Don Adams Articles
Don Adams Getting
Smarter in Check It Out!
The
Whig-Standard - December 14-21, 1985 - Doreen Pitkeathly
"It's for you." The man in the restaurant is waving his shoe in Don Adams' face.
The gag tires after more than 20 years, but Adams - indomitable as his illustrious alter-ego, the bumbling superspy, Maxwell Smart - doesn't let it show. He accepts the telephone-disguised-as-a-shoe, just as he did in the long-running hit series, Get Smart.
"I either speak into it; say it's a wrong number; or walk out of the restaurant with it. They usually have to chase me for half a block to get their shoe back," says Adams.
Adams has a new persona these days. He's Howard Bannister, the harassed and frustrated supermarket manager of CTV's new sitcom, Check It Out!
And while he says he's really enjoying his new series, his new city - he's living in Toronto while taping - and his new colleagues, including Dinah, Christie, veteran actor Henry Beckman and Second City's Kathleen Laskey, Adams admits that, to most of the world, he'll always be Agent 86.
"The image is so strong, it's impossible to get rid of," he says, taking time out from taping at the Glen-Warren studios in Agincourt. Check It Out!, which is taped before a live audience, is a Canada-U.S. coproduction by Taffner and Associates Limited and CTV.
In retrospect, Adams regards his role as Maxwell Smart as a mixed blessing.
"It brought me a lot of fame, a lot of money (Adams' one-third ownership of Get Smart has meant financial independence) and a lot of awards (three Emmys). That's the plus side.
"On the debit side, it typecast me as a humbling idiot. I wanted to play serious, dramatic roles and it's very hard to get them, especially when everybody thinks I talk like this," he says, switching into the distinctive nasal twang of Maxwell Smart.
His new role as Howard Bannister is far from dramatic but
he does get to use his own voice. And Bannister, he says, is
far more a real person than Smart ever was.
Originally, Adams was unsure he wanted to do another series.
"I wasn't sure I wanted to work that hard when I don't have to. I only worked when I wanted in the States - commercials, mostly, and doing the voice of Inspector Gadget," he says, adding he opted for the steady creative stimulation and hasn't regretted it since.
"All these people are great people to work with. I'm the only American. The rest are all Canadians and they're super-talents. Beyond their talent, they're down-to-earth, fun people. When I get up in the morning I can't wait to get to the studio to see them. The days go very quickly."
Adams also has high praise for the city of Toronto.
"This is not bull. I really love this town. I was here 25 years ago and it was nothing, but it has developed into a terrific town. Now I rate it my second favorite city, next to San Francisco."
Adams, who says he never watches his own shows after he does them, only recently began watching Get Smart and he was really surprised to find he loves it.
"I found myself laughing out loud. I never do that, especially when it's something I do. I'm very difficult to make laugh."
