A thought occured to me, soon after Don Adam's death (RIP):
Maxwell Smart is NOT stupid!
Dense, yes. It takes him a little longer to grasp certain things. He needs the chief, or 99, to point him in the right direction. And yes, he is a little bumbling, at times. But when the chips are down, he always proves himself to be a very capable agent.
I'm glad the writers didn't turn him into a total buffoon. I think that would have destroyed the show!

I quite agree. He was a little accident prone but solved quite a few cases on his own.

A thought occured to me, soon after Don Adam's death (RIP):
Maxwell Smart is NOT stupid!
Dense, yes. It takes him a little longer to grasp certain things. He needs the chief, or 99, to point him in the right direction. And yes, he is a little bumbling, at times. But when the chips are down, he always proves himself to be a very capable agent.
I'm glad the writers didn't turn him into a total buffoon. I think that would have destroyed the show!


He's obviously NOT stupid. I think he's quite an expert at his job, he just lacks some commun sense.

I thought that the stupid things he sometimes did was an act to trick the bad guys into underestimating him. That's when he turns the tables and bets them every time.

I thought that the stupid things he sometimes did was an act to trick the bad guys into underestimating him. That's when he turns the tables and bets them every time.

Don Adams was a bit of a gambler in real life.

I quite agree. He was a little accident prone but solved quite a few cases on his own.

You know, there are a lot of articles and comments out there about Get Smart that will say something like, "99 did all the real work and saved Max every episode." When you watch the episodes, you realize that's not true by a long shot. Max did have some pretty brilliant ideas and amazing feats of his own.

Feldon herself has seemed rather apologetic about 99 in interviews, talking about 99 "just standing there most of the time" and being a "a cartoon character." And there are some times Max is battling someone physically and 99 DOES just stand there (sometimes she's been injured or somehow been put out of action but other times you can't see why).

As for being a cartoon character, I didn't used to watch more serious detective/spy shows - and now that I've seen a few I feel like Get Smart is like a cartoon all over.

But the writing with 99 is "all over the map" - fawning and deferential one minute and saving the day the next - maybe that's only human?

There are also a lot of things we HEAR 99 has done but we don't see her do it - like recognizing the impostor in Temporarily Out of Control, or re-wiring Max's apartment right before she moves in (that's a not a rescue but it makes her sound very capable, probably not something viewers at the time would expect a woman to do.)

There were a few episodes where 99 wasn't involved at all, so Smart solved the case on his own.
One particular one that comes to mind is where KAOS tries to discredit Smart by making it appear that he's mentally ill. While on trial, Smart is able to prove his innocence--quite brilliantly, too.

There were a few episodes where 99 wasn't involved at all, so Smart solved the case on his own.
One particular one that comes to mind is where KAOS tries to discredit Smart by making it appear that he's mentally ill. Why one trial, Smart is able to prove his innocence.

A good point about "Chicken." In spite of the picture in Max's apartment, it feels almost like 99 doesn't exist. Same with "The Girls from Kaos, (because you would think if a young female like Tisha needed protection, they would need a female agent's help, like for Tonya in "Too Many Chiefs," but they never seem to think of it.)

But regarding whether Smart is smart: did you notice he and 99 are pretty much the only CONTROL agents to live all the way through their missions? How often they have to finish missions that other agents started and didn't live to finish.

And while the running gag of Max taking credit for something 99 thought of (I think he really convinced himself!) has become famous, there are a few times when Max does more of the real "heavy lifting" yet the Chief heaps a lot of praise on 99: Casablanca and The Day They Raided the Knights come to mind.

(In Casablanca he says 99 "did a particularly fine job" but she was wrong about who the Choker was and it was Max who fought with him.)

A good point about "Chicken." In spite of the picture in Max's apartment, it feels almost like 99 doesn't exist. Same with "The Girls from Kaos, (because you would think if a young female like Tisha needed protection, they would need a female agent's help, like for Tonya in "Too Many Chiefs," but they never seem to think of it.)

But regarding whether Smart is smart: did you notice he and 99 are pretty much the only CONTROL agents to live all the way through their missions? How often they have to finish missions that other agents started and didn't live to finish.

And while the running gag of Max taking credit for something 99 thought of (I think he really convinced himself!) has become famous, there are a few times when Max does more of the real "heavy lifting" yet the Chief heaps a lot of praise on 99: Casablanca and The Day They Raided the Knights come to mind.

(In Casablanca he says 99 "did a particularly fine job" but she was wrong about who the Choker was and it was Max who fought with him.)

Yes, I've noticed that Max and 99 survive while all the other Contol agents die, like the red-shirts from Star Trek. Max has made good observations that helped stop KAOS. I'm guessing that the moments Chief praises 99 instead of Max, the Chief is inwardly mad at Max for a chain of recent idiotic moments, thereby showing favoritism to 99. I really have no idea.

I've also noticed that Max knows his poems according to "Satan Place" and "One Nation Invisible."