Cutbacks at CONTROL mean part-time work for all of its agents. Max decides to set up shop as a private detective with 99 as his secretary. This episode marks the second impression by Adams of Humphrey Bogart on the show, this time as a parody of his Sam Spade role from The Maltese Falcon, and for the parody characters of the Fat Man and Joel Cairo, most famously played by Sydney Greenstreet and Peter Lorre (although here the Fat Man is called Mr. Peter and the Lorre-type character is Mr. Sidney. When Max apologizes for constantly mixing the name up, the Fat Man tells him that it happens "all the time"). Buddy Hackett has a cameo as the duo's bespectacled but nearsighted gunslinger Wilbur (based on "Wilmer Cook" of The Maltese Falcon). The episode's title is printed as "Maxwell Smart, Private Eye" on the DVD edition, but announced as "Maxwell Smart, Private Spy" in Barbara Feldon's spoken introduction, and this title appears in NBC memos shown on the bonus features DVD.
