E Pluribus Unum

Gather around, boys and girls, and let me tell you a story.

Once upon a time, long ago, in the 60's, there was a funny, goofy, hip TV sitcom called Get Smart. It was about a secret agent named Maxwell Smart who worked for C.O.N.T.R.O.L. (whose enemies worked for K.A.O.S.) The show pre-dated the surreal nonsense of Airplane! , Naked Gun and, yes, Austin Powers, by at least a couple of decades. It spawned not one but several national catch-phrases ("Would you believe...?" "Missed it by that much", "Sorry about that, chief") and at least one classic bit: "The Cone of Silence," an anti-eavesdropping security device which was so efficient that even those who used it couldn't understand what they were saying. And, of course, there was that signature, lunatic, rotary-dial shoe-phone (left). Hey, Moto -- this boomer would buy that one, for sure!

The show was written by Mel Brooks and Buck Henry who later went on to write The Producers and Saturday Night Live, respectively. They were parodying The Man From U.N.C.L.E. which was, in turn, a parody of the Bond films. It won Emmys and got great ratings.

It was, for a time, the funniest show on television -- but none of this would have been possible without the comic genius of Don Adams. Adams later said that he was surprised that he ended up starring in a comedy because he didn't think of himself as a funny guy. He admitted that he was doing a parody of William Powell in the Thin Man series from the 30's. Whatever it was, he was a joy to watch and just thinking about the hapless Agent 86 makes me smile today. [Note: Even his name was an inside joke.]

RIP, Maxwell Smart. You served your country very, very well.