To enjoy this one, you have to accept that a world table tennis tour pitting two rank amateurs-Max (as the Masked Marvel) and 99--simply playing each other would attract spectators.
What makes this episode so funny is the dialog of both Stu Gilliam and Robert Culp. Culp (uncredited) plays a waiter who brings Smart, 99, and Agent Samuels drinks, then keeps drinking them himself--to make certain that he hasn't mixed up who gets what. Then he cuts off any booze to Max because he (Culp) has had too much already. His line I remember is "But me no buts" when Max protests.
There was also a tribute to Abbot and Costello with talk about performers Tahday and Tamara performing at the Club Tonight.
I also enjoyed Max mimicking Samuels distinctive speech pattern.
The plot was quite thin, but Get Smart is spoofs and silliness and this was one of the series' best efforts in this regard.
What makes this episode so funny is the dialog of both Stu Gilliam and Robert Culp. Culp (uncredited) plays a waiter who brings Smart, 99, and Agent Samuels drinks, then keeps drinking them himself--to make certain that he hasn't mixed up who gets what. Then he cuts off any booze to Max because he (Culp) has had too much already. His line I remember is "But me no buts" when Max protests.
There was also a tribute to Abbot and Costello with talk about performers Tahday and Tamara performing at the Club Tonight.
I also enjoyed Max mimicking Samuels distinctive speech pattern.
The plot was quite thin, but Get Smart is spoofs and silliness and this was one of the series' best efforts in this regard.
