Ducktales Reboot Season 1 Review (SPOILER FREE)

This last year, Disney released a reboot of the classic cartoon from the 80s/90s: Ducktales (woo-hoo!). I, personally, didn’t really watch the original show. I saw an occasional episode here and there, but I wasn’t an avid fan. However, when I saw that Disney was coming out with this new show, I was intrigued. Like I said, I didn’t know much about the original, but all the promotions I kept seeing for the new show looked really good.

Anyone who is into shows with interesting mysteries, epic adventure, expansive creativity, and all-around great fun will like this show. As the theme song explicitly says, “might solve a mystery or rewrite history” and it’s “tales of daring do.” Yes, it’s animated and it follows anthropomorphic ducks which might seem a little weird and childish to some people. However, while it is a cartoon aimed towards kids, it is way more clever than it needs to be and it gets super heavy at times (and I mean heavy).

For those unfamiliar, I’ll briefly go over the plot (of course, being a TV show, each episode has its own plot, but the show has a general, overarching story):

Billionaire and former explorer/treasure-hunter Scrooge McDuck is reunited with his estranged nephew, Donald Duck, when Donald is forced to leave his three mischievous nephews Huey, Dewey, and Louie, with Scrooge for a few hours so he can go to a job interview. The three boys’s antics rekindle Scrooge’s desire for adventure and he takes them with him on his quests along with his housekeeper’s granddaughter, Webby, and clumsy pilot, Launchpad McQuack. 

The show is so creative and original. It’s like a mix of every adventure movie you’ve ever seen, but especially ones like Indiana Jones and The Goonies. However, you never know what the family is going to get into with each episode. Sometimes they’re facing off against cursed mummies in one episode, then they’re in a spooky old mansion the next, then they’re running from an evil robot in another, or they’re on an island with ancient Greek gods, or they’re in the middle of a murder mystery party, or they’re climbing an unclimbable mountain, or they’ve unleashed an ancient curse upon their hometown, and so on. Every adventure is different and so entertaining, not to mention super creative! (seriously, if you put these plots into a different show/movie without the ducks, they would be just as strong.)

Disney was so confident this show would be a hit that they #1) posted the entire first episode on YouTube for anyone and everyone to see (which you can watch HERE) and #2) they ordered a second season before the first season even aired. And let me tell you, they did the right thing. The first season WAS that good.

The characters are amazing! Any David Tennant fans out there? (The tenth Doctor from Doctor Who, Barty Crouch Jr. from Harry Potter, Kilgrave from Jessica Jones, Hamlet from Hamlet (2009), etc.) Well, he has taken up the mantle of voicing Scrooge McDuck. He is the very first actual Scotsman to voice Scrooge. That should be all you need right there: David Tennant is in Ducktales. But... Scrooge is a great character too. He’s one of those characters with such an outlandish past and can do pretty much anything. He’s like an aged Batman or (like I said before) Indiana Jones. 

This is the first (successful) time Huey, Dewey, and Louie have been given distinct personalities and have individual screen time with their own stories. The writers officially made the order they’re always listed as (Huey, Dewy, and Louie) their birth order. So Huey is the oldest, Dewey is the middle child, and Louie is the youngest. Therefore, the writers wrote their personalities based around those “stereotypes.” For example, Huey, being the oldest, is more responsible and organized while Dewey is the middle so he feels ignored and so he’s always seeking attention by being an adventure junkie, then Louie, as the youngest, is more laid-back and tries to get what he wants without having to work for it. Something pointed out to me is that all three of the boys’s most prominent personality traits are a piece of Scrooge’s personality: Huey is clever and deductive, Dewey is adventurous and bold, and Louie is ambitious and treasure-obsessed. Though, obviously, there is stuff that sets them apart from their famous great-uncle. The triplets are the glue that holds the show together. 

(BTW, in case you didn't know this, the way you tell them apart is through their names and colors. Huey is the brightest hue: red. Dewy is the color of dew: blue. Then, Louie starts with an "L" and so do leaves which are green. The writers actually use that as their key. It's been like that almost since they were created.)

