TVSquad

There are very few recurring television moments that instantly grab my undivided attention: seeing an undead Billy Mays still pitching Oxy-Clean, Twilight Zone episodes that pwn Nazis, late night Skinemax.

Now you can add Don Rickles to that list. He's become a staple of late night during the early Tonight Show because he's engaging, colorful and damn funny. Every time he stops in at Letterman's Late Show, I have to stop what I'm doing and watch and that includes running a pregnant friend to the hospital, although it does ruin some of the comedy for me. All that screaming.

He's also great at roasts, not because he's a great insult comic but because he can be just as down to Earth and genuine with the people he's skewering. His best roast is one that never made it to television: a roast of Get Smart's Don Adams at the Playboy Mansion.

I have to admit, this is one comparison I hadn't thought of before.

The L.A. Times makes an interesting comparison of Lost and Get Smart. How could they possibly be related? No, there isn't anyone called "Chief" (though Sawyer must have called someone that by now), there is no KAOS, and no one has spoken into a shoe phone, but both shows do feature...a moving island!

Yup, in fourth season episode of Get Smart that aired in 1968, "Schwartz's Island," Agents 86 and 99 are on their honeymoon and get stranded on a fake island run by KAOS that is moved with the help of a giant electromagnet!

I went to see Get Smart the other day. Judging by the box office numbers, I wasn't alone. Of course, I was curious about how one of my favorite TV shows from the '60s would be translated to the big screen. Would it be an inventive retelling in the tradition of The Fugitive, Maverick and The Addam's Family, or would it make me want to weep in horror like the dreadful I Spy, Bewitched, The Wild, Wild West and The Avengers? (And that's only the tip of the awful iceberg).

Would you believe it if I told you Get Smart falls somewhere in between? I could use the line many other reviewers have copped; you know, "The new Get Smart missed it by that much." Yes, well, it's true. Get Smart is not great on the big screen. It's okay. Nothing too shameful, but neither is it that inspired or wickedly built on the premise of the original situation comedy.

We've already told you about the complete series Get Smart DVDs, but did you know that there was an updated version of the show, and it starred Andy Dick?! The complete series of this version is being released on DVD on June 3.

I actually knew about this, but I always thought it was just a pilot movie or a pilot that didn't go to series, but it actually lasted seven episodes on FOX. The odd thing is, it aired in 1995, when Dick started NewsRadio. Apparently he only appeared in the pilot (according to the IMDB link above) and then went on to NewsRadio from there. That sounds a little odd to me, since he played the son of Agent 86 and Agent 99. Plus he's on the cover of the DVD. Hmmmm. If anyone has any other information about the show let me know in the comments below.

After the jump, the opening credits of the show.

Update: According to TV.com, Dick was in every episode. Also, one of the extras on the set is in an episode of NewsRadio, which is understandable (plus an ep of T.J. Hooker, which is not).

Last week, The Office's Steve Carell attended WonderCon 2008, talking about his new movie Get Smart. The picture, which is based on the 1965 NBC (and later CBS) TV series of the same name, will be appearing in theaters around the country on June 20, 2008. While saying that he tried not to channel Don Adams's performance so he could bring something different to the role, in an IESB.net interview with Carell, he said that before he got the part of Maxwell Smart, Agent 86, of CONTROL, both Jim Carrey and Will Ferrell were considered. The film had actually been in development for nearly a decade. Steve recalled going to Warner Brothers for a reading about three years ago. "It was the most surreal moment, because I went in thinking I was just going to audition for a role. I didn't expect them to offer me the part of Maxwell Smart."

Here's an update to the post I had a couple of days ago about new DVDs that have been released this week.

Get Smart fans who pre-ordered the DVD set a while back (including my roommate) might be a little bummed out to hear that shipping of the DVDs have been delayed. Seems that the company that Time-Life (the only place you can get the DVD set, at least right now) got to make the plastic "O" case used a thicker plastic than they were supposed to, and now the set doesn't quite fit in the special phone booth box that set is housed in.

I guess you can say that the plastic "missed it by THAT much."

TVShowsOnDVD has all the details, including info on when the sets will be shipped.

We told you a while back about the first season Get Smart DVD set that will be released via mail order (and only mail order, for now at least ) from Time-Life. Now comes information on what extras we'll see in the set.

Actress Barbara Feldon and creators Mel Brooks and Buck Henry will do commentary on episodes. Feldon on the "Kisses for KAOS" ep and Brooks and Henry on the pilot. There will also be an episode of The Bill Dana Show, the episode where Maxwell Smart made his first appearance (I never knew that). The set will also include the Museum of Television & Radio roundtable from 2003 that included Don Adams, Feldon, Bernie Kopell, director Jay Sandrich, and producer Leonard Stern.

Yeah, it sounds like a cheesy late-night ad, but TVShowonDVD is reporting that the Get Smart DVDs we talked about last week (they're coming out this fall) will not be sold in the usual locations (Best Buy, Circuit City, your local video store, etc). Instead, they will be sold like a lot of other Time-Life CDs/DVDs, via commercials, mail order, and their web site.

But that's fine. In this age of web ordering and Amazon.com and all that, I don't mind getting them this way. Plus while I'm on the phone I can buy those Fitness Made Simple videos and call those hot girls that are waiting just to talk to ME.

It looks like earlier news that HBO would be putting together the Get Smart DVDs was mistaken. Instead, Time-Life will put out the 5 DVDs!

No word yet on the exact street date for the DVDs, but an inside source has told TVShowsonDVD that the first season set will include all 29 episodes, the black and white pilot, commentaries from Barbara Feldon, interviews, and a gag reel.

I was obsessed with this show when I was a kid (watching reruns in the 70s). The show was funny, but I was also intrigued by the opening, where Maxwell Smart went through all the secret doors and finally went into the phone booth into headquarters. I even used to like to see which car Smart was driving when he pulled up in front of the building, because it changed over the seasons. I liked the blue Karman Ghia.