Wallace Shawn was originally set to voice Mr. Smith. He changed his mind when he realized that if he died during production, his last project would be that of a talking orangutan.
The orangutan playing Mr. Smith was extremely well behaved. Two trainers (one older and one younger, brothers) worked with the big monkey who was housed in Tarzana. The (handsome, like a young leading man riding with his pretty date) younger brother (trainer) would drive the orangutan into Paramount Studios, every day, in his yellow corvette. The passenger window was lowered two inches, so that the orangutan could hang his right arm and fingers on the open door glass. He was quite a sight arriving to the stage every morning. The trainer would open the passenger door, taking the hand of the orangutan, to lead him to his own trailer dressing room. Usually, the orangutan would stand in the middle of the studio street to relieve himself, with a river running the middle of the studio street flowing towards the drain. The dressing room trailer had the rear bedroom section gutted, skinned with material which could be washed down and cleaned. The door frame had a cell metal bar door which could be secured when he was in his "bed room". The orangutan's motor home dressing room had the normal living room-kitchen-banquet arrangement. The orangutan knew his way around the inside of the motor home. He also knew that the freezer compartment held ice cream and Popsicle bars as his reward. The trainer would nod to him, without a word, and the orangutan knew that was his signal to retrieve a Popsicle. He also had bananas in the refrigerator, which required a different cue from the trainer for his retrieval. An astounding communication system between the animal and the trainer. On set, the trainer was adept at communicating with the orangutan with what he was expected to perform. The film crew and cast were served their meal breaks on an adjacent stage. When this break was called by the assistant director, the cast leads would each take one of his hands, walking towards the exit, leading to the adjacent stage break area. The orangutan was very comfortable walking with his cast mates to dinner. Once seated at the table, the trainer would serve him his dinner which consisted of a chicken leg. That piece of chicken, he would slip into his mouth with his fingers holding onto the tip end! Out, he would remove the cleanest chicken leg bone with nothing left on the leg bone. Clean as a whistle! Interestingly, the costumed orangutan would stand in his position for camera, and gradually relax, slumping in his posture. When camera was ready to roll, the trainer would reach in and tap the orangutan under his chin, the orangutan would straighten and raise his posture stance upright. After the scene was finished, the orangutan knew he could relax and drop his pose! He was a performer!
The TV pilot's set decorator, Lee Poll, purchased all the set furniture used in the permanent Washington D.C.Georgian interiors mansion set. The desk top had to be adapted for all the puppet work required when the star Mr. Smith (the orangutan) was replaced for close-up filming. Other furniture pieces were duplicated, which were replaced when the three puppeteers had to perform with the puppet upper body form. After the series was in the process of filming each show, the art director made a point of measuring the orangutan's hand-to-elbow, elbow-to-shoulder, the orangutan's full body height standing erect, and when the orangutan was relaxed. Measuring the orangutan like a tailor measuring for a suit, the orangutan's reaction was hilarious, with his two trainers standing adjacent the animal allowing the measurements being taken. These measurements became critical in scenes when the orangutan had to stand at a court room railing, or scenes with large pieces of furniture, related with the use of the puppet form replacing the orangutan for close-up filming. The puppet top body shoulder-head unit was filled with fiber tubing which controlled all the facial (mouth and nose) expressions, eye and eye-brow movement, and with a puppeteer hidden below the head-shoulder to maneuver the body movement. Tied with the camera picture was an off camera TV monitor for the puppeteers to view the camera's shot. The camera only photographed the orangutan in long shots. Sadly, the D.P. should have had a second close up camera on the actual orangutan's reactions during filming, because his expressions were priceless! sometimes, better than the puppet's facial expressions!
C.J. Had his own trailer and director's star chair with his own expensive wardrobe for the series.