Mention the word "smart phone", and I'm immediately taken back to Barton House in Canberra and its TV Lounge which filled up to capacity as soon as the "Get Smart" theme could be heard up and down the corridor.
Come on, press the play button to take you back to those happy days:
The year was 1965. I had just arrived in Australia, joined the ANZ Bank, and had moved into Barton House, which offered mixed company around the clock and Mixed Grill at least once a week. The Mixed Grill was eaten in the always busy and always jolly Dining Room, and the mixed company came into its own in the TV Lounge when the lights were dimmed and boys and girls squeezed into the few available armchairs.
Once a week the TV Lounge was packed to overflowing when Maxwell Smart uttered his most famous catchphrase "Good thinking, 99". It was the 1960s' equivalent of today's "Awesome", and used at every possible - and impossible - opportunity. "Can I get you another beer?" "Good thinking, 99." "Turn up the sound, will you?" "Good thinking, 99."
"Get Smart" premiered on 18 September 1965 and ran for an incredible 138 episodes, which meant I practically grew up with it during my first two years in Australia. And I still haven't grown out of it because I still sometimes say "Good thinking, 99" to take me back to a wonderful time in what is still a wonderful country. Want to hear it? "Good thinking, 99."
