Mission: Impossible

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Mission: Impossible
Original series logo
Genre	Espionage
Creator(s)	Bruce Geller
Starring	Peter Graves (with various other cast members, see below)
Theme music composer	Lalo Schifrin
Country of origin	United States
No. of episodes	171 (List of episodes)
Production
Running time	approx. 0:51 (per episode)
Broadcast
Original channel	CBS
Original run	September 1966 – March 1973
Links

Mission: Impossible was an American television series which aired on the CBS network from September 1966 to March 1973. It returned to television for two seasons on ABC, from 1988 to 1990 and later inspired a popular trio of theatrical motion pictures in the 1990s and 2000s.

The jazz-tinted theme music for the series, composed by Lalo Schifrin, is widely considered one of the iconic television themes. Originally composed in 5/4 time, the rhythm gave the theme an edgy, tense beat. The movie theme by Danny Elfman took the theme and reset it in 4/4 time so that it would be easier to listen to by consumers of popular culture.

Contents 1 Series Overview 2 Format 3 Awards 4 Inspirations and Innovations 5 Revivals 6 Series Cast 6.1 Notable Guest Stars 6.2 Revival Cast 7 Episodes 8 Original Novels 9 Related Items 10 Home Video 11 Feature Films 11.1 Reaction 11.2 Change to Theme Song 11.3 Future Films 12 Trivia 13 Notes 14 Bibliography 15 External links

[edit] Series Overview

The series, which was created and initially produced by Bruce Geller, followed the missions of the Impossible Missions Force (IMF), a team of secret agents employed by the United States government. The team is sent on covert missions to combat dictators, evil organizations, and (primarily in later episodes) crime lords. On occasion the IMF was also shown conducting unsanctioned, private missions on behalf of its members. The exact branch of the government overseeing the IMF is never identified and in the 1980s revival it was suggested the IMF was an independent agency. The IMF answered to "the Secretary" but it was never indicated which secretary.

The leader of the IMF was initially Dan Briggs; he was replaced (for reasons never explained on the show) after the first season by Jim Phelps, who remained as the leader for the remainder of the original series and again in the 1988-90 revival. The real reason for Briggs' departure is that actor Steven Hill was an Orthodox Jew and could not work on Shabbos, the period from sundown Friday to sundown Saturday. [1] Phelps also appears in the first Mission: Impossible film, played by Jon Voight, though the films do not follow the continuity of the series).

Briggs and Phelps are the only "full-time" members of the IMF and are charged with forming mission teams made up of "part-time" agents who come from a variety of professions and walks of life. Briggs/Phelps chooses his operatives based upon whether they have a particular skill to contribute to the mission. There is a core group of three or four agents who are regularly chosen, but the episodes do not always feature the same regulars, and many episodes feature one-time "guest star" agents who are assigned based upon a unique skill.

For an example, the regular agent line-up during the first season consists of: Cinnamon Carter, a fashion model and actress; Barney Collier, an electronics genius and owner of Collier Electronics; Willy Armitage, a world record-holding weight lifter; and Rollin Hand, a noted actor, make-up artist, escape artist and magician. As actors left the series over time, other agents became regulars; Barney and Willy were the only agents to remain throughout the full run of the original series; Collier also appeared in two episodes of the revival series (in which the character's son is an IMF agent). Replacements often incorporated the skills of their predecessors. For example, "The Great Paris", Hand's replacement in the fourth and fifth seasons, was also an actor, make-up artist and magician. In seasons six and seven, Paris was replaced by a female master of disguise, Lisa Casey.

Although a Cold War subtext was present throughout the series, the actual "Cold War" between the United States and the Soviet Union was never directly mentioned over the course of the series. However, in the early years many of the targets appeared to be the leaders of Slavic or anonymous Baltic countries; major named enemy countries included the "European People's Republic" and the "Eastern European Republic". Additionally, fictitious, Slavic-seeming languages were used, or even real Russian (in the Season 1 episode "The Carriers," one of the bad guys reads a book whose title is written in Russian and says "Na Voina", which means "about war"); police vehicles were often labelled as such with words such as "polǐiçia", and "pőĮįia", and a gas line would be labelled "Gaz." (This "language," referred to by the production team as "Gellerese," was invented specifically to be readable by non-speakers of Slavic languages; their generous use of it was actually intended as a source of comic relief.) Uniforms of the target regime frequently included peaked caps, jackboots, and Sam Browne belts, hinting at connections with Nazi Germany or the Warsaw Pact.

