Missed It By That Much …

As it turns out, yesterday—not today—marked the birthday of Manhattan-born comic-actor Don Adams, who is still best known for his role as Maxwell Smart, Agent 86, in the 1965-1970 NBC-TV situation comedy/spy series Get Smart, and who died in 2005 at age 82. In honor of this occasion, I am offering here a clip from a mid-1960s episode of The Dean Martin Show, in which the host quizzes Adams—in character—about the apparently hilarious challenges involved in being a top American secret agent. Enjoy!

(Hat tip to The Spy Command.)

Can You Hear Me Now?

It’s Friday, and we could probably all benefit from a bit of lightheartedness in advance of the weekend. So here’s a video clip from the 1965-1970 TV spy spoof, Get Smart, in which secret agent Maxwell Smart (Don Adams) and his superior at CONTROL (played by Edward Platt) try to share top secret information beneath the notorious Cone of Silence. As Wikipedia recalls, this was one of the series’ best running gags:

Invented by “Professor Cone,” the device is designed to protect the most secret of conversations (aka “C.O.S. security risks”) by enshrouding its users within a transparent sound-proof shield. Unfortunately, CONTROL had purchased the device from a “discount place"” rather than the federal government, so it has never worked properly. Naturally, this frustrating situation provides fuel for comedy.

Whenever Maxwell Smart (“Agent 86”) wants to speak to his boss (“Chief”) about a top secret matter, “86” would insist on using the comically defective technology despite being reminded that it never works. The Chief, usually with annoyed skepticism, would press a switch, causing the device to descend from above his desk, surrounding the heads of the two would-be conversers. ...

Part of the humor is in the irony that Agent 86 and Chief cannot hear each other clearly, while bystanders outside the Cone of Silence can hear everything they say as well as speak to them. Sometimes the bystander would even act as a relay so that Chief and “86” inside the device could communicate. Often at the end of the labored conversation, Chief would become terribly frustrated and upset as it quickly becomes clear that the Cone of Silence is (as expected) completely useless.

I don’t know about you, but this just makes me smile.

Hold the (Shoe) Phone!

Salon critic Stephanie Zacharek likes the new Get Smart movie.

A Kiss Leads to Chaos

According to Fox News--always a near biblically accurate source of information (and I found this tidbit in a section called “Pop Tarts,” so you know it must be true. You don’t name things for toaster pastries if you’re dicking around)--while filming the soon-to-be released Get Smart movie, things got nasty on the set when the stars playing Maxwell Smart and Agent 99 were required to indulge in a big ol’ “on-screen smooch.”

“There was a health scare last year and a certain contact solution, I won’t say the name of it but it was the one that I use--gave you conjunctivitis,” [Anne] Hathaway explained to Pop Tarts while promoting her latest stint as Agent 99. “I also had a sinus infection at the same time. So I had to go up to Steve [Carrel], my eye is red, puffy and dripping green--I’m just like snotty and I’m just like ... ‘Come here!’”

It wasn’t until after their intimate lip-lock that Hathaway discovered she had the highly contagious eye illness and had to make the dreaded call later that night to the film’s producer, Alex Gartner.

“I said you might want to call Steve and let him know I had pink eye and my tears kind of got in my mouth, so he might want to worry about that,” she said.

In a really strange way, all of this just confirms my arms akimbo at the casting of Anne Hathaway as Agent 99. You just know that none of this would have happened to Barbara Feldon. Am I right?

Get Smart opens June 20 at a (ahem) theater near you.

And Loving It?

I’ve resisted buying into favorable expectations for the forthcoming Get Smart movie, mostly because I wasn’t really thrilled about Steve Carell occupying the role of bumbling Agent 86, Maxwell Smart. I have very fond memories of the original, 1965-1970 TV series, and am skeptical about Carell taking the place of Don Adams.

But I have to admit, the film trailers being made available online are ... well, pretty funny. Watch them here.

(Hat tip to Crimespree Cinema.)

And Playing the Cone of Silence Will Be ...

Prospects are looking up just a bit further for the forthcoming movie version of that beloved old TV series Get Smart. Not being a Steve Carrell fan, I was concerned when he signed on to portray Maxwell Smart (the role originated by Don Adams, But things started to look up when the curvaceous Anne Hathaway accepted the part of Agent 99. And now, coming off his recent Oscar win (for his supporting role in Little Miss Sunshine), veteran actor Alan Arkin has agreed to play “The Chief” (a role that’s still synonymous with Edward Platt), Smart’s superior at the super-secret agency CONTROL. Maybe I’ll go see Get Smart, after all.