The show updates Donald Duck in an interesting way. It takes a previously well-know character with an already firmly-established personality and gives him more. He is still the same silly, unlucky, temperamental duck everyone knows and loves, but he is a little more rounded. He is the over-protective father figure in Huey, Dewey, and Louie’s lives and he does everything he can to keep them safe. It’s interesting to see how deeply he cares about them and I love how his famous temper tantrums are directed towards any foes who threaten them. I’d say his update is similar to how A Goofy Movie updated Goofy. It didn’t take away from his personality, but it only gave him more layers and made him more parental and relatable.

Then there are other characters like Scrooge’s housekeeper, Mrs. Beakly who has a mysterious past of her own. Also Mrs. Beakly’s socially-awkward granddaughter Webby, who is obsessed with the McDuck family. Then, dim-witted Launchpad McQuack who has never NOT crashed the vehicle he was driving. And others like Gyro Gearloose, the head scientist at Scrooge’s money bin; or Gladstone Gander, Scrooge’s other nephew who is the most lucky duck in the world.

Of course the show wouldn’t be complete without the villains/antagonists like Flintheart Glomgold, Scrooge’s bitterest rival and the second richest duck in the world; Mark Beaks, a young aspiring billionaire and founder of Waddle; Ma Beagle and her bumbling sons the Beagle Boys; Goldie O’Gilt, Scrooge’s ex-parter, ex-girlfriend, ex-everything; powerful mystical sorceress Magica De Spell, and so on.

Like I said, creative.

The show pays a nice homage to classic cartoons while updating it into modern ones (like Gravity Falls, Futurama, etc.). It’s a wonderful blend of old and new. The animation is so stellar and smooth and I love the color palette. The whole thing has a sort of comic book feel. 

As I said earlier, the show is way more clever than it needs to be. The jokes are really funny and off the wall. There are a lot of hidden gems in the background and there’s a lot of hidden jokes and parodies that kids wouldn’t understand (I’m not talking about “adult” jokes, but just really smart “older” references). 

Just some examples of it’s off-the-wall humor: 

When Huey, Dewey, and Louie first arrive at Scrooge’s mansion, Scrooge doesn’t know what to do with them so he puts them in a locked room with some marbles. Of course, the boys decide to escape the room with Dewey holding up the bag of marbles saying, “I know just how to do it.” So you think he’s going to set up some clever little device or something in order to get out, but instead, he starts whacking at the doorknob with the bag of marbles until it breaks off. It’s so unexpected and simple and hilarious.

Another time is when Dewey and Webby are being chased by a psychotic librarian with a giant sword. Webby hands Dewey a book, telling him “knowledge is power.” Dewey looks at the book and it’s called “How to Disarm Your Opponent.” Dewey immediately brightens up by looking at the book and then chucks it at the librarian. 

I mentioned “older references” before. An example would be in the episode where Mark Beaks is first introduced. There’s way too many things to list off, but the entire thing is one big parody on the modern tech world, the millennial mindset, and especially Silicon Valley. Most of the things in that episode would go over kids’s heads, but adults would find it hilarious. I’ll give one example: Mark Beaks takes Huey and Dewey on a tour through his company and he shows them a testing sight for new trampolines: high impact, low impact, and no impact... in other words, the ground. There’s just people jumping on the ground, but it’s “innovative.”

Another example is when the family goes to a casino and once inside, they can’t find the exit. Even when they look at the map, they can’t figure it out. Everything looks the same on every floor and there’s always something to distract the kids like an extravagant buffet or an over-the-top water show which, as Scrooge says, “they try to trap you here so you’ll waste all your time and money on cheap thrills.” If that’s not the embodiment of a casino, I don’t know what is.