The IMF was also assigned to bring down corrupt politicians and dictators of Third World countries unrelated to the Cold War, such as a particularly brutal practitioner of apartheid or corrupt Central or South American nations, as well as organized crime figures, corrupt businessmen and politicians in the U.S. As noted in the reference work The Complete "Mission: Impossible" Dossier by Patrick White, many IMF missions were essentially assassinations in disguise; in the first-season episode "Memory" it is established that the government agency behind the IMF has forbidden them outright assassination "as a matter of policy", and many missions therefore involve the IMF creating circumstances such as distrust and discreditation that often resulted in villains being killed by their own people or other enemies. During the fifth season, White notes, the producers began to phase out the international missions, deciding instead to task the IMF with battling organized crime figures (though there was still the occasional international mission). These gangland bosses were usually associated with the "Syndicate," a generic organization, or its franchises. In most episodes there was a use of latex masks for disguise. In the third film of the film seires you see how they might have made the latex masks.

[edit] Format

Mission: Impossible is noted for its format which rarely changed throughout the series.

Most episodes of the series begin with the team leader arriving at some public place -- a park, a penny arcade, a store, etc. where, invariably after sharing a few words with a clerk, he will find a hidden recording. The most familiar format of this recording was reel to reel tape played on a small recorder, but in the first few seasons of the series, Briggs/Phelps would receive the briefing using any manner of playback device such as phonograph records and slide-tape projection machines, and in one early episode ("Memory"), Briggs receives his instructions on a business card. An envelope of photographs of the primary "targets" of the assignment usually accompanied the recording, and the team leader would be shown flipping through these while listening to the recorded message. These recordings were always placed in an inconspicuous place.

Aside from giving Briggs/Phelps the basics of the mission, the recording always indicated that the IMF leader had the option of refusing the mission ("Your mission, should you decide to accept it..."), and that should any team member be caught or killed, the Secretary would "disavow any knowledge of your actions". The message would usually close with the famous "this tape will self-destruct in five seconds", and then the tape would disappear in a cloud of smoke, in order to leave no evidence of the mission. In a number of early episodes the team leader was asked to destroy the tape/LP record/other conveyance himself in "the usual manner". A unique situation occurred with the tape scene in the first season episode "Action!" Due to Hill being absent from the episode, the taped message was received by agent Cinnamon Carter, the only time someone other than Phelps or Briggs received the briefing.

In the 1980s revival, the message arrived on miniature DVD-like discs, played on a disposable miniature video player with a built-in screen, which as usual would self-destruct after being played.

These briefings were read by voice actor Bob Johnson in the original series and the 1988 revival (the aforementioned episode "Memory" is the only episode in which Johnson was not heard), but the identity of the character was never revealed, nor was his face ever shown. (It is presumed that this is not the Secretary himself; whoever it is familiar enough with Briggs and Phelps to be on a first name basis with them). Johnson died in 1994. The film Mission: Impossible revealed the name of the person behind the messages in the film as Eugene Kittridge, played by Henry Czerny. In the second film, the voice behind the messages was given the name Swanbeck and was played by Anthony Hopkins. The voice in the third film is that of IMF agent Ethan Hunt's superior, played by Billy Crudup. It is not known if any of the film characters correspond to the TV version.

There were a handful of exceptions to the "message from the Secretary" - in a couple of cases the mission was already underway and something went wrong; in others, it was a personal matter where a team member asked his colleagues for unofficial assistance. Peter Graves, who played the role of Jim Phelps, once said the entire season's worth of "tape scenes" were usually filmed all at once prior to production of the rest of the episodes, and that he never knew which tape scene would appear with which episode until broadcast.

