TV SERIES · 1965– · USA
Get Smart
43 archived facts 6 topics 1 source Last reviewed Oct 2026
All facts (43)
- #001
When Don Adams negotiated his salary, he had to choose between more money per week with no ownership stake in the series, or less money per week with partial ownership. Adams chose the ownership deal and never regretted it, even though he struggled to adjust to it, given that the series' enduring popularity in syndication provided him with a steady income.
- #002
CONTROL and KAOS were meant to be acronyms, but Mel Brooks and Buck Henry never found anything for them to stand for.
- #003
Barbara Feldon was five centimeters taller than Don Adams. To make Adams appear taller than Feldon, he either stood on a small platform or Feldon would slouch. Additionally, for most of the series' run Feldon mostly wore flat shoes and very rarely wore high heels.
- #004
Edward Platt suffered from chronic back pain, which is why he was absent from several episodes and was seen only sitting in some episodes.
- #005
According to Buck Henry, their Talent Associates producer Daniel Melnick came up with the series' basic idea. Melnick told Mel Brooks and Henry that he wanted a character based on the two most popular film series of the time: the James Bond and Pink Panther film series.
- #006
Talk show host Johnny Carson appeared as a guest actor twice during the series' run. Once as a train conductor, and once as a royal envoy at the court of a foreign King.
- #007
In the Latin American dub, the voice actors improvised many of the jokes. They even invented the story of Max's supposedly living aunt in Acapulco, which became a running joke throughout the series.
- #008
Barbara Feldon was initially reluctant to join the series. She refused to sign a traditional five-year contract and signed for only four episodes. After filming the pilot episode she agreed to join the series but signed a three-year contract. After the third season she agreed to sign for two more years.
- #009
The series had a comic book adaptation published by Dell Comics from 1966 to 1967. Some stories were drawn by artist Steve Ditko, co-creator of Spider-Man and Doctor Strange.
- #010
During development, Mel Brooks and Buck Henry discussed many possible names for their super spy, including Lance, Dagger and Bounty Hunter. Brooks invented Smart; initially Raymond Smart, later Maxwell. In later interviews he said the name came from Max, as in Max Bialystock in "The Producers (1967)."
- #011
Don Adams was already using his William Powell-like voice two years before Get Smart first aired on CBS morning television as the cartoon character Tennessee Tuxedo.
- #012
99 is considered the first working mother in sitcom history. Until then, most female characters who were mothers stayed at home to look after the family. However, when 99 had twins in the final season, she decided to continue working as a secret agent.
- #013
Despite having moments of clumsiness and ineptitude, Maxwell Smart was shown to be a skilled fighter throughout the series. According to Barbara Feldon, Max's strength was conceptualized by Don Adams, who wanted to bring out the cool in the character.
- #014
Agent 44 was played by Victor French. Like Agent 13 (David Ketchem), he appeared in various places such as mailboxes and trash cans.
- #015
One reason Max is shown driving his Volkswagen and then an Opal GT in the opening sequence is that the series' sponsors were Volkswagen and then GM.
- #016
The creators first pitched the series idea to ABC, with Tom Poston in the role of Agent 86. When ABC rejected it, they brought it to NBC, which would only finance a pilot if the role was recast with Don Adams, with whom they had a contract.
- #017
Only in the black-and-white pilot does Max drive a 1961 Ferrari 250GT PF Spyder Cabriolet.
- #018
David Ketchum appeared as Agent 13 in thirteen episodes.
- #019
Although the Chief's first name was Thaddeus, in the last two seasons he also used the cover name Harold Clark.
- #020
In 1965, before the series went on air, the publicity firm Rogers & Cowan sent America's top television critics a series of five sealed envelopes. Each bore a "Top Secret" stamp and contained a vital message from Maxwell Smart. The first read: "Sssh!" The second provided instructions for decoding the sealed message embossed on an enclosed pin. The third required a "cigarette lighter or matches used judiciously" to reveal the invisible message. The fourth read: "Je was linker om iemand anders te nemen om je dit voor te laten lezen", which in Dutch means "You would have been smarter to ask someone else to read this aloud for you". The fifth contained a photo of Max, 99 and Fang with their eyes covered by black rectangles and a caption reading "A scene from ____ at ____ on ____".
