Riffing off the then-popular genres of superheroes and James Bond spy adventures, Cool McCool featured the adventures of a hip, trenchcoated spy, who as on the contemporary TV show Get Smart defeated villains despite being comically inept. Villains included the Rattler, Hurricane Harry, Greta Ghoul, the Owl, Jack-In-The-Box and Dr. Madcap. McCool's boss was known as Number One, although his face was never seen onscreen; only his arms and a cigar were visible behind his chair (a reference to another contemporary spy show The Prisoner, which featured a spy looking for Number One who ran the prison he found himself in). Number One's secretary was Friday, a dumpy girl who had an unrequited crush on the secret agent. McCool had three catchphrases: "Danger is my business!" "When you're right, Number One, you're right," and (after bungling something) "That will never happen again." The show also featured a Keystone Kops-style segment featuring the adventures of McCool's father, Harry McCool. Harry was supported by his brothers Dick and Tom. Only 20 Harry McCool episodes were made, each one sandwiched between the two Cool McCool episodes per show.