Get Smart is an American
comedyTelevision comedy had a presence from the earliest days of broadcasting. Among the earliest BBC television programmes in the 1930s was Starlight, which offered a series of guests from the music hall era — singers and comedians amongst them...
television series that
satirizesSatire is primarily a literary genre or form, although in practice it can also be found in the graphic and performing arts. In satire, vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ideally with the intent of shaming individuals, and society itself, into improvement...
the secret agent genre. Created by
Mel BrooksMel Brooks is an American film director, screenwriter, composer, lyricist, comedian, actor and producer. He is best known as a creator of broad film farces and comic parodies. He began his career as a stand-up comic and as a writer for the early TV variety show Your Show of Shows...
with
Buck HenryHenry Zuckerman, better known as Buck Henry , is an American actor, writer, film director, and television director.-Early life:...
, the show starred
Don AdamsDon Adams was an American actor, comedian and director. In his five decades on television, he was best known as Maxwell Smart in the television situation comedy Get Smart , which he also sometimes directed and wrote. Adams won three consecutive Emmy Awards for his portrayal of Smart...
(as Maxwell Smart, Agent 86),
Barbara Feldon (as Agent 99), and
Edward PlattEdward Cuthbert Platt was an American actor best known for his portrayal of "The Chief" in the 1965-70 NBC/CBS television series Get Smart...
(as Chief). Henry said the creation of this show came from a request by
Daniel MelnickDaniel Melnick was an American film producer and movie studio executive who started working in Hollywood as a teenager in television and then became the producer of such films as All That Jazz, Altered States and Straw Dogs...
, who was a partner, along with
Leonard SternLeonard Bernard Stern was an American screenwriter, film and television producer, director, and one of the creators, with Roger Price, of the classic word game Mad Libs.-Life and career:...
and
David SusskindDavid Susskind was a producer of TV, movies, and stage plays and also a pioneer TV talk show host.-Personal:...
, of the show's production company,
Talent AssociatesTalent Associates, Ltd. , was a production company headed by David Susskind, later joined by Daniel Melnick, Leonard Stern and Ron Gilbert.-Origins:...
, to capitalize on "the two biggest things in the entertainment world today"—
James BondJames Bond, code name 007, is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections. There have been a six other authors who wrote authorised Bond novels or novelizations after Fleming's death in 1964: Kingsley Amis,...
and
Inspector ClouseauChief Inspector Jacques Clouseau is a fictional character in Blake Edwards' The Pink Panther series. In most of the films, he was played by Peter Sellers, with one film in which he was played by Alan Arkin and one in which he was played by an uncredited Roger Moore...
. Brooks said: "It's an insane combination of
James BondJames Bond, code name 007, is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections. There have been a six other authors who wrote authorised Bond novels or novelizations after Fleming's death in 1964: Kingsley Amis,...
and Mel Brooks comedy."
The series was broadcast on
NBCThe National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
-TV from September 18, 1965, to April 12, 1969, after which it moved to the
CBSCBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
network for its final season, running from September 26, 1969, to September 11, 1970, with 138 total
episodeAn episode is a part of a dramatic work such as a serial television or radio program. An episode is a part of a sequence of a body of work, akin to a chapter of a book. The term sometimes applies to works based on other forms of mass media as well, as in Star Wars...
s produced. During its five-season run, it was ranked in the top 30
Nielsen ratingsNielsen ratings are the audience measurement systems developed by Nielsen Media Research, in an effort to determine the audience size and composition of television programming in the United States...
twice: No. 12 in 1965–1966, and No. 22 in 1966–1967. The series won seven Emmy Awards, and it was nominated for another 14 Emmys, as well as two Golden Globe Awards. In 1995, the series was briefly
resurrectedGet Smart is a short-lived American comedy television series that aired in 1995 on FOX. The series was a sequel to the original Get Smart television series that ran from 1965 to 1970. The series premiered on January 8, 1995 and ended its original run on February 19, 1995.-Overview:Maxwell Smart is...
, starring Adams and Feldon, with
Andy DickAndrew R. "Andy" Dick is an American comedian, actor, musician and television/film producer. His first regular television role was on the short-lived but highly influential Ben Stiller Show. In the mid-1990s, he had a long-running stint on NBC's NewsRadio...
as Max's and 99's son.
Four feature-length movie versions of the "Get Smart" idea have been produced: first, with part of the original cast in 1980's
The Nude BombThe Nude Bomb is a 1980 comedy film based on the television series Get Smart. It starred Don Adams as Maxwell Smart, Agent 86, and was directed by Clive Donner...
, which was also called
The Return Of Maxwell Smart, then in the 1989 ABC TV Movie
Get Smart, Again!Get Smart, Again! is a made-for-TV movie based on the 1965-1970 NBC/CBS television series, Get Smart!, which originally aired February 26, 1989 on ABC . It has subsequently been released twice on DVD by different publishers...
, and most recently, in a
2008 film adaptationGet Smart is a 2008 American spy-fi comedy film based on Mel Brooks and Buck Henry's 1960s spy parody television series of the same name. The film stars Steve Carell as Maxwell Smart and Anne Hathaway as Agent 99...
starring
Steve CarellSteven John "Steve" Carell is an American comedian, actor, voice artist, producer, writer, and director. Although Carell is notable for his role on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, he found greater fame in the late 2000s for playing Michael Scott on The Office...
,
Anne HathawayAnne Jacqueline Hathaway is an American actress. After several stage roles, she appeared in the 1999 television series Get Real. She played Mia Thermopolis in The Princess Diaries...
, Dwayne Johnson and
Alan ArkinAlan Wolf Arkin is an American actor, director, musician and singer. He is known for starring in such films as Wait Until Dark, The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming, The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, Catch-22, The In-Laws, Edward Scissorhands, Glengarry Glen Ross, Marley & Me, and...
, which also spawned a spin-off film,
Get Smart's Bruce and Lloyd: Out of ControlGet Smart's Bruce and Lloyd: Out of Control is a direct-to-video motion picture released in 2008. It is a spin-off of the 2008 film Get Smart and was released in North America on July 1, 2008, 10 days after the parent film began its theatrical run. The film is written by Tom J...
.
In 2010,
TV GuideTV Guide is a weekly American magazine with listings of TV shows.In addition to TV listings, the publication features television-related news, celebrity interviews, gossip and film reviews and crossword puzzles...
ranked
Get Smart’s opening title sequence at No. 2 on its list of TV's Top 10 Credits Sequences, as selected by readers.
Plot
The series centered on bungling secret agent Maxwell Smart, also known as Agent 86. His experienced female partner is Agent 99 (whose real name is never revealed in the series). Agents 86 and 99 work for CONTROL, a secret U.S. government
counter-intelligenceCounterintelligence or counter-intelligence refers to efforts made by intelligence organizations to prevent hostile or enemy intelligence organizations from successfully gathering and collecting intelligence against them. National intelligence programs, and, by extension, the overall defenses of...
agency based in Washington, D.C. The pair investigates and thwarts various threats to the world, though Smart's incompetence invariably causes complications. However, Smart never fails to save the day, typically thanks to his own dumb luck and often by 99's skills. Looking on is the long-suffering head of CONTROL, who is addressed simply as "Chief."
The nemesis of CONTROL is KAOS, described as "an international organization of evil." KAOS was supposedly formed in Bucharest, Romania, in 1904. Neither CONTROL nor KAOS is actually an acronym. Many actors appeared as KAOS agents, including
Tom BosleyThomas Edward "Tom" Bosley was an American actor. Bosley is best known for portraying Howard Cunningham on the long-running ABC sitcom Happy Days. He also was featured in recurring roles on Murder, She Wrote, and Father Dowling Mysteries...
,
John BynerJohn Byner is an American actor, comedian, and impressionist who has had a lengthy television and movie career. His voice work includes the cartoon series The Ant and the Aardvark, in which the title characters are voiced by Byner's impressions of Dean Martin and Jackie Mason,...
,
Victor FrenchVictor Edwin French was an American actor and director.-Early career:Born in Santa Barbara, California,...
, Alice Ghostly,
Ted KnightTed Knight was an American actor best known for playing the comedic role of Ted Baxter on The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Henry Rush on Too Close for Comfort, and Judge Elihu Smails in Caddyshack.- Early years :...
,
Pat PaulsenPatrick Layton "Pat" Paulsen was an American comedian and satirist notable for his roles on several of the Smothers Brothers TV shows, and for his campaigns for President of the United States in 1968, 1972, 1980, 1988, 1992, and 1996, which had primarily comedic rather than political objectives,...
,
Tom PostonThomas Gordon "Tom" Poston was an American television and film actor. He starred on television in a career that began in 1950...
,
Robert MiddletonRobert Middleton, born Samuel G. Messer , was an American film and television actor known for his large size and beetle-like brow. With a deep, booming voice, Middleton trained for a musical career at the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music and Carnegie Tech in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania...
,
Barry NewmanBarry Foster Newman is an American film, television, and stage actor, famous for his interpretation of Kowalski in the movie Vanishing Point. He has been nominated for a Golden Globe and Emmy awards.- Life and career :...
,
Julie NewmarJulie Newmar is an American actress, dancer and singer. Her most famous role is Catwoman in the Batman television series.-Early life:...
,
Vincent PriceVincent Leonard Price, Jr. was an American actor, well known for his distinctive voice and serio-comic attitude in a series of horror films made in the latter part of his career.-Early life and career:Price was born in St...
,
William SchallertWilliam Joseph Schallert is an American actor who has appeared in many films and in such television series as The Smurfs, The Rat Patrol, Gunsmoke, The Patty Duke Show, The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis, The Waltons, Bonanza, Leave It to Beaver, The Dick Van Dyke Show, Love, American Style, Get...
(who also had a recurring role as The Admiral, the first Chief of Control),
Larry StorchLawrence Samuel "Larry" Storch is an American actor best known for his comic television roles, including voice-over work for top cartoon shows, including Mr...
.
King MoodyRobert "King" Moody was an American actor, best known for playing Ronald McDonald in commercials in the 1970s and 1980s...
(originally as a generic KAOS killer) as the dim-witted but burly Shtarker, and
Bernie KopellBernard Morton "Bernie" Kopell is an American television character actor who is probably best known for his roles as Dr. Adam Bricker in The Love Boat and KAOS agent Siegfried in Get Smart...
as Conrad Siegfried, his superior, became the most often-seen recurring KAOS agents, both supposedly of German descent.
The enemies, world-takeover plots and gadgets seen in
Get Smart parodied the
James BondJames Bond, code name 007, is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections. There have been a six other authors who wrote authorised Bond novels or novelizations after Fleming's death in 1964: Kingsley Amis,...
movies. "Do what they did except just stretch it half an inch," Mel Brooks said of the methods of this TV series.
