Get Smart: The Complete Series (1995)

Missed it by THAT much!

The main problem in following up a classic series is that fans who love the original---and thus, make up the bulk of TV viewership---can make or break a new series. After all, the name of the game among networks is the Ratings Game---if you don't have the high numbers, then it's bye-bye.
This is what seemed to have happened with "The New Get Smart", which never made it beyond its first seven episodes.
It's too bad that TNGS didn't catch on, because it held promise. Don Adams (who looked more fit & healthy here than five years earlier in the "Get Smart Again" TV-movie) and Barbara Feldon reprise their roles as Max & 99. Except this time around, things have changed: Max is the chief of CONTROL (Lord help us!) and 99 is a congresswoman with budget ties to her old organization. Actually, they are more of supporting characters for the newly-promoted antics of their son, Zachary Smart (a typically nerdy but likeable Andy Dick). Of course, Zach is just as bumbling as his Dad, but in Dick's own comic stylings. As history repeats itself, he is partnered with a beautiful, skilled & intelligent blond partner, Agent 66 (99 turned upside down..get it?), played by Elaine Hendrix.
Some new supporting players are included: Trudy, a ditzy secretary hired as a temp who thinks CONTROL is a talent agency (!!), a faceless femme-fatale now running the evil organization KAOS, Agent Zero (a master of disguise), and Agent 9 (who is really IS nine years old).
Even some old familiar faces pop up: Dave Ketchum reprises his role as Agent 13 (hiding in a bowl of cole slaw in one episode) and even Bernie Kopell guest stars as the nefarious Siegfried, unemployed by KAOS and exacting revenge on both Max & Zach.
I loved the hilarious opening credits for this series, a new variation on the old access-to-CONTROL theme, by using a car wash as cover. This series lacks the satirical zing of the old series, but it has its moments of loopy verbal comedy & goofy gadgets, 1990's style.
Who knows what this series could have accomplished if it continued? They were barely scratching the surface of Zach & 66's partnership-relationship.
TNGS is probably too obscure for the casual viewer, but definitely of interest to lovers of Get Smart. July 13, 2008

Not a family-friendly series

If you're getting this because you have fond memories of Maxwell Smart, bumbling agent and you want to share his zaniness with your children, don't! This is NOT a family-friendly series. The first time you see the agent paired with Maxwell's Smart's klutzy son, she is clothed in pants and a metal bra/camisole with prominent nipple guns. There are sexual innuendos galore. If that's your thing, by all means, buy it. But it was not what I was expecting.

And Maxwell Smart and 99 play second-fiddle to their son and his partner, so there's not much Don Adams zing there either.
July 9, 2008

Deceptiive labeling

We'd just seen the movie, and my wife brought me this in a bookstore assuming it was the original series. I knew it wasn't, but the front of the DVD claims "The Complete Series" with the title "Get Smart" with *no* indication that it is the remake other than the fine print "the Smarts are Back in Control". This is somewhere between dishonest and deceptive, and is certainly sleazy. Buyer beware: the real complete series is ~$200 for a boxed set of multiple seasons. Shame on Sony marketing. July 4, 2008

Terrible

I was initially very disappointed that the show on this DVD was not actually the original Get Smart. I still gave it a shot though. It may be that I was already looking at the show negatively based on my initial reaction, but the show is really not very good. It is hard to give specifics, the show is really just bland. Owing to the fact that there were only six episodes made.

On the slightly positive side Don Adams is still very funny. It is also nice to see Barbara Feldon as Agent 99 again. In my opinion the buck stops with a little bit of nostalgia. June 20, 2008

I don't remember the original show being this bad...

I came across this DVD when searching for the original Get Smart TV show, and figured I couldn't go wrong picking this up for just $10.99. It was great to see Don Adams and Barbara Feldon get back into the roles of Agent 86 and 99, but that was probably the best thing about this dvd.

Maybe my memory is clouded regarding one of my favorite old TV shows, but I don't remember the old version of the shows effects being this bad. For a show produced in 1995, I expected a lot more from this new series, but was very disappointed. Many of the 'effects' were simply shown by displaying a can or tool of some kind, then cutting away for a moment and back to the 'results'. Off the top of my head, the only thing that comes to mind was the scene where the agent pulls out a can of 'instant key' and sprays shaving cream into a doorknob. Flash away and back, and find a solid white ball of plaster surrounding his hand. I'm not sure why that sticks in my mind, becuase there were definitely worse 'effects' scenes than that one.

Overall, I'm glad to have found this series that I never knew existed, but I can definitely understand why it was cancelled after only 7 episodes. Fans of the original series will enjoy it, but don't expect too much. June 15, 2008

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