Monday, February 18, 2008

GET SMART-THE COMPLETE SERIES DVD REVIEW



The iconic TV show legend Don Adams and crew are finally available for the first time on DVD with the complete series of “Get Smart”! The show lasted for 5 seasons from 1965-1970 with 138 episodes. Time-Life and HBO Video have done an astoundingly fantastic job with this Megaset. All the episodes have been digitally remastered and care and love for the show was taken with the interviews, clips, bloopers and personal material partly by Don Adam’s widow, Dorothy Adams-Ferrante.

Two comedy-writing legends created the series, Mel Brooks and Buck Henry. The show was first pitched to ABC, which turned them down, but Grant Tinker from NBC took it on with a contract actor, Don Adams. The star of the show was originally supposed to be actor Tom Poston, but found Adams to be a better fit. The show also starred Barbara Feldon as Agent 99 and character actor Edward Platt as their boss, Chief. A pilot episode was made in Black & White and was a complete success. The show has a wonderful array of supporting characters and villains.

The secondary characters that were the core of the series were Bernie Kopell as Sigfried from K.A.O.S., Dick Gautier as Hymie the robot, with David Ketchum and Robert Karvelas as Agent 13 and Larabee respectively. There have been some big name guest stars that have been on the show over its 5 year run such as Bob Hope, Johnny Carson, James Caan, Ernest Borgnine, Don Rickles and Milton Berle to name a few. The show ran for 4 seasons on NBC and the last season was shown on CBS.

This complete series set is phenomenal! There are audio commentaries on 8 episodes with a treasure trove of extras from the Andy Williams Show, to classic commercials to a Playboy 75th Birthday celebration and reunion at the Museum of Television and Radio as well as Don Adams’ memorial service and many more! Agent 99 herself, Barbara Feldon, introduces each episode and extra!


VIDEO

The video quality is excellent! Each episode has been digitally remastered.


Audio

Was originally recorded in Mono. It is also Mono on this set.

Disc 1- “Mr. Big”-with Michael Dunn and Vito Scotti
“Diplomat’s Daughter”-with Leonard Strong
“School Days”-with Ben Wright and Leo Gordon
“Our Man In Toyland”-with John Hoyt and Helen Kleeb
“Now You See Him, Now You Don’t”
“Washington 4, Indians 3”-with Anthony Caruso
“K.A.O.S in Control”-with Barbara Bain and Ed Peck
“The Day Smart Turned Chicken”-with Simon Oakland

Disc 2- “Satan Place”-with Len Lesser
“Our Man In Leotards”-with Michael Pate
“Too Many Chiefs”-with Victor French
“My Nephew The Spy”-with Conrad Janis
“Aboard The Orient Express”-with Johnny Carson and Theo Marcuse
“Weekend Vampire”-with Ford Rainey
“Survival Of The Fattest”-with Karen Steele and Milton Selzer
“Double Agent”

Disc 3- “Kisses For K.A.O.S.”-with John Abbott
“The Dead Spy Scrawls”-with Leonard Nimoy
“Back To The Old Drawing Board”-with Dick Gautier
“All In The Mind”-with Torin Thatcher
“Dear Diary”-with Ellen Corby
“Smart The Assassin”-with Tony Lo Bianco
“I’m Only Human”-with Oscar Beregi

Disc 4- “Stakeout on Blue Mist Mountain”-with Ted Knight
“The Amazing Harry Hoo”-with Leonard Strong and Joey Forman
“Hubert’s Unfinished Symphony”-with Richard Webb
“Ship of Spies Part 1”-with Harold J Stone
“Ship of Spies Part 2”-with Harold J Stone
“Shipment To Beirut”-with Lee Bergere
“The Last One Is A Rotten Spy”-with Alice Ghostley

Disc 5- Bonus Disc-See Extras

Disc 6- “Anatomy of a Lover”-with King Moody
“Strike Will The Agent Is Hot”
“A Spy For A Spy”-with Stacy Keach and Bernie Kopell
“The Only Way To Die”-with Gordon Jump
“Maxwell Smart, Alias Jimmy Ballentine”-with Vic Tayback
“Casablanca”
“The Decoy”-with Len Lesser
“Hoo Done It”-with Joey Forman

Disc 7- “Rub-A-Dub-Dub…Three Spies In A Tub”
“The Greatest Spy On Earth”-with Paul Dooley and Victor Lundin
“Island of the Darned”-with Harold Gould
“Bronzefinger”
“Perils In A Petshop”-with Dick Wilson
“The Whole Tooth and…”-with Robert Strauss
“Kiss Of Death”
“It Takes One To Know One”-with Woodrow Palfrey and Gayle Hunnicutt

Disc 8- “Someone Down Here Hates Me”
“Cutback At Control”
“The Man From Yenta”-with Alan Oppenheimer
“The Mummy”
“The Girls From K.A.O.S.”-with Tisha Sterling
“Smart Fit The Battle Of Jericho”-with Angeline PettyJohn
“Where-What-How-Who Am I?”