Devices such as a shoe phone, The Cone Of Silence and inner apartment booby traps were a regular part of most episodes. (See also: Gadgets section)
Max and 99 married in season four. They had twins in season five. Agent 99 became the first woman on a hit sitcom to keep her job after marriage and motherhood. Even "99's mother" never referred to her daughter by name. Her name wasn't even mentioned in her wedding.
Production
The show was inspired by the success of
The Man from U.N.C.L.E.The Man from U.N.C.L.E. is an American television series that was broadcast on NBC from September 22, 1964, to January 15, 1968. It follows the exploits of two secret agents, played by Robert Vaughn and David McCallum, who work for a fictitious secret international espionage and law-enforcement...
Talent Associates commissioned
Mel BrooksMel Brooks is an American film director, screenwriter, composer, lyricist, comedian, actor and producer. He is best known as a creator of broad film farces and comic parodies. He began his career as a stand-up comic and as a writer for the early TV variety show Your Show of Shows...
and
Buck HenryHenry Zuckerman, better known as Buck Henry , is an American actor, writer, film director, and television director.-Early life:...
to write a script about a bungling
James BondJames Bond, code name 007, is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections. There have been a six other authors who wrote authorised Bond novels or novelizations after Fleming's death in 1964: Kingsley Amis,...
-like hero. Brooks and Henry took the show in a different direction. Brooks described the premise for the show they created in an October 1965
Time magazine article:
- "I was sick of looking at all those nice sensible situation comedies. They were such distortions of life. If a maid ever took over my house like Hazel
Hazel is a Screen Gems television series about a fictional live-in maid named Hazel Burke and her employers, the Baxters. The five-season, 154-episode series aired in primetime from September 1961 until April 1966...
, I'd set her hair on fire. I wanted to do a crazy, unreal comic-strip kind of thing about something besides a family. No one had ever done a show about an idiot before. I decided to be the first."
Brooks and Henry proposed the show to ABC, where network officials called their show "un-American" and demanded a "lovable dog to give the show more heart" and scenes showing Maxwell Smart's mother. Brooks strongly objected to their latter suggestion:
- "They wanted to put a print housecoat on the show. Max was to come home to his mother and explain everything. I hate mothers on shows. Max has no mother. He never had one."
Although the cast and crew—especially Adams—contributed joke and gadget ideas, dialogue was rarely ad-libbed. An exception is the third season episode, "The Little Black Book."
Don RicklesDonald Jay "Don" Rickles is an American stand-up comedian and actor. A frequent guest on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, Rickles has acted in comedic and dramatic roles, but is best known as an insult comic....
encouraged Adams to misbehave, and ad-libbed. The result was so successful that the single episode was turned into a two-part episode.
Production personnel
Brooks had little involvement with the series after the pilot, but Buck Henry served as story editor through 1967.
The crew of the show included:
- Leonard B. Stern
Leonard Bernard Stern was an American screenwriter, film and television producer, director, and one of the creators, with Roger Price, of the classic word game Mad Libs.-Life and career:...
– executive producer for the entire run of the show
- Irving Szathmary – music and theme composer and conductor for the entire run of the show
- Gerald Gardner and Dee Caruso – frequent writers
- Gary Nelson
Gary Nelson may refer to:*Gary Nelson , American film director*Gary Nelson , NASCAR crew chief and inspector*Gary Lee Nelson , American composer and media artist*Gary V. Nelson , Canadian pastor...
– director of the most episodes
- Bruce Bilson
Bruce Bilson is an American film and television director. He is the grandfather of the actress Rachel Bilson.Bilson was born in Brooklyn, New York City to Jewish parents. His mother, Hattie Bilson , was an American screenwriter, and his father, George Bilson, was an English-born...
– director of the second most episodes
- Allan Burns
Allan Burns is an American screenwriter and television producer. Burns is best known for, alongside James L. Brooks, creating and writing for the television sitcoms The Mary Tyler Moore Show and Rhoda.-Early life:...
and Chris HaywardChris Hayward was an American television writer and producer. He was the co-creator, with Allan Burns, of the 1960s television show The Munsters and the creator of Dudley Do-Right....
– frequent writers and producers
- Arne Sultan – frequent writer and producer
- Stan Burns and Mike Marmer – frequent writers
- Lloyd Turner
Lloyd James Turner was a Canadian sports promoter who was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1958 as a builder...
and Whitey MitchellGordon "Whitey" Mitchell was an American jazz bassist and television writer/producer. He was born in Hackensack, New Jersey....
– frequent writers and producers of season 5
- Don Adams
Don Adams was an American actor, comedian and director. In his five decades on television, he was best known as Maxwell Smart in the television situation comedy Get Smart , which he also sometimes directed and wrote. Adams won three consecutive Emmy Awards for his portrayal of Smart...
– director of 13 episodes and writer of two episodes
- James Komack
James Komack was an American actor, writer and film producer. Komack was in the original cast of the Broadway musical Damn Yankees and also in the film version; in both productions, he was one of the baseball players who perform the song " Heart"...
– writer and director
- Reza Badiyi
Reza Sayed Badiyi was an Iranian-American film director. Badiyi was well known for directing episodes of many popular television series...
– occasional director
- Richard Donner
Richard Donner is an American film director, film producer, and comic book writer.The production company The Donners' Company is owned by Donner and his wife, producer Lauren Shuler Donner. After directing the horror film The Omen, Donner became famous for the hailed creation of the first modern...
– occasional director
- David Davis – associate producer
CONTROL
CONTROL is a spy agency which Harold Harmon Hargrade, who was an officer in the United States Navy's N-2 (Intelligence) Branch for his entire career, founded and became the first Chief of just after the turn of the twentieth century. "CONTROL" is not an acronym.
Maxwell Smart, code number
Agent 86, D.O.B. 1930 (
Don AdamsDon Adams was an American actor, comedian and director. In his five decades on television, he was best known as Maxwell Smart in the television situation comedy Get Smart , which he also sometimes directed and wrote. Adams won three consecutive Emmy Awards for his portrayal of Smart...
) is the central character. Despite being a top secret government agent, he is absurdly clumsy, very naive and has occasional lapses of attention. Due to his frequent verbal gaffes and physical miscues, most of the people Smart encounters believe he is grossly incompetent. Despite these faults, Smart is also resourceful, skilled in hand-to-hand combat, a proficient marksman, and incredibly lucky. These assets have led to him having a phenomenal record of success in times of crisis which means his only punishment in CONTROL for his mistakes is that he is the only agent without three weeks annual vacation time. Smart uses multiple cover identities, but the one used most often is as a greeting card salesman/executive. Owing to multiple assassination attempts, he tells his landlord he is in the insurance business, and on one occasion, that he works for the
Internal Revenue ServiceThe Internal Revenue Service is the revenue service of the United States federal government. The agency is a bureau of the Department of the Treasury, and is under the immediate direction of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue...
. Agent 86 is known for his use of the shoe phone, a secret
communicationCommunication is the activity of conveying meaningful information. Communication requires a sender, a message, and an intended recipient, although the receiver need not be present or aware of the sender's intent to communicate at the time of communication; thus communication can occur across vast...
device. Adams appeared in every episode, though only briefly in the episode "Ice Station Siegfried" (due to Don Adams' objections to the script). Smart served in the US Army during the
Korean WarThe Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...
and is an ensign in the US Navy Reserve.
In 1999
TV GuideTV Guide is a weekly American magazine with listings of TV shows.In addition to TV listings, the publication features television-related news, celebrity interviews, gossip and film reviews and crossword puzzles...
ranked Maxwell Smart number 19 on its 50 Greatest TV Characters of All Time list.
Agent 99 (
Barbara Feldon) is the tall, beautiful female agent whose appearance is useful in undercover operations. Generally, Agent 99 is much more competent than Smart, but Smart saves her life in several episodes. In "Snoopy Smart vs the Red Baron" is the introduction of 99's mother (Jane Dulo), who is thoroughly convinced by her daughter and Smart's cover stories that not even seeing them in combat while a prisoner of KAOS convinces her otherwise; it is hinted that 99's father was also a spy. Creator Buck Henry pointed out to actress Barbara Feldon on the DVD commentary for Season 3 that when he tried to add funny lines for Agent 99, "They didn't want you to be 'joke funny.' They wanted you to be glamorous and interesting." Her name was intentionally never revealed. She appeared in all but seven episodes. She can typically be seen slouching, leaning, or sitting in scenes with Adams owing to the fact that she was slightly taller (5'9" or 1.75m) than Adams (5'8.5" or 1.74 m), and that Adams was sensitive to the height difference.
The Chief (
Edward PlattEdward Cuthbert Platt was an American actor best known for his portrayal of "The Chief" in the 1965-70 NBC/CBS television series Get Smart...
) is the head of CONTROL. Although sarcastic and grouchy, the Chief is intelligent, serious, and sensible. He began his career at CONTROL as "Agent Q." He is supportive of Agents 86 and 99, but he is frustrated with Smart for his frequent failures and foul-ups. As revealed in the season-one episode "The Day Smart Turned Chicken," his first name is
Thaddeus, but it is rarely used. His cover identity (used primarily with 99's mom) is "Harold Clark." Another time, when KAOS arranges for the Chief to be recalled to active duty in the US Navy (as a common
seamanSeaman is one of the lowest ranks in a Navy. In the Commonwealth it is the lowest rank in the Navy, followed by Able Seaman and Leading Seaman, and followed by the Petty Officer ranks....
with Smart as his
commanding officerThe commanding officer is the officer in command of a military unit. Typically, the commanding officer has ultimate authority over the unit, and is usually given wide latitude to run the unit as he sees fit, within the bounds of military law...
), his official name is
John DoeThe name "John Doe" is used as a placeholder name in a legal action, case or discussion for a male party, whose true identity is unknown or must be withheld for legal reasons. The name is also used to refer to a male corpse or hospital patient whose identity is unknown...
.
Hymie the Robot (
Richard "Dick" GautierRichard "Dick" Gautier is an actor, comedian, composer, singer and author. Among his most well-known television roles are for Hymie the Robot in the television series Get Smart, and Robin Hood in the short-lived TV comedy series When Things Were Rotten, a Mel Brooks send-up of the classic...