Last thing I want to address is the heavy stuff I mentioned before. It’s not all adventure and jokes. The show’s core is all about family. The overarching story revolves around a mystery (which I will not spoil what it is exactly here, but know it has something to do with family). For the most part, the show is quite light-hearted, but there are some pretty deep moments. Also, the mystery is really good and really keeps you in suspense for the entire season. The show definitely knows exactly how much to reveal and what to keep back. It’s so well written! And the tension between all the family members because of this secret is so perfectly played out and displayed. Just because they’re anthropomorphic ducks doesn’t mean the emotions they go through can’t be realistic and relatable.

And that is the Ducktales reboot. This post turned out a lot longer than I intended, but I can’t help it. This show is awesome and I think everyone should check it out. I give it a 9/10.

Now, here are some videos to convince you if my stellar argument above hasn't won you over XP:

TRAILER:

UPDATE OF THE FAMOUS THEME SONG:

Just look at that animation!

CAST SINGING THE THEME SONG:

Top 11 Instrumental Themes (part 2)

Previously, I made a list of my top favorite instrumental themes. However, those songs were the main themes of movies (like Star Wars, Jurassic Park, etc). I listen to a lot of more instrumental songs than just the main theme songs and I think that the music played throughout movies can be just as good as the main theme (and sometimes even better). I wanted to give those themes a shoutout in this post. 

Since in my previous instrumental music post (which you can read HERE) I did top 11 songs, I have again selected a top 11 for this one. This list contains themes that are not the main themes of their movies and/or are main themes from lesser-known movies.

Without further ado, here are my top 11 instrumental themes in alphabetical order:

“Duel of the Fates”- Star Wars I: The Phantom Menace- John Williams

While a lot of people don’t like the prequels very much, one thing we can all agree on is that the music is epic! This song captures all the intensity and drama it’s meant to. John Williams hasn’t lost his groove even after all these years.

“Escape from East Berlin”- Man From U.N.C.L.E.- Daniel Pemberton

This song caught me by surprise. I had never heard of this movie until I was randomly dragged to it one night by my family, but I loved everything about it including the music. I’m not sure if you could consider this the “main theme” or not, but I consider this a lesser-known movie so it counts. This song is a lot of fun and you can just tell what kind of movie it is by listening to it: intense, sneaky, and a whole lot of fun.

“Flight to Neverland”- Hook- John Williams

John Williams does it again! I think this could be considered the main theme like before, but this is a slightly less famous movie, so I’m counting it again. Just through the sound, you can picture yourself in Neverland, flying up in the air. It’s got such a magical and adventurous sound and I love it!

“Flying”- Peter Pan (2003)- James Newton Howard

This one is a fairly more recent love for me. It fits the tone of the movie quite well: mixing old school magic with modern. I actually like that synthesizer sound and the percussion because it’s like “dropping the bass” and it sort of gives you shivers. Meanwhile the strings and other orchestra give it a magical fluttering feeling like flying (obviously). I love it!

“Forbidden Friendship”- How to Train Your Dragon- John Powell

This one is awesome because it has this other-worldly feel to it. The majority of it is just this sweet little tentative melody that matches the characters’s blossoming friendship in the film. I love how it grows steadily stronger and by the end is quite triumphant as the main character succeeds in gaining the dragon’s trust (though it ends on a very soft note).

“I Am the Doctor”- Doctor Who- Murray Gold

If you want an idea of who the Doctor’s character is simply through music, all you have to do is listen to this song. It has everything: a buildup, mystery, suspense, intensity, quirkiness, brashness, kindness, power, and so on. 

“Imperial March”- Star Wars V: Empire Strikes Back- John Williams

Everyone thought John Williams outdid himself with Star Wars’s main theme, but then Episode V came out and he wrote the bad guys’s song and blew everyone away. Such a good song! It’s so intense and even if you haven’t seen Star Wars (and if you haven’t, you’re crazy), you can just see the baddest of the baddies marching in formation with a terrible leader at the helm.

“Kingdom Dance”- Tangled- Alan Menken

I love this one because of how unconventional it is. It sounds like an actual traditional tune you’d hear in some old medieval kingdom and dance a shanty to. It’s got a fun beat and is great to tap your toes to.

