Fairly weak episode has 86 and 99 try and find out what's going on with a circus after one of their agents wearing the rattiest and most unbelievable gorilla costume I've ever seen is killed. They run across the usual suspects: the knife thrower; the midget; the strong man; the chimp. None of it is very inspired or more than mildly funny. Max is given a number of gags that make him too dumb (these types of gags came more often in later seasons as the original writers left and lost the nuances of the Smart character). Too much of the script construction is in the form of question/answer gags, which get tiresome quickly.
The only real highlights are seeing a young Paul Dooley fresh out of Second City as the press agent for the circus and seeing the Chief dressed up as a clown.
The only real highlights are seeing a young Paul Dooley fresh out of Second City as the press agent for the circus and seeing the Chief dressed up as a clown.