EPISODE GUIDES: Get Smart Season Four (Part 2)

On Thursdays, I take a detailed and critical look at a TV show. This year, I will be splitting full seasons into two posts so today I am looking at the first half of Season 4 of Get Smart! Here's a look at Part 1!

100. One Nation Invisible (12/28/68)
Max is assigned to protect a beautiful scientist who invented an invisibility spray. He has to use the spray to get KAOS documents and also answer to 99.

Similar to the "The Farkas Fracas," this episode does a nice job of blending the spy plot with Max and 99's newly married bliss though this one leans heavier on the spy side of things. Don Adams does a great job in this episode dealing with carrying the passed out and invisible scientist. It's a difficult bit of physical comedy that he manages well. He's also really funny in the scene when he thinks he is invisible. I think Barbara Feldon is not always a great actress especially when she's in distress, or in the case of this episode, angry/upset at Max. But she's not distractingly bad. This is still a pretty good episode even with a somewhat ridiculous premise.
RATING: 8/10

101. Hurray for Hollywood (1/4/69)

Max and 99 join go undercover in a theater group when they learn KAOS is using it to pass on information to members posing as agents in the audience.

This episode, directed by Don Adams, has a lot of potential and some very comedic moments. But ultimately it doesn't put everything together to make a great episode. It's a clever plot at times with the idea of Max and 99 infiltrating a theatre troupe. However they spend far too much time on playing up Max being a terrible actor. It seems like it goes to Adams' worst instincts as an actor and director that they play that up too much because less is more. I think this could have been a more detailed plot if they had used their time better.

RATING: 4.5/10

102. The Day They Raided the Knights (1/11/69)

During cutbacks at CONTROL, 99 takes a job at a store that is being used as a front for KAOS.

This seems like the 20th episode that involves a store that is a "front for KAOS." There's a lot of similarities in these episodes and this one at first kind of moves along in pretty similar fashion but is a good showcase for Barbara Feldon. It gets better as it goes along thanks to a very funny scene where the Chief and Larabee pose as old ladies in the store. The episode continues to move along nicely from there so while it initially appears to be another typical episode, it actually ends up being a funnier version of a typical episode.

RATING: 7.5/10

103. Tequila Mockingbird (1/18/69)

Max and 99 are sent to Mexico to find the priceless Tequila Mockingbird before KAOS gets to it.

Didn't we already watch an episode very similar to this in Season 3 called "Viva Smart?" I know they weren't completely the same and I actually think this premise is a little better but it still seems to mine most of its humor from 60s-era Mexican stereotypes. It's not even that offense but it's also not very funny. I'm sure someone could do a deep dive as to why there was such fascination with these other cultures in such a stereotypical manner back in the 60s. It seems like every sitcom, especially fantasy ones, loved to do episodes like this. But that might be getting too deep for a simple episode recap.

RATING: 4/10

104. I Shot 86 Today (2/1/89)

Max and 99 take golf lessons in order to discover how KAOS is using nuclear golf balls to destroy government buildings.

Golf episodes are one of those things that I just love for some reason. I don't know why but they're always one of my favorite sitcom settings. I know I may be letting my bias show but this is a pretty clever episode where the mystery keeps going through most of the episode. It's also an example of the plot being very well integrated into the setting. Unlike the previous episode, where it felt like they shoehorned a plot into the episode so they could make their Mexican jokes, this one feels like they created a story that made a ton of sense to take place at a golf course.

RATING: 9/10

105. Absorb the Greek (2/8/89)

The Chief is pretending to date a much younger woman as part of a secret mission but Max and 99 try to set him up with 99's mother.

Jane Dulo makes her third (out of four) appearances as 99's mother in this episode and she does a great job again here. This is a little bit of a twist on the domestic/spy approach the show has taken with several episodes and it's a strong showcase for Edward Platt. I think as Get Smart continues, the show knows it can trust Platt with more comedy. For a show with only a couple main characters, that's an important development and it has helped later seasons quite a bit with more directions to go in.

RATING: 7.5/10

106. To Sire, With Love Part 1 (2/15/69)

Max must hide a foreign King who has the same likeness as him in the apartment and 99 keeps getting them confused.

This two part episode seemed to delight in letting Don Adams be ridiculous in a dual role and it feels a little self indulgent. I think it's fun when you have a dual role played by someone like Elizabeth Montgomery in Bewitched because Samantha is so straight-laced and Serena is so kooky. But Maxwell Smart is a kooky enough character as is that the show doesn't need to have these types of roles for Adams. The retracing of the steps is a good bit and I like how goofy Larabee has become. But this episode just feels unnecessary.