Next would follow what White refers to as the "Dossier Scene". Briggs or Phelps would be shown in a high-class apartment (presumably their own), retrieving an oversized, leather-bound dossier folder from a locked drawer. Inside this folder are plastic-wrapped dossiers of the available IMF agents. Briggs/Phelps would be shown contemplating the various agents, putting some aside, and tossing the selected agents' dossiers onto a table (according to White, one of the never-chosen dossiers was a photograph of Bruce Geller himself). In addition to the regular cast members, participants in the briefing (especially in the early seasons) would sometimes include guest stars playing other IMF agents with special skills or someone whose cooperation provided needed access or would in some way play a crucial role in the success of the mission. And in numerous episodes, the IMF leader would only choose one or two team members for a particular mission (though at least one of the main credited cast members was always involved).

In the third segment of the opening act, called the "Apartment Scene" by White, the team would next be shown convening for their final briefing in the leader's apartment. Although the series was in color, the set and the costumes in this scene—everything in frame—was always black, white, or shades of gray. It was sometimes referred to off-camera as the black and white room. An exception was the briefing in the aforementioned "Action!" episode, which took place in an apartment (presumably of one of the team members) saturated in reds and pinks. Often this acted as a teaser, with characters in the final briefing making reference to their role in executing the plan while leaving enough details undisclosed to capture viewer interest regarding how it would unfold and resolve the goal given the team. In dialogue what role guest agents or others brought to the mission would be hinted at.

During the fifth season, the producers decided to phase out the tape scene, dossier scene and the apartment scenes. By the end of the season, however, it had been decided to keep the tape and apartment scenes. The dossier-choosing scene was eliminated for good, however. The 1980s revival reinstated the "dossier scene" in the first episode when Phelps selected his new team, but since he kept the same team in subsequent episodes no subsequent dossier scenes were made.

The episode then depicted the plan being put into action. The plan almost always involved very elaborate deceptions, usually several at one time. One or more team members would usually be inserted into the target's staff. To this end, certain team members were masters of disguise and were able to replace a member of the target's staff, sometimes even the target himself, by donning an elaborate latex mask and makeup. Various technological methods were commonly used as well, such as re-routing telephone or radiotelephone calls so they could be handled by the team, faked radio or television broadcasts, or an elevator placed under the team's control. In some missions a very extensive simulated setting was created, such as a faked train journey, submarine voyage, aftermath of a major disaster, or even the taking over of the United States by a foreign government. A particularly elaborate ploy, used on more than one occasion, saw the IMF work to convince their target that several years have actually passed.

The team would usually arrange for some situation to arise with which the target would have to deal in a predictable way, and the team would then arrange the circumstances to guide the outcome to the desired end. Often the plans turned on elaborate psychology, such as exploiting rivalries or an interest in the supernatural. This would usually result in either information being revealed to the team, or the target's disgrace and discreditation, or both. In many early episodes the mission was to "neutralize" the target and it was made clear that the target was ultimately shot by his superiors or staff, though this was usually not shown on screen. In later seasons where the targets were usually organized crime figures or similar, the goal of the mission was often simply to collect incriminating evidence not available to "conventional law-enforcement agencies." Many missions involved the team turning one man against another, either convincing a ruler that one of his trusted subordinates was scheming against him, or breaking up an arrangement between two partners by turning them against each other. The team wasn't above falsifying evidence if their target's true crime couldn't be proven. Dramatic tension was provided by situations in which team members appeared in danger of being discovered (especially before commercial breaks). Sometimes unexpected events occurred that forced the team to improvise. On occasion an outside party or one of the targets realized what was happening and put the success of the plan at risk.

Several times the series deviated from the standard format. In one episode of the original series, a gangster kidnapped the daughter of a friend of Dan Briggs and forced him to kidnap a witness against him. In another, one mistake caused Cinnamon Carter to be exposed and captured by the villains, and Jim Phelps prepared a plan to rescue her. Another episode had Willy caught by the bad guys at the beginning and the episode revolved around how to rescue him. Another episode featured Phelps on a personal mission when he went back home for a visit, he was captured and the team had to go and rescue him. In the 1980s series, former IMF agent Barney Collier was framed for a crime he didn't commit and the IMF team had to rescue him, leading to a reuniting of Barney with his son and IMF agent Grant Collier (in real life played by father-and-son Greg and Phil Morris).

