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 second half of Season 5 (the final season) of Get Smart! For Part 1, click here!
Max and 99 become part of a radio show to stop KAOS from transmitting information over the airwaves.
I've always been a fan of this episode. I think it's a very clever premise, especially for season five, and I love the old school radio feel to it. It plays like a "who done it" with a lot of possible suspects. There's also a strong performance from larger than life (literally and figuratively) guest star Victor Buono, who will always be King Tut from Batman first and foremost for me. The on-going joke through the episode that 99 is starting to take after Max actually works decently too with Barbara Feldon doing a couple Don Adams-esque bits pretty well. A strong final season entry.
RATING: 9/10
127. House of Max Part 1 (1/9/70)
A wax figure of Jack the Ripper comes to life in London and Max and 99 find out there's a curator who can bring any figure to life.
I always want the episodes of Get Smart set in unique locations to have a better feel to them but I think part of the blame lies in it being a product of its time. If a show had a two part episode set in London now, they would likely film in London and/or really be able to capture the spirit of the city. They have a little bit of that in the foggy beginning but I wish there had been more with Jack the Ripper before the wax figure was killed so early. The show then takes a very long time to get into the next phase of the episode so it feels like a lot of exposition for the rest of the episode.
RATING: 4.5/10
128. House of Max Part 2 (1/16/70)
Max poses as a wax Hitler to try to get to the bottom of the problems at the wax museum.
Part 2 of the final two-part episode of Get Smart once again starts with an extremely long recap of the first part. I know it was a different time where the episode aired a week later but still. Would loyal fans of Get Smart really have needed that much detail in the recap? I don't think so. I always find it interesting that playing Hitler for comedy was far more common in the 1960s-1970s when World War II was a lot more recent, than it is now. It seems like now it could be seen in poor taste but there wasn't much concern about that back then. Just an observation. This episode is a little better than Part 1 because there's a little more action.
RATING: 5.5/10
129. Rebecca of Funny-Folk Farm (1/23/70)
Max and 99 pose as lost travelers to recover a top secret passage and run into someone who thinks 99 is her dead sister.
This is a pretty bonkers episode but it benefits from having a great (and creepy) ambiance and everyone in the episode committing the bizarre nature of it. Get Smart can be very hit and miss with effectively creating a mood in an episode but this one really works between the storm and the old mansion and several good guest appearances. I don't know that the episode needed the whole scene on the plane to get the episode started. It ultimately didn't make that big of a difference to the main plot. But it wasn't an episode that felt like it took forever to get started.
RATING: 8/10
Max and the Chief suspect each other when members of the CONTROL baseball team are found dead and they uncover a list of the next ones on the list.
There are some things to like about this episode. I like that it pits Max and the Chief against each other, something that doesn't happen that often aside from the Chief's exasperation with Max. I wish that story was actually explored more and for a longer time than it is in this episode. The biggest offense of this episode is that the "twist" can be seen from a million miles away, pretty much from the very beginning of the episode. Guest star Pat Paulsen was best known for satirical presidential campaigns and he doesn't make a major impact in this episode.
RATING: 4/10
131. Witness for the Execution (2/6/70)
A CONTROL star witness and KAOS defector stays at Max and 99's apartment posing as a babysitter before a big trial.
This is one of those Get Smart episodes that takes forever to get started. Once it does get started it is pretty fun, but I just wish they didn't take so long to get into the main thrust of the plot. I think that's an advantage that contemporary shows have with their multiple plots (the downside is less time for really good plots). There are good guest turns by William Schallert (in a different role than The Admiral) and Fabian Dean. Get Smart has done episodes where a character tries to elude KAOS multiple times (in fact, this has a very similar plot to Season Three's similarly titled "Witness for the Persecution") but it always provides a good amount of comedy.
RATING: 7/10
132. How Green Was My Valet (2/13/70)
Max and 99 pose as a maid and valet to recover nuclear fuel that is in a wine cellar at an embassy.
This episode has a fun setting and for much of the episode, Max is routinely outsmarted by the KAOS characters. That doesn't always happen but where things fall apart somewhat is the resolution. The entire episode we've seen Max getting foiled and then it takes one lame move in the wine cellar for Max to get the upper hand and win the day. I think there also could have been more comedy mined from the Chief and Larabee babysitting the twins for Max and 99. So this episode is one of missed opportunities that could have made it very strong.
RATING: 5.5/10
133. And Only Two Ninety-Nine (2/20/70)
99 is kidnapped by KAOS and replaced with a lookalike and the Chief can't figure out why.
