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MR. AND MRS. SMITH

smith_mr_n_mrs_mv_mms smith_mr_n_mrs_mv_mms2
 
Full Name: Mr. and Mrs. Smith
Nationality: American
Organization: The Factory
Occupation Agent

Creator: Kerry Lenhart, John J. Sakmar
Time Span: 1996 - 2007

ABOUT THE SERIES

Mr. and Mrs. Smith are agents with The Factory.

That is a private security/intelligence corporation open to contracts with whomever they want, I would expect, but which seems to concentrate on working with the American government. It is run by a man we only know as Mr. Big. We do not learn a whole lot about the organization except that it is extremely well funded and has a world-wide presence.

We also know that they are not the only company of its type in operation for while Mr. Smith is an operative with The Factory from the first time we meet him, Mrs. Smith is employed by a rival of theirs. Her employment will be terminated and she will transition to The Factory soon thereafter.

"I'm Mr. Smith but that's not my real name," we are told by Mr. Smith in the standard introduction to each of the adventures. Mrs. Smith then quickly adds, "I'm Mrs. Smith but that's not my real name either."

"You see," he goes on to tells as if it comes as surprise, "we're spies. People might think that we're married."

"That's okay," she replies, "as long as you don't." Ouch!

The Factory apparently feels that a team of two is better for most operations than a lone wolf. Two men or two women traveling together might be rare enough to attract attention but a man and a woman pair is far more innocuous, especially if they go as a married couple. Hence the Mr. and Mrs. Smith even though they are not actually married.

If what the Smith's say can be believed (and they are spies, remember), they do not even know each other's real name. And they may or may not like each other (kinda depends on the day). And there is constantly a nice bit of rivalry between the two with both of these experience agents quite confident in his or her abilities and likely each thinking that person is just a tad bit better at their job than the other.

MOVIES

Number of Movies:2
First Appearance:2005
Last Appearance:2007

According to IMDB, "The [first] movie was inspired by the short-lived television series Mr. & Mrs. Smith (1996) starring Scott Bakula and Maria Bello."

And the second movie/TV pilot was "based on the 2005 film starring Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie."


1 Mr. and Mrs. Smith Mr. and Mrs. Smith
Director: Doug Liman
Writer: Simon Kinberg
Actors: Brad Pitt as Mr. Smith, Angelina Jolie as Mrs. Smith, Vince Vaughn as Eddie, Kerry Washington as Jasmine, Keith David as Father
Released: 2005

John and Jane Smith are your average married couple living in suburbia and working normal jobs, each of which requires him or her to take business trips. What makes them different, though, is that each is a trained assassin working for a private intelligence company. Unfortunately, they do not know about the other. At least not until they are directed to hunt down and eliminate the other!

2 Mr. and Mrs. Smith Mr. and Mrs. Smith
Director: Doug Liman
Writers: David Bartis, Simon Kinberg
Actors: Martin Henderson as Mr. Smith, Jordana Brewster as Mrs. Smith
Released: 2007

A made-for-television movie prepared as an unsold pilot.
According to IMDB: "Newly relocated to the suburbs, married assassins John and Jane Smith have re-established their respective businesses, though the marital issues that plagued them in the past have returned."

TELEVISION


Number of Episodes:13
First Appearance:1996
Last Appearance:1996
Network:CBX

REGULAR CAST
Scott BakulaMr. Smith [ 1 ]
Maria BelloMrs. Smith [ 1 ]
roy DotriceMr. Big [ 1 ]

1 Pilot
Episode 1-1, first aired 09/20/1996
Director: David S. Jackson
Writers: Kerry Lenhart, John J. Sakmar

In the pilot episode that brings Mr. and Mrs. Smith together, both operatives, working for competing companies, are searching for two physicists who have gone missing. These scientists are said to have made a major breakthrough in cold fusion.

2 The Suburban Episode
Episode 1-2, first aired 09/27/1996
Director: Oz Scott
Writers: Robin Green, Mitchell Burgess

In order to spy on a man suspected of stealing top-secret information from his employer, Mr. and Mrs. Smith go undercover as a suburban couple moving into the suspect's neighborhood.

