House of Max is a two-parter, which, if you can’t tell, riffs on House of Wax. It was written by Chris Hayward and was first broadcast on 9 January, 1970.

Maxwell Smart (Don Adams) and 99 (Barbara Feldon) find themselves heading to London (read as the studio backlot) to investigate the impossible… Jack the Ripper is back!

It seems the owner of Duval’s (Marcel Hillaire) Cave of Wax has concocted a formula to bring his creations to life! Consequently, the pair find themselves encountering Jack the Ripper (George Sawaya), W.C. Fields (Bill Oberlin) and Laurel (Jim MacGeorge) & Hardy (E.J. Shuster).

The pair investigate the museum, and it’s obvious that none of the wax statues are statues or wax. They are all actors, and you can see some of them wavering back and forth, and there’s an occasional blink. But it’s still fun.

Despite obviously not being shot in the UK, the episode is very enjoyable, and there are a lot of fun moments in this one. Hayward and Arne Sultan seem to be some of the stronger writers for the series, so you know that you can rely on their episodes.

The episode ends on a cliffhanger, of course, that sees Duval sending a Wolf Man statue after the Smarts in their hotel room.

Part 2 was also written by Hayward and debuted on 16 January, 1970.

Max and Chief Inspector Sparrow (Hedley Mattingly) are able to deal with the Wolf Man, which confirms that Duval can bring wax statues to life. The same srum that brings them to life, will kill humans, but the inspector has a plan to catch out Duval… Max will switch places with the Hitler statue and be able to stop Duval and KAOS’ plans.

The plan also calls for 99 to go undercover to seduce and dine with Duval. But things aren’t going to go well, and to track down Smart, he brings the rest of the statues to life.

The Laurel & Hardy duo are pretty entertaining.

But Max ends up being caught and is about to be dropped into the wax, but he has a bit of a swing, and 99 arrives in time to knock Duval into a vat of boiling wax, wrapping up the episode.

The serum is lost, and all the statues that were brought to life will return ton an inert state in about an hour.

A silly, but nevertheless entertaining episode. It has a lot of fun bits to it.

Rebecca of Funny-Folk Farm was written by Lloyd Turner and Gordon Mitchell. It was first broadcast on 23 January, 1970.

A mission goes a little sideways when a routine pickup of a package at the Van Hooten mansion hits a snag when it’s learned that 99 is a ringer for the owner’s dead sister.

Hester Van Hooten (Gale Sondergaard) is shocked by 99’s appearance at their front door, and an undercover mission is no longer possible, considering how much she stands out.

The Chief (Edward Platt), who has been missing from the past couple of episodes, is back, and it’s always fun to see Platt, Adams and Feldon play together.

This one leans a little into some Gothic undertones, and The Old Dark House… there’s lots of lightning and dark humour… and a dangerous menace and family secret in the attic… Sebastian!

It’s goofy, plays to the tropes, and has a lot of fun doing it. It’s a great little set, and everything works like gangbusters. It’s fun to see that some of the goofy chances the series takes pay off. This one and the House of Max two-parter are a lot of fun.