Get Smart: The Complete Series DVD Credits:

Region: 1

Get Smart: The Complete Series DVD Release Date: 2nd June 2008

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Get Smart: The Complete Series DVD Review:

Appropriately timed with the release of the Hollywood remake of Get Smart starring Steve Carrell and Dwayne Johnson (no longer going by “The Rock”), Sony Pictures has just released the short lived 1995 remake/continuation of the 1960s cult classic of the same name. Usually when a DVD set reads “The Complete Series,” but the set only contains one season, you know the show probably had problems. In the case of Get Smart, the complete series actually fits on one disc and lasts for an accumulated time frame of two-hours and thirty-eight minutes. That’s when you know the show either had to be too good for TV or plagued with problems to make it beyond salvation.

In this 1995 version of Get Smart, three-time Emmy Award-winner Don Adams and Barbara Feldon reprise their roles from the original series as Maxwell Smart and Agent 99 (respectively), but this time they have a little help from their son and newly-minted spy, Zach (played by comedian Andy Dick), and his brilliant, sexy partner Agent 66 (Elaine Hendrix). Max is now the Chief of CONTROL and 99 is now a Congresswoman in charge of CONTROL’s budget. Together, they must struggle to keep archrival KAOS from gaining world domination.

It’s not that this iteration of Get Smart is that bad. Honestly, it’s not terrible by any stretch of the imagination. It’s just so…forgettable. The original show was a cult classic of its day and had a legion of fans. Given that, it’s understandable why Fox thought it would be a smart idea to bring it back to TV screens thirty years later. However, in trying to inject new life into the series, the creators took most of the spunk out of what made the original show so entertaining.

It’s a joy to have Don Adams and Barbara Feldon stepping into the shows of their characters once again (even if they are thirty years later), however, as viewers, we’re teased with the brilliance of their camaraderie from the original by having them relegated to supporting characters who cheerlead from the sidelines. This show is much more about the new generation of agents, and that’s the show’s biggest failing. The original characters worked so well, and if you’re going to bring a show back that was so well-loved, why try to fix what isn’t broken?

This problem is most fully illustrated in the best episodes of the show, when Siegfried (one of the original villains) returns and faces off with the older characters from the original show. Suddenly the magic is back and the show becomes truly enjoyable. Unfortunately, Andy Dick is the primary actor in the show, so he usually pushes the other actors the background. And let’s face it, even if you think Andy Dick is funny, he definitely isn’t suave and sophisticated like the character should be. Ultimately, this incarnation of Get Smart feels like a missed opportunity that only exemplifies what was so good about the original series. Hopefully forthcoming remake will get it right where this show fails.

The only extras on the DVD are minisodes for other shows: “Super Karate Monkey Death Car” from NewsRadio, and “Partners in Death” from T.J. Hooker.

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Get Smart: The Complete Series DVD review written by: Anthony Berk