) is a
humanoid robotA humanoid robot or an anthropomorphic robot is a robot with its overall appearance, based on that of the human body, allowing interaction with made-for-human tools or environments. In general humanoid robots have a torso with a head, two arms and two legs, although some forms of humanoid robots...
built by Dr. Ratton to serve KAOS, but in his first mission, Smart manages to turn him to the side of CONTROL. Hymie has numerous
superhumanSuperhuman can mean an improved human, for example, by genetic modification, cybernetic implants, or as what humans might evolve into, in the near or distant future...
abilities, such as being physically stronger and faster than any human and being able to swallow
poisonIn the context of biology, poisons are substances that can cause disturbances to organisms, usually by chemical reaction or other activity on the molecular scale, when a sufficient quantity is absorbed by an organism....
s and register their name, type, and quantity, though his design does not include superhuman
mental processingArtificial intelligence is the intelligence of machines and the branch of computer science that aims to create it. AI textbooks define the field as "the study and design of intelligent agents" where an intelligent agent is a system that perceives its environment and takes actions that maximize its...
, most significantly characterized by an overly literal interpretation of commands. (For example, when Smart tells Hymie to "get a hold of yourself," he grasps each arm with the other.) Hymie also has emotions and is "programmed for neatness."
Agent 8 (
Burt MustinBurton Hill "Burt" Mustin was an American character actor.-Early life:Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to W. I. and Sadie Mustin, Mustin was a 1903 graduate of the Pennsylvania Military College , earning his degree in civil engineering...
) is a retired Control Agent, who appeared in episode three.
Agent 13 (Dave Ketchum) is an agent who is usually stationed inside unlikely, or unlucky places, such as a
cigarette machineA cigarette machine is a vending machine that takes cash in payment for packets of cigarettes. Vending machines often dispense packs containing 16 or 18 cigarettes, although the dimensions of the packaging are the same as the equivalent pack containing 20....
, washing machines, lockers, trash cans, or fire hydrants. He tends to resent his assignments. Agent 13 featured in several season-two episodes. (Agent 13—played by a different actor—also appears in
The Nude Bomb, and in the 2008 film—played by
Bill MurrayWilliam James "Bill" Murray is an American actor and comedian. He first gained national exposure on Saturday Night Live in which he earned an Emmy Award and later went on to star in a number of critically and commercially successful comedic films, including Caddyshack , Ghostbusters , and...
—forced to spend his day disguised as a tree.)
Agent 44 (
Victor FrenchVictor Edwin French was an American actor and director.-Early career:Born in Santa Barbara, California,...
) is Agent 13's predecessor and is also stationed in tight corners. Agent 44 sometimes falls into bouts of self-pity and complaining, and he would sometimes try to keep Max chatting for the company. Agent 44 appeared in several episodes in the second half of the season one. In the final season, there was a new Agent 44, (played by
Al MolinaroAlbert Francis "Al" Molinaro is an actor in television and films, most notably as Al Delvecchio, the owner of Arnold's on Happy Days and its spin-off show Joanie Loves Chachi, Murray the Cop on The Odd Couple television series, as well as starring in commercials for On-Cor frozen dinners...
) in two episodes. (Prior to starting as 44, Victor French had a brief guest role in the season-one episode "Too Many Chiefs" as Smart's Mutual Insurance agent.) In the 2008 film, his trait of self-pity and attempts at small talk are incorporated into Agent 13, hiding in a tree.
Agent Larabee (
Robert KarvelasRobert Karvelas was an American actor who was notable for his role as the Chief's dense assistant, Larrabee, on the 1960s sitcom Get Smart. He was Don Adams' cousin....
) is the Chief's slow-witted assistant. In a season five episode, it is reported that if anything happens to Smart, Larabee will take his place. Given Larabee's stupidity, that is partly why the Chief does not dismiss Smart. (Actor Robert Karvelas was Don Adams's cousin. Larabee also appears in
The Nude Bomb.)
Admiral Harold Harmon Hargrade or
The Admiral (
William SchallertWilliam Joseph Schallert is an American actor who has appeared in many films and in such television series as The Smurfs, The Rat Patrol, Gunsmoke, The Patty Duke Show, The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis, The Waltons, Bonanza, Leave It to Beaver, The Dick Van Dyke Show, Love, American Style, Get...
) is the former chief. He founded CONTROL as a spy agency just after the turn of the 20th century. The admiral has a poor memory, believing the current US President is still
Herbert HooverHerbert Clark Hoover was the 31st President of the United States . Hoover was originally a professional mining engineer and author. As the United States Secretary of Commerce in the 1920s under Presidents Warren Harding and Calvin Coolidge, he promoted partnerships between government and business...
. As a 91-year-old, he has bad balance and often falls over.
Charlie Watkins or
Agent 38 (
Angelique PettyjohnAngelique Pettyjohn was an American actress and burlesque queen. She is best known in show business for her appearance as the drill thrall Shahna in the Star Trek episode, "The Gamesters of Triskelion".-Biography:...
) is an undercover male agent and master of disguise. Agent 38 appears as a scantily clad glamorous woman in two season 2 episodes. He also appears once in season 4 as a different actress (Karen Authur). He can also switch to a feminine voice as part of the disguise.
Fang or
Agent K-13 is a poorly trained CONTROL dog, who is seen during seasons one and two. He had a brief role in the 2008 film, being a pet-store dog that Max was in the habit of complaining to. At the end of the film, 99 bought him as a pet for her and Max.
Carlson (
Stacy Keach, Sr.Stacy Keach, Sr. was the stage name of Walter Stacy Keach , an American actor whose screen career spanned six decades. He and his wife, Mary Cain , were members of the Peninsula Players summer theater program during the 1930s. He may be best known for his role as Carlson in the television show Get...
) is CONTROL's gadget man during season two. While inspecting the gadgets, Max usually creates minor mayhem. Carlson followed several CONTROL scientists who had fulfilled the same function in season one. They were the similarly named Carleton (Frank DeVol)—who appeared in the pilot and one other episode, the egotistical Windish (
Robert O. CornthwaiteRobert O. Cornthwaite was an American film and television character actor who began his acting career in 1937, appearing in a college production of Twelfth Night, while attending Reed College in Portland, Oregon....
), and Parker (
Milton SelzerMilton Selzer was an American stage, film, and television actor.-Early life:Born in Lowell, Massachusetts, Selzer and his family moved to Portsmouth, New Hampshire where he was raised. After graduating from Portsmouth High School, he attended the University of New Hampshire before serving in World...
).
Dr. Steele (
Ellen WestonEllen Weston is an American actress, producer, and writer. Born Ellen Weinstein in New York City, Ellen Weston appeared on Broadway in Toys in the Attic, A Far Country, and Mary, Mary, among other productions.Her first notable television role was a stint as Robin Fletcher on soap opera Guiding...
) is a CONTROL scientist who makes three appearances in season three. Dr. Steele is an intelligent, extremely attractive woman whose cover is a chorus dancer at a high-class burlesque theatre. The entrance to her laboratory is through a large courier box sidestage. Dr Steele often performs complex scientific procedures while wearing her revealing performance costumes. She is often seen explaining her findings while warming up for her next dance, and then suddenly departing for her performance. Dr. Steele was replaced with the similar Dr. Simon (
Ann ElderAnn Elder is an American Emmy Award-winning screenwriter. She won Emmy awards also for comedy writing, . She also wrote for Mama's Family as well. Elder appeared several times on The Match Game during its run in the 1970s.-External links:...
), who appeared in two episodes of season four, is mentioned once in season five.
Harry Hoo (
Joey FormanJoey Forman was an American comedian and comic actor. He first attracted attention in Las Vegas as the opening act for Mickey Rooney...
) is a Hawaiian detective from Honolulu, who is depicted as a send-up of the fictional detective
Charlie ChanCharlie Chan is a fictional Chinese-American detective created by Earl Derr Biggers in 1919. Loosely based on Honolulu detective Chang Apana, Biggers conceived of the benevolent and heroic Chan as an alternative to Yellow Peril stereotypes, such as villains like Fu Manchu...
. Hoo is not a member of CONTROL, but they work together on murder cases. Hoo's introduction usually creates confusion in the manner of
Abbott and CostelloWilliam "Bud" Abbott and Lou Costello performed together as Abbott and Costello, an American comedy duo whose work on stage, radio, film and television made them the most popular comedy team during the 1940s and 1950s...
's "
Who's on First?Who's on First? is a vaudeville comedy routine made most famous by Abbott and Costello. In Abbott and Costello's version, the premise of the routine is that Abbott is identifying the players on a baseball team to Costello, but their names and nicknames can be interpreted as non-responsive answers...
" routine. Hoo always analyzes a mystery by presenting "two possibilities," of which the latter (if not both) is absurd. Max likes to upstage Hoo by jumping in with "two possibilities" of his own, which are even crazier than Hoo's. Hoo responds with "Amazing!", spoken in a tone of disbelief rather than approval, but Max is oblivious to this.
KAOS
KAOS is a (fictional) "international organization of evil" formed in Bucharest, Romania, in 1904; like "CONTROL," "KAOS" is not an acronym. In an episode of the series, after making a series of demands in a recording, the speaker mentions the demands are from "KAOS, a
Delaware CorporationThe Delaware General Corporation Law is the statute governing corporate law in the state of Delaware. Delaware is well known as a corporate haven. Over 50% of U.S...
." When Smart asks the chief about this, he mentions they did it for tax reasons.
Mr. Big (Michael Dunn) is the presumed head of KAOS and a little person. He only appears in the black-and-white pilot episode, and is killed by his own doomsday death ray. A successor is chosen in another episode but is arrested by CONTROL. A few nameless KAOS chiefs appeared in subsequent episodes.
Konrad Siegfried (or simply
Siegfried) (
Bernie KopellBernard Morton "Bernie" Kopell is an American television character actor who is probably best known for his roles as Dr. Adam Bricker in The Love Boat and KAOS agent Siegfried in Get Smart...
) is a recurring villain, and the Vice President in charge of Public Relations and Terror at KAOS. Siegfried is Maxwell Smart's "opposite number" and nemesis, even though the two characters share similar traits and often speak fondly of one another—even in the midst of attempting to assassinate each other. Speaking English with an exaggerated German accent, the gray-haired, mustachioed, and dueling-scarred Siegfried's catchphrase is, "Zis is KAOS! Ve don't [some action] here!" (In the 2008 film
Get SmartGet Smart is a 2008 American spy-fi comedy film based on Mel Brooks and Buck Henry's 1960s spy parody television series of the same name. The film stars Steve Carell as Maxwell Smart and Anne Hathaway as Agent 99...
, Kopell had a
cameoA cameo role or cameo appearance is a brief appearance of a known person in a work of the performing arts, such as plays, films, video games and television...
driving one of the three classic vehicles [an Opel] used in the original show.)
