# Get Smart! **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 28, 2008, 8:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-smart/439488 "2008-02-28T08:22:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Two\_and\_a\_Half\_Inches\_of\_Fun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ea666f/32.png) [@Two\_and\_a\_Half\_Inches\_of\_Fun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_and_a_Half_Inches_of_Fun)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2008, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-smart/439488/21 "2008-02-28T18:00:16Z")
[QUOTE=Weirddave] I love this show. I said to my wife just the other day, “Man, I wish Get Smart was still on in reruns.” We have 300 channels on out TV, and as far as I know, not one of them is showing Get Smart. [/QUOTE] It plays in Chicago on MeTV. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2008, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-smart/439488/22 "2008-02-28T19:18:30Z")
[QUOTE=RealityChuck] But that wouldn’t have been funny: two spies competently defeating their opponents. The main joke about _Get Smart_ was that Smart was a superspy and ultimately thwarted KAOS. A smart agent wouldn’t have been funny. [/QUOTE] I must agree. The central joke was that Max always triumphed. Usually through dumb luck, or a blockheaded refusal to jump the way an intelligent person might jump. But KAOS was always defeated, and almost always because of Max’s specific actions. And loving it. ---
**Author:** ![TWDuke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e495f1/32.png) [@TWDuke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TWDuke)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2008, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-smart/439488/23 "2008-02-28T19:47:13Z")
Uh, yeah, I have seen the show. I understand what the premise is. But it worked as well as it did because in the '60s one could easily imagine 86, the Chief, and 99 all accepting that _of course_ Max is in charge and takes the credit. In 2008, they’ll have to update the dynamic, come up with some additional explanation, or risk having people think Max and the Chief are pigs and 99 is a doormat. ---
**Author:** ![appleciders](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85f322/32.png) [@appleciders](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/appleciders)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2008, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-smart/439488/24 "2008-02-28T23:53:39Z")
You could get away, I think, with 99 being annoyed that she doesn’t get credit but too modest (and in love with Max) to object, Max being waaaaay to dumb and arrogant to pick up on it, and the Chief rarely actually seeing how a mission plays out, only the results. But no, it’s not quite the same thing. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2008, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-smart/439488/25 "2008-02-29T00:01:16Z")
[QUOTE=Weirddave] Really? You think I’m sarcastic? Can you honestly see the total 86/99 dynamic playing out today? Really? 99 being the woman who knows what’s going on but being ignored because she’s a woman? You can riff off it pretty well, but do you not see the way we (as a society) view women today as light years beyond Get Smart in the 60s? [/QUOTE] In a sense. But the media is still saturated with dumb guys being humored and propped up by their women. Except these days, the woman gets it, and she’s doing it so she doesn’t shatter his fragile ego. In the past she did it just because… it was basically her role in life. So the difference amounts to a wink and a nod from the modern woman. ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2008, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-smart/439488/26 "2008-02-29T00:01:39Z")
Max is analogous to Homer Simpson. No need to change the dynamic at all. Would you believe only minor tweaking? Would you believe just 99 being not as domestically subservient to Max? Or having to fix things at home when Max’s oblivious bungling causes havoc? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2008, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-smart/439488/27 "2008-02-29T00:06:14Z")
[QUOTE=rowrrbazzle] Max is analogous to Homer Simpson. No need to change the dynamic at all. Would you believe only minor tweaking? Would you believe just 99 being not as domestically subservient to Max? Or having to fix things at home when Max’s oblivious bungling causes havoc? 😃 [/QUOTE] Excellent point. Max could easily be a drone in Sector 7G, getting his arm stuck in the candy bar machine EVERY day. ---
**Author:** ![GingerOfTheNorth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/cdc98d/32.png) [@GingerOfTheNorth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GingerOfTheNorth)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2008, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-smart/439488/28 "2008-02-29T01:45:47Z")
[QUOTE=gonzomax] In restaurants I always pictured a cone of silence dropping down over smokers. [/QUOTE] At one of the malls around here, there are cones of music coming from the ceiling outside of a music store. It amuses me to no end, and my teenager has no clue why I snigger so much. ---
**Author:** ![saoirse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@saoirse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saoirse)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2008, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-smart/439488/29 "2008-02-29T02:22:45Z")
[QUOTE=GingerOfTheNorth] At one of the malls around here, there are cones of music coming from the ceiling outside of a music store. It amuses me to no end, and my teenager has no clue why I snigger so much. [/QUOTE] Small hijack: Was it the Cone of Silence that the CIA seized for a while? I remember one of their gadgets was taken away from them, because the CIA actually wanted to develop something like it. ---