The last element of the M:I format was the conclusion of each episode. Very rarely did any sort of epilogue occur; in most cases, the action lasted right up to the final seconds, with the episode often ending in a freeze frame as the IMF team made their escape, another successful mission concluded. Most often they left in a nondescript panel truck, although at least once they left in a station wagon. In the 1980s revival, this format was altered with the addition of a tag scene showing the IMF team regrouping (often still in disguise) and walking away from the site of their concluded mission, often accompanied by a quip uttered by Jim Phelps.

[edit] Awards

• Mission: Impossible, Golden Globe award, best show, 1968
• Barbara Bain, Emmy Award, best actress, 1967
• Barbara Bain, Emmy Award, best actress, 1968
• Barbara Bain, Emmy Award, best actress, 1969
• Bruce Geller, Emmy Award, best writer, best producer, 1967
• Peter Graves, Golden Globe award, best actor, 1971
• Martin Landau, Golden Globe award, best actor, 1968
• Jerome Ross (writer), Edgar Award, best episode in a TV series ("Operation Rogosh"), 1967

[edit] Inspirations and Innovations

A key inspiration for Geller in creating the series was the 1964 Jules Dassin film Topkapi, innovative for its coolly existential depiction of an elaborate heist. Geller switched the story away from the criminals of Topkapi to the good guys of the IMF, but kept Dassin's style of minimal dialogue, prominent music scoring and clockwork-precision plots executed by a team of diverse specialists. Several episodes in fact show close-up shots of an agent's wristwatch to convey the suspense of working on a deadline.

One of the more controversial points of Geller's was his insistence on minimizing character development. This was done intentionally both because he felt that seeing the characters as tabula rasas would make them more convincing in undercover work, and because he wanted to keep the focus on the caper and off the characters themselves. Geller would even veto the writers' attempts to develop the characters in the episodes. This is why, at least until Geller's departure from the show (and really afterwards as well), the IMF agents would only have one scene at Jim's apartment where they interacted, and they were rarely if ever seen in their "real" lives.

As a side effect of this, cast turnover was never once explained on the show. None of the main characters ever died or were disavowed in the original series, but a character could disappear in an interval of one episode without mention or acknowledgment. The 1980s revival, however, did kill off a main character on screen; Bruce Geller died on 27 May, 1978 in a plane crash in Santa Barbara, CA, so was unable to potentially veto the decision.^[1] The Mimi Davis character is the only one shown on screen being recruited as an IMF agent.

The producers of Mission: Impossible were sued for plagiarism by the creators of a show called 21 Beacon Street. The suit was settled out of court. Geller claimed never to have seen the earlier show. (Beacon Street's story editor, Laurence Heath, would later write several episodes of M:I.)

Writer William Read Woodfield was a fan of David Maurer's nonfiction book about con artists, The Big Con (also an unofficial inspiration for The Sting), and many episodes are strikingly similar to cons described in the book.

Mission: Impossible is still recognized for its innovative use of music. Composer Lalo Schifrin wrote several distinctive pieces for the series. The main title sequence provided previews of key scenes from the episode, with the cuts timed to the beats and measures of the theme tune, while an animated burning fuse moved across the screen. (This created some production difficulties, as it meant that each episode's title sequence was unique and could not be completed until after most of the principal photography and editing; most series' title sequences are done once per season at most.) Most episodes included fairly long dialogue-free sequences showing the team members—particularly electronics expert Barney Collier—making technical preparations for the mission, usually to the accompaniment of another easily–recognizable tune called "The Plot." Lalo Schifrin also wrote a theme piece for each main character and the sound track for each episode incorporated variations of these throughout. The series had great impact on film and TV music. Before Mission: Impossible, a common compliment for film and TV music was along the lines of "it worked very well but never got in the way or called attention to itself." By contrast, Mission: Impossible was praised for the prominence of its music.

