KAOS in CONTROL

Sometimes we grow up with television programs that are funny for reasons unknown. Get Smart was on from 1965 to 1970. For me that would have been from ages 6 to 11. I was probably not too savvy about the Cold War. I grew up with an overall dislike or mistrust of Germans and Russians as the nations were associated with fascism and communism, respectively.

So! How are KAOS and CONTROL similar and how are they different ?

Control agents usually have numbers. The two most famous ones were Agent 86 (Maxwell Smart) and Agent 99 (Susan ___). The Chief was both nameless and unnumbered. Larabee also was referred to by name as was Hymie the Robot.

The Kaos agents usually had accents or mannerisms that were stereotypically German or Russian. The propaganda was pretty blatant.

The highlights of the show were the devices that they had such as the shoe phone, the cone of silence, or the poisonous lipstick. Smart was generally portrayed as dimwitted or incompetent. The character reminded me of Inspector Clouseau of the PINK PANTER movies.

I don't think I could sit through more than one or two episodes of the show. To be honest, the sets and the clothing are more interesting than the script. Although, I do believe there was one episode with Carol Burnett in which she was so ticked off by Control, that she thought she'd be better off with Kaos.

Get Smart - One of Our Olives Is Missing (Ziggy, ep.1)