Let’s all go to the circus! Agent 86, Maxwell Smart (Don Adams) and 99 (Barbara Feldon) go undercover at the big top in The Greatest Spy on Earth. Written by Dee Caruso and Gerald Gardner, this episode was first broadcast on 19 November 1966.

They are assigned to break a KAOS diamond smuggling ring that is using the circus as a front. Posing as reporters the pair go into meet with all the members of the circus, to discover who is the smuggler.

They encounter the usual cast of circus tropes, and it provides some pretty enjoyable comedic bits, and it should come as no surprise that almost the entire circus is involved in the smuggling. And is it really a surprise, that the pair end up beeing captured? Well it’s a good thief the Chief (Edward Platt) goes undercover to break them out, and help them foil the smugglers – I wish he had a little bit more to do than run in at the last moments of the story.

It’s goofy fun, and they play with the stereotypical circus performers in fun ways. Adams is just a lot of fun to watch, I like his delivery, and the sense of fun that shows up in his performances.

And hey, there are two iconic guest stars in this episode, Paul Dooley (!), and Billy Curtis!

Island of the Darned was once again directed by Gary Nelson, and it first aired on 26 November, 1966. It was written by Buck Henry, William Raynor, and Myles Wilder from a story by Raynor and Wilder.

Hans Hunter (Harold Gould) is a vicious KAOS agent who specializes in big game hunting, specifically CONTROL agents. And guess who is on assignment on his private island? They are after Hunter because they just sent the stuffed body of another CONTROL agent to the agency, and Smart wants to chase the killer down.

They get outfitted with gadgets and head to the Caribbean (which does not look like the Caribbean). They aren’t long on the island before they are captured, and the pair find themselves the prey in Hunter’s last hunt.

Of course, the pair are able to eventually outwit Hunter with one of their gadgets, but for a while it looks like a tough run for the pair.

While the show is obviously Adams’, I feel it works best when he and 99 are completely engaged in the narrative and are helping each other, and interacting with each other. It lets both of them shine, though more often than not, 99 plays the straight man.

Still it’s a lot of fun.

Bronzefinger was written by Lila Garrett and Bernie Kahn and it debuted on 3 December, 1966.

This time, Max is after a world-class art thief… Van Cleef (Joseph Sirola) but he’s known as Bronzefinger (an obvious nod to the 007 villain).

Max and 99 go undercover at a museum. He’s an art restorer, and she’s a tour guide. They work through suspects and gags until they end up in Bronzeginger’s vile clutches.

There’s not only a nod to the James Bond title, but a KAOS agent is killed by being completely covered in paint. Blue paint. In fact, that seems to happen to a number of people throughout the episode.

Max gets some fast art training, and there’s lots of goofy stuff throughout.

There’s no lasers threatening to slice agents in half, but there is a big vat, in which 86 and 99 find themselves trapped, about to be bronzed!

It’s fun, but of the three I like Island of the Darned the most. Still, there’s some fun moments and gags and in the end these episodes are just a real joy to settle in for.