Crocodile Gets Smart, Gives Smart

There's lots of generosity on the blogs these days. For example, if you haven't already, be sure to sign up for the Cards on Cards College Bowl contest.

Another generous blogger is Crocodile Sports Cards. He was recently giving away some cards from a 1998 Inkworks set that highlighted five classic TV shows: Get Smart, The Andy Griffith Show, The Beverly Hillbillies, The Brady Bunch, and Hogan's Heroes. Get Smart is my all-time favorite TV show so I claimed cards from that show. But Croc surprised me with a near-complete set! As cool as the other cards are, they don't really fit my collection, so I will offer those up in another post.

Today, though, I will focus on Get Smart. Topps did issue a set back in 1966 but I don't have any cards from it. They don't come by cheaply, and frankly aren't very good anyway. These cards are much nicer.

Starting out with black-and-white promotional photos as well as a shot from the pilot episode, the only one filmed in black-and-white.

Some color publicity shots.

Some photos from later episodes. There was no opening credits sequence which had the title appear the way it did on the first card. My guess it is a screen grab from a commercial.

I recently posted a 1969 New York Times which had this very episode, "I Shot 86 Today", in the TV listings.

Finally, four cards with scenes that I remember were in the show's final episode in 1970.

Thanks Crocodile, these were a lot of fun to go through!