MovieChat Forums > Get Smart (1965) Discussion > What made this show great was that it wa...

What made this show great was that it was NOT completely a comedy...

posted 15 years ago by kartoon-1
31 replies | jump to latest

What made GET SMART unique as a show for not only the 60's but for even today was that it was actually a Action/comedy.
How many other comedies of the time(or even today) can you think of that had genuine intense adventure and suspense with characters actually getting shot, stabbed or killed? And the series even had suspenseful cliff-hanger episodes not usually found in other comedies of the time.
If you took out the slapstick buffoonery what was left was a competent tho' light-hearted adventure series in the mold of 'The Avengers' with Patrick MacNee and Diana Rigg, also a tongue-in-cheek show.

And what kept the comedy balanced was that Maxwell Smart was not completely an idiot. In every episode he demonstrated courage, resourcefulness and the ability to think on his feet. And he was a good shot and good in a fight.
Its just that he would alternate between these moments of cunning with moments of tomfoolery.

As for 99(Barbara Feldon) and the Chief (Ed Platt) was that they were the perfect 'Straight' man and woman for Don Addams. Barbara was perfect as the frustrated but adoring 99 and Ed Platt had some terrific facial expressions of sheer exasperation!

I sincerely doubt the show would have lasted as long as it did if it was a pure farce.

[–] dtmuller 15 years ago

No doubt about it, the casting was brilliant on this show. I never fail to be amazed at how good Ed Platt really was. Every facial expression, eyebrow raise and twitch was perfect. Just watch any of the remake films made without him, The Nude Bomb or the recent Get Smart (and what was that other TV movie?), and it's obvious just how much Platt brought to the show.

And let's not forget some of the occasional guests: Siegfried, the Craw, Harry Hoo, et al. Great stuff, played to perfection.

I never really thought about it, but I think you're right about the action/adventure side of the thing. Eliminate that, and you'd have something on the order of Batman. Good for a few cheap laughs, but it got old really fast.

[–] planetmutty 15 years ago

No doubt about it, the casting was brilliant on this show. I never fail to be amazed at how good Ed Platt really was. Every facial expression, eyebrow raise and twitch was perfect. Just watch any of the remake films made without him, The Nude Bomb or the recent Get Smart (and what was that other TV movie?), and it's obvious just how much Platt brought to the show.

Spot on, dtmuller. The Nude Bomb was pretty average but Dana Elcar just couldn't cut it as the Chief. Edward Platt's shoes were too big to fill. It's good to see someone giving him some credit as he was really the third man behind the obvious star and gorgeous Barbara Feldon. Platt was superb as the Chief and had some great lines often with little more than deadpan delivery. He could be brilliant without actually seeming to do very much at all.

When I said I wanted to be a comedian, they all laughed at me. Well, they're not laughing now!

[–] pt100 12 years ago

One of the great things about the guest casting is that the guest also often played straight man to Maxwell Smart. Although no one can do the frustration face like Ed Platt, there were some great exchanges between guests and Smart.

One of my favorites was The Claw, the Asian villain who always pronounced the "l" in his own name as an "r" sound. He introduced himself to Max as "The Craw," and when Max then called him "The Craw," the villain got totally frustrated and started saying, "No, not Craw. CRAW!" Absolutely hilarious.

[–] 12 years ago

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[–] a_l_i_e_n 15 years ago

Yes, in addition to playing a great buffoonish character, Don Adams was also a pretty superb action performer, too. The guy obviously put a lot of effort into making the many fight sequences look realistic. So, yes, the result was you got both a really exciting action show in addition to a marvelous satire.

[–] Computer_Stud 15 years ago

Don Adams was both a comedian and a marine, so he was perfect for the part.

[–] 15 years ago

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[–] gbennett5 15 years ago

I agree - "Get Smart" was unique in that there was a sort of tension.
And whenever a situation was so stupid, or unbelievable in how Max
and 99 would escape, the show would go back to its satire mode. Of
COURSE it was ridiculous that Max and 99 were never killed - all KAOS
had to do was show up at Max's apartment and shoot him. But it got
away with this stuff because it was such a looney comedy.

This will probably irriate fans, but I have to say that Max really
only worked for me when the chief and 99 were in the episode with
him (a few episodes are 99 and chief free). Here, Smart fumbles,
as the other two characters grounded the situation, particularly
Platt who was an ACTOR who played the role straight. Adams was a
comic and lacked the acting skills to anchor the show. Sorry, just
my opinion.

[–] as537 15 years ago

Never underestimate the need for a good straightman(Or Woman).

[–] Woody739 12 years ago

In the old vaudeville and radio days, the pay split was 60% for the straight man and 40% for the comic. Bud Abbott got 60% and Lou Costello got 40%. The reason being was that there were plenty of comics, but it took real talent to play the straight man.

[–] Computer_Stud 15 years ago

Edward Platt was great. I think he grounded the show and everything about Get Smart was believable because of his acting. But I wouldn't shortchange Don Adams. I think that he pulled off the serious, dramatic moments of Get Smart really well. He could make Max look life a goof in one scene and then make him look like James Bond in the next scene. Adams was a comedian but I think you have to be a good actor to be a good comedian (and he was) because you have to convince your audience that you are good at what you do.

