Season 4 of Get Smart ended on 29 March, 1969. Chris Hayward and Arne Sultan penned the script, and Don Adams once again directed the episode.

Smart (Adams) and his fellow CONTROL agents are planning to escape the KAOS prison camp in New Jersey, and there will be lots of riffing on the classic film. Things are helped along by the always enjoyable Siegfried (Bernie Kopell) serving as the camp’s commandant.

Honestly, anytime Kopell is on screen, he’s fantastic. Siegfried is my favorite character on the entire show.

The group come up with all manner of plans, including a foot race which gets ruined by betting. Will Smart, the Chief (Edward Platt) and the rest be able to figure out a way to escape the KAOS camp? Of course, there will be tunnels.

And, of course, there will be lots of laughs on the way. There’s also a lot of messing up of directions with the tunnel.

99 (Barbara Feldon) may be able to bust them out, but things are going to get rough for Smart and the gang, as they are betrayed from within.

Still, there will be a way out for our heroes, and they’ll try to maintain their dignity through it all. It’s goofy and silly, and wraps up the season. And so closes the season, and now we’re onto the fifth and final season.

Pheasant Under Glass launched season five on 26 September, 1969. It was also directed by Adams, and written by Sultan and Ward.

Smart completely blows his cover when he reveals to a newspaperman that he’s a spy! How coul he do such a thing?

Well, maybe the fact that 99 has told him that they may be expecting a baby has something to do with it.

To keep his identity secret, he needs to undergo some plastic surgery. Twice! This allows for some great cameos by Martin Landau and Phyllis Diller. But in the end, he can get away with things by donning a moustache, and getting a nosejob! Unfortunately, if exposed to heat, all the work will come undone, and this assignment is going to turn it up!

And there’s also an assignment. They need to get a scientist, Pheasant Proctor (Ned Wertimer) who is being held in a glass prison, so they need to get an opera CONTROL agent, Madame La Costa (Virginia Jaeger) to sing a note that will shatter it.

It also has a really ridiculous season opener – it cashes in on the moon craze, by having Smart, 99 and the Chief meeting on the moon, which they won’t be able to do now that the Apollo missions have landed. There are also new titles and a new recorded version of the theme music. Honestly, it sounds a little like The Addams Family.

Ironhand was once again directed by Adams. It was written by Lloyd Turner and Gordon Mitchell. And apparently, despite his cover being blown last week, Smart is back in at CONTROL and still on assignment.

It seems the head of KAOS, Ironhand (Paul Richards) is determined to get his hands on some anti-anti-anti-missile-missile plans. So CONTROL needs to keep them safe. And what better place to tuck them in than the new stroller the expectant Smarts have.

Oh, and with a name like Ironhand can you guess what his physical deformity is? It makes for some funny stuff, but I’d prefer to see Siegfried.

There’s a great baby buggy switch scene that was choreographed by Adam’s wife, June Taylor, and I was absolutely delighted to see Billy Barty show up!

There’s some riffing on gadgets, as the Smarts pick up a gadget-laden carriage (which totals Max’s car), as well as taking on Mission: Impossible, when the Chief leaves a mission recorded on a doll that wets.

It’s fun and charming, but the buggy sequence is absolutely standout. It’s a fun entry, and while the series is definitely changing, it’s still going strong. At least for this season.