Disc 9- “The Expendable Agent”
“How To Succeed In The Spy Business Without Really Trying”
“Appointment In Sahara”-with Vic Tayback
“Pussycats Galore”-with Ted Knight and Angeline PettyJohn
“A Man Called Smart Part 1”-with Kenneth Mars
“A Man Called Smart Part 2”
“A Man Called Smart Part 3”

Disc 10- Bonus Disc-See Extras

Disc 11- “The Spy Who Met Himself”
“Viva Smart”
“Witness For The Persecution”
“The Spirit Is Willing”-with Ina Balin and Len Lesser
“Maxwell Smart, Private Eye”
“Supersonic Boom”-with Farley Grainger and Alex Rocco
“One Of Our Olives Is Missing”-with Carol Burnett


Disc 12- “When Good Fellows Get Together”
“Dr Yes”
“That Old Gang of Mind”-with Sid Haig
“The Mild Ones”
“Classification: Dead”
“The Mysterious Dr T.”
“The King Lives?”-with Michael Forest

Disc 13- “The Groovy Guru”-with Larry Storch and Barry Newman
“The Little Black Book, Part 1”-with Don Rickles
“The Little Black Book, Part 2”-with Joey Forman
“Don’t Look Back”-with Bruce Gordon
“99 Loses Control”-with Jacques Bergerac
“The Wax Max”

Disc 14- “Run, Robot Run”
“Operation Ridiculous”-with George Macready
“Spy, Spy Birdie”
“The Hot Line”-with Regis Philbin and John Byner
“Die, Spy”
“The Reluctant Redhead”-with Cesar Romero

Disc 15 Bonus Disc-See Extras

Disc 16 “The Impossible Mission”-with Jamie Farr
“Snoopy Smart Vs The Red Baron”-with Mary Frann
“Closely Watched Planes”-with Pete Barbutti
“The Secret Of Sam Vittoro”-with J.Carrol Naish
“Diamonds Are A Spy’s Best Friend”-with Dick Wilson
“The Worst Best Man”-with Ron Masak and Avery Schreiber
“A Tale of Two Tails”-with Victor Sen Yung and Fred Willard

Disc 17- “The Return of the Ancient Mariner”-with Jack Cassidy
“With Love and Twitches”-with Alan Oppenheimer
“The Laser Blazer”-with Julie Newmar and Leonard Strong
“The Farkas Fracas”-with Tom Bosley and Alice Ghostley
“Temporarily Out of Control”
“Schwartz’s Island”
“One Nation Invisible”

Disc 18- “Hurray for Hollywood”
“The Day They Raided The Knights”-with Nancy Kovack
“Tequila Mockingbird”-with Oscar Beregi
“I Shot 86 Today”-with Sharon Acker
“Absorb the Greek”
“To Sire, With Love Part 1”-with John Doucette

Disc 19- “To Sire, With Love Part 2”-with John Doucette
“Shock It To Me”-with Tom Poston and Sid Haig
“Leadside”-with Ronald Long and Paul Carr
“Greer Window”
“The Not So Great Escape Part 1”
“The Not So Great Escape Part 2”

Disc 20- Bonus Disc-See Extras

Disc 21- “Pheasant Under Glass”-with Peter Brocco
“Ironhand”-with Billy Barty
“Valerie of the Dolls”-with Antoinette Bower
“Widow Often Annie”-with Dana Wynter
“The Treasure of C. Errol Madre”-with Broderick Crawford
“Smart Fell On Alabama”-with John Dehner
“And Baby Makes Four Part 1”-with Jack Gilford and Dana Elcar

Disc 22- “And Baby makes Four Part 2”-with Jack Gilford and Dana Elcar
“Physician Impossible”
“The Apes of Rath”
“Age Before Duty”
“Is This Trip Necessary?”-with Vincent Price
“Ice Station Siegfried”-with Bill Dana
“Moonlighting Becomes You”-with Victor Buono and Sid Haig

Disc 23- “House of Max Part 1”-with Ian Abercrombie
“House of Max Part 2”-with Ian Abercrombie
“Rebecca of Funny Folk Farm”-with Gale Sondergaard
“The Mess of Adrian Listenger”-with Pat Paulsen
“Witness for the Execution”
“How Green Was My Valet”-with Jonathan Harris

