1966: F Troop’s spy parody of a spy parody

Spy B Wise shows off a gadget to Capt. Parmenter

In 1966, everybody was getting in on the spy game, even the Western comedy F Troop. But instead of directly parodying James Bond, the Warner Bros. show instead did a takeoff of a takeoff.

In Spy, Counterspy, Counter Counterspy, the U.S. War Department has developed a top secret weapon, a bullet proof vest. It’s to be tested at Fort Courage, whose commanding officer is the bumbling Capt. Wilton Parmenter (Ken Berry).

Security for the test is handed to top secret spy B Wise (Pat Harrington Jr.), who mimics the rapid fire delivery of Don Adams on Get Smart. He even says, “Sorry about that!” (without saying chief) and has a gimmicked shoe (which has a gun instead of a telephone).

The thing is, when this episode aired on ABC, it coincided with Get Smart’s first season on NBC. Adams infused Maxwell Smart with some of his own comedy bits, but F Troop more or less does a full takeoff on Max and didn’t wait very long to do so. Meanwhile, there’s a woman spy (Abbe Lane) prowling about and one of the spies is a traitor.