We'll Miss Him By THAT Much

Hey, why are all the obits for Don Adams crediting Get Smart primarily with the catch phrase "Would you believe..."? I've always thought "Missed it by that much..." was the most famous line from that show. I still occasionally use it.

Well, as a kid growing up in the 60s, my favorite part of Get Smart was the opening and ending sequences where Max (Don Adams) enters/leaves CONTROL headquarters.

Entry to CONTROL (a spoof on the tailor shop entrance seen on the spy adventure THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E.) was accessed by walking down a corridor filled with a series of automated steel doors which opened both horizontally and vertically. At the end of the long hallway, a lone phone booth provided access to the entrance to CONTROL headquarters. The agent stepped into the booth, inserted a coin, and dialed the phone and then dropped out of sight through a trapdoor. At conclusion of each episode as Agent Maxwell Smart exited CONTROL, he noticed that the final door did not close properly. Stepping up to investigate, the door shuts on his nose. Ouch, that's Smarts!

Heh, I loved that.

For some reason, just the other day, I was wondering what TV show would have been the most fun to work on. I thought maybe Seinfeld or Laugh-In (not SNL, I've heard too many bad things) but now I'm thinking Get Smart would have been a riot. Just look at some of this.