**Author:** ![Rhubarb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/59ef9b/32.png) [@Rhubarb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhubarb)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2008, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-smart/439488/30 "2008-02-29T02:40:48Z")
[QUOTE=saoirse] Small hijack: Was it the Cone of Silence that the CIA seized for a while? I remember one of their gadgets was taken away from them, because the CIA actually wanted to develop something like it. [/QUOTE] I don’t know, but it probably wasn’t the shoe phone! ---
**Author:** ![Noel\_Prosequi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b19c9b/32.png) [@Noel\_Prosequi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Noel_Prosequi)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2008, 7:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-smart/439488/31 "2008-02-29T07:14:20Z")
Didn’t _Ron Burgundy_ play that hopeless dopey insightless male schtick? yeah, it was set in the 70s but was written to play in the 00s. Did reasonably well at the box office IIRC. Oh, and I hope I wasn’t out of line with that crack about “hopeless and dopey”. ---
**Author:** ![Manduck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manduck/32/256_2.png) [@Manduck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manduck)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2008, 8:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-smart/439488/32 "2008-02-29T08:38:22Z")
[QUOTE=Rhubarb] I don’t know, but it probably wasn’t the shoe phone! [/QUOTE] Sports Illustrated perfected that. “Hi honey - guess where I’m calling from! THE SHOE STORE!!!111!! LOL!!!” ---
**Author:** ![NajaNivea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/22d042/32.png) [@NajaNivea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NajaNivea)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2008, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-smart/439488/33 "2008-02-29T14:00:58Z")
[QUOTE=Weirddave] I love this show. I said to my wife just the other day, “Man, I wish Get Smart was still on in reruns.” [/QUOTE] I stumbled across it the other day! I was just flipping through the channels, landed on it, and… “holy crap, that’s _Get Smart_!!!” They showed two episodes, back to back. Sadly, I never really watch TV on purpose, so it didn’t even occur to me to check the channel or the listings to see if it’s on regularly. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![TommyTutone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c4cdca/32.png) [@TommyTutone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TommyTutone)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2008, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-smart/439488/34 "2008-02-29T14:18:45Z")
I love Steve Carrell, but seeing this preview makes me wish for not only more Office episodes, but also that he take a step back and do more green grocer segments on The Daily Show. ---
**Author:** ![laramary](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/0ea827/32.png) [@laramary](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/laramary)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2008, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-smart/439488/35 "2008-02-29T16:04:39Z")
[QUOTE=Weirddave] …do you not see the way we (as a society) view women today as light years beyond Get Smart in the 60s? [/QUOTE] It’s better, I’m sure. However, that 86/99 dynamic is very possible/probable today. Especially for women in “typically male” professions, or where they must interact with GOB establishments. ---
**Author:** ![Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troy_mcclure_sf/32/4150_2.png) [@Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troy_McClure_SF)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2008, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-smart/439488/36 "2008-02-29T16:58:20Z")
[QUOTE=laramary] It’s better, I’m sure. However, that 86/99 dynamic is very possible/probable today. Especially for women in “typically male” professions, or where they must interact with GOB establishments. [/QUOTE] I first read that as “GOB Bluth” instead of “good ole’ boy,” but really, it works just as well. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2008, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-smart/439488/37 "2008-03-01T00:27:57Z")
For what it’s worth, advance industry buzz on this movie is tending toward positive. Best bet is that it’ll be good fun, and better than it has to be, but that it will fall short of classic status. Adjust expectations accordingly. ---
**Author:** ![GingerOfTheNorth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/cdc98d/32.png) [@GingerOfTheNorth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GingerOfTheNorth)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2008, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-smart/439488/38 "2008-03-01T13:48:49Z")
[QUOTE=Rhubarb] I don’t know, but it probably wasn’t the shoe phone! [/QUOTE] Dave totally wants a shoe phone. ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2008, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-smart/439488/39 "2008-03-01T23:15:41Z")
Nothing beats the magna lamp. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2008, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-smart/439488/40 "2008-03-02T02:17:58Z")
[QUOTE=NajaNivea] I stumbled across it the other day! I was just flipping through the channels, landed on it, and… “holy crap, that’s _Get Smart_!!!” They showed two episodes, back to back. Sadly, I never really watch TV on purpose, so it didn’t even occur to me to check the channel or the listings to see if it’s on regularly. ☹ [/QUOTE] I believe it’s RTN, or Pax, or whatever they call the network that is on the same channel that Pax used to be on. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-smart/439488.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-smart/439488.md?page=3)