Shtarker (
King MoodyRobert "King" Moody was an American actor, best known for playing Ronald McDonald in commercials in the 1970s and 1980s...
) is Siegfried's chief henchman. Shtarker is an overzealous lackey whose most notable trait is his abrupt personality change from sadistic villain to presumptuous child, interrupting conversations to helpfully elaborate, using silly vocal noises to imitate things such as engines or guns. This prompts Siegfried to utter his catch phrase, "Shtarker...Nein! Zis is KAOS! Ve don't [weakly imitates Shtarker's sound effect] here!" (In the DVD commentary for the first episode in which the character appears, in season two, Bernie Kopell notes that "shtark" is a real Yiddish word meaning a person of great strength.)
The Claw (
Leonard StrongLeonard Clarence Strong Leonard Clarence Strong Leonard Clarence Strong (b. 12 August 1908, Utah - d. 23 January 1980, Glendale, California was a prolific American character actor specialising in playing Asian roles....
) is a Dr. Julius No-type Asian villain representing the east-Asian branch of KAOS. In place of the Claw's left hand is a powerful mechanical prosthesis with immobile fingers and an occasional attachment, hence his name. Sometimes the Claw would accidentally nab something with it, creating confusion. He is unable to pronounce the letter L and mispronounces his name as "Craw," with Smart repeatedly referring to him as "The Craw," much to his annoyance. Like Siegfried, he has a huge, dimwitted assistant, named Bobo. (The Claw presumably inspired the villain Dr. Claw in the animated cartoon
Inspector GadgetInspector Gadget is an animated television series that revolves around the adventures of a clumsy, simple-witted cyborg detective named Inspector Gadget – a human being with various bionic gadgets built into his body. Gadget's arch-nemesis is Dr...
, the voice of whose title character
Don AdamsDon Adams was an American actor, comedian and director. In his five decades on television, he was best known as Maxwell Smart in the television situation comedy Get Smart , which he also sometimes directed and wrote. Adams won three consecutive Emmy Awards for his portrayal of Smart...
provided.)
Natz (Ted de Corsia) is a villain who appears in some of the Hymie episodes, including the one in which Hymie is stolen from KAOS. He also appeared in the episode where a robot called 'Groppo' is built to kill Hymie.
Simon the Likeable (
Jack GilfordJack Gilford was an American actor on Broadway, films and television.-Early life:Gilford was born Jacob Aaron Gellman on the lower East Side of Manhattan in New York City, and grew up in Williamsburg, Brooklyn...
), who appeared in "And Baby Makes 4" Parts 1 & 2 is a KAOS killer whose nice face mesmerizes everyone into liking him—except 99's mother (played by Jane Dulo), who knocks him out with a right cross, because Simon resembles her late, much-hated, and unlamented husband. (99's father never appeared in any episode.)
Gadgets
A recurring gag was Smart's phone built into his shoe (an idea from Brooks). To use or answer his
shoe phoneThe Sneaker Phone was popularized in the early 1990s through a Sports Illustrated promotion. In 1991, Sports Illustrated began a television campaign where consumers subscribing to their magazine received a free Sneaker Phone....
, he had to take off his shoe. The shoe converted into a gun by dialing the number 117. Telephones were concealed in over 50 other objects including a necktie, comb, watch, clock, handkerchief, magazine, a garden hose, a car cigarette lighter (the cigarette lighter was hidden in the car phone), belt, wallet, a bottle of perfume, (to use it you had to push down on the top, and Max complained of smelling like a woman) the steering wheel of a car (where Max complained that if he made a right turn, he dialed the operator), a
painting of a telephone, the headboard of his bed, a sandwich, and of all places, as a tiny phone inside of
another full-sized working phone! Smart's shoes sometimes contained other devices. Housed in his heels were an explosive pellet, a smoke bomb, and a suicide pill (but he doesn't know how to get the enemy to take it).
Other gadgets included a bullet-proof invisible wall in Smart's apartment that lowered from the ceiling, a camera hidden in a bowl of soup that took a picture (with a conspicuous flash) of the person eating the soup with each spoonful, and a powerful miniature laser weapon in the button of a sports jacket (the "laser blazer").
On February 17, 2002, the prop shoe phone used by agent Maxwell Smart was included in a display entitled
"Spies: Secrets from the CIA, KGB, and Hollywood," a collection of real and fictional spy gear that exhibited at the
Ronald Reagan Presidential LibraryThe Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Center for Public Affairs is the presidential library and final resting place of Ronald Wilson Reagan, the 40th President of the United States. Designed by Hugh Stubbins and Associates, the library is located in Simi Valley, California, about northwest of...
in
Simi Valley, California-2010:The 2010 United States Census reported that Simi Valley had a population of 124,237. The population density was 2,940.8 people per square mile...
.
Flinders UniversityFlinders University, , is a public university in Adelaide, South Australia. Founded in 1966, it was named in honour of navigator Matthew Flinders, who explored and surveyed the South Australian coastline in the early 19th century.The university has established a reputation as a leading research...
in
South AustraliaSouth Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...
are currently researching medical applications for
'Shoe Phone' technology after being inspired by the show.
Another of the show's recurring gags was the "
Cone of SilenceThe Cone of Silence is one of many recurring joke devices from Get Smart, an American comedy television series of the 1960s about an inept spy....
," an idea from Henry, though actually preceded by the syndicated TV show Science Fiction Theatre in an episode titled "Barrier of Silence" written by Lou Huston and first airing September 3, 1955, 10 years ahead of the NBC comedy. 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. Bystanders in the room could often hear them better, and sometimes relayed messages back and forth.
Get Smart cars
The car Smart is seen driving most frequently in the show for seasons 1-4 is a red 1965
Sunbeam TigerThe Sunbeam Tiger was a muscle car version of the British Rootes Group's Sunbeam Alpine roadster.-Development:The West Coast Sales Manager of Rootes American Motors Inc., Ian Garrad, realized that the Alpine's image was that of a touring car rather than a sports car, and he set about changing its...
two seat roadster.
Due to the various custom features of this car, like the machine gun and ejection seat, the
Sunbeam AlpineThe Sunbeam Alpine is a sporty two-seat open car from Rootes Group's Sunbeam car marque. The original was launched in 1953 as the first vehicle from Sunbeam-Talbot to bear the Sunbeam name alone since the 1935 takeover of Sunbeam and Talbot by the Rootes Group....
was the picture car actually used by customizer
Gene WinfieldGene Winfield is an American automotive customizer. In the mid-1960s, his designs caught the attention of the film community, resulting in a large body of his work being seen on screen, including in the iconic 1982 film Blade Runner...
, because a 4 cylinder afforded more room under the hood than the V8 Tiger.
AMTAluminum Model Toys, or AMT for short, was a Troy, Michigan based company that manufactured various pre-assembled plastic promotional models starting in 1948, when attorney West Gallogly, Sr. started it as a side business. Later, a variety of kits became very popular. Most of the company's vehicle...
, Winfield's employer, made a model kit of the Tiger, complete with hidden weapons, it is the only kit of the Tiger and has been reissued multiple times as a stock Tiger. The picture car cannot be located, but the personal car of Don Adams (also a 1965 Sunbeam Tiger) was restored in 2005 and still exists and the Alpine/Tiger was also recreated, in 2002.
In the black & white pilot episode (only), Smart drives a 1961
Ferrari 250The Ferrari 250 is a sports car built by Ferrari from 1953 to 1964. The company's most successful early line, the 250 series included several variants. It was replaced by the 275 and the 330.-Similarities:...
GT Cabriolet.
In the opening credits (only) of seasons three and four, Smart drives a light blue
Volkswagen Karmann GhiaThe Volkswagen Karmann Ghia is a 2+2 coupe and convertible marketed from 1955 to 1974 by Volkswagen – combining the chassis and mechanicals of the Type 1 , styling by Luigi Segre of the Italian carrozzeria Ghia, and hand-built bodywork by German coach-builder Karmann.The Karmann Ghia was...
, as
VolkswagenVolkswagen is a German automobile manufacturer and is the original and biggest-selling marque of the Volkswagen Group, which now also owns the Audi, Bentley, Bugatti, Lamborghini, SEAT, and Škoda marques and the truck manufacturer Scania.Volkswagen means "people's car" in German, where it is...
became a sponsor of the show.
In
season four (1968–1969), Adams uses a yellow
Citroën 2CVThe Citroën 2CV |tax horsepower]]”) was an economy car produced by the French automaker Citroën between 1948 and 1990. It was technologically advanced and innovative, but with uncompromisingly utilitarian unconventional looks, and deceptively simple Bauhaus inspired bodywork, that belied the sheer...
in the wedding episode "With Love and Twitches" (Episode 4.09), and a blue 1968 Ford
Shelby MustangThe Shelby Mustang is a high performance variant of the Ford Mustang which was built by Shelby American from 1965 through 1970. Following the introduction of the fifth generation Ford Mustang, the Shelby nameplate was revived in 2007 for new high performance versions of the Mustang.- 1965–1966 :The...
GT500 convertible with a tan interior and four seats (as required by the plot) in the episodes "A Tale of Two Tails" (Episode 4.07) and "The Laser Blazer" (Episode 4.10).
In season five (1969–1970),
BuickBuick is a premium brand of General Motors . Buick models are sold in the United States, Canada, Mexico, China, Taiwan, and Israel, with China being its largest market. Buick holds the distinction as the oldest active American make...
became a show sponsor, so the Tiger was replaced with a gold 1969
Opel GTThe Opel GT is a two-seat sports car first presented as a styling exercise in 1965 at the Paris and Frankfurt motor shows, and introduced as a production model late in 1968 by Opel, a German subsidiary of General Motors...
, which appears in every episode.
In the short-lived
1995 TV seriesGet Smart is a short-lived American comedy television series that aired in 1995 on FOX. The series was a sequel to the original Get Smart television series that ran from 1965 to 1970. The series premiered on January 8, 1995 and ended its original run on February 19, 1995.-Overview:Maxwell Smart is...
, 'Smart' is trying to sell the Karmann Ghia through the classified ads.
In
Get Smart, Again!, Smart is seen driving a red 1986 Alfa Romeo Spider Veloce.
The Sunbeam Tiger, the Karmann Ghia, and the Opel GT make brief appearances in the 2008 film. Both are first seen in the CONTROL Museum, along with the original shoe phone, which 'Smart' also briefly uses.
Spies at work
CONTROL and KAOS did not seem to be above everyday bureaucracy and business quirks. KAOS is a
DelawareDelaware is a U.S. state located on the Atlantic Coast in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It is bordered to the south and west by Maryland, and to the north by Pennsylvania...
