Getting Smarter

2008-08-06
3:08:53 am

I was a big big fan of Get Smart as a kid. I assume I watched it on Nick at Night or some other daytime syndicated re-rerun channel. (I think Nickelodeon played The Monkees at some point, but the old memory is fuzzy.) Anyway, I was pretty excited about the Steve Carrel remake that came out earlier this summer because he seemed like a really good replacement for the inimitable Don Adams. Of course, Anne Hathaway doesn't hold a candle to Barbara Feldon's Agent 99 (sorry Anne, no hard feelings).

Well, I heard the movie wasn't so good from a few sources, but the main one was the guys over at Totally Rad Show who I tend to agree with at least 51% of the time and especially when they say they don't like a movie.

So, I was looked towards a Get Smart-less summer until I checked the Best Buy ad online yesterday and say that they had the first season on DVD for $20. Score! So, I made sure to head to the Palisades Mall today and picked up this Mel Brooks and Buck Henry-created show. If you don't know who Buck is, I highly recommend checking out the first three seasons of Saturday Night Live on DVD (though you can skip the first few episodes). Anyway, I told three people about my plans to pick the set up. Rickey was for it. Emily said something like "couldn't we just rent it." And Dave of Indie Jones fame went so far as to say he'd actually stand in my way so I couldn't by that. Well, I left him badly beaten in the Best Buy and am now enjoying the hell out of the first two episodes.

The first is in black and white, but all the classic gags are there. Shoe phone? Check. "Woudja believe?" The cone of silence. The Chief. And of course the dreamiest of all spies, Agent 99. As far as spoof work goes, Brooks, Henry and Co. do a killer job of skewering '6os spy movies and pop culture in general. Watching 99 show Max how to dance like the kids do, was both hilarious and pretty sexy for the day. I can't wait to check out the rest of this season and all the others. Thanks to HBO for getting their stuff together and putting these bad boys out on the non-Time Life Books set (those things get pricey).