Did "Get Smart" Jump-The-Shark when Agent 99 became a mom? - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

um · 05-04-2017, 07:38 PM

I watched that TV show when I was a pre-teen, perhaps even before I reached the double-digit age, but from what I recall, Agent 99 had triplets in one of the later episodes. Back then the term "Jump-The-Shark" did not exist but in retrospect, since a criteria of "Jumping-The-Shark" is that new regular characters are introduced that are babies or children, did the show "Jump The Shark" when Agent 99 became a mom?

PhoenixAcres · 05-05-2017, 04:15 PM

She had twins, but I don't think it was a JTS moment to be honest. It may not have been the best idea, but the tone of the show didn't really change that much since the twins never had a significant storyline after they were born. So I'd guess the whole pregnancy/birth arc was an attempt at higher ratings.

Season 5 overall was a pretty wild year but it wasn't bad. I thought it was fun til the end.

um · 05-05-2017, 04:41 PM

Twins.

I must have been too young to clearly recall it so many years later.
I have commented on other posts about it saying that it was triplets.

However I do recall that it seemed that the characters were changing.

um · 05-06-2017, 05:04 AM

Note: since I created this thread I changed the title.

QTMcWhiskers · 04-03-2018, 07:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PhoenixAcres

She had twins, but I don't think it was a JTS moment to be honest. It may not have been the best idea, but the tone of the show didn't really change that much since the twins never had a significant storyline after they were born. So I'd guess the whole pregnancy/birth arc was an attempt at higher ratings.

Season 5 overall was a pretty wild year but it wasn't bad. I thought it was fun til the end.

^^this

Season 5 had a format change, but it felt more invigorating after seasons 3 and 4's straying from the format seasons 1 and 2 had. Which isn't to say 3 or 4 were bad, but 4 was starting to get a little stale in places so I can see why CBS would pick up the show and revamp it... and revamp they did.

Some episodes didn't work or ended up flopping, but a number of them were laugh-out-loud hysterical.

Even the occasional episode incorporating the family issue, such as "Valerie of the Dolls" along with traditional standbys like "The Mess of Adrian Listenger", "Age Before Duty", or "And Only Two Ninety Nine", among others, season 5 was a really good shakeup and hit all the right notes. Which reminds, "Pheasant Under Glass" isn't the best episode of the year but in the context of 1969, having them on the moon (followed by a rush hour joke, LOL!) was pretty good. I wish CBS renewed it for a 6th year, but I'll agree the clunkers, like the finale, "Ironhand", and some others, really were BAD.

JL82 · 08-25-2018, 03:14 PM

They didn't take her totally out of the action, which was novel for the time and which I'm glad about. She actually had some of her coolest moments (in the sense that she saved Max or played a significant role in the victory or their getting away) after she was a mom. However, I could have done without the twins. They were always being shipped off to a baby-sitter or 99's mom, so it's obvious even Max and 99 thought they were in the way.

I was also struck by how, as pretty as Barbara was (and is) she ended up...looking like a mom - her glamour was toned down compared to female KAOS agents and other women Max came in contact with.

um · 08-25-2018, 05:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JL82

They were always being shipped off to a baby-sitter or 99's mom, so it's obvious even Max and 99 thought they were in the way.

I was also struck by how, as pretty as Barbara was (and is) she ended up...looking like a mom - her glamour was toned down compared to female KAOS agents and other women Max came in contact with.

Well, wasn't that only being true-to-life? With both parents working then the kids have to be at a baby sitter's. Also usually when a woman becomes a mom, she cannot be "glamorous" as much as she was before becoming a mom. Motherhood usually takes a physical toll.

um · 08-25-2018, 05:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PhoenixAcres

She had twins, but I don't think it was a JTS moment to be honest. It may not have been the best idea, but the tone of the show didn't really change that much since the twins never had a significant storyline after they were born. So I'd guess the whole pregnancy/birth arc was an attempt at higher ratings.

.

Perhaps too, TV sitcoms with male and female main-characters who are married (if they were not originally depicted as having children) were often depicted as eventually having a children or a child because of the precedent that Lucille Ball set by having her character become a mother. It seems it was a copy-cat type of thing aside from possibly being a JTS moment.

PhoenixAcres · 08-25-2018, 09:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by um

Perhaps too, TV sitcoms with male and female main-characters who are married (if they were not originally depicted as having children) were often depicted as eventually having a children or a child because of the precedent that Lucille Ball set by having her character become a mother. It seems it was a copy-cat type of thing aside from possibly being a JTS moment.

Yeah that's true. That seems to apply to almost every show of this time period. The only shows I can think of with child-free married couples are Green Acres, Bob Newhart, and I Dream of Jeannie.

05-04-2017, 07:38 PM	#1
um Member Forum Regular Join Date: Oct 26, 2015 Posts: 907	Did "Get Smart" Jump-The-Shark when Agent 99 became a mom? I watched that TV show when I was a pre-teen, perhaps even before I reached the double-digit age, but from what I recall, Agent 99 had triplets in one of the later episodes. Back then the term "Jump-The-Shark" did not exist but in retrospect, since a criteria of "Jumping-The-Shark" is that new regular characters are introduced that are babies or children, did the show "Jump The Shark" when Agent 99 became a mom?
	Last edited by um; 05-06-2017 at 05:03 AM.

05-05-2017, 04:15 PM	#2
PhoenixAcres Member Moderator Forum Veteran Join Date: Jul 26, 2016 Location: United States Posts: 6,824	She had twins, but I don't think it was a JTS moment to be honest. It may not have been the best idea, but the tone of the show didn't really change that much since the twins never had a significant storyline after they were born. So I'd guess the whole pregnancy/birth arc was an attempt at higher ratings. Season 5 overall was a pretty wild year but it wasn't bad. I thought it was fun til the end.

05-05-2017, 04:41 PM	#3
um Member Forum Regular Join Date: Oct 26, 2015 Posts: 907	Twins. I must have been too young to clearly recall it so many years later. I have commented on other posts about it saying that it was triplets. However I do recall that it seemed that the characters were changing.

05-06-2017, 05:04 AM	#4
um Member Forum Regular Join Date: Oct 26, 2015 Posts: 907	Note: since I created this thread I changed the title.

08-25-2018, 03:14 PM	#6
JL82 Member Frequent Poster Join Date: Aug 14, 2009 Location: Toledo, Ohio Posts: 189	They didn't take her totally out of the action, which was novel for the time and which I'm glad about. She actually had some of her coolest moments (in the sense that she saved Max or played a significant role in the victory or their getting away) after she was a mom. However, I could have done without the twins. They were always being shipped off to a baby-sitter or 99's mom, so it's obvious even Max and 99 thought they were in the way. I was also struck by how, as pretty as Barbara was (and is) she ended up...looking like a mom - her glamour was toned down compared to female KAOS agents and other women Max came in contact with.