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' 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. 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 (even more) 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 is raspberry that month at CONTROL, and Max offers Siegfried a taste. In the same episode, Max and Siegfried have a
show and tellShow and tell is the process of showing an audience something and telling them about it, predominantly in North America and also popular in Australia. It is usually done in a classroom as an early elementary school technique for teaching young children the skills of public speaking...
of various weapons they have; Max boasts of having a deadly non-regulation pistol from a Chicago Mail Order House. (The prop used is actually an 1893
Borchardt C-93The Borchardt C-93 pistol was designed by Hugo Borchardt in 1893. Ludwig Loewe & Company of Berlin, Germany, a manufacturer of machine tools, produced the C-93, a semi-automatic pistol that he had invented based upon the Maxim toggle-lock principle. He also developed the 7.65×25mm Borchardt...
pistol.)
Cover names were common. In "The Man Called Smart, Part 1," a phone call is announced for an alias, and Max identifies himself as the person in question. Second and third calls come in, each with its own alias, the last of which is his own real name of Maxwell Smart, which he initially does not answer. Smart 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. Smart then makes himself even more visible by tangling the handset cords of the three phones.
CONTROL has a policy of burning pertinent documents after cases are closed; the reasons 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. In one episode where Smart takes over as Chief, it is noted in a conversation between Smart and Larabee that CONTROL has a delicatessen.
Guest stars
Get Smart used several familiar character actors and celebrities, and some future stars, in guest roles, including:
- Ian Abercrombie
Ian Abercrombie is an English actor, best known for playing Alfred Pennyworth in Birds of Prey. He appeared as Elaine Benes' boss Justin Pitt during the sixth season of Seinfeld, and as a fastidious butler on Desperate Housewives.-Biography:He is the cousin of John Abercrombie, a jazz guitarist of...
- Steve Allen
Steve Allen may refer to:*Steve Allen , American musician, comedian, and writer*Steve Allen , presenter on the London-based talk radio station LBC 97.3...
- Barbara Bain
Millicent Fogel , known professionally as Barbara Bain, is an American actress.-Early life:Bain was born in Chicago. She graduated from the University of Illinois with a bachelor's degree in sociology. She moved to New York City, where she was a dancer and high fashion model. Bain studied with...
- Billy Barty
Billy Barty was an American film actor.-Biography:Barty, an Italian American, was born William John Bertanzetti in Millsboro, Pennsylvania...
- Lee Bergere
Lee Bergere was an American actor, perhaps best known for his role as Joseph Anders in the 1980s television series Dynasty....
- Shelley Berman
Sheldon "Shelley" Berman is an American comedian, actor, writer, teacher, lecturer, and poet.- Early life :Berman was born in Chicago, Illinois, the son of Irene and Nathan Berman.- Career :...
- Milton Berle
Milton Berlinger , better known as Milton Berle, was an American comedian and actor. As the manic host of NBC's Texaco Star Theater , in 1948 he was the first major star of U.S. television and as such became known as Uncle Miltie and Mr...
- Joseph Bernard
Joseph Bernard was a modern classical French sculptor, featured on the frontispiece of Elie Faure's 1927 survey of modern art, "Spirit of Forms". Bernard was trained at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in the atelier of Pierre-Jules Cavelier.- External links :*...
- Lynn Borden
Lynn Borden is an American actress best known for her role as "Barbara Baxter" in the final season of the Shirley Booth sitcom Hazel, which aired on CBS from 1965 to 1966.-Background:...
- Ernest Borgnine
Ernest Borgnine is an American actor of television and film. His career has spanned more than six decades. He was an unconventional lead in many films of the 1950s, including his Academy Award-winning turn in the 1955 film Marty...
- Tom Bosley
Thomas Edward "Tom" Bosley was an American actor. Bosley is best known for portraying Howard Cunningham on the long-running ABC sitcom Happy Days. He also was featured in recurring roles on Murder, She Wrote, and Father Dowling Mysteries...
- Victor Buono
Charles Victor Buono was an American actor and comic.-Early life and career:Buono was born in San Diego, California, the son of Myrtle Belle and Victor Francis Buono . His maternal grandmother, Myrtle Glied , was a Vaudeville performer on the Orpheum Circuit...
- Carol Burnett
Carol Creighton Burnett is an American actress, comedian, singer, dancer and writer. Burnett started her career in New York. After becoming a hit on Broadway, she made her television debut...
- John Byner
John Byner is an American actor, comedian, and impressionist who has had a lengthy television and movie career. His voice work includes the cartoon series The Ant and the Aardvark, in which the title characters are voiced by Byner's impressions of Dean Martin and Jackie Mason,...
- James Caan
- Howard Caine
Howard Caine , was a popular character actor, probably best known as Gestapo agent Major Wolfgang Hochstetter in the television series Hogan's Heroes....
- Johnny Carson
John William "Johnny" Carson was an American television host and comedian, known as host of The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson for 30 years . Carson received six Emmy Awards including the Governor Award and a 1985 Peabody Award; he was inducted into the Television Academy Hall of Fame in 1987...
- Jack Cassidy
John Joseph Edward “Jack” Cassidy was an American actor of stage, film and screen.His frequent professional persona was that of an urbane, super-confident egotist with a dramatic flair, much in the manner of Broadway actor Frank Fay...
- Ellen Corby
Ellen Corby was an American actress. She is most widely remembered for the role of "Grandma Esther Walton" on the CBS television series The Waltons, for which she won three Emmy Awards...
- Wally Cox
Wallace Maynard Cox was an American comedian and actor, particularly associated with the early years of television in the United States. He appeared in the U.S. TV series Mr. Peepers , plus several other popular shows, and as a character actor in over 20 films...
- Broderick Crawford
Broderick Crawford was an Academy Award-winning American stage, film, radio and TV actor, often cast in tough-guy roles and best known for his starring role in the television series "Highway Patrol."-Early life:...
- Dennis Cross
Dennis Cross was an American actor who was the lead star of the syndicated television series The Blue Angels, fictional stories of daredevil United States Navy pilots which aired from 1960-1961...
- Robert Culp
Robert Martin Culp was an American actor, scriptwriter, voice actor and director, widely known for his work in television. Culp first earned an international reputation for his role as Kelly Robinson on I Spy , the espionage series in which he and co-star Bill Cosby played a pair of secret agents...
- John Dehner
John Dehner was an American actor in radio, television, and films, playing countless roles, often as a droll villain. Between 1941 and 1988, he appeared in over 260 films and television programs. Prior to acting, Dehner had worked as an animator at Walt Disney Studios, and later became a radio...
- Michael Dunn
- Robert Easton
Robert Easton is an American actor whose career in film and television spans more than 60 years. His mastery of English dialect has earned him the epithet "The Man of a Thousand Voices", For decades he has been a leading Hollywood dialogue or accent coach.Easton was born Robert Easton Burke in...
- Dana Elcar
Dana Elcar was an American television and movie character actor. Although he appeared in about 40 films, his most memorable role was on the 1980s and 1990s television series MacGyver as Peter Thornton, an administrator working for the Phoenix Foundation...
- Bill Erwin
William Lindsey "Bill" Erwin was an American film, stage and television actor with over 250 television and film credits...
- Jamie Farr
Jamie Farr is an American television, film, and theater actor. He is best known for having played the role of cross-dressing Corporal Maxwell Q. Klinger in the television sitcom M*A*S*H.-Early life:...
- John Fiedler
John Donald Fiedler was an American voice actor and character actor in stage, film, television and radio. He was slight, balding, and bespectacled, with a distinctive, high-pitched voice and a career lasting more than 55 years.He is best remembered for four roles: as the nervous Juror #2 in 12...
- Joey Forman
Joey Forman was an American comedian and comic actor. He first attracted attention in Las Vegas as the opening act for Mickey Rooney...
- Alice Ghostley
Alice Margaret Ghostley was an American actress. She was best known for her roles as housekeeper Esmeralda on Bewitched, as Cousin Alice on Mayberry R.F.D., and as Bernice Clifton on Designing Women, for which she received an Emmy Nomination for Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series in 1992...
- Jack Gilford
Jack Gilford was an American actor on Broadway, films and television.-Early life:Gilford was born Jacob Aaron Gellman on the lower East Side of Manhattan in New York City, and grew up in Williamsburg, Brooklyn...
- Leo Gordon
Leo Vincent Gordon was an American movie and television character actor as well as a screenplay writer and novelist. He specialized in playing brutish bad guys during more than forty years in film and television....
- Farley Granger
Farley Earle Granger was an American actor. In a career spanning several decades, he was perhaps best known for his two collaborations with Alfred Hitchcock, Rope in 1948 and Strangers on a Train in 1951.-Early life:...
- Buddy Hackett
Buddy Hackett was an American comedian and actor.-Early life:Hackett was born in Brooklyn, New York, New York, the son of a Jewish upholsterer. He grew up on 54th and 14th Ave in Borough Park, Brooklyn, across from Public School 103...
- Sid Haig
Sid Haig is a American actor. His roles have included acting in Jack Hill's blaxploitation films of the 1970s as well as his role as Captain Spaulding in Rob Zombie's horror films House of 1000 Corpses and The Devil's Rejects...
- Bob Hope
Bob Hope, KBE, KCSG, KSS was a British-born American comedian and actor who appeared in vaudeville, on Broadway, and in radio, television and movies. He was also noted for his work with the US Armed Forces and his numerous USO shows entertaining American military personnel...
- John Hoyt
John Hoyt was an American film, stage, and television actor.-Early life:Hoyt was born John McArthur Hoysradt. Before becoming an actor with Orson Welles's Mercury Theatre, the Yale University graduate worked as a history instructor, acting teacher and even a nightclub comedian...
- Conrad Janis
Conrad Janis is an American jazz musician and also a theatre, film, and television actor. In the fall of 1953, he played eldest son Edward in the Ezio Pinza situation comedy Bonino on NBC...
- Gordon Jump
Alexander Gordon Jump was an American actor best known as the clueless radio station manager Arthur "Big Guy" Carlson in the TV series WKRP in Cincinnati and the incompetent "Chief of Police Tinkler" in the sitcom Soap...
- Ted Knight
Ted Knight was an American actor best known for playing the comedic role of Ted Baxter on The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Henry Rush on Too Close for Comfort, and Judge Elihu Smails in Caddyshack.- Early years :...
- James Komack
James Komack was an American actor, writer and film producer. Komack was in the original cast of the Broadway musical Damn Yankees and also in the film version; in both productions, he was one of the baseball players who perform the song " Heart"...
- Charles Lane
Charles Lane may refer to:*Charles Lane , U.S. character actor *Charles Lane , Washington Post reporter*Charles Lane , African-American actor/filmmaker...
