Comments on: When Did Get Smart Jump the Shark? https://popculturereferences.com/when-did-get-smart-jump-the-shark/ Brian Cronin takes a look at interesting pieces of pop culture history from the worlds of TV, film, music and more. Wed, 03 May 2023 13:25:28 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.5.2 By: Alex Widen https://popculturereferences.com/when-did-get-smart-jump-the-shark/#comment-9540 Wed, 03 May 2023 13:25:28 +0000 https://popculturereferences.com/?p=4845#comment-9540 The irony is that Maxwell Smart and 99 getting married, and then having kids, were stunts demanded by the networks. The writers/producers of the show didn’t want to do that, because they feared that some “standard domestic plots” would arise. And while they always did them with a “Smartian” twist, that is exactly what happened. NBC executives insisted on the marriage to goose the ratings, and when that didn’t work, they cancelled the show. But, GET SMART dodged oblivion by THIS MUCH!

Although I enjoyed the show overall, I’d agree that the last season was the worst. After all the drama to produce the twins, you rarely saw them; 99’s mother would just babysit them off camera a lot. It is also worth noting that the last season of GET SMART was also the only season of GET SMART that aired on CBS (after being on NBC for four seasons). Yes, season 5 was “the ol’ swapping networks when a show gets cancelled” trick, and by and large all that does is buy a show one more season. There are examples of shows thriving after they switch networks (“SUPERGIRL” and “LAST MAN STANDING” are easy modern examples), but by and large all it does is delay the inevitable by a year.

There’d been a number of attempts to revive the show (or give it a sequel) after it ended in 1970. Almost all of them tanked, although for my money I enjoyed the “GET SMART, AGAIN” TV movie from the mid-to-late 1980s. Though even it barely mentions the twins, since by then they’d grown up.

]]> By: Brian Cronin https://popculturereferences.com/when-did-get-smart-jump-the-shark/#comment-9526 Wed, 03 May 2023 00:06:12 +0000 https://popculturereferences.com/?p=4845#comment-9526 In reply to Garth Gersten.

Oops, yep, just a typo there. 8s and 6s look too similar, darnit! 🙂

]]> By: Garth Gersten https://popculturereferences.com/when-did-get-smart-jump-the-shark/#comment-9523 Tue, 02 May 2023 23:16:58 +0000 https://popculturereferences.com/?p=4845#comment-9523 Yes. Smart was 86 – . I agree twins as I fondly recall the Chief coming over for dinner and Max and 99 trying to remember what wedding present they got from him and end up displaying ALL the gifts to not hurt the Chief’s feelings. Of course, the Chief had not yet given a gift by then and was bringing it to the dinner!

]]> By: Matthew https://popculturereferences.com/when-did-get-smart-jump-the-shark/#comment-9521 Tue, 02 May 2023 22:27:19 +0000 https://popculturereferences.com/?p=4845#comment-9521 I would agree with the twins being the time it jumped the shark.

However, was he Agent 86?

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