At 171 episodes, the original version of Mission: Impossible currently holds the record for having the most episodes of any English-language espionage television series (about 10 more episodes than its nearest rival, the UK-produced The Avengers).

Reruns of Mission: Impossible are still shown daily on some TV stations.

[edit] Revivals

In 1980, media reports indicated that a reunion of the original cast was in the planning stages, for a project to be called Mission: Impossible '81. Ultimately this project was delayed into 1982 and 1983 (with the working title suitably updated) before being cancelled altogether.

In 1988, the American fall television season was hampered by a writers' strike that prevented the commissioning of new scripts. Producers, anxious to provide new product for viewers but with the prospect of a lengthy strike, went into the vaults for previously written material. Star Trek: The Next Generation, for example, used scripts written for an aborted Star Trek series proposed for the 1970s. The ABC network decided to launch a new Mission: Impossible series, with a mostly new cast (except for Peter Graves who would return as Phelps), but using scripts from the original series, suitably updated. To save even more on production costs, the series was filmed in Australia; the first series in Queensland, and the second series of episodes in Melbourne. Costs were, at that time, some 20 percent lower in Australia compared with Hollywood. The new Mission: Impossible was one of the first American commercial network programs to be filmed in Australia.

According to Patrick White's book, the original plan was for the series to be an actual remake/reimaginging of the original series, with the new cast playing the same characters from the original series: Rollin Hand, Cinnamon Carter, et al. Just before filming began, White writes, the decision was made to rework the characters so that they were now original creations, albeit still patterned after the originals, with only Jim Phelps remaining unchanged.

The new series was not a hit, but it was produced cheaply enough to keep it on the ABC schedule. The new M:I ultimately lasted for two years; the writers' strike was resolved quickly enough that only a few episodes were actual remakes, which, along with the decision to change the character names and backgrounds, resulted in the series being considered a continuation of the original series, rather than simply a remake.

The original series formula described above was largely repeated in the second Mission: Impossible series of the 1980s, though the writers took some liberties and tried to stretch the rules somewhat. Most notably, by the time of the revival series, the Impossible Mission Force was no longer a small, clandestine operation, but larger in scale, with references now made to IMF divisions and additional teams similar to the one run by Phelps. One episode of the later series featured the only occasion in which a regular IMF agent was killed on a mission and subsequently disavowed. The 1980s series also had IMF agents using technology that nearly pushed the series into the realm of science fiction, such as one gadget that could record dreams.

The revived series included special appearances by several 1960s–70s IMF veterans, including appearances by Lynda Day George and by Greg Morris as Barney; Morris' son, Phil Morris, played Barney's son in the new series.

In 1997, Barbara Bain reprised the role of Cinnamon Carter for an episode of Diagnosis Murder entitled "Discards". She appeared in the episode alongside Phil Morris, as well as 1960s spy series veterans Robert Culp (I Spy), Robert Vaughn (The Man from U.N.C.L.E.) and Patrick Macnee (The Avengers), and was the only member of this ensemble to play her original character.[2]

[edit] Series Cast

In order of appearance in the series:

• Bob Johnson as the Voice on Tape (uncredited, voice only; all seasons)
• Steven Hill as Team Leader Dan Briggs (Season 1)
• Barbara Bain as Cinnamon Carter (Seasons 1–3)
• Martin Landau as Rollin Hand (Seasons 1–3; Landau was considered a guest star during the first season, even though he appeared in all but two episodes)
• Peter Lupus as Willy Armitage (Seasons 1–7; alternated with Sam Elliott during season 5)
• Greg Morris as Barney Collier (Seasons 1–7)
• Peter Graves as Team Leader Jim Phelps (Seasons 2–7)
• Leonard Nimoy as The Great Paris (Seasons 4–5)
• Lesley Ann Warren as Dana Lambert (Season 5 - credited as Lesley Warren)
• Sam Elliott as Dr. Doug Robert a.k.a. Lang (alternated with Lupus during Season 5 and appeared in one Season 6 episode)
• Lynda Day George as Lisa Casey (Seasons 6–7)
• Barbara Anderson as Mimi Davis (appeared in about 10 episodes of Season 7 when George was on maternity leave)