- Len Lesser
Leonard King "Len" Lesser was an American actor. He was known for a key role in the Clint Eastwood movie Kelly's Heroes and his recurring role as Uncle Leo in Seinfeld, which began during the show's second season in "The Pony Remark" episode.-Early life:Lesser was born in The Bronx in 1922...
- Laurie Main
Laurence "Laurie" Main is an English former actor. Although Main appeared in many films and television series since the 1950s, he is perhaps best known for hosting and narrating the children's series Welcome to Pooh Corner, which aired on The Disney Channel during the 1980s.His television guest...
- Judith McConnell
Judith McConnell is an American actress, best known for her role as Sophia Wayne Capwell on the TV series Santa Barbara, on which she appeared from 1984 to 1993....
- Pat McCormack
- Robert Middleton
Robert Middleton, born Samuel G. Messer , was an American film and television actor known for his large size and beetle-like brow. With a deep, booming voice, Middleton trained for a musical career at the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music and Carnegie Tech in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania...
- Al Molinaro
Albert Francis "Al" Molinaro is an actor in television and films, most notably as Al Delvecchio, the owner of Arnold's on Happy Days and its spin-off show Joanie Loves Chachi, Murray the Cop on The Odd Couple television series, as well as starring in commercials for On-Cor frozen dinners...
- Howard Morton
Howard Morton was an American actor.A tall man with comedic talent, Morton appeared as Dolph Sweet's doltish police subordinate on Gimme a Break! for five seasons and appeared in many other TV shows and films...
- Burt Mustin
Burton Hill "Burt" Mustin was an American character actor.-Early life:Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to W. I. and Sadie Mustin, Mustin was a 1903 graduate of the Pennsylvania Military College , earning his degree in civil engineering...
- Barry Newman
Barry Foster Newman is an American film, television, and stage actor, famous for his interpretation of Kowalski in the movie Vanishing Point. He has been nominated for a Golden Globe and Emmy awards.- Life and career :...
- Julie Newmar
Julie Newmar is an American actress, dancer and singer. Her most famous role is Catwoman in the Batman television series.-Early life:...
- Leonard Nimoy
Leonard Simon Nimoy is an American actor, film director, poet, musician and photographer. Nimoy's most famous role is that of Spock in the original Star Trek series , multiple films, television and video game sequels....
- Alan Oppenheimer
Alan Oppenheimer is an American character actor and voice actor. He has performed numerous roles on live-action television since the 1960s, and has had an active career doing voice work in cartoons since the 1970s.-Early life:...
- Pat Paulsen
Patrick Layton "Pat" Paulsen was an American comedian and satirist notable for his roles on several of the Smothers Brothers TV shows, and for his campaigns for President of the United States in 1968, 1972, 1980, 1988, 1992, and 1996, which had primarily comedic rather than political objectives,...
- Angelique Pettyjohn
Angelique Pettyjohn was an American actress and burlesque queen. She is best known in show business for her appearance as the drill thrall Shahna in the Star Trek episode, "The Gamesters of Triskelion".-Biography:...
- Regis Philbin
Regis Francis Xavier Philbin is an American media personality, actor and singer, known for hosting talk and game shows since the 1960s. Philbin is often called "the hardest working man in show business" and holds the Guinness World Record for the most time spent in front of a television camera...
- Tom Poston
Thomas Gordon "Tom" Poston was an American television and film actor. He starred on television in a career that began in 1950...
- Ann Prentiss
Ann Prentiss was an American actress.Prentiss was born in San Antonio, Texas. Her father was of Sicilian descent. Her younger sister was actress Paula Prentiss. Prentiss had many bit parts in movies and television series in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s...
- Vincent Price
Vincent Leonard Price, Jr. was an American actor, well known for his distinctive voice and serio-comic attitude in a series of horror films made in the latter part of his career.-Early life and career:Price was born in St...
- Don Rickles
Donald Jay "Don" Rickles is an American stand-up comedian and actor. A frequent guest on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, Rickles has acted in comedic and dramatic roles, but is best known as an insult comic....
- Alex Rocco
Alex Rocco is an American actor. His roles have ranged from comedy to playing gangsters in Mafia movies.-Early life:...
- Cesar Romero
Cesar Julio Romero, Jr. was an American film and television actor who was active in film, radio, and television for almost sixty years...
- Vito Scotti
Vito Scotti was a veteran character actor who played many roles, primarily from the late-1940s to the mid-1990s. He was known as a man of a thousand faces, for his ability to assume so many divergent roles in more than 200 screen roles, in a nearly 50 year career. He was known for his resourceful...
- Larry Storch
Lawrence Samuel "Larry" Storch is an American actor best known for his comic television roles, including voice-over work for top cartoon shows, including Mr...
- Vic Tayback
Victor "Vic" Tayback was an American actor.-Life and career:Tayback was born in Brooklyn, New York City, New York, the son of Helen and Najeeb James Tayback. His parents were immigrants from Aleppo, Syria. Tayback moved with his family to Burbank, California, during his teenage years and attended...
- Fred Willard
Fred Willard is an American actor, comedian, and voice over actor, best known for his improvisational comedy skills. He is known for his roles in the Christopher Guest mockumentary films This is Spinal Tap, Waiting for Guffman, Best in Show, A Mighty Wind, and For Your Consideration as well as...
- Jason Wingreen
Jason Wingreen is an American actor.-Biography:Born in 1920 in Brooklyn, New York, he grew up in Howard Beach, Queens, attended John Adams High School, and graduated from Brooklyn College in 1941. Wingreen lent his voice to Boba Fett in the original and 1997 theatrical versions of The Empire...
- Dana Wynter
Dana Wynter was a German-born British actress, who was brought up in England and Southern Africa. She appeared in film and television for more than forty years beginning in the 1950s, most notably in the original version of Invasion of the Body Snatchers.-Early life:Wynter was born as Dagmar...
Both Bill Dana and
Jonathan HarrisJonathan Harris was an American stage and film character actor. Two of his best-known roles were as the timid accountant Bradford Webster in the TV version of The Third Man, and the comic villain Dr. Zachary Smith, in the 1960s sci-fi television series, Lost in Space...
, who Adams appeared with on
The Bill Dana ShowThe Bill Dana Show was a United States comedy series starring Bill Dana and Jonathan Harris. The plot followed the daily lifestyle of Latin American, Jose Jiminez, as a bellhop in a New York hotel...
, also appeared, as did Adams's father, William Yarmy, brother, Dick Yarmy, and daughter, Caroline Adams.
The series featured several cameo appearances by famous actors and comedians, sometimes uncredited and often comedian friends of Adams.
Johnny CarsonJohn William "Johnny" Carson was an American television host and comedian, known as host of The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson for 30 years . Carson received six Emmy Awards including the Governor Award and a 1985 Peabody Award; he was inducted into the Television Academy Hall of Fame in 1987...
appeared, credited as "special guest conductor," in "Aboard the Orient Express." Carson returned for an uncredited cameo as a royal footman in the third season episode "The King Lives?" Other performers to make cameo appearances included
Steve AllenSteve Allen may refer to:*Steve Allen , American musician, comedian, and writer*Steve Allen , presenter on the London-based talk radio station LBC 97.3...
,
Milton BerleMilton Berlinger , better known as Milton Berle, was an American comedian and actor. As the manic host of NBC's Texaco Star Theater , in 1948 he was the first major star of U.S. television and as such became known as Uncle Miltie and Mr...
,
Ernest BorgnineErnest Borgnine is an American actor of television and film. His career has spanned more than six decades. He was an unconventional lead in many films of the 1950s, including his Academy Award-winning turn in the 1955 film Marty...
,
Wally CoxWallace Maynard Cox was an American comedian and actor, particularly associated with the early years of television in the United States. He appeared in the U.S. TV series Mr. Peepers , plus several other popular shows, and as a character actor in over 20 films...
,
Robert CulpRobert Martin Culp was an American actor, scriptwriter, voice actor and director, widely known for his work in television. Culp first earned an international reputation for his role as Kelly Robinson on I Spy , the espionage series in which he and co-star Bill Cosby played a pair of secret agents...
(as a waiter in an episode sending up Culp's
I Spy),
Phyllis DillerPhyllis Diller is an American actress and comedian. She created a stage persona of a wild-haired, eccentrically dressed housewife who makes jokes about a husband named "Fang" while pretending to smoke from a long cigarette holder...
,
Buddy HackettBuddy Hackett was an American comedian and actor.-Early life:Hackett was born in Brooklyn, New York, New York, the son of a Jewish upholsterer. He grew up on 54th and 14th Ave in Borough Park, Brooklyn, across from Public School 103...
,
Bob HopeBob Hope, KBE, KCSG, KSS was a British-born American comedian and actor who appeared in vaudeville, on Broadway, and in radio, television and movies. He was also noted for his work with the US Armed Forces and his numerous USO shows entertaining American military personnel...
, and
Martin LandauMartin Landau is an American film and television actor. Landau began his career in the 1950s. His early films include a supporting role in Alfred Hitchcock's North by Northwest . He played continuing roles in the television series Mission: Impossible and Space:1999...
.
Emmy awards
| Year |
Category |
Recipient |
| 1967 |
Outstanding Continued Performance By An Actor In a Comedy |
Don AdamsDon Adams was an American actor, comedian and director. In his five decades on television, he was best known as Maxwell Smart in the television situation comedy Get Smart , which he also sometimes directed and wrote. Adams won three consecutive Emmy Awards for his portrayal of Smart...
|
| 1967 |
Outstanding Writing Achievement in Comedy |
Buck Henry Henry Zuckerman, better known as Buck Henry , is an American actor, writer, film director, and television director.-Early life:...
, Leonard SternLeonard Bernard Stern was an American screenwriter, film and television producer, director, and one of the creators, with Roger Price, of the classic word game Mad Libs.-Life and career:...
|
| 1968 |
Outstanding Comedy Series |
Burt Nodella Burt Nodella is an American television producer, most notable for the cult classic Get Smart....
, producer |
| 1968 |
Outstanding Continued Performance By An Actor In a Comedy |
Don Adams |
| 1968 |
Outstanding Directorial Achievement In Comedy |
Bruce Bilson Bruce Bilson is an American film and television director. He is the grandfather of the actress Rachel Bilson.Bilson was born in Brooklyn, New York City to Jewish parents. His mother, Hattie Bilson , was an American screenwriter, and his father, George Bilson, was an English-born...
|
| 1969 |
Outstanding Comedy Series |
Burt Nodella |
| 1969 |
Outstanding Continued Performance By An Actor In a Comedy |
Don Adams |
Adaptations in various media
Four movies were produced years after the end of the NBC/CBS run of the TV series:
- The theatrically released The Nude Bomb
The Nude Bomb is a 1980 comedy film based on the television series Get Smart. It starred Don Adams as Maxwell Smart, Agent 86, and was directed by Clive Donner...