RATING: 3/10

107. To Sire, With Love Part 2 (2/22/69)

While Max and 99 fight over Max's jealousy of a lookalike king, they also have to get the King back from a kidnapper.

As if we didn't have enough "mistaken identity" jokes in Part 1, we get more of them in Part 2. Sigh. Get Smart just sometimes runs jokes into the ground. I'm more forgiving of the recurring ones from episode to episode. After all, this was in a pre-binge era. But to make the same joke a bunch in the same episode? That is not as forgiving. This episode features two real life friends of Don Adams in James Caan and Don Rickles. Caan has more to do than Rickles and is pretty strong in his guest starring role. This episode is probably a little better than Part 1, but not much.

RATING: 3.5/10

108. Shock it to Me (3/1/69)

Max and 99 confront a KAOS scientist who uses electricity to bring dead agents back to life.

Tom Poston guest stars in this episode and Barbara Feldon mentioned in the DVD intro that he was the original choice to play Maxwell Smart. Since I (and many viewers) know Poston best as the handyman George on Newhart, it's interesting to imagine how different he would have been as Max compared to Don Adams. Certainly still bumbling but a different kind of bumbling. Poston seems to have a lot of fun here even though the episode as a whole is pretty campy.

RATING: 5.5/10

109. Leadside (3/8/69)

A wheelchair bound KAOS killer steals an art collection, destroys a CONTROL computer and vows to kill Max.

Get Smart did so many parodies of movies and TV shows but a lot of the episodes now don't seem like parodies because the source material has not lasted as long as Get Smart has. Yes, I know about Ironside but I don't think a lot do and even I have never seen an episode of the original (and only one of the short lived reboot starring Blair Underwood). Even without being too familiar with Ironside, this episode is still pretty enjoyable. I may not get all the references they're making but the plot moves along and stays suspenseful and funny.

RATING: 7.5/10

110. Greer Window (3/15/69)

Max is recovering from a gunshot wound and uncovers a KAOS blueprint smuggling operation across the street.

Unlike the last parody, a Rear Window parody works better for today's audience since the classic Hitchcock movie is still well known. This was a fun setup to the episode as it didn't really put Don Adams at the center of it for the majority of the episode but made him a pretty funny side character. It's pretty rare that Max is not in the center of the mission. My only criticism of this episode is I thought the scene at the beginning of the episode went on too long. I know we had to establish why Max would be incapacitated but it didn't need to be that long and included some poorly choreographed action moments.

RATING: 8/10

111. The Not-So Great Escape Part 1 (3/22/69)

CONTROL agents are being kidnapped by KAOS and brought to a prison camp run by Siegfried and Shtarker. When Max gets kidnapped, he tries to pose as a KAOS agent.

Get Smart's two part season finale was directed by Don Adams and even features a cameo by Adams' father. Even with the inclusion of Siegfried, this is a pretty exciting episode with a plot that really moves along and never meanders but also has a lot of funny moments. There's also some of the better Siegfried moments when he scolds Shtarker about how to behave at the prisoner camp. It seems like an awful lot happens in this episode which is great. It's amazing how Get Smart can have so much plot in some episodes and almost none in others.

RATING: 9/10

112. The Not-So Great Escape Part 2 (3/29/69)

When Siegfried finds out Max is posing as a KAOS agent, he throws him in the prison camp and the CONTROL agents must plan an escape.

The final episode to air on NBC, it almost could have been a series finale with its impressively complex plot and a showdown between Max/The Chief and Siegfried. Although 99 is only in the tag scene of this episode. There's a lot of clever bits in this episode and it's fun to have The Chief in the middle of the plot to escape. I don't know if Part 2 quite lives up to the promise of Part 1, but it's still a strong episode and I think it's one of the best, if not the best, two part episode of the series.

RATING: 8/10

AVERAGE RATING FOR SEASON FOUR:

6.6/10

The Best Episodes:

1. "The Farkas Fracas" (#97) - 9/10

2. "With Love and Twitches" (#95) - 9/10

3. "I Shot 86 Today" (#104) - 9/10

4. "Closely Watched Planes" (#89) - 9/10

5. "The Not-So-Great Escape" Part 1 (#111) - 9/10

The Worst Episodes:

1. "The Worst Best Man" (#92) - 2/10

2. "To Sire, With Love" Part 1 (#106) - 3/10

3. "The Laser Blazer" (#96) - 3/10

4. "To Sire, With Love" Part 2 (#107) - 3.5/10

5. "Tequila Mockingbird" (#103) - 4/10

Tomorrow: The Friday Five - Top 5 TV news stories of the week!

Next Thursday: A look at the final season, Season 5 (Part 1) of Get Smart!