It plays in Chicago on MeTV.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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?
Excellent point. Max could easily be a drone in Sector 7G, getting his arm stuck in the candy bar machine EVERY day.
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.
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.
I don’t know, but it probably wasn’t the shoe phone!
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”.
Sports Illustrated perfected that. “Hi honey - guess where I’m calling from! THE SHOE STORE!!!111!! LOL!!!”
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. 
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.
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.
I first read that as “GOB Bluth” instead of “good ole’ boy,” but really, it works just as well.
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.
Dave totally wants a shoe phone.
Nothing beats the magna lamp.
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.