Customer Reviews

Get Smart: The Complete Series

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

If you think you're getting the complete, original (1965) Get Smart series, make no mistake. The original series is still available only directly from Time-Life, and is still $199.95. (Update 10/08: Now scheduled for 11/4/08 availability from Amazon at discounted price!)

This is the brief (7 episode) Get Smart revival series which aired on Fox in 1995. The series brings back Don Adams (now chief of CONTROL), Barbara Feldon (now a congresswoman), and David Ketchum (Agent 13), but the main characters are now Max and 99's son Zack (Andy Dick) and his partner, Agent 66 (Elaine Hendrix).

I was pleasantly surprised that this series managed to maintain some of the character and humor of the original series -- especially the episode which brought back Bernie Kopell as Siegfried.

And I'm also pleasantly surpised to see this short-lived gem available on DVD.

But if you order it thinking you're getting the original series for under $20, you may be in for a surprise of a different sort.

Okay, the year was 1995. FOX broadcasting wanted to bring in a mid-season replacement, as they are known to do. Their decision? Dig up "Get Smart".

In this new series, Max is now the Chief of Control and 99, still his wife, is in Congress. His son, Zack, is a spy and teams up with Agent 66. (No mention is made of their other offspring, however.)

7 episodes were made.

Some of the benefits accorded the new series:
* Agent 0 -- played by a different actor each week, you never know when 0 appears.
* Most of the humor remains in the same spirit as the original
* Sharply written plots
* Good acting

Some of the downsides to this new series:
* Overtly sexual in many episodes; even the pilot has more innuendo than many of the subsequent episodes combined.
* "Casino Evil", a great story, is a rewrite of an original series plot. (I don't care much for rewrites, but this one did work.)
* Stopped after 7 episodes

Highlight episodes:
* Pilot (ep 1) -- Zack and 66 investigate KAOS' attempt to steal indestructible fabric. Ignore the innuendo, some of which does get chuckles; there's more to like than dislike in this premiere.
* "Casino Evil" (ep 2) -- Zack and 66 infiltrate a casino operated by KAOS.
* "Goodbye Ms. Chip" (ep 3) -- A KAOS agent kidnaps and brainwashes 66 to kill an ambassador.

* Wurst Enemies (ep 6) -- An old enemy of Max returns.
* "Liver Let Die" (ep 7) -- Zack and 66 infiltrate a KAOS hospital. This one is my favorite of the new series; it handled the dark concepts and humor immensely well.

I'm surprised this series has been scheduled for release, but am gratified. My VHS off-air tapings are falling apart. I do have more than a soft spot for this series, as despite being a newly commissioned series, a lot of it really gels together. It deserved more of a proper chance than to be axed.

Please check back later to get a rundown on DVD audio/video quality. It'll probably be very good.

Fox had a brilliant idea in bringing back this classic series. I was so excited that Get Smart was being brought back years later in an updated version. First, start with the surviving cast (Don Adams, Barbara Feldon -still gorgeous, David Ketchum, and even a guest shot by Bernie Kopell as the evil Sigfreid.) They also added the stunning (and funny) Elaine Hendrix as another CONTROL agent.
Their one fatal mistake was adding Andy "the unfunniest , most annoying man on Earth and appropriately named" Dick as 86 and 99's son Zack. In the original series Max and 99 had twins. So it could have been worse, with the aforementioned Mr. Dick playing a dual role. But had they cast someone more likeable, the series would have went on much longer. I even remember reading an interview with Andy Dick where he trashed the show when it first came out because he also had a role on Newsradio and wanted out of his contract.
So in what could have been a great reboot of the series, CONTROL was not vanquished by KAOS, but bad casting. And niceness did not triumph over evil on this sequel. Sorry about that Chief!
It still amazes me to this day why Andy Dick has a career. I've tried to watch him with other wonderful casts on Newsradio and Less Than Perfect, but have a very low tolerance level to his brand of humor. Well, to each his own, but he's ruined many a fine show for me. Let's hope his 15 minutes are up.