This is a fun episode that allows Barbara Feldon to pull double duty although most of the time she's playing the same character, it's just that one is an "imposter." There's a good deal of suspense towards the beginning of this episode and a question of how long the charade can go on. But the problem is the same problem with several Get Smart episodes: the resolution is not as intriguing as the setup. I think that's indicative of the time period and the need to tell very conventional stories even with a show that was not conventional at the time. I think the situation would be much different today. Still, it's an enjoyable episode.
RATING: 8/10
A KAOS agent develops a truth vapor to get military secrets so Max and the Chief go undercover to stop it.
This is a pretty bizarre episode that leans heavily into the Roman idea. The villain in the spa (guest star Robert Long) is a lot closer to a Batman villain than a Get Smart villain. For a show that was always pretty campy, it has really embraced the camp for its final season. This episode just feels completely ridiculous. It is lacking in the subversive qualities that can sometimes make Get Smart really shine. There's also an extended bit with Larabee, who has turned into a complete moron, that doesn't have much humor. A big miss that only avoided an even lower score because of the somewhat unique setting.
RATING: 1.5/10
135. What's It All About, Algie? (4/24/70)
Max poses as a Japanese gardener to stop KAOS from using plants to spy on people.
This episode chooses a very bizarre filming style in the scene where Max, 99 and Larabee are having dinner in the office with the exasperated Chief. I'm not sure if it was a parody of something and I'm just not aware of it but it played very strange. That being said, I was skeptical about the premise of this episode and didn't remember it from a previous watching but I was pleasantly surprised that it was decently suspenseful, funny and not racist. There's also some good sight gags like the office filled with grass. It's nothing spectacular, but it's a solid episode.
RATING: 7.5/10
136. Hello, Columbus - Goodbye, America (5/1/70)
Max is assigned to a descendant of Christopher Columbus who owns a deed of ownership to the United States.
This is an episode that would probably not get made today given the sensitivities about Christopher Columbus and ownership of America. But there's nothing to really get offended about here. It's a pretty ridiculous premise and it's handled in a pretty silly way. This could have actually been a funny and clever episode but it's played too broad and with some pretty obnoxious guest stars. It was also an episode that let Don Adams run wild with an impression and while I'm sure it was humor that Adams preferred, it's not his most best comedic trait.
RATING: 3.5/10
137. Do I Hear a Vaults? (5/8/70)
KAOS is after the Chief's book of "Who's Who at CONTROL?" and Max accidentally locks the Chief and Larabee in a vault.
The penultimate episode is a fun one that splits up what has now become a cast of four (including Larabee) into two groups with the Chief and Larabee stuck in a bank vault and Max and 99 on the outside. It's a fun one that is a "race against time" episode which is always a fun premise. There's some good lines from Max, Larabee and the Chief in this episode. Even before they get split up, the undercover mission to the bank provides a lot of funny moments and made me wish the show had used all four of the characters together on a mission more often.
RATING: 8.5/10
Max is accidentally hypnotized by KAOS and ends up working for them.
The series finale of Get Smart aired at a time when series finales weren't really a thing. So there's nothing about this episode that feels like a last episode. That being said, it is a pretty good showcase for Don Adams to end a series that Adams was very clearly the center of from start to finish. It is another cartoonish villain though. Dare I say I might even prefer Siegfried to some of these season five bad guys? I really wish sitcoms from this time had series finales in the way we know them now. It would have been great to have closure on shows, even ones that are mostly silly satires.
RATING: 5/10
AVERAGE RATING FOR SEASON FIVE:
5.7/10
The Best Episodes:
1. "Moonlighting Becomes You" (#126) - 9/10
2. "And Baby Makes Four" Part 1 (#119) - 8.5/10
3. "Do I Hear a Vaults?" (#137) - 8.5/10
4. "And Only Two Ninety-Nine" (#133) - 8/10
5. "Rebecca of Funny-Folk Farm" (#129) - 8/10
The Worst Episodes:
1. "Ice Station Siegfried" (#125) - 1/10
2. "Smartacus" (#134) - 1.5/10
3. "The Apes of Rath" (#122) - 2.5/10
4. "Hello Columbus, Goodbye America" (#136) - 3.5/10
5. "Physician Impossible" (#121) - 3.5/10
Tomorrow: The Friday Five - Top 5 TV news stories of the week!
Next Thursday: A recap of Get Smart including the best and worst episodes!
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