"Get Smart" The Hot Line (1968)

User Rating:

8.2/10   

Director:

Gary Nelson

Writers:

Phil Hahn (teleplay) &
Jack Hanrahan (teleplay) ...

TV Series:

"Get Smart" (1965)

Original Air Date:

23 March 1968 (Season 3, Episode 24)

Genre:

Comedy | Crime | Mystery

Plot:

Using the President's voice, the Chief believes that he has been replaced by Maxwell Smart as KAOS tries to infiltrate CONTROL. |

Plot Keywords:

Agent | Secret Agent | Gadget | Shoe | Secret Plan

Cast

Don Adams	...	Maxwell Smart
Barbara Feldon	...	Agent 99
Edward Platt	...	Chief
Dick Yarmy	...	Brady (as Richard Yarmy)
Robert DoQui	...	Bolger
Regis Philbin	...	Man
Robert Karvelas	...	Larabee
Helen Boll	...	Herself
John Byner	...	Gorshen

Runtime:

Argentina:30 min

Certification:

Argentina:Atp

Filming Locations:

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

Trivia:

Per the title, the hot line was the Cold War phone line between the President of the United States and the Premier of the Soviet Union to help prevent a misunderstanding that could escalate into a nuclear conflict.

Goofs:

Audio/visual unsynchronized: The second time Agent Q (formerly known as The Chief) sings 'Alouette' his lips are completely out of sync.

Quotes:

Maxwell Smart: Give a man an inch and right away he thinks he's a ruler.

Soundtrack:

Alouette

Sorry About That, Chiefs

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

When Max blunders into a bakery used as a CONTROL front and destroys its cover as well as some high tech equipment, the Chief reluctantly has to report the disaster to President Johnson. To the Chief's surprise, LBJ demotes him back to agent second class and makes Max the new head of CONTROL. What they don't know is KAOS has tapped into the Presidential hot line and used vocal impressionist Gorshen (John Byner) to imitate the President, demote the Chief and send a mole (Dick Yarmy, Don Adams' brother) pretending to be an efficiency expert to CONTROL.

Despite the dated LBJ jokes (the presidential hot line is a Texas longhorn) there's some good stuff in this episode. Becoming Chief immediately goes to Max's head as he puts the agents through early morning exercise drills and cracks the whip (while abusing his expense account). Meanwhile the Chief not only gets to show what a good agent he is (He's known as Q, since he was an agent before they switched to numbers) by going undercover as Irving, a singing waiter, but he also gets to show off his singing voice. He also gets to use one of Max's lines after the new Chief tells him he'll be in danger every moment. "And loving it." the Chief replies.

Other highlights include a cameo by Regis Philbin as a baker in the CONTROL bakery, the inside joke of having Byner play a character named Gorshen (the top impressionist at the time was Frank Gorshen, "Batman" riddler) and a top performance by Adams as the new crack the whip Chief. Byner gets a bad stunt double to fall out the window for him at the end, but other than that, the show is well shot.