Happy 59th birthday to classic TV show and boomer meme generator Get Smart. Many of us grayhairs fondly remember the Cone of Silence and Barbara Feldon’s cheekbones.
Get Smart is an American comedy television series parodying the secret agent genre that had become widely popular in the first half of the 1960s with the release of the James Bond films. It was created by Mel Brooks and Buck Henry, and had its television premiere on NBC on September 18, 1965. It starred Don Adams (who was also a director on the series) as agent Maxwell Smart (Agent 86), Barbara Feldon as Agent 99, and Edward Platt as The Chief. Henry said that they created the show at the request of Daniel Melnick[1] to capitalize on James Bond and Inspector Clouseau, "the two biggest things in the entertainment world today".[2] Brooks described it as "an insane combination of James Bond and Mel Brooks comedy".[3]
The show generated a number of popular catchphrases during its run, including "sorry about that, Chief", "...and loving it", "missed it by that much", and "would you believe...".[4][5] The show was followed by the films The Nude Bomb (a 1980 theatrical film made without the involvement of Brooks and Henry) and Get Smart, Again! (a 1989 made-for-TV sequel to the series), as well as a 1995 revival series and a 2008 film remake. In 2010, TV Guide ranked Get Smart's opening title sequence at number two on its list of TV's top 10 credits sequences as selected by readers.[6] The show switched networks in 1969 to CBS. It ended its five-season run on May 15, 1970, with a total of 138 episodes.
Sorry about that, Chief
I always wanted a laser blazer.
Kitchen Table Kibitzing is a community series for those who wish to share a virtual kitchen table with other readers of Daily Kos who aren’t throwing pies at one another. Drop by to talk about music, your weather, your garden, or what you cooked for supper…. Newcomers may notice that many who post in this series already know one another to some degree, but we welcome guests at our kitchen table and hope to make some new friends as well.
