I was sad to hear on the radio this morning that Don Adams a.k.a. Maxwell Smart, died this Sunday. I grew up watching Get Smart reruns on Nick at Night and pulled my first ever all nighter at a friend's house watching a Get Smart marathon. One of the first spy spoofs, Get Smart was wacky and hilarious and you can find references to it in almost every spy spoof movie since.

1. Shoe Phone - according to this article, it was the first ever cell phone (not that it worked) and I believe that they have the prop on permanent display at the Spy Museum here in DC. It's a classic.
2. Cone of Silence - One of the stupidest recurring gimmicks of any TV series I've ever seen. Max would always insist that the cone of silence be used when discussing top secret information, the problem was that the people in the cone of silence couldn't hear each other either which made for a very exasperated Chief.
3. Opening credits - Great song, great visual sequence. The camera follows Max as he enters Control headquarters.
4. Agent 99's lack of a real name - As far as I know her real name is never once mentioned in the series, and Max who ends up marrying her near the end of the series still only knows her as Agent 99.
5. Kaos vs. Control - I just loved the names of the two feuding agencies. And the recurring line that went something like "Zis is Kaos, ve don't _____ here!"


"There are no holidays in the fight against evil."
~Don Adams as Agent 86