The Mess of Adrian Listenger first aired on 30 January, 1970 and was written by Chris Hayward.

It’s baseball season, and the CONTROL team are all dead but for Maxwell Smart (Don Adams) and the Chief (Edward Platt) and they begin to suspect one another.

The pair are forced to work together, to find the culprit. Because it can’t be Max of the Chief, right? There’s some fun banter between the pairs, but it’s not quite as fun as it could be. Smart is pretty dense in this one, I mean more so than usual.

When the pair get ready to confront one another, Max finds himself summoned to a deserted house, the Chief arrives as well, and the pair have a face-off. Until Smart and the Chief throw away their weapons, because they won’t play into the killer’s plans. But who is the killer? It’s the person who has been with them every step of the way… Ace (Pat Paulsen). It’s pretty easy to figure out, but that’s ok.

There are some silly moments throughout, and I know that the title and the story are a riff on The List of Adrian Messenger, but I wish it had been a bit of a different story.

We also get a moment when 99 (Barbara Feldon) breaks the fourth wall after a silly moment with Max.

Witness for the Execution debuted on 6 February, 1970. It was written by Lloyd Turner and Gordon Mitchell.

Max has to look after a KAOS defector, Dietrich (Fabian Dean) and keep him safe in his and 99’s apartment, posing as a babysitter. Unfortunately, KAOS has sent one of their top assassins, The Exterminator (William Schallert, previously seen as the Admiral under lots of makeup).

Schallert is hilarious.

There are a number of funny moments as the Exterminator attempts to take out Dietrich. He’s almost a variation on the Wile E. Coyote template.

And while he doesn’t get Dietrich, circumstances by the end of the episode cause Dietrich to be useless to CONTROL.

This one is okay, it’s frequently silly, without the charm of earlier episodes, but it’s great to see Schallert show up in the series and not be obscured by makeup.

There’s some good stuff all around, but 99 is not heavily involved with either episode. She simply passes through the scenery a couple of times. With only a handful of episodes left, I’m hoping she gets a little more to do.

How Green Was My Valet was penned by Gloria Burton (Don Adams’ sister) and it debuted on 13 February, 1970.

Hey, I was asking for some 99, and we get a little more this time out. She and Max have to go undercover as servants in the Bulmanian embassy to recover a rocket formula.

Jonathan Harris (known for his turn as Doctor Smith on Lost in Space) plays the Ambassador. It’s obvious from the off that he’s the baddie, and of course he is, but he does it so delightfully.

Can the pair find the rocket fuel formula, hidden in the wine cellar, or will things go against them? There are some great moments, and Harris steals almost every scene he’s in because of the wonderfully enunciated delivery that he has.

And while 99 and Smart are out doing that, the Chief and Larabee (Robert Karvelas – my least favourite addition to the cast, sorry) are babysitting the twins.

And just like that we have six episodes left in the series. Pretty wild how quickly I’ve torn through this show, some of it is iconic, and some of it a little less than, but overall, it’s a solid piece of entertainment.

And how can you not love Adams in this role?