[–] gbennett5 15 years ago

I agree that we shouldn't shortchange Adams, but I highly disagree that you
have to be a good actor to be a good comedian. There are countless
comedians who are effective at what they do, but are NOT actors. By this,
I mean that they don't bring any emotion to their work, a central ingredient
in actors who do comedy. Adams is in the same league as Steve Martin,
Bob Hope, The Marx Brothers, Ray Romano, Jerry Seinfeld, Joan Rivers,
even the great Woody Allen. They are great, some brilliant, but they don't
create characters they dissolve into with emotions. By contrast, Lucille
Ball, Carroll O'Connor, Jackie Gleason, Beatrice Arthur and others were
brilliant comic ACTORS. There's a huge difference.

[–] Computer_Stud 15 years ago

Steve Martin is a great actor, probably one of the best comedians-turned-actors. Ray Romano is pretty good, too. Jerry Seinfeld has never really shown us what he can do acting wise. Bob Hope and Woody Allen seemed to play the same role over and over but that doesn't mean that they couldn't act. I don't watch The Marx Brothers and I've only seen Joan Rivers act in her autobiographical movie, which was touching because she was reliving her own personal experiences.

A lot about being a good comedian is being able to deliver and time a joke perfectly. Even telling a joke sometimes requires acting when you are pretending to be someone else as you tell a story to your audience. You also need the right facial expressions and mannerisms to sell a joke, which is why comedians practice routines in front of mirrors. Facial expressions, mannerisms, timing, and delivery are all important to being a good actor, too. That's why I think comedy and acting go hand in hand.

[–] gbennett5 15 years ago

Sorry, disagree. Martin is an incredibly hollow actor, sometimes an
embarrassing one. My mother's a huge fan and I've seen virtually all of
his work. He's a great playwright, possesses one of the greatest art
collections in the world and is highly intelligent. But an actor he
isn't. Neither is Ray Romano. Having great facial expressions and timing
isn't necessarily acting ability. Acting and comedy do NOT necessarily go
hand-in-hand.

As for Adams, he had a collection of overly-used one-liners and about five
rubbery facial expressions. It worked great for Maxwell Smart and that was
about it. The character was basically a cartoon.

Lastly, the cat out back knows Seinfeld isn't an actor. He couldn't even
keep from fighting a grin on his own show and has admitted as much.

[–] bill-520 14 years ago

I'm glad someone brought this up. I remember thinking even then (I think I was 11, watching the series during its original run) that the TV Guide listing "Get Smart (Comedy)" didn't quite hit the nail on the head.

The show was most definitely more of an action series with comedic overtones than your basic "Green Acres"-type comedy of the era and still holds up fairly well today, despite the Cold War being over.

And I'm sure as long as James Bond continues to draw in audiences, Get Smart will go on (re-)gaining popularity.

[–] gbennett5 14 years ago

Completely disagree. If you had to label the series with one word only,
"comedy" (and a damn good one) would be the word. It was a comedy FIRST,
action-adventure notwithstanding.

[–] hariseldon59 14 years ago

Sure the show crossed genres, but it was definitely a comedy first and foremost. With Mel Brooks and Buck Henry involved, what else could it be?

[–] fitzysbuna 14 years ago

buck henry had more to do with than Mel brooks! some have even said that his name was only put there to sell it to the tv network!

[–] hariseldon59 14 years ago

You're right that Mel wasn't that involved with the show, but he did write the pilot episode with Buck, which is why he gets co-creator credit (and that did help to sell the show). Other than that I think Mel's only involvement with the show was to co-wrote two more episodes. Buck served as the script editor for the first two seasons, so he did have a bigger role in the show.

[–] nineminehair 14 years ago

oh, i dunno. sometimes re Get Smart, TV Guide got it exactly right...

a reader wrote to TV Guide's answer column asking:

"Who plays Agent 99 and what is her real name?"

TV Guide's answer: "Agent 99 is played by Barbara Feldon. Her real name is Agent 93."

[–] 14 years ago

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[–] randwolfray 13 years ago

"What made GET SMART unique as a show for not only the 60's but for even today was that it was actually a Action/comedy."

I agree with this observation. It's like I read somewhere else in regard to parodies in general: to really work a parody must convince you, at least for the briefest of moments, that you're actually watching a serious show. A friend and I enjoyed the hilarious Mel Brooks movie "High Anxiety," which is a parody of Alfred Hitchcock films. "I know this movie is really goofy," she said, "but it's exciting too, wondering what's going to happen." In that same sense I think of "The Big Bus" (a 1976 disaster-movie spoof about a nuclear-powered bus on its nonstop maiden voyage from New York to Denver, complete with dining room, bowling alley, swimming pool, and piano bar!), and of course, "Airplane!" (1980) and "Airplane II: The Sequel" (1982).

[–] horrorfansuper11 13 years ago

in season 4 and 5 86 got even stupider and funnier. I liked how agent 99 and 86 got married.

[–] LCShackley 13 years ago

Just watched an old movie with Ed Platt in it - other characters referred to him twice as "The Chief." (It was a newspaper movie.)

[–] linop90 12 years ago

Sad that he commited suicide - rip chief

Eat the Neocons.

[–] Bargle77 10 years ago

And what kept the comedy balanced was that Maxwell Smart was not completely an idiot. In every episode he demonstrated courage, resourcefulness and the ability to think on his feet. And he was a good shot and good in a fight.
Its just that he would alternate between these moments of cunning with moments of tomfoolery.

Yes. I've been watching the episodes again on DVD and it's brought this home. Max wasn't totally incompetent as an agent. He did often get it right. Made it more believeable that he held on to his job for so long. In the "Get Smart, Again!" movie, the Major Waterhouse character remarks that Smart had the best record of foiling KAOS schemes of any CONTROL agent.

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It's all like some bad movie.