Note: The cast changed considerably throughout the program's seven-year run, so not all of the characters listed above appeared at the same time, and even regular cast members did not always appear in every episode, depending upon the mission. The most enduring cast members were Morris and Lupus who appeared in all seasons, while Graves appeared in all but the first season. Season 4 did not feature a regular female role and instead used a number of different actresses (most notabily Lee Meriwether who appeared in six episodes). The character of Lisa Casey was not given a first name on screen until her appearance in an episode of the 1980s revival series.

[edit] Notable Guest Stars

• Elizabeth Ashley
• Edward Asner as George Simpson (1 episode)
• Carl Betz as General Yuri Kozani (1 episode, Season 4) and Dutch Krebbs (1 episode, Season 7)
• Sorrell Booke as Peter Kiri (1 episode, Season 1)
• Eric Braeden credited as Hans Gudegast) as Andrei Fetyakov (1 episode, Season 1) and Colonel Markus von Frank (1 episode, Season 2)
• Lloyd Bridges as Anastas Poltroni alias Ted Carson (1 episode)
• Richard Bull
• Joseph Campanella as Dr. Helmut Cherlotov (1 episode, Season 1) and Captain Miklos Cherno (1 episode, Season 2)
• Joan Collins as Nicole Vedette (1 episode)
• Wally Cox as Terry Targo (pilot)
• Bradford Dillman as Paul Shipherd (1 episode, Season 2) and Larry Edison (1 episode, Season 6)
• Anne Francis as Gillian Colbee (1 episode, Season 4)
• Don Francks as Nicholas Groat (1 episode, Season 2) and Major Alex Denesch (1 episode, Season 4)
• Vincent Gardenia as Vito Lugana (2 episodes, Season 2) and Lewis George Parma (1 episode, Season 3)
• Alexandra Hay
• Arthur Hill as Janos Passik (1 episode, Season 1)
• Pat Hingle as R.J. McMillan (1 episode, Season 1)
• Steve Ihnat as Stefan Miklos (1 episode, Season 3) and Colonel Alex Stahl (1 episode, Season 2)
• Eartha Kitt (1 episode, Season 1)
• Fernando Lamas as Roger Toland (1 episode, Season 3) and Ramón Prado (1 episode, Season 4)
• Mark Lenard as Felipe Mora (1 episode, Season 1); Colonel Luis Cardoza (1 episode, Season 2); Aristo Skora (1 episode, Season 3) and Colonel Barkram (1 episode, Season 5)
• Larry Linville as Captain Gulka (1 episode, Season 3); Alexi Silensky (1 episode, Season 4) and Colonel Leo Orlov (1 episode, Season 5)
• Peter Lorre Jr. as Kadi (1 2-part episode, Season 2)
• Monte Markham as Tosk (2 episodes)
• Joe Maross as Frank Bates (1 episode, Season 1); Mark Walters (1 episode, Season 2); Sheriff Brad Owens (1 episode, Season 5); Clegg (1 episode, Season 6); Jay Braddock (1 episode, Season 7)
• Darren McGavin as J. Richard Taggart (1 episode, Season 2)
• Lee Meriwether as Anna Rojak (1 2-part episode, Season 3) and "Tracey" (6 episodes, Season 4)
• Mary Ann Mobley as Crystal Walker (1 2-part episode, Season 1)
• Ricardo Montalban as Gerard Sefra (1 episode, Season 1)
• Edmond O'Brien as Raymond Halder (1 episode, Season 2)
• Simon Oakland as Jack Wellman (1 episode, Season 1)
• Vic Perrin as Dr. Ira Drake (1 episode, Season 1); Cheever (1 2-part episode, Season 2); the owner (1 episode, Season 3); Anton Massik (1 episode, Season 4) and the voice of Peter Stone
• Pernell Roberts as President Beyron Rurich (1 episode, Season 2); Colonel Hans Krim (1 episode, Season 3); Chief Manuel Corba (1 episode, Season 4) and Boomer (1 episode, Season 7)
• Sugar Ray Robinson as Wesley (1 episode)
• William Shatner (2 episodes)
• Dean Stockwell (1 episode, Season 7}
• Bo Svenson as Karl (1 episode)
• Loretta Swit (1 episode, Season 5)
• George Takei as Roger Lee (1 episode, Season 1)
• Vic Tayback as Henchman (1 episode, uncredited, Season 1); Sergeant Gorte (1 episode, Season 3)
• Malachi Throne as Ambassador Brazneck (1 episode, Season 1) and deputy premier Gregor Kamirov (1 episode, Season 4)
• Cicely Tyson as Alma Ross (1 episode, Season 4)
• Fritz Weaver as Imry Rogosh (1 episode, Season 1); Erik Hagar (1 episode, Season 2); Emil Skarbeck (1 episode, Season 3) and George Berlinger (1 episode, Season 6)
• Barry Williams
• William Windom as Deputy Premier Milos Pavel (1 episode, Season 1); Alex Cresnic (1 episode, Season 2); Stu Gorman (1 episode, Season 6) and Paul Mitchell (1 episode, Season 7)
• Demond Wilson "Lamont" of "Sanford and Son"
• Paul Winfield as Klaus (1 episode, Season 2)
• Anthony Zerbe as David Redding (1 episode, Season 2); Colonel Helmut Kellerman (1 episode, Season 3); Colonel Alex Vorda (1 episode, Season 4); Erik Schilling (1 episode, Season 5) and Reese Dolan (1 episode, Season 6)