- #021
The red convertible Don Adams drove in the opening sequence of the first two seasons is a 1965 Sunbeam Tiger Mark I, which came standard with a Ford 260 V8 engine. The car was used in several episodes throughout the first four seasons, but was sometimes replaced by the very similar-looking Sunbeam Alpine, which had a Tiger badge. A Volkswagen Karmann Ghia was used in the opening sequences of the third and fourth seasons, but never appeared in an episode. The fifth season featured the 1969 Opel GT used in the opening sequence as well as in that season's episodes. Only the pilot episode used an early 1960s Ferrari 250 GT Cabriolet.
- #022
Both this series and I Dream of Jeannie (1965) premiered back-to-back on NBC on the same night, September 18, 1965. Both ran for five seasons (though this series' final season aired on CBS), both had female leads named Barbara (Feldon in this series, Eden in I Dream of Jeannie (1965)), both produced 139 episodes, and both resolved the romantic tension between their two leads by having them marry, thus ending each show constructively (Maxwell Smart and Agent 99 in this series' fourth season, Jeannie and Major Anthony Nelson in I Dream of Jeannie's fifth and final season).
- #023
In the fourth season, the Chief had a 1968 model Ford Shelby Mustang convertible that Maxwell Smart occasionally used.
- #024
Barbara Feldon (Agent 99) was married to series producer Burt Nodella from 1968 to 1979.
- #025
"86" comes from an old slang term meaning to refuse service to a customer.
- #026
The term "86" also means to throw something out or get rid of something.
- #027
Smart's Sunbeam had various special features, including a machine gun, a smoke screen, radar tracking and an ejector seat.
- #028
The pilot episodes of this series as well as Hogan's Heroes (1965) were shot in black and white, after which the rest of the series was shot in color.
- #029
The name "Starker" was pronounced "Shtakah", which in Yiddish means a big, fat and typically muscular man.
- #030
Inspector Gadget was the 1980s animated adaptation of Get Smart; Don Adams again starred as an agent equipped with many gadgets (a man who is half machine), and instead of partnering with his wife, his niece secretly helps him.
- #031
During the series' run, AMT released a model kit of the 1965 Sunbeam Tiger Max drove. Just like the real car, it came with hidden weapons.
- #032
Tony Randall and Orson Bean were also considered for Maxwell Smart.
- #033
Agent 99 was voted "most stylish secret agent" at the 2004 TV Land Awards.
- #034
Larabee's first name was never mentioned.
- #035
Modern Time Machines, a Los Angeles-based alternative rock band, recreated a sequence from Get Smart's "The Groovy Guru" and a hand-drawn cel-animated version of the Get Smart opening theme in the music video for their 2018 song "Freefall".
- #036
King Moody auditioned for the role of Hymie. He later appeared in an episode as a double agent, and also played a KAOS agent in two series before being cast as Starker.
- #037
The dog that worked for CONTROL was Agent K-13, whose name was "Fang."
- #038
William Schallert appeared as Admiral Hargrade in 5 episodes.
- #039
Throughout the series, it is obvious that stuntmen stood in for Don Adams in action scenes, because they do not resemble him and have different hairstyles and builds.
- #040
Larrabee's favorite series was "Dragnet."
- #041
In real life there is a radio station bearing the name of the series' villainous organization, KAOS, which uses call letters. It broadcasts from Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington, and has been on the air since January 8, 1973.
- #042
Don Adams was the lead voice on the Saturday-morning cartoon Tennessee Tuxedo.
- #043
Bernie Kopell, who played Ziegfried on the series 10 years later, would go on to play Dr. Adam Bricker on Love Boat.
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