The second part of Ship of Spies first aired on 9 April, 1966.

Smart (Don Adams) and 99 (Barbara Feldon) are still in trouble in this story written by Leonard Stern and Buck Henry.

They are working on getting the plans of a super secret weapon, but have to resolve last week’s cliffhanger first! Something 99 does with a rope gun (which goes sideways just in time for the opening credits)!

All Smart has to go on is a strange clopping nose, unfortunately everyone on ship seems to be making that noise some way or another.

There’s a nod to a classic spy title when Agent 44 (Victor French) asks to come in from the cold.

As they attempt to dig further into the case, the gags and laughs continue, as well as some fun spycraft and silly gadgets.

And of course, there’s the wordplay, the baddie is the captain, Groman (Harold J. Stone). And his henchmen is of Chinese descent, Ming (Fuji)… Groman’s Chinese.

This two-parter, as mentioned, won an Emmy and it is very funny.

Poor 99 has to save Smart and the Chief (Edward Platt) by episode’s end. But I also like that as a character, she knows Mandarin. She does have layers, perhaps even more so than Smart, but it never detracts from the comedy playing out around the characters.

Shipment to Beirut was written by Arne Sultan, and first debuted on 23 April, 1966. It is the penultimate episode of the first season, episode 29!

Maxwell Smart has to recover some secret plans, that are sewn into the dress of a model. 99 has to go undercover as a model, but it’s a good thing that Smart is going to help because she could end up a mannequin before the end of the episode!

Things aren’t going to go smoothly. There’s an assault on a modeling show, and Richelieu (Abraham Lincoln from Star Trek, Lee Bergere) proves to be a troubling villain.

Smart is temporarily relieved of duty initially, so by sending 99 in, and then going after Richelieu on their own means they are meeting another spy stereotype… going rogue.

There’s some good stuff at the climax of the episode as Max tries to save the other mannequins he thinks are models.

The only downside was that it sounded like it was going to be a solid episode for 99 with her taking on the mission, but she still only ends up being a supporting role.

Last One in is a Rotten Spy is the final episode of the first season. It was written by Stan Burns and Mike Marmer and was first broadcast on 7 May, 1966.

Max knows he has to rescue one of the members of the Russian Women’s Swim Team. He just can’t remember which one, and has to pose as a swimming instructor.

As he, 99 and Chief try to figure out who the defector is, Max ends up eating a list of names repeatedly Ddespite the fact that he wants it to be one of the swimmers, the defector is someone else entirely.

There are some funny moments, but it all feels a little confined, taking place on established sets and a swimming pool.

It’s fun, goofy, and shows that the series has a lot of material to mine as it explores spy tropes, superspy gadgets and knows how to do it with a sense of humour.

Lets see what happens next time when I start season two of this iconic series.