Blogcritics The critical lens on today's culture & entertainment
Would you believe that all of Get Smart will be available on DVD this year (amazingly enough just in time for the holidays)? Yup, Maxwell Smart, Agent 99, the Chief, and all those nuts from CONTROL and KAOS will be set free by Time-Life on a rather, by this point, suspecting public. The set will contain all 138 episodes from all five seasons of the series.
Included in the set will be all the various bonus features and commentary tracks audiences have come to expect from special DVD releases. And, in this case, if the screener I received is any indication, the commentaries will be well worth it. Though there was only one commentary track on the screener, it was Mel Brooks doing a track for the first episode of the series. He provided wonderful insights into both the series, its inception, and his career and its early trajectory.
A quick inspection of IMDB reveals an upcoming film is planned starring Steve Carrell. Though Carrell may be a funny man, Don Adams may be simply untouchable in this role. He plays a fool in the series, and yet, somehow, always gets his man. It is regrettable Adams is no longer with us, as his insights into the character, the series, Mel Brooks, Buck Henry (Brooks’ co-creator on the series), and the history of the show would be a boon.
It must be stated that a screener sample of the series almost certainly highlights the best features that will appear on the DVD and not necessarily the majority of what will be in the set. However, if the quality herein is any indication of what actually arrives with the whole DVD set on November 15, and you are a fan of comedy and/or spoofs, the complete Get Smart series is right up your alley.
