In case you haven't noticed, the new feature film version of "Get Smart" recently opened in movie theaters. It's not within my province - or my wish - to offer a review, but suffice it to say that fans of the original 1960s-'70s TV series are not likely to switch their loyalties from Don Adams' Maxwell Smart to Steve Carrell's anytime soon.

The reason that the original sitcom stood out from all its contemporaries can be summed up in two names: Mel Brooks and Buck Henry, among the sharpest satirical wits in show biz. Who better to spoof the over-the-top exploits of James Bond on the silver screen and the profusion of TV secret agents (e.g. "Man from UNCLE," "Mission: Impossible," "I Spy," "The Avengers") who flourished in the era of Cold War paranoia?

Brooks (who at the time was trying to raise money for his next feature, "The Producers") and Henry, along with Leonard Stern, created the series in September 1965, centering it on the bumbling Maxwell Smart - played to deadpan perfection by Don Adams - who was Agent 86 for CONTROL, a Washington-based secret U.S. government counterintelligence agency, and whose cover identity is a greeting card salesman.

Despite the fact that he was so inept that he could barely operate the telephone implanted in his shoe, Smart, together with his much sharper and more resourceful partner, and later wife and mother of their twins, Agent 99 (played by Barbara Feldon), usually succeeded in thwarting the evil intentions of their enemies at the equally inept KAOS. Other characters on the show included their long-suffering boss, the head of CONTROL known only as Chief (cover name Harold Clark); Hymie,  the literal-minded robot played by Dick Gautier, a powerful android built by KAOS but reprogrammed to work for CONTROL; Conrad Siegfried, vice president of KAOS and Max's nemesis; and various other agents, both good and evil: No. 44, 13, Shtarker (definitely named by Mel Brooks) and K-13, an ineffectual CONTROL canine.

The show, which ran for a total of 138 episodes and won seven Emmys, became a pop culture phenomenon, with some of its catch phrases - spoken in imitation of Don Adams' delivery - becoming common parlance. Who can forget, "Sorry about that, Chief," "Would you believe ...?" "Good thinking, Max," "I asked you not to tell me that!" and others. After the show had run its course, there were a few other media appearances, most prominently the 1980 theatrical release "The Nude Bomb," which bombed, and the 1989 made-for-TV "Get Smart, Again!"

Like any self-respecting secret agent, Maxwell Smart had lots of ingenious equipment, and some of it - along with more conventional items - can be found in "Get Smart" memorabilia. Among the former are a Secret Agent 86 pen/radio designed to be an actual working AM radio embedded in a fountain pen (Agent 99 had her radio implanted in a lipstick), and a "Get Smart Exploding Time Bomb" game by AMT, the object of which was to build a picture of a KAOS agent before a spring-loaded time bomb exploded).

Other items were a "Get Smart, Secret Agent 99 Action Kit," an elaborate electronic quiz game featuring a battery-operated electrode format to determine the right answers to quiz questions; a highly collectible model car kit of the 1965 Sunbeam Tiger roadster Max drove in the show's original opening credits, complete with a battery of hidden weapons; a puzzle; and a "Get Smart" steel lunch box with thermos by King-Seeley.

Paper collectibles include a coloring book from Saalfield, "Get Smart - Maxwell Smart, That Is"; "Sorry Chief," a paperback book by William Johnston, from Tempo Books; a Dell "Get Smart" comic; bubble gum cards; a card game; and sheet music of the show's theme.

Linda Rosenkrantz has edited Auction magazine and authored 18 books, including "Cool Names for Babies" and "The Baby Name Bible" (St. Martin's Press; www.babynamebible.com). She cannot answer letters personally.

Visit Copley News Service at www.copleynews.com.

© Copley News Service