Dec 12 2007Maxwell Smart Still Communicating Via Shoe

As Cinemablend has astutely noted, anyone even vaguely familiar with the Get Smart series remembers Maxwell Smart's iconic shoe phone. In a time prior to cellular technology, long before Verizon contemplated the idea of mass stalking as a phone-hocking gimmick, a shoe phone was the perfect blend of James Bond gadgetry meets absurdity. Aside from the door-opening intro credits, it's practically all I remember from the show.

There was a time when Nick at Nite was offering a real version of the shoe phone for use in homes, and though I wasn't sure if it was a joke or not (I'm still not sure), I begged for my parents to buy me it. Surely, a replica plot from a 30-year-old television series was the one element missing from my attempts at adolescent popularity. (I would later learn lack of athleticism and infrequent showering was also hurting my chances.) I still hold some resentment about the whole thing.

So it's nice to see that, despite advances in communications, the new Steve Carell/Anne Hathaway Get Smart is still willing to trade-in technological accuracy for nostalgic laughs by including the infamous device. We can only hope that, in spite of the invention of whispering, the Cone of Silence will make an appearance too.

Steve Carell Makes A Call On His Shoe [Cinemablend]