By Jim Colucci

As the first and to-date most successful satirical series on television, the spy spoof Get Smart ran from 1965 to 1970. Chronicling the battle between good-guy government agency CONTROL and evil organization KAOS, the show starred Don Adams as Agent 86 Maxwell Smart (who was anything but) and Barbara Feldon as his beautiful, resourceful and loyal partner—and later wife—known only as Agent 99.

Adams, who died in 2005, attributed the success of the show—with its unique blend of borscht belt and absurdist humor—to perfect timing. In captivating TV audiences just before the ultimately turbulent 1960s got into full swing, "I feel like we led the way in TV back in '65, when everyone was stirring the oatmeal and sending the kids to school," Adams speculated in a previously unpublished 2001 interview. "When I read the Get Smart pilot, I thought it was too satirical and ahead of its time, and that it would never go on TV. But it went, and led the way for shows like All in the Family. It was the '60s, and with everything that was going on—the drug culture, Charles Manson, Woodstock—there was a whole cultural revolution, and I guess Get Smart was part of it."

Today, a new generation can appreciate the show's famous comic catchphrases—like "Missed it by that much," which Adams ad-libbed in a first-season episode—that have entered the pop culture lexicon. "And to this day, almost every day, somebody smiles at me because of 99," says Feldon, who lives in New York City. "It has been such a pleasure in my life."

In 2008, more than four decades after Max first answered his famous shoe phone, Warner Brothers will release a film adaptation of the series, starring Steve Carell and Anne Hathaway. Feldon thinks it's a great idea: "They're both such excellent choices. In a way, I think the show was very of-its-time. But if anyone can pull it off, they can."

As for now, more than a year before Carell walks through the door—make that doors—at CONTROL, audiences can reacquaint themselves with Smart's world on DVD via bonus features that include audio commentary by Feldon and show creators Mel Brooks and Buck Henry, bloopers, interactive tours of Max's apartment and the Chief's office, and even the sexy 1964 Top Brass hair care commercial that nabbed Feldon her iconic 99 role.

The five-season box set is available exclusively at getsmartondvd.com, for $199.96. (That's the second-biggest sticker price we've ever seen!) Smart will also be sold in stores on a season-by-season basis—but not until this fall. Sorry about that, Chief!