“Paperman”- Paperman- Christophe Beck

This is technically the main theme because it’s the only song in the short. However, like the other “main themes” on this list, it’s not very famous (though it really should be because this short is one of the best things I have ever seen in my life!). This theme is amazing! It’s so sweet and plucky, totally matching the theme of the short. I especially love when it picks up near the end and gets super triumphant and climactic (watching it with the short makes it 1000x better too). It’s simply a sweet tune that fills you with joy.

“Test Drive”- How to Train Your Dragon- John Powell

If you can’t tell, I like these melodies with the theme of flying in them. This song is so epic! Can’t you just envision yourself flying through the clouds when it plays? Because that’s what’s happening in the scene it plays over. I love the Celtic instruments incorporated too since the movie includes vikings. It’s just a great score!

“Transformation”- Beauty and the Beast- Alan Menken

What a beautiful theme! This whole movie is fantastic, but this scene and its music is so well done! The beginning is so sad and moving, then the actual transformation itself is exciting and epic, and everything after that is beautiful and triumphant. I love everything about this score!

The Pink Panther Movies

If you haven’t watched The Pink Panther films, you are greatly missing out on comedy genius. The comedic timing of Peter Sellers is truly something to behold. The character of Inspector Clouseau is a classic and will hold a special place in my heart at least (and I know it does in many other people’s too). 

I rewatched all of them recently and had a great laugh. They are just the best! As good as they all are, I wanted to rank them in order from worst to best. (Hey, I’m bored.)

First, just in case someone isn’t familiar with The Pink Panther movies, I’ll go over the general idea: The movies follow bumbling, clumsy, yet extremely lucky French detective, Inspector Jacques Clouseau as he investigates crimes and tracks down criminals. Most commonly, he is tracking down/protecting the valuable Pink Panther diamond (which is where the film series gets its name), but not always. Each movie focuses on something different and has its own plot, but the overall idea is the same: Clouseau being an idiot.

So I would like to begin my list (I am only including the movies with Peter Sellers in the lead role.):

6) Revenge of the Pink Panther (1978)

French mobster, Phillip Douvier is losing respect with other countries’s syndicates. To prove his power, he decides to kill Clouseau whom everybody thinks is a genius (and few know of his actual stupidity). Because of a mixup with an escaping criminal stealing Clouseau’s car and clothes, the mobsters kill him instead of Clouseau. The world believes Clouseau dead. Clouseau, still very much alive, decides to take advantage of his “death” to discover who killed him.

I have this one at the bottom of my list because it’s just really not that funny. The plot is pretty uninspired and most of the jokes fall flat. There’s a lot of sitting around and talking and not a lot of jokes like the other movies. It’s weird to see Clouseau just talking to someone and not accidentally setting himself on fire or something. Clouseau was way too clever and less bumbling than usual in this movie. Too many of his plans worked out and he understood too much of what was going on. It was weird to see. 

Also, there is a surplus of racially-insensitive humor that has you sitting there cringing for half the movie. I mean, there are some jokes like that scattered through the other movies, but only a couple (and that’s often to be expected from movies coming out in the 60’s/70’s), but this movie takes it to a whole other level. 

There were some funny moments though like Clouseau and Cato falling into the unfinished apartment and getting covered in paint while fighting, or Clouseau’s inflatable bird that keeps deflating, also Dreyfus’s eulogy at Clouseau’s funeral to name a few.

5) Trail of the Pink Panther (1982)

The Pink Panther is stolen yet again and the authorities call in Inspector Clouseau to investigate. On his way there, Clouseau’s plane goes down and disappears. Presumed dead, a journalist sets out to solve the mystery by interviewing everybody who was intimately connected with Clouseau, both friend and foe, who tell of their run-ins with the Inspector over the years.

I know a lot of people saw this one as disrespectful because it was made after Peter Seller’s death, but I still found it funnier and more interesting than the last one. The first half of it is composed of outtakes and bloopers from the first few films all mushed together in an effort to make a coherent story. It’s pretty obvious too because in one scene, Clouseau is wearing a plaid suit and then the next scene he’s wearing a blue suit. I think the scenes were pretty unnecessary (even though some of them were funny) because the stuff with the reporter was sufficient enough to be its own movie. It could’ve started right off the bat with an announcement of Clouseau’s presumed death and then diving right into the reporter’s story.

