Get Smart is an American comedy television series parodying the secret agent genre that had become widely popular in the first half of the 1960s with the release of the James Bond films.

Henry said that they created the show at the request of Daniel Melnick[1] to capitalize on James Bond and Inspector Clouseau, "the two biggest things in the entertainment world today".

[8] They work for CONTROL, a secret U.S. government counterintelligence agency based in Washington, D.C., fighting against KAOS, "the international organization of evil".

Yet Smart is also resourceful, skilled in hand-to-hand combat, a proficient marksman, and incredibly lucky; all of this makes him one of CONTROL's top agents.

Brooks decided on Smart's code number, 86, as a reference to the slang term, meaning to forcibly eject someone, such as a patron from a bar or casino.

[14] The character appears in every episode (though only briefly in "Ice Station Siegfried", as Don Adams was performing in Las Vegas for two weeks to settle gambling debts).

Several instances refer to her high level of professionalism; in one episode the Chief says an assignment requires extreme bravery and competence but since 99 isn't available, Max could do it.

According to Feldon, 99 is deeply in love with Max and either overlooks or understands his quirks, while he is clueless about her affection yet often demonstrates his care through his concern for her well-being.

Ludwig Von Siegfried (Bernie Kopell) is a recurring villain, and the vice president in charge of public relations and terror at KAOS,[16] though his title does vary.

Carlson (Stacy Keach Sr.) is a CONTROL scientist and inventor of such gadgets as an umbrella rifle (with a high-speed camera in the handle) and edible buttons.

Dr. Steele (Ellen Weston) is a beautiful, sexy, and brilliant CONTROL scientist who develops formulas while undercover as a dancer and strip-tease artist.

Smart's shoes sometimes contain other devices housed in the heels: an explosive pellet, a smoke bomb, compressed air capsules that propelled the wearer off the ground, and a suicide pill (which Max believes is for the enemy).

In the episode "Too Many Chiefs" (season one), Max tells Tanya, the KAOS informer whom he is protecting, that if anyone breaks in, to pick up the house phone, dial 1-1-7, and press the trigger on the handset, which converts it to a gun.

In the episode "Satan Place", Max simultaneously holds conversations on seven different phones: the shoe, his tie, his belt, his wallet, a garter, a handkerchief, and a pair of eyeglasses.

Other gadgets include a bullet-proof invisible wall in Max's apartment that lowers from the ceiling, into which Max and others often walk; a camera hidden in a bowl of soup (cream of Technicolor) that takes a picture (with a conspicuous flash) of the person eating the soup with each spoonful; a mini magnet on a belt, which turns out to be stronger than KAOS's maxi magnet; and a powerful miniature laser weapon in the button of a sports jacket (the "laser blazer").

Actress Rose Michtom (the real-life aunt of the show's executive producer Leonard Stern) appeared in at least 44 episodes—usually as a background extra with no speaking role.

In 1995, the series was briefly resurrected starring Adams and Feldon with Andy Dick as Max's and 99's son Zack Smart and Elaine Hendrix as 66.

eventually prompted the development of a short-lived 1995 weekly series on Fox also titled Get Smart, with Adams and Feldon reprising their characters with Maxwell Smart now being the Chief of Control as their bumbling son, Zach (Andy Dick), becomes Control's star agent (Zach's twin sister is never seen nor mentioned – though the new leader of KAOS, a hidden female figure, would have been revealed as the other twin if the show had continued).

An episode of F Troop called "Spy, Counterspy, Counter–counterspy" featured Pat Harrington Jr. imitating Don Adams as secret agent "B.

Homer goes through many futuristic doors and passageways until he reaches the phone booth, falls through the floor, and lands on the couch, with the rest of the family already seated.

In the 1960s, Adams had a supporting role on the sitcom The Bill Dana Show (1963–1965) as the hopelessly inept hotel detective Byron Glick.

In one of Adams' five appearances as a guest passenger in the series The Love Boat, his character, even when he thought he had been shot, makes no attempt to visit the ship's doctor.

In 1982, Adams starred as Maxwell Smart in a series of local commercials for New York City electronics chain Savemart.

"[32] In addition, Adams starred in a series of commercials for White Castle in 1992, paying homage to his Get Smart character with his catchphrase "Would you believe...?"

In the 1980s, Adams provided the (similar) voice of the titular bungling cyborg secret agent in the animated series Inspector Gadget.

The telephone banking service was called SmartLine, and Sherwin Greenberg Productions (a video production company and bank subsidiary) produced radio and television ads, as well as a series of still photos for use in promotional flyers that featured Adams' Maxwell Smart character wearing the familiar trenchcoat and holding a shoe phone to his ear.

The television commercials were videotaped in Sherwin Greenberg Productions' studio on a set that resembled an old alleyway which utilized fog-making machinery for special effect.

While it is customary for the actor to go to the foreign location for shooting, Adams' apparent intense dislike of long-distance flying meant that the New Zealand specification car had to be shipped to the US for filming.

In the movie Back to the Beach (1987), Adams played the Harbor Master, who used several of Maxwell Smart's catchphrases (including an exchange in which Frankie Avalon's character did a vague impression of Siegfried).

Adams also appeared in a number of McDonald's Hamburger Restaurant television commercials, which also featured numerous stars of TV series viewed as classic or with nostalgia, such as Barbara Billingsley from Leave It to Beaver, Buddy Ebsen from The Beverly Hillbillies, Bob Denver from Gilligan's Island and Al Lewis from The Munsters.