bloggedy blog: the personal weblog of a music lover and aging punk wannabe

:: Tuesday, September 27, 2005 ::

Would you believe...Don Adams ('Maxwell Smart') dead at 82?
I'm saddened by the news that one of the TV heroes of my youth, Don Adams, the defective detective Maxwell Smart from the '60s TV series Get Smart, has died.

Yes, Don Adams, the bumbling gumshoe with a shoephone, was my hero. I wanted a shoephone. I wanted a hottie co-agent like 99. Even at that young age, I knew I'd never be a suave secret agent like James Bond. I knew I had a better chance of being like Maxwell Smart.

Don Adams was one of the first voices I perfected as a young celebrity impersonator. I was five or six at the time, but I absorbed the antics of Agent 86 and his smarter, prettier sidekick, Agent 99 (Barbara Feldon) as they fought the evil agents of KAOS to keep the airwaves, if not the world, safe for comedy. And what a terrific comedy that show was. (Hey, it was a Mel Brooks project, so how could it go wrong? This, of course, was before Spaceballs.) Any time I'd screw up around the house, which was often, I'd look to Agent 86 for my salvation. "Sorry about that, chief," I would wisecrack to my dad, in my best Maxwell Smart accent, and all would be forgiven. At least until he hauled me up to my room and acquainted me with the belt. Ah, memories.

Don Adams' Maxwell Smart apparently touched many lives. The author of The Get Smart Page was obviously one. Here's an excerpt from a speech that webmaster gave a few years ago that puts it into perspective:
There’s not a week that goes by that I don’t receive a wonderful message from another fan, telling me how much he’s loved the show and what an impact it has had on his life. Women to whom 99 was their very first strong role models. Writers who got into the industry because Get Smart inspired them. Ordinary people who use the powerfully strong and honest character of Max as a role model to "fight rottenness."

The term hero gets bandied about a lot these days, with firefighters, soldiers, and police officers all hearing that term routinely. And those people are heroes. But there’s another type of hero, the everyday hero. The person who through his or her efforts the world is a better place for each of us. I’m talking about people who make us laugh and make us smile and create a world special in our lives. That’s you, the people who created Get Smart. Yes, it’s just a TV show, but it’s a TV show that by its quality and its humanity has made our lives just a little better. Put a smile on our face the day we really needed one. A TV show that gave us a family that we still hold dear. The reason this show is so important to us is because it’s got a little piece of all of you in it. The humanity and grace lives on and permeates all our lives.
Rest in peace, Don Adams. Would you believe you touched the lives of so many?

television, Entertainment, Don Adams

:: Andrew 07:06 + ::
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