It was interesting to learn about Clouseau’s past and to sort of reminisce about a character we love so much. The film was made in dedication to Peter Sellers so it was a nice little tribute to his performance and it even ended with a montage of his funniest moments as Clouseau. It certainly wasn’t the strongest movie in the series, but it at least got some laughs out of me. My favorite part is Dreyfus’s interview where he’s trying to cover up how much he hates Clouseau. 

4) The Pink Panther (1963)

Bumbling French detective, Inspector Clouseau, is the world’s leading expert on the renowned jewel thief only known as The Phantom. He believes the largest gem in the world, The Pink Panther, will be his next target so he follows its owner, Princess Dala of Lugash, to Switzerland where he also meets Sir Charles Lytton who, unbeknownst to him, is actually the Phantom.

The very first film in the franchise. It’s lower on the list because most of the focus isn’t actually on Clouseau, but on the Phantom, Sir Charles Lytton since originally, the series was going to revolve around him and his exploits. However, Peter Seller’s performance was so well received that the series was reworked to focus on him instead. 

Anyways, the film isn’t a bundle of laughs all the way through and there’s a lot of long scenes focusing on Sir Charles and his accomplices. However, every single scene with Clouseau is golden! He is hilarious! The film is set up in such a way that you don’t know who to root for and it’s quite enjoyable.

3) The Return of the Pink Panther (1975)

The Pink Panther diamond has been stolen again with the Phantom’s trademark glove left behind at the scene of the crime. Inspector Clouseau is called in to catch the thief again and he is convinced the Phantom has returned. He tracks down the original Phantom, Sir Charles Lytton, and trails his wife in hopes she will lead him to her husband.

This film is filled with tons of laugh out loud moments; like the bathroom flooding, “do you know the way to the Palace hotel?” “Yes”, Clouseau versus the security measures at Lugash, fixing the doorbell, Clouseau watching the girl jump in the pool, “your fly is undone”, and so on. One of the funniest moments where I seriously burst out laughing (sorry to ruin it for anyone) is when he walks into the hotel and a guy walks up to him asking, “Can I have your coat? Gloves? Hat?” and Clouseau gives them to him, thinking he’s a chauffeur or something, but then the guy just thanks him, walks out the door, and drives away. The other one moment I was laughing hysterically is when Clouseau tells a cab driver “follow that car!” and you think the driver is going to drive away without him, but something else totally unexpected happens. I absolutely died! 

There’s also some super stressful (but still funny) moments. Like the whole vacuum cleaner scene, or when he and the bellboy are in the steam room and are about to get caught, or when he’s disguised as the telephone repairman and totally demolishes the room.

The stuff with Sir Charles is a little slow and not super entertaining, but I understand why it’s there so *shrug*

2) A Shot in the Dark (1964)

When the chauffeur of rich and important Monsieur Ballon is found dead, Inspector Clouseau is first on the scene to investigate. While all evidence points to the beautiful maid, Maria Gambrelli, Clouseau suspects otherwise and believes she is hiding something. The bodies continue to pile up as Clouseau continues to set her free and follow her, much to the disgruntlement of his superior, Commissioner Dreyfus.

Even if Clouseau were not in this one, it would still probably work as a pretty solid murder mystery film. However, Clouseau makes it a thousand times better. This is the first movie where classic characters Dreyfus and Cato are introduced. As fantastic and funny as Clouseau is, the series definitely wouldn’t be the same without those two. I love how Dreyfus is slowly driven mad by Clouseau (his twitching eye, haha!). And Cato and Clouseau’s stupid fights are so hilarious! I love this movie for everything it sets up for future movies. 

There are some great moments unique to this one though like the whole nudist colony scene, or how Clouseau keeps getting arrested whenever he’s following the maid, or “good thing I checked my reflexes, I could’ve killed you with a karate chop”, and many others.

