Back to the Old Drawing Board introduces a fan favorite character to the series. Hymie.

Played by Dick Gautier, Hymie is a humanoid robot, with super strength, a computer for a brain, and he’s bulletproof. Sure, the idea is silly, but this is Get Smart right?

The episode was written by Gary Clarke under the pseudonym C.F. L’Amoureaux and it first aired on 29 January, 1966.

Hymie is brought into CONTROL just as KAOS is planning to kidnap a CONTROL scientist, Dr. Shotwire (Patrick O’Moore).

Sounds like Smart (Don Adams) and 99 (Barbara Feldon) will have their hands full this time out. They have to look after Shotwire, but there are going to be plenty of problems along the way. Some of them, no doubt, caused by Smart himself.

Hymie starts out as a robotic KAOS agent, but some rewiring of the literal-minded droid will make him a reliable, if goofy ally.

It’s a fun episode, but as a modern viewer I was troubled by the introduction of a robot character. Sure, the series is already unbelievable, but this makes things a little extra silly. Still there are some nice comedic moments in this one. The whole couch sequence with Max and Hymie is really well done.

And with all this goofy stuff going on, 99 doesn’t have a lot to do in the episode, and is in the story infrequently.

I know I’ve said it before, but I really dig Adams performance in this series.

I know Hymie will be back over the course of the series, but I do hope he doesn’t overstay his welcome.

All in the Mind first aired on 5 February, 1966. It was written by Dee Caruso and Gerald Gardner.

Smart goes undercover as an army officer with mental issues, in the hopes of proving that a psychologist, Dr. Braam (Torin Thatcher) is passing along confidential information to KAOS. 99 poses as Smart’s wife, and the pair of them have to prove Braam is no good.

The Chief (Edward Platt) insists that Smart act completely disturbed, so he gets some assistance from Dr. Stuben (Robert F. Simon). There’s some nice banter here.

There is a dastardly weapon in KAOS collection this time around… a flooding phone booth. And though we don’t see the results of its first kill, it does make for a great idea. It’s also interesting to see that 99 and Smart get out of the booth thanks to 99.

There’s a nice balance of physical comedy, gags and spycraft send up in this one. I quite enjoyed this one, but I also feel it could have been a little stronger. There are some interesting emotional moments though as the Chief relates that sometimes he isn’t keen to send agents out on missions that may lead to their deaths.

And this leads to the final gag of the episode, with the Chief on the couch, and Smart taking notes.

I have to say, at twenty episodes in, that I see the appeal of the series, and the writing, for the most part is solid, as are the performances.

Dear Diary closes out my trio of episodes this week. Written by Stan Burns and Mike Marmer, this episode debuted on 12 February, 1966.

CONTROL is trying to track down a secret journal recorded by a retired secret agent. So Smart and 99 find themselves on their way to Spy City, a retirement community for former agents.

Herb Gaffer (Vaughn Taylor) has kept this journal for all of his escapades. So when he and his journal go missing…

Smart and 99 go looking, but they never seem to be able to find him, despite being in the same room, like when he’s literally on the rack in front of Smart and 99.

This one didn’t entertain me as much as the other episodes this week. I do like dart board bit, but overall, I just don’t think this one was as strong as it could have been. It’s not that it’s a horrible episode, it’s just not quite as fun as the others.

Sure there are some goofy gadgets, and more silliness than ususal, but it just doesn’t pop as well as the other ones I watched this time.

To be fair though, this is episode twenty-one of thirty in the first season! There’s bound to be a few that don’t work quite as well as others.