Customer Reviews

Get Smart: Season 5

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

 

 

First came love, then came marriage, and now come baby Smarts in the baby carriage!

And the fifth and final season of the classic spy spoof "Get Smart" focuses on that new complication for bumbling spy Maxwell Smart and his new wife 99. The baby focus is a bit tiresome at times (even if it does produce the Chief and Larabee babysitting!) but it's still a pretty hilarious series with plenty of long-running gags and catchphrases, and an endless stream of bizarre conspiracies to destroy the free world. Would you believe...?

Max and 99 are sent to rescue a professor who is being kept under an unbreakable glass dome, but as they're being chased off the premises, 99 drops a bombshell on her husband -- she's pregnant. Max is so elated by this that he not only runs through a brick wall, but blabs his secret identity to a nearby reporter, putting the mission in jeopardy.

And of course, their impending parenthood becomes a part of the new missions -- defeating Ironhand with Operation Baby Buggy Switch, dealing with a bunch of explosive dolls, and Max must even "marry" a KAOS black widow on his anniversary. Worst of all, a mixup with some trenchcoats causes Max and 99 to end up heading for a KAOS clinic when 99 goes into labor -- not to mention going up against the deadly Simon the Likable.

Among the other weird cases: the treasure of C. Errol Madre, wounded gangster who thinks he's a doctor, serial killings with banana peels, rapid aging, acid in the Washington water supply, inexplicable weather changes (snow in Miami?), a wax museum with very lifelike residents, a house of crazy gothic secrets, attempting to keep an informer safe from the Exterminator, a devious 99 doppelganger, security leaks via pseudo-Roman spas, spying plants, a descendent of Christopher Columbus who has inherited the United States, and Max going undercover as the worst butler the Bulmanian Embassy has ever seen.

"Get Smart Season Five" isn't quite the best that the series had to offer, and the baby focus is a bit offputting at times (since it's so far removed from the World of Spies). But considering this series had been running in the same basic groove for four seasons before it, it's still remarkably fresh and funny -- still has plenty of movie spoofs ("Witness for the Prosecution," "Spartacus," "House of Wax," "Treasure of the Sierra Madre"), classic running gags, and general strangeness.

Along the way, there are plenty of bizarre plots by the evil KAOS (being attacked by a wax werewolf!) and bizarre puzzles that Max and 99 somehow work out, often by putting themselves in comical danger, ranging from Vincent Price's hallucinogenic plan ("Of course! Everyone will think it's a folk rock festival!") to very odd plastic surgeries. But there are also some more down-to-earth problems that the newlyweds face, such as Max and 99 having to leave their babies in the care of Chief and Larabee.

And the dialogue and comic relief are absolutely priceless ("That's just what we've been waiting ten years to hear. Larabee, You got your tape recorder?" "Right here, Chief. When do you want me to turn it on?"), and the babies don't stop the hysterical physical comedy (Max's inability to buttle).

Don Adams is the heart of the series, with his quirky face, nasal voice, odd body language and confident catchphrases ("And loving it!"), and while he's still a bumbler as an agent he makes a great dad. Barbara Feldon gets to play out some pregnancy cravings and insecurities ("Fat fat the water rat!") while still sometimes doing some solid agent work (the ultimate working mom! She saves the free world then goes home to babies).

Edward Platt is just wonderful as the long-suffering Chief, and Bernie Kopell gets in a last laugh as the delightfully uptight villain Siegfried -- and with Max being more competent, Robert Karvelas' Larabee takes over as the resident clueless weirdo ("Larabee, confiscate that plant." "I can't do that, Chief. I'm not a priest!").

It's the final season and got a bit worn around the edges, but "Get Smart Season Five" is still a hilarious spoof-fest. Still Smart after all these years.

Haven't watched these particular episodes yet...it is a gift for my 11 year old son...he loves them, his almost 13 year old brother loves them, his 15 year old sister loves them, and of course Dad loves them....good, clean humor....nothing like what you see on television today!

In the 4th season they had Max and 99 get married adding some much needed new material for the joke and gag writers. And in the
5th and last season they added another new twist to the show. Max and 99 become expectant perants giving even more room for new
gags.
They also did more spoofs of popular movies and such modifing the stories just enough to fit into the existing spy spoof that
Get Smart had been all along.
These new twists were needed. After all, there are only so many ways you can do a good spoof of James Bond type stories, and
even by the 3rd season those were getting a little worn and predictable. The 1st and 2nd seasons were better. Even so, the
5th season is still well worth watching providing lots of laughs.

Got ém all and they are a hoot (yes I did use hoot)!! I am old enough to remember when the episodes were shown brand new on the TV. Yeah I know that makes me old, so what?

This became one of my favorite sitcoms when I stated watching it in reruns when I was a kid. I now own the entire Get Smart DVD series. Thanks Amazon for selling such great products!

Um...is it just me or does it seem like the show didn't end? Nothing in the last episode of this season was like a finale. If it was because the show was axed, they should have done a special or at least a season 6 to give it an ending. I know there were spin-offs but it's not really the same. There are tons of extras! And I am glad there is an extra about the passing of Don Adams. Is it just me, or did Agent Larabee really seem to become a strong character in this season? I would have loved to have had a season 6 with more of him!

The seven Emmy award winning series starring Don Adams as everyone's favourite bumbling CONTROL agent,Maxwell Smart,continues merrily along into Season Four.
This season brings back CONTROL's fave robot Hymie(Dick Gautier) and KAOS's funniest bad guy Siegfried(Bernie Kopell).This is the season also that Max and 99 finally get married.Further,as you watch,you will see the Chief and Agent Larabee not only getting more show time but much funnier lines.In previous seasons the incompetent bumbling was more Max focused,whereas this season and the following one,CONTROL as a whole would be put onto the same bumbling level as Max.Injecting this broader dynamic into the proceedings equalled more laughs.
The writers in season four really got into title parodies with such ep titles as "The Impossible Mission"(TV show "Mission Impossible"),"The Tale of Two Tails"(Dickens'"The Tale of Two Cities"),"Absorb the Greek"(book and movie"Zorba the Greek")
,"To Sire with Love"(movie"To Sir,with Love") and many more.
As usual Barbara Feldon is on hand to intro all the eps in her usual droll style.The only special features(unfortunately)are just commentary tracks on two eps,one with Feldon and co-creator Buck Henry and another with James Caan.With the latter Caan says little or nothing about what is being shown on screen;an ep he was in.He just randomly reminisces about his relationship with Adams.
Technically the transfer is the same as all other season's.As crisp as the picture may be you seem to be looking through a very fine gauze,which I find perplexing.
Overall this second to last season keeps the proceedings moving on a steady beam.Adams continues to keep his character up to snuff,with the usual inflections of Stan Laurel thrown in every so often for good measure.As I mentioned the Chief and Larrabee get more air time and laughs and Max takes the marital plunge with 99.The lack of special features and the "funny" film to DVD transfer gets a good full star taken off its' rating.Otherwise season four will definitely please its fans.

WE ENJOY ALL GET SMART EPISODES. THEY ARE GREAT, AND MY KIDS HAD GOOD LAUGH.