1) The Pink Panther Strikes Again (1976)

Dreyfus finally cracks after another unsuccessful attempt to kill Clouseau. He gathers together all the top criminals Clouseau has jailed and uses them to kidnap the world’s most renowned scientist to build a doomsday device. He then threatens the world that if they don’t eliminate Clouseau, he will wipe out entire cities with it. With dozens of assassins tailing him, Clouseau decides to track down Dreyfus himself and put him back in the asylum.

Although there are some weird parts (mostly at the end), this film is by far the funniest Pink Panther movie; so many laughs from start to finish. If you want a good idea of who Clouseau is, what he’s about, who all the characters are, what the general tone of the movies are, what kind of jokes are included, and so on, this is the movie to watch. I can’t think of any jokes that fall flat. Everything is hilarious! Almost all the most classic jokes that people remember from this franchise come from this movie: the parallel bars, “that is a priceless Steinway!” “not anymore”, “does your dog bite?”, Clouseau falling in the moat, and some of the best Cato fights out of all the movies. And there’s just so many other things that always have me busting a gut. 

Something that the reboot series with Steve Martin was missing (among other things) was Dreyfus’s madness and pure hatred of Clouseau. He’s not just mildly annoyed with him and inconvenienced, he hates him and constantly tries to kill him. It’s part of what makes this series so hilarious. This movie showcases the extent he goes to in order to eliminate Clouseau because “he’s terrible, he’s the worst” and “it’ll take all of the great nations with all of their trained assassins and all of their sophisticated murder weapons” to get rid of him. And this movie showcases that so well. I love it!

Funny clips of Inspector Clouseau:

Funny Scene from The Pink Panther Strikes Again:

Alpha: Movie Review (SPOILER FREE)

There’s this movie that came out the other day that, I think, didn’t have very good advertising and therefore, I don’t think a lot of people know about it (but maybe that's just my own assumption. I could just be missing something). It’s called Alpha. I saw the trailer earlier this year and was intrigued by it and told myself I’d like to see it when it came out. I hadn’t seen a single trailer, TV spot, poster, or anything since that trailer back in February or whenever it was. I kept forgetting about it until something random would spark my memory and I was like “oh yeah, when does that come out again?” That happened again this morning when I saw a picture of wolves and I was like “hey, there was that movie I wanted to see with a wolf in it. That should be coming out soon, shouldn’t it?” So I checked and lo and behold, it had just come out on Friday. Thus, I decided since I had nothing going on, I would see it that night.

Anyways, after that longwinded introduction, I’d like to talk about how it was.

First of all, since I don’t think a lot of people are familiar with it, I’ll give a brief rundown of what it’s about: Set 20,000 years ago, the story follows a young man, Keda, after he is left for dead after a bison hunting accident. He makes the long and dangerous trek home, befriending a wounded wolf along the way. The two of them fight their way through harsh landscapes, attempting to reach home before winter.

So... how was it?

I liked it. There certainly were problems, mostly with the story’s focus, but overall, it was a really good film.

The first thing I noticed and that I have the highest praise for is the cinematography. There are some stunning shots and camera work in this film. I mean, wow! Closely tying into that is the overall beauty of it. The lighting, the landscapes, the costumes, the colors, and everything. It was truly a spectacular film to watch.

Next, I have to praise the acting. There is not a lot of dialogue and what is included is in another language (if subtitles bother you, you won’t like this film). The acting is very emotional and clear with each character. You feel what these characters are going through simply through their actions and facial expressions; no speaking needed. The film is a very harsh reality of human living and survival, on par with Castaway. There are some pretty brutal moments and the audience really feels those along with the characters just through the acting.

Now that I have praised it, I have to criticize it. The plot was its main weakness. It’s not that it had a bad plot, but it was a little confused on what it wanted to focus on. The film starts out by setting up the idea that the film will be about Keda proving himself a man and a leader, but then about twenty minutes in, the wolf shows up and the focus starts to be on their friendship and how they rely on each other to survive. Then (without spoiling anything), the climax focuses on Keda proving himself a man while the ending focuses on the wolf again. It’s all over the place.

