R.I.P. Don Adams

One of my comic heroes, Don Adams (1923-2005), star of Get Smart and Inspector Gadget, passed away today at the ripe old age of 82. I remember seeing Get Smart on Nickelodeon well before Inspector Gadget was on TV. I used to love the beginning of the show where Mr. Adams, as Maxwell Smart, went through the long, involved process of entering the secret spy organization, CONTROL, by entering a phone booth that led to a stairway and a long hall full of different doors. It almost reminded me of Superman going into a phone booth to change into his costume. There are many Limited Ed. items based on the Get Smart TV series. You can find a pretty comprehensive list here. My favorite, of course, is the shoe phone. Mr. Adams will be missed.

Update: Jon informed me last night that apparently Don Adams was also on a short-lived TV series in the mid-80's called Check it Out about the misadventures of a supermarket staff. I don't remember this one at all, probably because it was a Canadian TV show that aired on CTV.