Cinematical published the first teaser poster for Get Smart this week, and Steve Carrell has gone undercover. Under very beautiful cover.
We should all be so lucky as to have Anne Hathaway‘s hair covering our faces. (Minds out of the gutter, people.) Carrell and Hathaway are playing Maxwell Smart and Agent 99, the roles originally played by Don Adams and
Barbara Feldon.
I loved Get Smart when I was growing up. When I did something wrong, I said, “Sorry about that, Chief.” My parents didn’t always see the humor. Once in church, the pianist sat down with the bench out a little too far and stumbled. I said, a little too loudly, “Missed it by this much.” My parents pretended not to see the humor in that, either, but Daddy had to suppress a giggle. What I remember most, though, is the gadgets. The chauffeur-cap camera. The laser-beam pen. The shoe phone. I really, really wanted a shoe phone.
The television series won several Emmys for best comedy series, and “Get Smart: The Complete Series” recently won top honors at Home Media‘s DVD Awards. What made this show great was that the comedy was focused on the characters — the spy plots were secondary. And as the hippest show at the time,
Get Smart attracted guest stars like Danny Thomas, Steve Allen, Joey Bishop, Carol Burnett and Johnny Carson.
Steve Carrell seems a good choice to play the 21st-century Max, if the trailer is any indication.
But a remake of a show like Get Smart has to be great to be successful. (Bewitched, anyone?) And early reports have not been kind. If you want details and spoilers, you can read more here. Still, miracles can happen in the editing room, so hopefully by its release next year, the film will be great. Would you believe … pretty good?
Are you a Get Smart fan? What was your favorite spy gadget? What do you think of Steve Carrell and Anne Hathaway as Max and 99? What catchphrase got you in trouble?