I could see that the film was trying to intertwine the two stories, but instead was telling two stories rather than one main story with a side story. I think for it to work, one needed to take a back seat to the other or get cut out completely. Personally, I think the focus should have been on Keda and the wolf. The story of Keda proving his manhood has been done a thousand times (for example, How to Train Your Dragon). It still could’ve been there, but it should have been a secondary story compared to the main one of forging the bond between man and dog (wolf). That’s a much more engaging story. 

In fact, that’s what was advertised in the trailer so I don’t know why it wasn’t the main focus through the whole movie. It seemed like it wanted to be, but the climax (the most exciting and emotional moment for the main character that brings everything to a high) was all about him proving himself and had little focus on the wolf. 

Anyways, the story wasn’t perfect, but I was still entertained by it. What was there was still quite good. Seeing the beginnings of one of the greatest relationships in history (man/dog) was really good. Also, it wasn’t totally predictable like you would think. I was caught off guard by a few things. The stuff with Keda proving himself was pretty cliche, but it was still so well acted that I bought it 100%.

I would recommend this movie to anyone who likes dogs or a good survival story (or just a beautiful movie). I’d give it a 7/10.

TRAILER

Top 10 Get Smart Episodes

With so much extra time on my hands lately, I’ve been rewatching Get Smart (the TV show). It’s such a classic! I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys a good satire. The show was co-created by Mel Brooks if that gives you any idea of what kind of humor is included.

For those who are unfamiliar with the show, it’s a satire on all the spy shows/movies that were coming out during the 60s such as James Bond, The Man from UNCLE, and so on. It follows bumbling secret agent Maxwell Smart, aka Agent 86, who works for a top secret agency known as CONTROL. CONTROL fights against KAOS, the international organization of evil. The show follows Max on his missions and assignments with his much more competent female partner Agent 99 and his long-suffering boss the Chief. The show was famous for its creative and ridiculous gadgets like the shoe phone and the Cone of Silence. 

After rewatching the series, I just wanted to make a list of my top ten favorite episodes (in release order). I based my decisions on how much the episodes made me laugh. These top ten are the ones that had me literally laughing out loud through most of the episode.

Here we go:

01x13- ABOARD THE ORIENT EXPRESS

Five CONTROL couriers have been killed on their way to deliver top secret information while onboard the Orient Express. Max accidentally chains himself to the briefcase and therefore becomes the next courier.

Classic Max chaining himself to the case like that. This one had me busting up at the the usual antics of Max looking ridiculous as he tries to cover up his spy duties; like repeatedly eating the secret message before he could read it, that had me dying. I also loved the whole thing with the bowler hat.

01x17- KISSES FOR KAOS

When a series of buildings are inexplicably blown up, the trail leads to art dealer Rex Savage. 99 is sent undercover as an art expert with Max posing as her chauffeur in an effort to get his picture and fingerprints.

Watching your protagonist fail repeatedly is the reason why we watch TV, but it’s especially enjoyable when your protagonist is an idiot. There’s so many golden moments in this episode like the camera in the hat, the inflatable girl, the entire dinner scene. Hilarious!

01x30- LAST ONE IN IS A ROTTEN SPY

Max receives a call from a girl on a Russian swim team who has some information about KAOS. Max, 99, and the Chief go undercover to the swim meet to meet the girl, but find it harder to pull off than anticipated.

I love this episode because it makes for some funny situational comedy. I don’t know if the whole thing with the long complicated names is racist or something, but I laugh every time Max says he’ll recognize the name when he hears it and then they all sound the same (but they did make up for it by listing off a bunch of American names that sound the same). I also love a good slapstick moment of Max falling in the pool.

02x03- A SPY FOR A SPY

After the Chief is kidnapped by KAOS, Max retaliates by kidnapping KAOS’s top assassin. KAOS then retaliates by kidnapping another CONTROL agent. It spirals out of control until both sides are completely out of agents to kidnap.