(1980) (also known as The Return of Maxwell Smart or Maxwell Smart and the Nude Bomb)—which was (ironically) a box-office bomb
- The made-for-TV Get Smart, Again!
Get Smart, Again! is a made-for-TV movie based on the 1965-1970 NBC/CBS television series, Get Smart!, which originally aired February 26, 1989 on ABC . It has subsequently been released twice on DVD by different publishers...
(1989) on ABCThe American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
- The 2008 film Get Smart
Get Smart is a 2008 American spy-fi comedy film based on Mel Brooks and Buck Henry's 1960s spy parody television series of the same name. The film stars Steve Carell as Maxwell Smart and Anne Hathaway as Agent 99...
starring Steve CarellSteven John "Steve" Carell is an American comedian, actor, voice artist, producer, writer, and director. Although Carell is notable for his role on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, he found greater fame in the late 2000s for playing Michael Scott on The Office...
, alongside Anne HathawayAnne Jacqueline Hathaway is an American actress. After several stage roles, she appeared in the 1999 television series Get Real. She played Mia Thermopolis in The Princess Diaries...
, from Warner Brothers PicturesWarner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...
- A direct-to-DVD spin-off of the 2008 film, titled "Get Smart's" Bruce and Lloyd: Out of Control
Get Smart's Bruce and Lloyd: Out of Control is a direct-to-video motion picture released in 2008. It is a spin-off of the 2008 film Get Smart and was released in North America on July 1, 2008, 10 days after the parent film began its theatrical run. The film is written by Tom J...
Get Smart, Again! eventually prompted the development of a short-lived 1995 weekly series on
FOXFox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...
, also titled
Get SmartGet Smart is a short-lived American comedy television series that aired in 1995 on FOX. The series was a sequel to the original Get Smart television series that ran from 1965 to 1970. The series premiered on January 8, 1995 and ended its original run on February 19, 1995.-Overview:Maxwell Smart is...
, with Adams and Feldon reprising their characters, with Maxwell Smart now being the Chief of CONTROL, as their bungling son, Zach (
Andy DickAndrew R. "Andy" Dick is an American comedian, actor, musician and television/film producer. His first regular television role was on the short-lived but highly influential Ben Stiller Show. In the mid-1990s, he had a long-running stint on NBC's NewsRadio...
), becomes CONTROL's star agent. A late 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!Sledge Hammer! is an American satirical police sitcom produced by New World Television that ran for two seasons on ABC from 1986 to 1988. The series was created by Alan Spencer and stars David Rasche as Inspector Sledge Hammer, a preposterous caricature of the standard "cop on the edge" character,...
at the end of its first season. Hopes for the series were not high, as Andy Dick had already moved on to
NewsRadioNewsRadio is an American television situation comedy that aired on NBC from 1995 to 1999. The series was created by executive producer Paul Simms, and was filmed in front of a studio audience at CBS Studio Center and Sunset Gower Studios...
, which premiered weeks later in 1995.
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
DuMontThe DuMont Television Network, also known as the DuMont Network, DuMont, Du Mont, or Dumont was one of the world's pioneer commercial television networks, rivalling NBC for the distinction of being first overall. It began operation in the United States in 1946. It was owned by DuMont...
. The different versions of
Get Smart did not all feature the original lead cast.
The "Get Smart" episode "The Reluctant Redhead" connects "Get Smart" to "
The Man From U.N.C.L.E.The Man from U.N.C.L.E. is an American television series that was broadcast on NBC from September 22, 1964, to January 15, 1968. It follows the exploits of two secret agents, played by Robert Vaughn and David McCallum, who work for a fictitious secret international espionage and law-enforcement...
" by having Gruvnik, the Spoiler, being a THRUSH agent now working for KAOS.
Get Smart was parodied on a sketch in the Mexican comedy show De Nuez en Cuando called ["Super Agente 3.1486"], making fun of the Spanish title of the series (Super Agente 86) and the way the series is dubbed.
An early
MadTVMADtv is an American sketch comedy television series. It licensed the name and logo of Mad, but otherwise had no connection with the humor magazine outside the animated Spy vs. Spy and Don Martin cartoon shorts and images of Alfred E. Neuman that the show featured during the late 1990s. Its first...
sketch titled "Get Smarty" placed the Maxwell Smart character in situations from the film
Get Shorty.
An episode of
F TroopF Troop is a satirical American television sitcom that originally aired for two seasons on ABC-TV. It debuted in the United States on September 14, 1965 and concluded its run on April 6, 1967 with a total of 65 episodes. The first season of 34 episodes was filmed in black-and-white, but the show...
called "Spy, Counterspy, Counter-counterspy" featured Pat Harrington Jr. imitating Don Adams as secret agent "B. Wise."
The SimpsonsThe Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...
episode "
Bart vs. Lisa vs. The Third Grade"Bart vs. Lisa vs. The Third Grade" is the third episode of The Simpsons fourteenth season. It aired on November 17, 2002.-Plot:The family is bored with the terrible reality shows inundating the six major networks, so Bart has a suggestion: buy a satellite dish...
" parodies the opening of
Get Smart in the couch gag. Homer goes through many futuristic doors and passageways until he reaches the phone booth, falls through the floor, and lands on the couch—with the rest of the family already seated.
In the cartoon
The X'sThe X's is an American animated television series created by Carlos Ramos about a family of spies, who must hide their identity from the outside world, but sometimes have a little trouble in doing so....
one episode with Mr. X was a parody of both
Get Smart, in that his shoe was a phone, and
Mission Impossible, in that his shoe blew up after delivering a message. Similarly, an episode of
Green AcresGreen Acres is an American television series starring Eddie Albert and Eva Gabor as a couple who move from New York City to a country farm...
spoofed
Get Smart with a shoe phone and
Mission Impossible with a self-destructing note.
Adams in similar roles
In the 1960s, Adams had a supporting role on the sitcom
The Bill Dana ShowThe Bill Dana Show was a United States comedy series starring Bill Dana and Jonathan Harris. The plot followed the daily lifestyle of Latin American, Jose Jiminez, as a bellhop in a New York hotel...
(1963–1965) as the hopelessly inept
hotel detectiveA hotel detective is a security guard employed by a hotel. Hotel detectives feature prominently in certain noir fiction, especially in the works of Raymond Chandler, and are sometimes referred to as "House Dicks"...
Byron Glick. His speech mannerisms, catch phrases ("Would you believe...?"), and other comedy bits were adapted for his "Maxwell Smart" role on
Get Smart.
When WCGV/
Milwaukee, WisconsinMilwaukee is the largest city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin, the 28th most populous city in the United States and 39th most populous region in the United States. It is the county seat of Milwaukee County and is located on the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan. According to 2010 census data, the...
signed on the air in 1980, Adams did in-house promos as Agent 86 to let viewers know when the reruns of
Get Smart aired on the station by using his shoephone.
In one of Adams' five appearances as a guest passenger on the series
The Love BoatThe Overseas Compatriot Youth Formosa Study Tour to Taiwan, informally known as the Love Boat, is currently a four-week summer program for about 400–600 college-aged Overseas Chinese. In Chinese, it is also colloquially referred to as mei-jia-ying - America and Canada Camp, a reference to where...
, his character, even when he thought he had been shot, makes no attempt to visit the ship's doctor. The role of the doctor on
Love BoatThe Overseas Compatriot Youth Formosa Study Tour to Taiwan, informally known as the Love Boat, is currently a four-week summer program for about 400–600 college-aged Overseas Chinese. In Chinese, it is also colloquially referred to as mei-jia-ying - America and Canada Camp, a reference to where...
was played by
Bernie KopellBernard Morton "Bernie" Kopell is an American television character actor who is probably best known for his roles as Dr. Adam Bricker in The Love Boat and KAOS agent Siegfried in Get Smart...
, who played Sigfried on
Get Smart.
In 1982, Adams starred in a series of local commercials for New York City electronics chain Savemart as Maxwell Smart. The
sloganA slogan is a memorable motto or phrase used in a political, commercial, religious and other context as a repetitive expression of an idea or purpose. The word slogan is derived from slogorn which was an Anglicisation of the Scottish Gaelic sluagh-ghairm . Slogans vary from the written and the...
was "Get Smart. Get SaveMart Smart." In addition, Adams starred in a series of commercials for
White CastleWhite Castle is an American regional fast food hamburger restaurant chain in the Midwestern United States and in the New York metropolitan area, and the first of its kind in the US. It is known for its small, square hamburgers. Sometimes referred to as "sliders", the burgers were priced at five...
in 1992, paying homage to his
Get Smart character with his catch phrase "Would you believe...?"
In the 1980s, Adams provided the (similar) voice of a bungling cyborg secret agent in the animated series
Inspector GadgetInspector Gadget is an animated television series that revolves around the adventures of a clumsy, simple-witted cyborg detective named Inspector Gadget – a human being with various bionic gadgets built into his body. Gadget's arch-nemesis is Dr...
. This later became a
feature filmInspector Gadget is a 1999 American live-action comedy film loosely based on the 1983 animated cartoon series Inspector Gadget. It starred Matthew Broderick as the title character, along with Rupert Everett as Dr. Claw, Michelle Trachtenberg as Penny, and Dabney Coleman as Chief Quimby...
starring
Matthew BroderickMatthew Broderick is an American film and stage actor who, among other roles, played the title character in Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Adult Simba in The Lion King film series, and Leo Bloom in the film and Broadway productions of The Producers.He has won two Tony Awards, one in 1983 for his...
in the title role of Inspector John Brown Gadget (in which Adams had a cameo), and its prequel series
Gadget Boy and Heather. Neither were directly related to
Get Smart.
In the late 1980s Adams portrayed Smart in a series of TV commercials for Toyota New Zealand, for the 1990 model Toyota Starlet. While it is customary for the actor to go to the foreign location for shooting, 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 Canadian commercials in the late 1990s for a
dial-around long distance carrierAn Interexchange Carrier is a U.S. legal and regulatory term for a telecommunications company, commonly called a long-distance telephone company, such as MCI , Sprint and the former AT&T in the United States...
.
In the movie
Back to the BeachBack to the Beach is a 1987 comedy film starring Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello, directed by Lyndall Hobbs. The original music score is composed by Steve Dorff. The film generated a total domestic gross of $13,110,903...
(1987), Adams played the Harbor Master, who used several of Maxwell Smart's catch phrases (including an exchange in which Frankie Avalon's character did a vague impression of Siegfried).
