show, but I really can't stand it. I like silly comedies, but when they don't have rhyme nor reason, I just can't get into it.