The whole setup is already hilariously outrageous. This is Siegfried’s first appearance (and he is my favorite character on the show), setting himself up at Max’s “mortal enemy and good friend.” You’ll notice that a lot of the episodes on this list are Siegfried episodes because I love his and Max’s banter so much and this is an excellent episode to showcase it. “Shmart!”

02x09- RUB-A-DUB-DUB, THREE SPIES IN A SUB

Max and 99 are assigned a top secret mission to destroy a KAOS super computer. On their way back, they are captured by Siegfried on a submarine.

There are just a lot of small golden moments in this episode. Like when the sailors whistle at 99 as she boards the boat and the captain apologizes to Max because “they aren’t used to having a pretty face on board” and Max responds “if they like me, wait until they get a load of 99.” Or when Max tells 99 “if I have to go on a suicide mission, I’m glad it’s with you.” And then Siegfried again. I just love everything he says and then his and Max’s banter again. Their whole thing with good guys and bad guys. Haha! And then when Max and 99 are trying to get the KAOS agents to defect and mutiny against Siegfried is hilarious: “think of your wives and children!” “Dummkopfs, none of you are married.” There’s too much to pick!

02x24- THE EXPENDABLE AGENT

A British scientist comes to America to reveal his top secret formula for rocket fuel. He is accompanied by a British secret agent who is “expendable” and they both hide in Max’s apartment.

It’s funny to see Max get frustrated with someone else’s stupidity and incompetence for once. He and Agent Chain together are so fun to watch and then the innocent professor always getting stuck in the middle of their antics is just plain hilarious.

02x25- HOW TO SUCCEED IN THE SPY BUSINESS WITHOUT REALLY TRYING

Max and 99 are saved by Siegfried who claims he wants to leave KAOS. 

I just like this one really because of Siegfried. This is also the first time Shtarker appears and he and Siegfried together are classic. Siegfried’s verbal abuse of him is so good. I love their whole scene where they’re trying to record a fake “scene” on Max’s hidden tape recorder of Shtarker attacking Siegfried and Shtarker keeps improvising much to Siegfried’s annoyance.

03x01- THE SPY WHO MET HIMSELF

CONTROL is infiltrated by the League of Imposters who specialize in creating exact duplicates of people. Their next target, unbeknownst to CONTROL, is Max. 

I forgot how much I liked this episode. There’s a lot of episodes with “lookalikes” played by the same actors and they’re usually just alright episodes, but this one had me in stitches. It’s just funny to see the training of the imposter to act like Max as he watches all sorts of secret films of Max to pick up on his mannerisms and habits (there’s lots of great moments of Max’s clumsiness and stupidity). And this is one of the rare occasions where seeing the lookalikes together was actually really funny. (Also, another Siegfried episode.)

03x07- ONE OF OUR OLIVES IS MISSING

KAOS creates a communication device in the shape of an olive, but it is accidentally swallowed by a traveling country singer. Max is forced to protect her as KAOS pursues her in an effort to retrieve their device.

Carol Burnett guest stars as the country singer and she’s just a gem. She and Don Adams work off each other so well and it makes for a great episode. By far the best part is when they’re in the gas chambers at the very end; holy moly, I have never laughed so hard! I actually had to rewind it several times to see it again, it was so funny.

04x25 & 26- THE NOT-SO-GREAT ESCAPE (PARTS 1 AND 2)

Over the past few months, twenty CONTROL agents have disappeared without a trace. After Max loses another agent at the airport, he and the Chief look into it, but then the Chief disappears too. Max investigates thoroughly and manages to uncover a KAOS prison camp run by Siegfried.

Siegfried again. I love how it spoofs The Great Escape while really poking fun at Germans and their prison camps. I love when the guard dogs run away because they don’t like the food so Siegfried asks Shtarker what he fed them and Shtarker says “the same thing as the prisoners” to which Siegfried cries “you fed that to the dogs!? You STUPID! You could’ve made them sick!” I also love the entire bit where Max is disguised as the KAOS official.