In his Painfully Funny course, Prof. Richard Edwards said slapstick involves the following
- Slapstick involves exaggeration
- Slapstick is physical
- Slapstick is ritualistic
- Slapstick is make believe
- Slapstick is violent
Let's look at the humor of Get Smart with these in mind.
Max and Agent 44: From the first scene with Max and Agent 44, where Agent 44 slips and almost falls in the shark-infested waters:
SMART
Oh, one more thing, 44. Do you have any idea about suspects?
44
You mean someone who might have smuggled the plans for the nuclear amphibian battleship onboard?
SMART
Exactly.
44 pulls out a slip of paper.
44
I've been on the job, 86. I got a list right here of all possible suspects.
44 slips and almost falls, but Max grabs the paper.
SMART
Careful, 44! - that was a close one.
44
Yes.
SMART
You almost dropped the list.
At this stage, we know Agent 44 is perched outside ship.
Max and 99 and Agent Kevorkian: Max and 99 discover International Control Agent Sehokian nearly dead after an attack in his cabin:
SMART
We'd better get him a doctor.
SEHOKIAN
No time. Must talk before I before I - how do you say?
SMART
- die.
SEHOKIAN
Succumb. The man who did this who-- how do you say?
SMART
- stabbed you.
SEHOKIAN
- attacked me. He-- he knew I have uncovered - how do you say?
SMART
- information?
SEHOKIAN
- evidence.
99
But --
SEHOKIAN
Please, no buts. The plans, they are not plans. They are ...
Sehokian collapses.
99
Max, he's -
SMART
- dead.
SEHOKIAN
Deceased.
99 tries to rescue Max from drowning: First, 99 gets a rope to Max so he can pull himself out of the water to her porthole. 99 ties the other end of the rope to the cabin door for security. (Small plothole: in the scene above we see Max can climb throw the portholes, yet here he can't.)
SMART
( panting )
Fast work, 99.
99
Max, can you get through the porthole?
SMART
I don't think so.
99
Can you hang on until I get some help?
SMART
Yes, but hurry up, 99.
99
Right, Max. Max, would you like an umbrella?
SMART
No, 99, forget the umbrella. Hurry up, get help.
I can't hang on much longer.
99
Right, Max.
99 runs over to the door.
99
But Max, the door's locked.
SMART
Shoot it off!
99
Right.
99
Oh, Max.
The Chief fails in the water:
At the end of the episode, the Chief visits the Evening Star. Max and 99 show him the part of the railing where Max fell overboard. It seems sturdy until Max karate chops the railing away and the Chief falls in the water.
SMART
Watch it, Chief! That's where I went overboard.
CHIEF
Oh, really? It looks solid now. They must have fixed it up. This is where the bullets hit--
Smart karate chops the railing, it breaks. CRUNCH! The Chief yells as he falls overboard. SPLASH!
99
Chief!
They even fail to rescue him:
SMART
Here it comes, Chief!
Smart ties the other end of the rope around his waist.
99
Hold on, Chief. That's it. Here we go.
The Chief grabs the life-preserver and they haul him up.
SMART
Hang on, Chief! That's it, Chief. Just a little ways more.
CHIEF
Have you got a good grip, Max?
The Chief is almost at the main deck of the ship.
SMART
My hands are slipping, Chief. I've gotta wipe them off.
CHIEF
Go right ahead, Max.
Smart lets go of the rope. SPLASH! The Chief falls back into the water. The rope around Smart's waist pulls tight, pulling Smart overboard as well. SPLASH!
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