The main problem in following up a classic series is that fans who love the original---and thus, make up the bulk of TV viewership---can make or break a new series. After all, the name of the game among networks is the Ratings Game---if you don't have the high numbers, then it's bye-bye.
This is what seemed to have happened with "The New Get Smart", which never made it beyond its first seven episodes.
It's too bad that TNGS didn't catch on, because it held promise. Don Adams (who looked more fit & healthy here than five years earlier in the "Get Smart Again" TV-movie) and Barbara Feldon reprise their roles as Max & 99. Except this time around, things have changed: Max is the chief of CONTROL (Lord help us!) and 99 is a congresswoman with budget ties to her old organization. Actually, they are more of supporting characters for the newly-promoted antics of their son, Zachary Smart (a typically nerdy but likeable Andy Dick). Of course, Zach is just as bumbling as his Dad, but in Dick's own comic stylings. As history repeats itself, he is partnered with a beautiful, skilled & intelligent blond partner, Agent 66 (99 turned upside down..get it?), played by Elaine Hendrix.
Some new supporting players are included: Trudy, a ditzy secretary hired as a temp who thinks CONTROL is a talent agency (!!), a faceless femme-fatale now running the evil organization KAOS, Agent Zero (a master of disguise), and Agent 9 (who is really IS nine years old).
Even some old familiar faces pop up: Dave Ketchum reprises his role as Agent 13 (hiding in a bowl of cole slaw in one episode) and even Bernie Kopell guest stars as the nefarious Siegfried, unemployed by KAOS and exacting revenge on both Max & Zach.
I loved the hilarious opening credits for this series, a new variation on the old access-to-CONTROL theme, by using a car wash as cover. This series lacks the satirical zing of the old series, but it has its moments of loopy verbal comedy & goofy gadgets, 1990's style.
Who knows what this series could have accomplished if it continued? They were barely scratching the surface of Zach & 66's partnership-relationship.
TNGS is probably too obscure for the casual viewer, but definitely of interest to lovers of Get Smart.

A disappointment...not enough of Max and 99 in the series - their son (Andy Dick) does not have the presence nor timing that Max had in the secret agent role - the same one liners while well delivered did not have the same impact for me. Elaine Hendrix (Agent 66) looked bored for most of the time...a situation where they should have quit while they were ahead.

I came across this DVD when searching for the original Get Smart TV show, and figured I couldn't go wrong picking this up for just $10.99. It was great to see Don Adams and Barbara Feldon get back into the roles of Agent 86 and 99, but that was probably the best thing about this dvd.

Maybe my memory is clouded regarding one of my favorite old TV shows, but I don't remember the old version of the shows effects being this bad. For a show produced in 1995, I expected a lot more from this new series, but was very disappointed. Many of the 'effects' were simply shown by displaying a can or tool of some kind, then cutting away for a moment and back to the 'results'. Off the top of my head, the only thing that comes to mind was the scene where the agent pulls out a can of 'instant key' and sprays shaving cream into a doorknob. Flash away and back, and find a solid white ball of plaster surrounding his hand. I'm not sure why that sticks in my mind, becuase there were definitely worse 'effects' scenes than that one.

Overall, I'm glad to have found this series that I never knew existed, but I can definitely understand why it was cancelled after only 7 episodes. Fans of the original series will enjoy it, but don't expect too much.

I initially read some reviews on this show,and the impression i got it was pathetic.But i actually enjoyed it,but it obviously didn't have the laughs the original series had.Now some people have knocked the cast,and it was always at its best when Max and 99 were in it,although Zack and agent 66 were in it for the most of it.Bernie Kopell as Sigfreid made an appearance in one episode.I do think they could have found a better character than Andy Dick as Zack,while some parts he was ok,overall i think it was a mistake.When it ended i couldn't help but ask why the show had to end like that.I mean they go through so much trouble to assemble the show again,only to run 7 episodes.That was the disappointing thing.Wasn't so bad after all.

If you're getting this because you have fond memories of Maxwell Smart, bumbling agent and you want to share his zaniness with your children, don't! This is NOT a family-friendly series. The first time you see the agent paired with Maxwell's Smart's klutzy son, she is clothed in pants and a metal bra/camisole with prominent nipple guns. There are sexual innuendos galore. If that's your thing, by all means, buy it. But it was not what I was expecting.

And Maxwell Smart and 99 play second-fiddle to their son and his partner, so there's not much Don Adams zing there either.

We'd just seen the movie, and my wife brought me this in a bookstore assuming it was the original series. I knew it wasn't, but the front of the DVD claims "The Complete Series" with the title "Get Smart" with *no* indication that it is the remake other than the fine print "the Smarts are Back in Control". This is somewhere between dishonest and deceptive, and is certainly sleazy. Buyer beware: the real complete series is ~$200 for a boxed set of multiple seasons. Shame on Sony marketing.

I was initially very disappointed that the show on this DVD was not actually the original Get Smart. I still gave it a shot though. It may be that I was already looking at the show negatively based on my initial reaction, but the show is really not very good. It is hard to give specifics, the show is really just bland. Owing to the fact that there were only six episodes made.

On the slightly positive side Don Adams is still very funny. It is also nice to see Barbara Feldon as Agent 99 again. In my opinion the buck stops with a little bit of nostalgia.