"Get Smart" Schwartz's Island (1968)

Director:

Bruce Bilson

Writers:

Chris Hayward (written by) and
Allan Burns (written by) ...

TV Series:

"Get Smart" (1965)

Original Air Date:

21 December 1968 (Season 4, Episode 13)

Genre:

Comedy | Crime | Mystery

Plot:

On their honeymoon 86 and 99 become marooned on a deserted island and find Siegfried and Starker on their synthetic island. |

Plot Keywords:

Agent | Secret Agent | Mission | Female Assassin | Spy Spoof

Cast

Don Adams	...	Maxwell Smart
Barbara Feldon	...	Agent 99
Edward Platt	...	Chief
King Moody	...	Starker
Robert Karvelas	...	Larabee
Bernie Kopell	...	Siegfried

Runtime:

30 min

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Argentina:Atp

Filming Locations:

Paramount Studios - 5555 Melrose Avenue, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Talent Associates

Trivia:

The sailboat Max rents was owned by producer Burt Nodella.

Goofs:

Audio/visual unsynchronized: Shtarker's lips don't move when we hear him say 'very interesting'.

Quotes:

Maxwell Smart: What is it, Max?
99: Well, either it's the biggest magnet in the world or it's the biggest horsshoe in the world. And if it's the biggest horseshoe, I'd hate to see the horse.

Movie Connections:

References "Gilligan's Island" (1964)

Castaway

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

While honeymooning in the Caribbean, Max and 99 get shipwrecked and wash up on a deserted island. Only the island isn't deserted. In fact, it is a KAOS synthetic island, created by top KAOS scientist Schwartz (a reference to "Gilligan's Island" creator Sherwood Schwartz) and manned by Smart's arch enemy Siegfried and his henchman Starker. Siegfried plans to use a large magnet to attract the 6th fleet and run it aground before sinking the island, complete with fleet.

The first half of this episode is pretty sad stuff. Once again the creators seem to go out of their way to make Max stupid. They also sacrifice 99's character in a favor of a joke in which she stops signaling a rescue plane with a mirror to do her makeup instead. All the lost at sea stuff should be funny, instead its forced and flat. When they reach the island there is a now rare "would you believe" exchange that seems to have disappeared sometime after season two.

Things pick up almost immediately once Starker and Siegfried show up. They infuse the episode with much of its energy. Starker first appears in a homage to Arte Johnson and "Laugh In". Later he performs a parody of a then popular Timex commercial. KAOS plan is exactly what made "Get Smart" what it was at its best: a parody of super spy movies. Getting back to its roots and away from much of the domestic comedy of the 4th season helps. The second half of this episode is so much better than the first (other than a brief scene between Larabee and the Chief). The jokes are smarter and funnier, and make it well worth having to sit through the first half. Be warned however, if you're expecting any Gilligan parody or cameo, you'll be disappointed, perhaps because at this point, "Get Smart" was still on NBC while Gilligan was on CBS.