Controversy Page 3

Does 99 have a name? Does this question even need to be asked? The answer to both questions is a resounding NO! Agent 99 went through several cover names, but her real name was never revealed. One of her cover names, Susan Hilton, has brought a strong stench of controversy, confusion and error to numerous uninformed publications on Get Smart.

In the episode 99 Loses Control, 99 reveals to Max that she is going to be married to casino kingpin Victor Royal. Max discovers that not only is 99's fiancé a Kaos hood, but 99's name is also Susan Hilton. By the end of the episode, however, 99 reveals that Susan Hilton was only a cover name.

When asked, creator Buck Henry (who originally wanted 99 to be 69) and Barbara Feldon denied that 99 ever had a name. Buck Henry claims that he "fought a battle with someone somewhere to keep her nameless. . . And no Susan Hilton was definitely never her name" (McCrohan 68). Barbara Feldon's views on the subject are similar. She states that "Once they said her name was Susan Hilton, but that was a cover name. They never said her name. So 99 never had a name" (Green 42). Even if 99 ever did have a name somewhere it was a well kept secret. After all, 99 has publicly denied that her name is not Ernestine and Admiral Harold Harmon Hargrade took the great liberty to snore at the exact moment when the minister announced her name during her wedding. With security precautions of that caliber, it is certain the true identity of one Agent 99 for Control will not be revealed anytime soon.

For those out there that still wish to debate this, avid GS Fan Frankie has pointed out to me that in Rebecca of Funny Folk Farm, one of the characters asks Max, "Why do you call her Ninety-nine?" Max responds, "I don't know her name." Folks, if 99 hasn't told her darling Max what her name is, then I guess she just doesn't have one!

Just for fun, here's a list of other names that 99 assumed but was not baptized as: Melissa Westbrook, Mrs. Stanley Maxwell, Miss Evans, Mrs. Livingston, Greta Braun, Conchata. Miss Primrose, Legs, Connie Barker, Bonnie Vain, Rosita Delgado, Miss Norris, Helen Blake, and Ninna

Actually, this question is so insignificant that it's only being included in the controversies to irritate the few people that read this stuff. 

The not-so-silent Cone of Silence (C.O.S.) was Control's method of keeping discussions of the clandestine nature under cover. 

Unfortunately the Cone was about as useful as Control's top agent. Most of the time Max and the Chief wound up in a shouting match under the contraption and had to force it back up into its stationary position above the Chief's desk.

 The name "Cone of Silence" has been confused for a 1985 Chuck Norris action flick with a similar title: The Code of Silence.

 One question does come to mind through all this confusion: If the Cone of Silence had a code, what would it be? Talk softly and carry a big stick?

Is it Siegfried or Seigfried?  Starker or Shtarker?  Larabee or Larrabee?  Who or Hoo?  The final answer is ALL of the above. The closing credits, according to the Life and Times of Maxwell Smart, actually spelled the names of the aforementioned characters differently from episode to episode. Apparently the writers were neither concerned with spelling consistency or the correct German spelling of Siegfried and Shtarker. Starker's moniker could have come from the German adjective stark meaning "strong" or as The Get Smart Handbook suggests, Shtarker is Yiddish for a tough guy. Siegfried (in this spelling) was a character of several Norse legends (in those the character was actually called Sigurd) which Richard Wagner emulated in operas like Siegfried and Die Götterdämmerung-those infamous operas that feature the lady wearing the Viking costume.

To add to confusion (or trivia hopefully) over the namesake of Kaos's Siegfried, the favorite of the Kaos baddies was given an interchangeable first name. Siegfried claims in one episode that his first name is Ludwig while in other episodes he is referred to as Conrad (or is that Konrad?). At any rate, no mater the spelling, Siegfried is Seigfried, Starker is Shtarker, and Larabee is Larrabee even though the inconsistencies appear to be Kaos -er chaos.

Update 5-31-02:  I've been informed by Chief Carl, after a chat he had with Herr Siegfried, that "Siegfried" is spelled S-i-e-g-f-r-i-e-d.  Remember that for next year's spelling bee!

Geepers Creepers, what color are Mr. Adams' peepers? 

This seemingly simple question has been brought up due to the Get Smart literary endeavors and personal debates between avid Get Smart watchers (just ask the Friday night chatters) 

During the series, Adams at one point was described as having beady eyes (Don't Look Back). In the paperback William Johnston series of Get Smart books, Maxwell Smart is given two "very blue eyes." Also, the close up shot of Adams as he watches a tarantula climb his arm in To Sire With Love features two very shocked but semi-clouded eyes. 

This opens the door to question what exactly is Mr. Adams' eye color? Blue, green, or just plain rainbow-riffic? The precise answer to this peeper-oriented trivia is that Don Adams possesses two wonderful dark brown eyes that are the same eye shade of that of the author of this little ditty.

Did Don Adams really talk like.... that? 

Only as far as Byron Glick, Maxwell Smart, and Inspector Gadget were concerned.

 Adams' notorious nasal squeak was originally part of his stand-up years where he would impersonate numerous movie stars. His William Powell (at left with Myrna Loy) impersonation, in which he used the clipped and sharp intonations later used for the voice of Max, was so well received that he built entire acts around it. The "Voice", which Adams later came to hate, was entirely a put-on. 

How does Don Adams talk?**  Aside from very clearly, the later years of Get Smart where he drifted away from the Powell impersonation are an OK sample. Better yet, hop over to YouTube and check out his early stand up.