Don Adams had a very short summer break between seasons one and two of Get Smart. The first season, with a staggering thirty episodes, came to a close in the first week of May 1966. By 17 September, 1966, Maxwell Smart (Adams) was continuing his spycraft.

The first episode of the season, Anatomy of a Lover, was written by Gary Clarke under a pen name, C.F. L’Amoureaux. And it sees the return of fan favorite, Hymie (Dick Gautier).

KAOS is going to assassinate the Chief (Edward Platt) and he’s going to do it through a re-programmed Hymie. The robotic man will need to be stopped. Can Smart and 99 (Barbara Feldon) stop him and save their boss? And find the KAOS agent working inside CONTROL?

The Chief orders Smart to disassemble Hymie, but instead Smart takes him home to his apartment, to work on restoring the robot’s systems. And this causes lots of domestic humor.

There’s programming, counter-programming, and a bit of a love story, as the Chief’s niece, Phoebe (Laurel Goodwin) falls for him. This is a little coincidental, she lives right across the hall? You’d think she was an agent keeping an eye on Smart living that close by.

Strike While the Agent is Hot was directed by Gary Nelson and first debuted on 24 September, 1966. It was written by Budd Grossman.

Smart finds himself the new head of the Surviving Members of CONTROL, the spy group’s union. And there is a looming labor dispute and strike on the horizon. Something the Chief is eager to avoid, and works to negotiate with Smart.

All of this is going on even as Smart, 99 and the Chief work to stop KAOS’ latest ploy, which involves codes hidden in a specially run library.

It’s goofy fun, there’s a well-orchestrated climax with some gunplay set amongst the stacks.

And while 99 is in some of the episode this is definitely one of the 99-lite episodes, so Feldon provides the voice of the announcer as well as the telephone operator.

There isn’t even a lot of gadgets in this one. It’s fairly straightforward with some goofy bits all counter-pointed by the looming strike. Which is a funny thought in and of itself – an intelligence agency going on strike.

At this point, I’m just reveling in the cast, Adams is perfect, and Feldon and Platt round out a solid team that is a lot of fun to watch. There is a really solid chemistry here.

A Spy For a Spy first aired on 1 October, 1966. It was written by Mike Marmer and Stan Burns.

This one is pretty funny. KAOS and CONTROL are kidnapping one another’s agents. And are quickly running out of people to grab.

It all starts with KAOS kidnapping the Chief during a magic show at a restaurant where he, 99 and Smart are celebrating his birthday.

Smart finds himself squaring off against Siegfried (Bernie Kopell). Can negotiations continue when neither side can trust the other? This is best shown when the pair attempt to meet up and have to disarm themselves before chatting.

There are fun gadgets, guns hidden in briefcases, the shoe phone (of course), and a couple of dummies, trick guns and rabbits.

Smart also gets to trot out some of his increasingly popular catchphrases and actually gets into a series of fisticuffs.

It’s a fun one, and so far this one is my favorite of the second season. Sure, it’s only three eps in, but damn if this on isn’t a lot of fun.

Let’s see how the series continues to play out. I hear that Siegfried will return.