Carstairs Considers....: TV Show Review: Get Smart

Tuesday, June 18, 2013

TV Show Review: Get Smart - Season 1

Stars: 4 out of 5

Pros: Between puns and slapstick, lots of great laughs

Cons: Takes a few episodes to get going, canned laughter

The Bottom Line:

Classic comedy

Spoof still holds up well today

Not a miss at all

"Sorry Sir, but Your Party Has Been Drown."

Would you believe that Mel Brooks helped create a classic sitcom? You may find that hard to believe, but it's the truth. He's the co-creator of Get Smart, a spy spoof that is still as funny today as it was back in the 1960's. I certainly enjoyed the first season.

The show follows Maxwell Smart (Don Adams), Agent 86 for CONTROL. Unfortunately, he's not the smartest spy in the world, so he needs help along the way. Usually helping him out is the beautiful Agent 99 (Barbara Feldon). Both of them answer to The Chief (Edward Platt). Even if Max is a bumbler, these three (and various other agents) seem to track down the agents of KAOS and save the free world.

Just what are some of their cases? Well, it always seems that dangerous plans are being smuggled out of the country, sometimes on a "Ship of Spies" and sometimes in clothes. Multiple times an agent is killed and Max must figure out what they had just learned. There's a KAOS agent in the CONTROL spy school. A doctor shows up with an invisibility ray. (Oh, you know what I mean.) And an assassin even pretends to be the Chief to get close to his target. Along the way we've even got such clever deadly devices as a gun that turns people into manikins and a phone booth that fills with water to drown people.

This show is still a cultural landmark thanks mainly to Max's legendary shoe phone. Of course, that's not the only strange phone Max uses. There's the tie, the painting, and the gun phone, to name three. Catch phrases such as "Sorry about that, Chief," are also still popular today, although we don't hear Max say "Missed it by that much" very often here.

If you are familiar with the spoof of Mel Brooks, you pretty much know what to expect here. Anything silly goes. There are lots of puns and slapstick humor. Since Max will mess just about anything up, the possibilities are endless. It's very easy to find something to laugh at in just about every episode.

One thing Mel Brooks fans won't find here is his crude humor. This was TV from the 60's after all, and he couldn't get away with much of what he did in his movies. Frankly, I find that a refreshing change. Likewise, even the violence is toned down. Yes, there are gun shots and people die, but you rarely if ever see any blood. Realistic? No. But this is a comedy, remember? This is a clean comedy that the entire family can enjoy together.

Like with most shows, this one took a few episodes to find it's feet, so the first few aren't as funny or entertaining. Another draw back to the show is the laugh track. Since this show requires stunts and effects, it wasn't filmed before a live audience. The canned laughter is a bit distracting at times, but it's a minor issues.

While the writers may have been feeling their way, the cast pretty much jumps into their roles right from the start. While the humor gets funnier as the season progresses, the acting is always top notch. They make the comedy seem effortless.

I mentioned the effects. Some things are obviously dated, but for the most part things still work. Suspend some believe, and you'll be just fine.

Season 1 of the show consisted of 30 episodes. The pilot was filmed in back and white, but the other 29 episodes are in full color. They are presented here in their original full frame ratio and stereo sound. They may not be flashy by today's standards, but they are restored so the picture and sound are the pretty near perfect.

Extras? Well, that just depends. If you buy the seasons separately, you'll get no extras, but these four seasons on four discs. However, if you buy the complete series, you'll get three audio commentaries and a fifth disc of behind the scenes information and promo materials. Also, each episode gets a brief (30 seconds max) intro by star Barbara Feldon.

Even though the time period is the Cold War, the humor of Get Smart is timeless. If you enjoy puns and slapstick, season 1 will have you in stitches.

Season 1 Episodes:

1. Mr. Big

2. Diplomat's Daughter

3. School Days

4. Our Man in Toyland

5. Now You See Him, Now You Don't

6. Washington 4, Indians 3

7. KAOS in Control

8. The Day Smart Turned Chicken

9. Satan Place

10. Our man in Leotards

11. Too Many Chiefs