3 The Second Episode
Episode 1-3, first aired 10/04/1996
Director: Ralph Hemecker
Writers: Kerry Lenhart, John J. Sakmar

200 Stinger missiles have been stolen. Mr. and Mrs. Smith are put on the job of recovering them. To do so, they and a nerdy bookkeeper go undercover onboard the ship they think the armament is being hauled.

4 The Poor Pitiful Put-Upon Singer Episode
Episode 1-4, first aired 10/11/1996
Director: Nick Marck
Writer: Douglas Steinberg

Someone wants a record producer dead and is making an effort to see that happen. Mr. and Mrs. Smith are brought in to keep that from happening. They have the assistance of a computer expert but they soon would not mind seeing him dispatched as well.

5 The Grape Escape
Episode 1-5, first aired 10/18/1996
Director: Dan Attias
Writer: Susan Cridland Wick

Mr. and Mrs. Smith head to the wine country of Napa Valley to take on the person or persons using genetically-engineered insects to destroy the grape crop.

6 The Publishing Episode
Episode 1-6, first aired 10/25/1996
Director: James Quinn
Writer: Douglas Steinberg

An elusive former operative has written a devastating tell-all book in which he names a host of American agents, revealing their identities to their enemies. Mr. and Mrs. Smith take on the cover of an author and literary agent, respectively, to track him down.

7 The Coma Episode
Episode 1-7, first aired 10/28/1996
Director: Michael Zinberg
Writer: Douglas Steinberg

The sole witness who can identify a saboteur is lying in a coma in the hospital. To help make sure she stays alive, Mr. and Mrs. Smith go undercover as a doctor and his patient.

8 The Kidnapping Episode
Episode 1-8, first aired 11/01/1996
Director: Lou Antonio
Writers: Robin Green, Mitchell Burgess

Mr. and Mrs. Smith are after a kidnapper. Unfortunately for them, that individual is consistently at least one step ahead of them all the way.

9 The Space Flight Episode
Episode 1-9, first aired 11/08/1996
Director: Sharron Miller
Writer: Michael Cassutt

The son of an astronaut has invented a flying platform. Mr. and Mrs. Smith are brought in when the inventor is being cheated by a military contractor out to buy the device in order to weaponize it.

10 The Big Easy Episode
Episode 1-10, first aired 11/15/1996
Director: James Whitmore, Jr.
Writer: Del Shore

A Senator from New Orleans is in major need of help to handle a scandal when his girlfriend is suspected of leaking defense secrets to Iraq. Mr. and Mrs. Smith are brought in to use that as their cover while they search for the real traitor.

11 The Impossible Mission
Episode 1-11, first aired 11/22/1996
Director: Artie Mandelberg
Writers: Douglas Steinberg, Kerry Lenhart, John J. Sakmar

After another fake couple, Mr. & Mrs. Jones, fail in retrieving a set of stolen currency places from the U.S. Treasury and Mrs. Jones is wounded in the attempt, it falls to Mr. & Mrs. Smith to complete the mission.

12 The Bob Episode
Episode 1-12, first aired 11/29/1996
Director: Jonathan Sanger
Writer: Sanford Golden

Thanks to the meddling of an old friend of Mr. Smith, the Smiths and a CIA agent lose a ball of plutonium-239. In getting it back they much also find a way to keep the friend alive.

13 The Sins of the Father Episode
Episode 1-13, first aired 12/05/1996
Director: Rob Thompson
Writer: Michael Gleason

Learning that his son has been kidnapped, Mr. Smith departs immediately to rescue him, only to learn that to get him back, he must kill someone. Meanwhile, Mrs. Smith was left in a lurch on his sudden departure and has extra incentive to find him, once she escapes her predicament.

MY COMMENTS

     It hardly seems like it but it was 25 years ago that my wife and I sat down to watch, and enjoy, the pilot episode of Mr. and Mrs. Smith. I was already a major spy-fiction nut and my wife had great affection for Scott Bakula from his Quantum Leap days.

     Unfortunately for both of us, the series did not last long and I for one thought it a shame because the chemistry between the two seems quite good and the plots were interesting enough. Alas, it was not to be and it was not until I started this entry that I learned there were four more episodes than I had originally seen. I am looking forward to finding and viewing them.

     The fare was standard prime-time network entertainment. No great shakes. No surprises. Just enjoyable viewing. Of course, it also had Maria Bello and I have never found her less than a joy to watch.

GRADE

My Grade: B

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