Customer Reviews

Get Smart: The Complete Collection

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Smart. Maxwell Smart. The dumbest spy in the world, who fights on behalf of the forces of goodness and niceness, and succeeded in making democracy vs. communism a lot more entertaining. With the comic trio of Don Adams, Barbara Feldon and Edward Platt, this hilarious spy spoof is still funny today.

Don Adams is Agent 86, Maxwell Smart, a not-so-bright spy with an endless arsenal of strange devices and odd sayings. The bumbling spy at a top-secret government agency called Control, which is responsible for keeping the free world free. Backing him up is his beautiful partner/love interest Agent 99 (Barbara Feldon) and his long-suffering Chief (Eward Platt) who puts up with Smart's constant mistakes.

Together with 99 (whom he marries late in the series), and the Chief (and his faithful dog Fang), Max battles the forces of badness and rottenness -- namely, the anti-Control called KAOS. They battle against their archnemesis Siegfried and a bunch of other KAOS agents, with explosive paintings, lovable robots, explosive pianos, evil hippies, and much more.

"Missed it by that much!" Maxwell Smart's catchphrases and goofy confidence made him the perfect antidote to the suave James Bond. Unlike Bond and similar movie spies, Max succeeds out of luck and bumbling more often than skill... but somehow, he still succeeds.

The comic timing is a little awkward at the very beginning, but rapidly gets its footing. What's really funny is the endless spoofery -- Max is given all sorts of weird gadgets, including the legendary "shoe-phone," and he faces off against all sorts of cartoonish villains. And it has dozens and dozens of movie spoofs -- "The Great Escape," "The Most Dangerous Game," "Maltese Falcon," "King Kong," and even the Bond movie "Goldfinger."

The political clime of the mid 1960s is all over the series, especially in the form of KAOS. But fortunately they don't get preachy -- KAOS is merely a big evil organization, no more. Some references are dated, and this definitely debuted before the era of political correctness (there's a bizarre episode about American Indians threatening the US government, and the Claw is funny if un-PC).

Don Adams MAKES this series, with his quirky facial expressions, nasal voice and odd body language. His Max overestimates his own skill and believes himself to be a sexy, karate-chopping Bondian treasure, though he survives mostly by luck ("Missed it by that much!").

Barbara Feldon is the least quirky of the cast, serving as the "straight woman" for Max, as well as the brains for his adventures. Edward Platt is just wonderful as the long-suffering, stressed-out Chief, who always looks slightly frayed, and Bernie Kopell is hysterical as the stiff-backed, volatile Siegfried.

It should be noted that right now, the entire series is only available directly from Time Life, with a big price tag (I was lucky enough to watch a relative's copy). Wait until Fall 2007, and it will be widely available at a lower price. They're also exquisitely remastered, with all that sixties colour, and they've reinserted little bits that were cut for commercials. It actually improves the flow.

It's been decades since "Get Smart" was first aired, but it is still gutsplittingly funny. You'll roll around on the floor, laughing yourself sick... and... loving it.

As a dedicated spy nut, I was ecstatic when I heard that Get Smart was being released on DVD at last. Even with the anticipation, the set still managed to exceed my expectations. The box is set up to look like the elevator Max disappears into during the title credits. In addition to sharp, bright and clean episode quality, each season is loaded with extras, including commentary from both Mel Brooks and Buck Henry, numerous documentaries, a touching clip from Don Adams' memorial service and commentary from Barbara Feldon before EACH EPISODE. The set also includes the black and white pilot episode which I had never seen before. In short, this sucker is loaded. Nick at Nite hasn't shown Get Smart for years now, so those of you going through advanced cases of Max and 99 withdrawl can have your Get Smart cravings satisfied forever with this great set. Here's hoping the set will soon be more widely available so Amazon can offer it at its usual rock-bottom price.

It's true. You can toss your old VHS copies of the Nick at Nite replays of the beloved series. I received the set this Christmas from my brother who was able to obtain an advance copy. The re-mastering work is excellent. The video is sharp with vivid colors and wide-ranging audio. There are complementary extras for each season: documentaries, interviews, bloopers, and much more. Certainly this is a labor of love for one of the best sit-coms ever. I strongly recommend this box set.

This is without a doubt THE BEST collection of a beloved tv sitcom ever. Even though it is unavailable in retails stores till later this year, you can order it through the Time Life website where they are selling it exclusivley. There are bonus features that show in-depth interviews with Barbara Feldon (Agent 99) and Bernie Kopell (Ziegfried) as well as numerous other flash-back spots. Don Adams was (is) a truly gifted comedic actor and it's unfortunate that he did not live to see the upcoming remake of Get Smart Movie (being produced by Warner Bros. with Steve Carrell as Max and Anne Hathaway as Agent 99). Some of my favorite episodes are the wedding of him and 99. Seeing characters such as Hymie the Robot and The Admiral made me chuckle. Watching each episode takes you back to a time when our world was a little more innocent (perhaps naive) but it'll leave you with a smile on your face regardless. A definite MUST HAVE! GET SMART RULES!!!!!!!!!!!

I have long been a fan of Get Smart. It stands head and shoulders above every other 60s sitcom. I've missed it from the the airwaves for years. Many episodes stand up to repeated viewings, and I cannot say that about many other programs.

Never has there been a show that spawned so many catchphrases, all of which lose nothing even when repeated constantly over the course of the show. My favourite:

Smart: "Okay, dummy, let's see how tough you are without your gun" (or similar)

** Smart tries to attack "dummy" to no effect **

Smart (putting arm around "dummy"): "Listen, I hope I wasn't out of line about that crack about "dummy".

Imagine then my excitement in seeing that the entire series was available on dvd. My wife got it for me for Christmas and I've been enjoying it every since. Whatever she paid for it - it's worth it. (However, be aware that for now at least you can only get this from the Time Life website.)

With 25 magificent disks, it will take weeks to go through the 138 episodes, all of which are uncut, and remastered to reflect colours and detail that I bet weren't even available when originally broadcast. This is to say nothing about the many featurettes, interviews, bloopers, and other extras that are available on each disk. It's clear that nearly every surviving actor or professional who was at some point involved with the show was also involved when developing this set, so it's a labour of love by all concerned.

My one small complaint - only a few episodes have comment tracks.

Another regret is that Don Adams did not live long enough to see this produced and therefore could not add his voice to all the others. Imagine what that'd've been like!

The show is also interesting as an early vehicle for Mel Brooks, Buck Henry and a collection of other talented writers and directors. You can see the results in the combination of witty parody (John Byner channelling LBJ?) and silliness ("Fang, Nimm die Bomb!") in all episodes. And check out Carol Burnett as "Ozark Annie" (season 3)!

Thus Get Smart is entertaining to both older and younger viewers at different levels.

we just got the time-life dvds and after a quick watching of two episodes on the first disc, i have to say the shows look great! picture and sound quality are incredible with loads of extras. we're ecstatic to have these dvds. good job to all concerned who helped produce these discs.