Some televisions series have the tendency to stick with you for the rest of your life. There is just something about them that stuck a chord with you that just becomes a part of you. A show like this is more than a little piece of nostalgia; it is a portion of your personal history. On a rare occasion a series of this category has also helped to define a generation. One such show was and always will be ‘Get Smart’. I was beginning my teen years when it was first aired back in 1965 and it something that everyone talked about in home room the next day. Years later when I was courting my wife my then future father-in-law loved that series and it was a common ground for us. That was indicative of the humor in this show; it was able to work on many levels and be appreciated by all age groups. For many years this series was near the top of the list most wanted DVD releases. There were the usual legal battles over rights and it took longer than all of us fans would have wanted but Time Warner has secured the DVD distribution and we can all ‘Get Smart’ again. A couple of years ago Time Life had a complete series release but with a cost of about two hundred bucks it was beyond what a lot of fans could shell out. Last year Warner started to release season sets under their HBO Home Video label. Seasons one is out, season two is considered here and season three has just been announced for a few months from the time of this writing. At this rate we can sit back and watch all five season in about a year.

In most cases of genius it takes a perfect combination of time, place and people to make it happen. In this case all three were present and all systems were ready for greatness. In 1965 spies were all the rage. In the films the James Bond franchise that is still going strong today was just beginning. The previous year television gave us ‘The Man from U.N.C.L.E.’ and this year would also see the start of ‘Wild, Wild West’. All of these were not only examples of shows based on espionage but the use of fantastic gadgets. That is what really sold those of us in their early teens on the genre; those fantastic gadgets that looked like on thing but could something else entirely. It has to be remembered that this was the era of the height of the cold war between the United States and the Soviet Union. The soldiers on the front lines of combat were replaced by spies lurking behind every dark shadow. The genre became popular for the same reason war flicks and shows were a generation before. They glamorized spies making their lives seem exciting. In the case of ‘Get Smart’ it was the right time and place but that is only the surface of why this series was great. It is timeless. So many shows of this period are horribly dated when viewed today. Sure the clothing, hairstyle and technology place the action squarely in the mid sixties but the humor is timeless. This is due to the wonderfully warped and creative minds of its creators Buck Henry and Mel Brooks. This series happened about a decade before most of the public would recognize their incredible comic abilities. Henry was a frequent writer and guest on Saturday Night Live during those initial years when everyone thought the series was funny. Brooks would go on to create some of the best comedy films not only of the seventies but of all time. In 1974 alone he released two of the best; ‘Young Frankenstein’ and ‘Blazing Saddles’. Two have the two of them working together on a weekly sit-com was a stroke of brilliance. There have been many attempts to recreate this style and even this series but none could or would ever succeed. In this second season the pair had gotten used to each other’s rhythms and were like a well oiled machine. Each script was able to work on several levels. For the younger members of the family there where the pratfalls and slapstick that is universal in its appeal. The older family members could have a laugh at the satire of the most popular genre of the day. These spoofs often looked overt but on closer inspection you begin to realize just how well constructed the humor was.

At the center of the action was Agent 86, Maxwell Smart. The part was played by Don Adams and no one could have brought such life to the role. Smart was one of the top agents of the top secret government intelligence agency CONTROL. It was their job to keep the forces of evil at bay and secure the American way of life. The head of the agency was known only as the Chief (Edward Platt). He was always frantic and belabored tying to keep the organization working and Max’s fumbling was a constant source of stress. He is also not helped much by his mentally slow assistant agent Larabee (Robert Karvelas). Like most in CONTROL he tries his best but is inept. The only one with any skills is the partner of Max, Agent 99 (Barbara Feldon). She was beautiful, resourceful and her best quality was how she could handle the many mistakes that Max made on a regular basis. The side of evil was represented by the criminal organization KAOS. They were intent on world domination but fortunately for all of us law abiding citizens the level of competency was about the same as CONTROL. Since the gadgets where the thing here the series needed a character similar to ‘Q’ in the James Bond flicks. The role was filled by Carlson (Stacey Keach Sr.) Of course in this setting the devices had the habit of not working well especially when used by Smart. There was also a touch of science fiction included in the guise of Hymie the Robot (Richard Gautier). Originally he was created by KAOS but Smart turned him to the forces of goodness and he became an agent for CONTROL.

Some of the devices used in this series have become legendary. Most people remember the infamous ‘shoe phone’ that kept Smart in touch with home base. There was also the ‘cone of silence’ that was supposed to prevent eavesdropping but never worked correctly. All of this was great but what makes this series an enduring classic was the performances. Adams made a career out of the bumbling persona of Maxwell Smart. He was a spy but everyone in the audience had the feeling that we could do better. The juxtaposition of Smart and 99 made the show. She was faithful and had a crush on him but he was often too dense to see it. The comic timing of every episode is perfect and the laughs will go on forever. This is something that is not just a part of our youth and a piece of our culture it remains one of the funniest TV series ever.