Get Smart (TV Series) Survival of the Fattest (1965) User Reviews

He's Not Heavy, He's My Sultan

[zsenorsock · 9/10 · 28 May 2008]

This is one of the few "Get Smart" episodes actually credited to creator Mel Brooks, and its a funny one.

Max must guard the visiting Prince Sully before he does the traditional weigh in before becoming monarch of his country. They value heft there and expect the Prince to be 300 pounds or more. KAOS wants to get the Prince and force him to lose weight, which they feel will throw the Prince's country into well, chaos.

Leading the KAOS team of athletic babes is Mary Jack Armstrong (Karen Steele, familiar as one of "Mudd's Women" on "Star Trek"). She's attractive and tough throughout. She and Max do a funny variation of the old poisoned drink bit, where each of them keeps making the other look the other way while they switch drinks (at one point Max asks "Do I have to?"). Ed Platt gets a funny moment with Mary Jack as well at the show's ending while Max gets a great gift from the Prince before the final fadeout.

A superior episode.

One of the best Get Smart episodes

[john-2412 · 10/10 · 18 April 2008]

This is the first episode where they really seem to hit their stride. The dialog is smart (no pun intended), especially the tongue-in-cheek repartee between Max and Mary Jack Armstrong. Their scenes together are hilarious, especially the "calling card" bit (they both know Max is using a fake name) and, topping that one, the drink-switching scene.

What makes this episode so good is that the characters don't seem to be taking themselves too seriously. It's as if they are giving a sly wink to the audience, asking us to play along and to have fun right along with them. Later episodes had many plot holes where the bad guys could have seen through Max's "covert" actions but do not. But in this episode, the holes are put front and center and are part of the comedy (e.g., the calling cards, the drink switches, and Max's activation of his shoulder locating device).

Great lines throughout, including: "Do I have to look?", "Could he be playing...leap frog?", and "Look, it's my nervous habit, not yours." Great stuff.