Disc 24- “And Only Two Ninety-Nine”
“Smartacus”-with John Zaremba
“What’s It All About Algie?”-with John Van Dreelsen
“Hello Columbus, Goodbye America”-with Vito Scotti and Billy Barty
“Do I Hear The Vaults?”
“I Am Curiously Yellow”-with Victor Sen Yeng

Disc 25- Bonus Disc-See Extras


Extras

Disc 1- Audio Commentary on Mr. Big with Buck Henry
Audio Commentary for Mr. Big with Mel Brooks

Disc 2- None

Disc 3- Audio Commentary on Kisses for K.A.O.S by Barbara Feldon

Disc 4- None

Disc 5- Interview with Buck Henry- (22:37)
Featurette-The Secret History of Get Smart- (16:56)
Clips-The Bill Dana Show-1964- (06:48)
Clips-The Andy Williams Show-1965- (05:06)
Clips-Top Brass Hair Care Commercial with Barbara Feldon-(01:02)
Clips-NBC Fall Season Preview-1965- (10:06)
Clips-Get Smart-Promo-Part 1-(1965)-(00:23)
Clips-Get Smart Promo-Part 2-(1965)-(00:11)
Bloopers- (02:13)
Get Smart Reunion Seminar 2003-(1 Hour)
Interactive Feature-The Chief’s Office

Disc 6- None

Disc 7- None

Disc 8- None

Disc 9- Audio Commentary on How To Succeed…By Bernie Kopell
Audio Commentary on A Man Called Smart Part 1 by Leonard Stern

Disc 10- Interview with Leonard Stern- (31:56)
Featurette-Barbara Feldon-Real Model to Role Model- (14:38)
Clip from the 1967 Emmys- (03:03)
Bloopers- (02:39)
Get Smart Reunion Seminar Part 2-(04:53)
Don Adam’s 75th Birthday Celebration-1999- (53:01)
NBC Broadcast Standers Memos-Pictures
Interactive Bonus-Agent’s 99 Purse

Disc 11- None

Disc 12- None

Disc 13- Audio Commentary on Little Black Book Part 2 with Don Rickles
Audio Commentary on 99 Loses Control by Barbara Feldon
Audio Commentary on 99 Loses Control by Buck Henry

Disc 14- None

Disc 15- Interview with Bruce Bilson- (Director)-(31:01)
Featurette-Spooks, Spies, Gadgets and Gizmos- (13:33)
Clip form the 1968 Emmys- (04:44)
Get Smart Syndication Promo- (03:21)
Milton Berle’s Mad, Mad World of Comedy- (04:44)
Clip from the Andy Williams Show-1966- (06:31)
Bloopers- (01:42)
Don Rickles Bloopers-Little Black Book- (01:25)
Get Smart Reunion Seminar Part 3-(04:41)
NBC Broadcast and Standers Memo-Pictures
Interactive Bonus-Max’s Sunbeam Tiger Car

Disc 16- None

Disc 17- Audio Commentary on For Love and Twitches by Barbara Feldon
Audio Commentary on For Love and Twitches by Buck Henry

Disc 18-None

Disc 19- Audio Commentary on To Sire With Love Part 2 by James Caan

Disc 20-Interview with Bernie Kopell- (22:29)
Interview with Barbara Feldon- (24:44)
Featurette-Code Words and Catch Phrases- (14:11)
Clip-Rose Parade with Don and Barbara 1969-(00:52)
Clip-The Any Williams Show- (05:46)
Syndication Promo- (02:12)
Clip from 1969 Emmys- (03:10)
Pepsodent Commerical-1967- (00:56)
White Castle Commerical-1990- (01:19)
Chief Auto Parts Commercial-1983- (00:37)
Bloopers- (02:22)
Interactive Bonus-Max’s Apartment

Disc 21- None

Disc 22- Audio Commentary on Ice Station Sigfried by Bill Dana

Disc 23-None

Disc 24-None

Disc 25-Featurette-The Fans Of Get Smart- (14:38)
Don Adam’s Memorial-2005- (81 Mins)
TV Land Awards 2003-(00:46)
Clip-The Andy Williams Show- (00:50)
Chief Auto Parts Commercial 1981 and 1983-(01:12)
White Castle Commercial 1-1990-(00:39)
White Castle Commercial 2-1990-(00:39)
Choice Hotels Commercial 1991-(00:40)
Buck A Call Commercial 1999-(00:34)
Bloopers- (01:21)
Ultimate Get Smart Clip Reel- (20:33)
Interactive Bonus-Spy Aptitude Test

Verdict

You absolutely have to get this set for your collection! Its well worth the money even if you not a true fan of the series. This is a true Classic! Go to www.timelife.com for more information!


Rating; *****!

No comments: