Missed It By That Much...

A favorite of mine from my youth has passed away:

Comedian Don Adams is dead at 82.

The the wry-voiced comedian starred as the fumbling secret agent Maxwell Smart in the 1960s television spoof of James Bond movies, "Get Smart."

His friend and former agent, Bruce Tufeld, said Adams died of a lung infection last night at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. He says the actor broke his hip a year ago and had been in ill health.

As the inept Agent 86 of the super-secret federal agency CONTROL, Adams captured TV viewers with his antics in combatting the evil agents of CHAOS. When his explanations failed to convince the villains or his boss, he tried another tack: "Would you believe...?" It became a national catchphrase.

"Get Smart" twice won the Emmy for best comedy series with three Emmys for Adams as comedy actor.

I can still remember the whole family gathering around the TV on Saturday night to watch Get Smart. HolyCoast Dad and I would occasionally repeat whatever that year's catch phrase was in our best Maxwell Smart voices, and the show's opening was always fun to watch.

If you watched the show you'll recognize the title of this post as one of the catch phrases, along with "Would you believe..." or "And, loving it", and "Sorry about that, Chief". There was a new one each season. And of course, my favorite bit from the show was the "cone of silence" which rendered everyone involved basically deaf and left them screaming at each other.

They don't make sitcoms like that anymore, and it's too bad. It was a funny show.