The Cone of Silence is one of many recurring joke devices from Get Smart, a 1960s American comedy television series about an inept spy. The essence of the joke is that the apparatus, designed for secret conversations, makes it impossible for those inside the device – and easy for those outside the device – to hear the conversation.
History
The larger, plastic version of the "Cone of Silence" appeared in "Mr. Big", the pilot episode of Get Smart, which aired on September 18, 1965. Mel Brooks and Buck Henry, the original screenwriters for the series, devised many of the running jokes. The Cone of Silence scene was shot ahead of the rest of the pilot episode, and was used to sell the series to NBC.
See also
- Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility, used by US Federal Government to deliver similar functions today
- The Zone of Silence, a purported area of radio silence in Mexico
- United States National Radio Quiet Zone, " a large area of land in the United States designated as a radio quiet zone, in which radio transmissions are heavily restricted by law to facilitate scientific research and military intelligence."
References
- Van Riper, A. B. (2017). The 25 Sitcoms that Changed Television: Turning Points in American Culture.
External links
- Get Smart
- WouldYouBelieve.com: The Get Smart Web Page
- History of the AN range and its "cone of silence"
- Get Smart image (theage.com.au)
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