Sandy Supposes....

Agent 86

PROMPT November 21st

Is there a TV show/movie/book from your childhood that you still enjoy today? Tell us why it resonates with you.

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         Yes, I did have a favourite television program as a kid. This will date me for sure since "my" show aired in the 1960's. Okay, okay that was a lifetime ago, I know. It made me laugh then and its episodes still guarantee my chuckles. In the famous tag line of the main character, Maxwell Smart, would you believe this series is Get Smart.

         The episodes are so fresh in my memory it's as if I just viewed them. Wait, I did watch them as recently as this summer. I confess I own a set of DVDs. Of course, when I was a kid, programs could not be saved, or taped in any way, shape, or form. If you missed an episode, you missed an episode. You were forced to wait for the next one due to air in a week's time. The wait could be torturous.

         Max, or Agent 86, fumbled along as a secret agent of an organization known as Control. He had the best of intentions, but he inevitably struggled as he faced off against the bad guys of Kaos. He never lacked confidence though. At times he seemed blissfully unaware of his short comings. He uttered memorable one liners such as, "quiet is un-American" and " the 'l' in Maxwell is silent." As I mentioned above, he repeated "would you believe" over and over.

         One of the running gags involved the many applications of phone use. In one hilarious episode, Max carried on a conversation with his Chief on a series of gadget phones that were in one of his shoes, his tie, his wrist watch, a button, and more. I thought the idea/concept of a shoe phone to be utterly ridiculous, and therefore, great lunacy. Back then, phones were anchored to a wall and far from portable. Now we have cell phones.

         Max' partner was a female he only ever referred to as 99. He never knew her name, but she was clearly his fan. Agent 13 always hid in the strangest places like a toilet, a bus locker, a cupboard, a clock, or a cigarette dispensing machine. Fang was supposed to be an agent in the form of a shaggy dog. The forensic genius was known as Dr. Steel and she juggled research in her top secret lab with work as a dancing chorus girl. absurdity at its best!

         My favourite gadget has to be The Cone of Silence. It never functioned as planned, yet Max insisted upon its use during conversations. Basically, it was a plastic dome that dropped from the Chief's ceiling to envelope people and muffle their speech. They were always alone in the office, but secrecy was paramount. The trouble ensued because this device smothered all sound even for those within it, and they could never hear each other. It was the antithesis of a speech bubble. In another episode, Max dealt with "nitro whispering", a silent explosive. As if,,,,,

         Anyway, the exploits and misadventures of Max struck me as ludicrous. I recognized it as a form of slap stick, but it made me guffaw. Superman changed in a phone booth, Agent 86 travelled to the top secret offices of Control via a payphone booth. It acted as an elevator. Now that would be an amusement ride!