Adams played Smart in a 1989 TV commercial for
KmartKmart, sometimes styled as "K-Mart," is a chain of discount department stores. The chain acquired Sears in 2005, forming a new corporation under the name Sears Holdings Corporation. The company was founded in 1962 and is the third largest discount store chain in the world, behind Wal-Mart and...
. He was seen talking on his trademark shoe phone, telling the Chief about the great selection of electronics available at Kmart. An exact replica of himself approaches him, and Smart says, "Don't tell me you're a double agent." (This was a reference to a running gag on the original series, in which Max detected some sort of setback or danger, and would say to 99, "Don't tell me..." and then 99 replied by stating a confirmation of whatever Max was afraid to hear, to which Max would always respond, "I
asked you not to tell me that!")
Books and comics
A series of novels based on characters and dialog of the series were written by
William JohnstonWilliam Johnston may refer to:*William Johnston , U.S. Representative from Ohio*William Johnston , Irish politician and Orangeman...
and published by Tempo Books in the late 1960s.
Dell ComicsDell Comics was the comic book publishing arm of Dell Publishing, which got its start in pulp magazines. It published comics from 1929 to 1973. At its peak, it was the most prominent and successful American company in the medium...
published a comic book for eight issues during 1966 and 1967, drawn in part by
Steve DitkoStephen J. "Steve" Ditko is an American comic book artist and writer best known as the artist co-creator, with Stan Lee, of the Marvel Comics heroes Spider-Man and Doctor Strange....
.
Proposed movie
The 1966
BatmanBatman, often promoted as Batman: The Movie, is a 1966 film based on the Batman television series, and the first full-length theatrical adaptation of the DC Comics character of the same name. Released by 20th Century Fox, the film starred Adam West as Batman and Burt Ward as Robin. The film was...
movie, made during that TV show's original run, was hugely successful and prompted other television shows to propose similar films in order to cash in on the phenomenon. The only one completed was
Munster Go Home (1966), which was a huge box office flop, causing the cancellation of other projects, including the
Get Smart movie. The script for that movie was turned into the three-part episode, "A Man Called Smart," airing April 8, 15, and 22, 1967.
Play
In 1967, Christopher Sergel adapted a play
Get Smart based on Brooks's and Henry's pilot episode.
2008 Get Smart movie
A
big-screen versionGet Smart is a 2008 American spy-fi comedy film based on Mel Brooks and Buck Henry's 1960s spy parody television series of the same name. The film stars Steve Carell as Maxwell Smart and Anne Hathaway as Agent 99...
of
Get Smart was released in 2008, directed by
Peter SegalPeter Segal is an American film director, with credits in producing, writing, and acting. He has had general success in the comedy film genre.-Filmography:*Naked Gun 33⅓: The Final Insult *Tommy Boy...
and starring
Steve CarellSteven John "Steve" Carell is an American comedian, actor, voice artist, producer, writer, and director. Although Carell is notable for his role on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, he found greater fame in the late 2000s for playing Michael Scott on The Office...
as Maxwell Smart (Agent 86),
Anne HathawayAnne Jacqueline Hathaway is an American actress. After several stage roles, she appeared in the 1999 television series Get Real. She played Mia Thermopolis in The Princess Diaries...
as Agent 99,
Alan ArkinAlan Wolf Arkin is an American actor, director, musician and singer. He is known for starring in such films as Wait Until Dark, The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming, The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, Catch-22, The In-Laws, Edward Scissorhands, Glengarry Glen Ross, Marley & Me, and...
as The Chief (his first name, Thaddeus, is never mentioned in the film),
Terence StampTerence Henry Stamp is an English actor. Since starting his career in 1962 he has appeared in over 60 films. His title role as Billy Budd in his film debut earned Stamp an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor and a BAFTA nomination for Best Newcomer.His other major roles include...
as Ludwig Van Siegfried,
Masi OkaMasayori "Masi" Oka is a Japanese-American actor and digital effects artist.He has performed in numerous feature films and TV series, most prominently as Hiro Nakamura in the NBC TV series Heroes from 2006 until its cancellation in May 2010. He resides in Los Angeles, California.-Early life:Oka...
as Bruce, and Dwayne Johnson as new character Agent 23.
Bernie KopellBernard Morton "Bernie" Kopell is an American television character actor who is probably best known for his roles as Dr. Adam Bricker in The Love Boat and KAOS agent Siegfried in Get Smart...
, Konrad Siegfried from the television show, makes a
cameo appearanceA cameo role or cameo appearance is a brief appearance of a known person in a work of the performing arts, such as plays, films, video games and television...
,
Bill MurrayWilliam James "Bill" Murray is an American actor and comedian. He first gained national exposure on Saturday Night Live in which he earned an Emmy Award and later went on to star in a number of critically and commercially successful comedic films, including Caddyshack , Ghostbusters , and...
makes an uncredited appearance as Agent 13, and James Caan, who guest-starred in the original series, also appears, but playing the President. The film includes a dedication to Adams and Platt, who had died in 2005 and 1974 respectively; Feldon reportedly declined an invitation to appear.
In its opening weekend,
Get Smart topped the box office with $39.2 Million.
Shooting began March 2007 and the film was released June 20, 2008. A made-for-DVD spin-off revolving around minor characters, Bruce and Lloyd, the masterminds behind the high-tech gadgets that are often used by Smart, was released on July 1, 2008 as
"Get Smart's" Bruce and Lloyd: Out of ControlGet Smart's Bruce and Lloyd: Out of Control is a direct-to-video motion picture released in 2008. It is a spin-off of the 2008 film Get Smart and was released in North America on July 1, 2008, 10 days after the parent film began its theatrical run. The film is written by Tom J...
.
On October 7, 2008, it was reported that
Warner Bros.Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...
and
Village Roadshow PicturesVillage Roadshow Pictures is an Australian motion picture production company. It is a subsidiary of Village Roadshow Entertainment Group, an Australian entertainment company. Most of its films are co-produced in partnership with Warner Bros. and New Line Cinema...
, Mosaic Media Group are producing a sequel. Steve Carell and Anne Hathaway are set to return, but the status of other cast members has not yet been announced.
DVD releases and rights
All five seasons are available as box sets in
region 1DVD region codes are a digital-rights management technique designed to allow film distributors to control aspects of a release, including content, release date, and price, according to the region...
(USA, Canada, and others) and Region 4 (Australia, New Zealand, and others). The region 1 discs are published by HBO Home Video, and region 4 by Time Life Video. Each region 1 box contains 4 discs, while region 4 editions have a 5th disc with bonus material. Region 4 editions are also available as individual discs with four to five episodes per disc. The season 1 set was released in both regions in 2008. Seasons 2 and 3 box sets were released in region 4 on July 23, 2008. Seasons 4 and 5 were released in region 4 on November 5, 2008. Seasons 2, 3, 4 and 5 in region 1 were released throughout 2009.
Another box set of the complete series is available in both regions, first published in 2006 by Time Life Video. In 2009 the region 1 edition was replaced by an HBO edition, and became more widely available. All editions contain a 5th disc for each season, with bonus material. The set has 25 discs altogether.
The first four seasons were produced for NBC by Talent Associates. When it moved to CBS at the start of season five, it became an in-house production, with Talent Associates as silent partner. The series was sold to NBC Films for syndication.
Over decades, US distribution has changed from
National Telefilm AssociatesNational Telefilm Associates was an independent distribution company that handled reissues of American film libraries, including much of Paramount Pictures' animated and short-subjects library.-History:...
to
Republic PicturesRepublic Pictures was an independent film production-distribution corporation with studio facilities, operating from 1934 through 1959, and was best known for specializing in westerns, movie serials and B films emphasizing mystery and action....
, to Worldvision Enterprises, to
Paramount Domestic TelevisionParamount Domestic Television was the television distribution arm of American television production company Paramount Television, once the TV arm of Paramount Pictures...
, to
CBS Paramount Domestic TelevisionCBS Paramount Domestic Television was an American television distribution company/production that was formed on January 17, 2006 and owned by CBS Corporation...
, to the current distributor,
CBS Television DistributionCBS Television Distribution is a global television distribution company, formed from the merger of CBS Corporation's two domestic television distribution arms CBS Paramount Domestic Television and King World Productions, including its home entertainment arm CBS Home Entertainment...
.
For decades, the syndication rights of all but a handful of the fifth season episodes were encumbered with restrictions and reporting requirements; as a result, most of that season was rarely seen in syndication (though they were shown with more regularity on
Nick at NiteNick at Nite is the nighttime Cable network that broadcasts over the channel space of Nickelodeon on Sundays from 8.p.m.-7.am., Monday through Fridays from 9 p.m.-7 a.m. and Saturdays from 10 p.m.-6 a.m. . Though it shares channel space with Nickelodeon, A.C. Nielsen Co...
and
TV LandTV Land is an American cable television network launched on April 29, 1996. It is owned by MTV Networks, a division of Viacom, which also owns Paramount Pictures, and networks such as MTV and Nickelodeon...
). The distribution changes (including the loosening of restrictions on the fifth season) were the result of corporate changes, especially the 2006 split of Viacom (owners of Paramount Pictures) into two companies.
HBO currently owns the copyrights to the series itself, due to Time-Life Films' 1977 acquisition of Talent Associates. Home videos are distributed by HBO Home Video, For a time the DVD release was only available through Time-Life (a former Time Warner division).
Warner Bros. TelevisionWarner Bros. Television is the television production arm of Warner Bros. Entertainment, itself part of Time Warner. Alongside CBS Television Studios, it serves as a television production arm of The CW Television Network , though it also produces shows for other networks, such as Shameless on...
owns international distribution rights.
See also
- List of Get Smart episodes
- Get Smart (film)
Get Smart is a 2008 American spy-fi comedy film based on Mel Brooks and Buck Henry's 1960s spy parody television series of the same name. The film stars Steve Carell as Maxwell Smart and Anne Hathaway as Agent 99...
- Get Smart (1995 TV series)
Get Smart is a short-lived American comedy television series that aired in 1995 on FOX. The series was a sequel to the original Get Smart television series that ran from 1965 to 1970. The series premiered on January 8, 1995 and ended its original run on February 19, 1995.-Overview:Maxwell Smart is...
- T.U.F.F. Puppy
T.U.F.F. Puppy is an American animated television series created by Butch Hartman for Nickelodeon. It premiered on October 2, 2010 on Nickelodeon after the premiere of Planet Sheen. The series' main character is a dim-witted but determined dog named Dudley Puppy , who works as a secret agent for an...
a cartoon spoof of "Get Smart"
External links