GET SMART, AGAIN!

Bernie Kopell and Don Adams

GET SMART, AGAIN! (1989 telefilm). Director: Gary Nelson.

The comedy spy series Get Smart had already had one theatrical feature, The Nude Bomb, when nine years later this TV movie reunited most of the crew of the series. In this the spy group CONTROL has gone out of business, but their opposite number, KAOS, is still alive and kicking and is blackmailing the world with a deadly weather control device. Maxwell Smart (Don Adams) is called back to active duty, and eventually his wife, Agent 99 (Barbara Feldon) follows suit. Conrad Siegfried (Bernie Kopell) is still Smart's adversary, only he now reports to a mysterious new leader. Meanwhile, Agent 99 is preparing to publish her memoirs when she discovers enemy agents have gotten their hands on some of the pages. Get Smart, Again! may sometimes trade on old gags, but it is also guilty of inspired lunacy, such as when helicopters and the resultant winds are used for top security "Hover Cover."  Then there's the bit with the "Hall of Hush" where spoken words are transformed into literal letters until the room gets so crowded with them that no one can read what they're saying. And then there's that old "Cone of Silence," now placed in the Smarts' bedroom. Get Smart, Again! retains its hilarity for most of its length although it gets a little slack towards the end, but the cast, a top-notch group of very funny actors led by the wonderful Adams, is certainly game and able. Kenneth Mars especially scores as the head of the security agency, as does Dick Gautier, who is just terrific as Hymie the robot.

Verdict: If you liked the original series, you'll probably like this. ***. 

GET SMART SEASON 3

GET SMART Season 3. 1967.

Don Adams and the gang are back as Maxwell Smart and associates in the third season of this popular spy comedy. Bob Kareveles as the dopey Larrabee is given a little more to do, but there seem to be too many episodes when Barbara Feldon as agent 99 shouts to Max "Do Something! Do Something!" and seems completely helpless. Taking a cue from Batman, the show started featuring celebrities in cameos [Joey Bishop, Milton Berle, Robert Kulp, Bill Dana, Danny Thomas, Buddy Hackett etc.]. Ellen Westin appeared irregularly as CONTROL chemist Dr. Steele, whose cover is as a stripper! A little old lady who appears in bit parts or as an extra in many episodes turns out to be Rose Michtom, the aunt of producer Leonard Stern [she's weird but adorable]! Ed Platt is back for another wonderful turn as the Chief.


Memorable episodes of this season include "The Spirit is Willing" with Ina Balin as the "ghost" of a woman killed by KAOS; "That Old Gang of Mine" with Max in London posing as "the Scar" to join a group of robbers and featuring the umbrella of silence [instead of the cone]; "The King Lives" with Max posing as lookalike royalty and with Michael Forest [Adonis on Star Trek] quite effective and striking in a supporting role; and "99 Loses Control," with 99 quitting the spy group to get married to KAOS agent Jacques Bergerac [The Hypnotic Eye]. The best episodes of the season were, arguably: "Classification: Dead" in which a poisoned Max has one day to live [shades of D.O.A.]; "Don't Look Back" with Max framed for murder and on the run from the police; and "The Reluctant Redhead" in which Max trains a non-agent (the excellent Julie Sommars) to impersonate the wife of KAOS man Cesar Romero.

The third season may have had fewer "A" episodes than seasons one and two, but the series was still entertaining and amusing and the writers did their best to come up with some intriguing plot lines, although there was a little too much repeating of certain jokes and gags that weren't that funny the first time around. [With all the "story editors" and "associate producers" on TV shows you would think this could be avoided!]

Verdict: Hardly for every taste but there's still some life in the misadventures of Maxwell Smart. **1/2. 

GET SMART SEASON 2

Don Adams as Maxwell Smart

GET SMART Season 2. 1966.

Chief: "KAOS may be jamming the frequency."

Agent: "All I can hear is Lawrence Welk music."

Chief: "That KAOS has no mercy."

Maxwell Smart (Don Adams), Agent 99 (Barbara Feldon) and the Chief (Ed Platt) are back for a second season of silliness with some solid laughs and clever storylines. Stand-out episodes include "Hoo Done It?" with 86 and 99 trapped on an island resort with detective Harry Hoo and a murderer who's killing off all the guests one by one; "Island of the Darned," which is actually a very exciting derivative of "The Most Dangerous Game" with the two agents being hunted by a madman; and "The Man from Yenta," with an Israeli agent assisting with security for a prince with many wives and much oil. Other notable episodes include: "Strike While the Agent is Hot" [Max threatens a CONTROL strike]; "Maxwell Smart, Alias Jimmy Valentine" [Max poses as a well-known safecracker]; "Bronzefinger" [a KAOS agent commits art forgeries, with a thrilling climax in a vat doom-trap]; 'Perils in a Pet Shop" [parrots are used in a clever KAOS scheme]; "Someone Down Here Hates Me" [KAOS puts a price on Max's head]; "Cutback at Control" [Siegfried offers Max a job with KAOS]; "Smart Fit the Battle of Jericho" {Max vs. a KAOS building contractor]; "How to Succeed in the Spy Business" [Siegfried defects from KAOS -- or does he?]; and "A Man Called Smart" [a special three-parter]. Max and 99 are ably assisted in the laughs by Siegfried (Bernie Kopell), Hymie the robot (Dick Gautier), and Dave Ketchum as Agent 13, who always has to hide in tight places.  And lets not forget the Cone of Silence! A good follow-up to season 1.

Verdict: Amusing and well-acted silliness. ***.