The Doors of Get Smart


    The opening of Get Smart, with its multiple doors, is one of the most recognizable icons in television history. The opening was designed and directed by Leonard Stern. The number of doors and the cars used have always been popular subjects for trivia contests and so I thought I'd clearly show exactly what happens in the opens, as there were four different versions. Once Max entered the building, the openings were identical, but the first twenty seconds of the opens were different in different seasons.

Listen to the theme song.

The Pilot Episode Open

Max drives up to a building on the studio lot. Max is driving a Ferrari 250 GT Cabriolet. He's also wearing some type of driving hat.

Max runs out of the car and heads toward the building as the main title comes up. Max goes down a stairwell.

The Common Open

The following section of the open is the same for all five seasons and the pilot, although the pilot version was in black and white. I'm using the color version here because it just looks better. The names in the credits may change, but Max's journey through the doors remains the same.

The "elevator doors" open to reveal that it's actually a staircase. Max comes through those doors and then the camera switches shots to show him going down the corridor of doors.

The sliding doors. The doors that go up into the ceiling.
The fake jail cell doors. Max then opens the phone booth doors, goes inside, and shuts the door.


Max dials a number (unknown) and the drops down through the floor of the phone booth.
We see an empty phone booth and then it fades to black as the open ends.

Total Number of Doors - 7
Ferrari, Five Common Doors, Phone Booth Door

 

Seasons 1 & 2 Open

Max pulls up to a building on the studio lot in his Sunbeam Tiger. Max opens the door to the Sunbeam.

Max runs out of the car and heads toward the building as the main title comes up. Max runs out of the car and goes into the building as the main title comes up.

The Open then picks up with the Common Open.

Total Number of Doors: 8
Tiger Door, Building Door, 5 Common Doors, Phone Booth Door

 

Seasons 3 & 4 Open

Max drives up to the Hall of Justice in Los Angeles. He's now driving a VW Karman Ghia.

Max runs out of the car and heads toward the building as the main title comes up. Max runs towards the door but you do not see him open the door or go into the building.

The Open then picks up with the Common Open.

Total Number of Doors - 7
Karman Ghia, 5 Common Doors, Phone Booth Door

 

Season 5 Open

With the move to CBS, there's a revised version of the theme song.

The show now began with a bunch of quick zooms into several Washington, DC landmarks, like the Capitol. The White House.
The Lincoln Monument. The Jefferson Memorial.
   

Max then drives up to the U.S. Courthouse Building on Spring St. in Los Angeles (thanks Jim M.) in an Opel. Jim further reports that to park where Max does you "have to go the wrong way on a one-way street." He then runs up the steps of the building, but we do not see him enter any doors or stairwells. You can see there's a new font and color scheme for the logo.

The Season 5 Open then picks up with the Common Open.

Total Number of Doors - 7
Opel, Five Common Doors, Phone Booth Door


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