[edit] Revival Cast

• Peter Graves as Jim Phelps
• Thaao Penghlis as Nicholas Black
• Antony Hamilton as Max Harte (credited as Tony Hamilton)
• Phil Morris as Grant Collier
• Terry Markwell as Casey Randall (early episodes 1988–1989 season)
• Jane Badler as Shannon Reed (1989 - 1990)
• Bob Johnson as Voice on Disc (voice only)

[edit] Episodes

• See main article: List of Mission: Impossible episodes.

[edit] Original Novels

A number of original novels based upon the series were published in the late 1960s.

Popular Library published the following between 1967 and 1969:

1. Mission: Impossible by John Tiger (1967)
2. Code Name: Judas by Max Walker (1968)
3. Code Name: Rapier by Walker (1968)
4. Code Name: Little Ivan by Tiger (1969)

In addition, two hardback novels for young readers were published by Whitman Books, both by Talmage Powell:

1. The Priceless Particle (1969)
2. The Money Explosion (1970)

Of the above, only the 1967 John Tiger novel featured the team as lead by Dan Briggs; the rest all featured the Jim Phelps-era IMF.

[edit] Related Items

Dell Comics published a comic book on a sporadic schedule that lasted from the mid-1960s to the early 1970s, although only 5 issues were actually published. (There were actually only four original publications, as the fifth issue was a reprint of the first).

In 1979, Scott Adams released Mission Impossible, a text adventure game that placed the player in the role of a secret agent trying to save the world. Evidently Adams did not have the rights to the name as the game was quickly reissued under the modified name Impossible Mission and later Secret Mission.[3] Beyond the title, the game had no overt connection to the TV series.

In 1991, video game designer Konami created a Nintendo Entertainment System game called Mission: Impossible, based on the revived series. The game is considered quite well-crafted and challenging. After the 1996 movie, several other games bearing the series name have also appeared, but the general consensus is that their quality is somewhat low, as if the games were made to quickly capitalize on the renewed franchise without delving into scenario possibilities presented by the series. For all the games, see Mission: Impossible (video game).

[edit] Home Video

In North America, Mission: Impossible received limited VHS format release in the mid-1990s through Columbia House. DVD release was rumored several times to tie in with the release of the first two Tom Cruise films, but this never occurred. Finally, Paramount Pictures announced in 2004 that it planned to release the TV series on DVD in North America in conjunction with the release of the third feature film, but this was ultimately delayed. Paramount later announced that the first season would be released on September 12, 2006 but this was pushed back and the first season was finally released on Region 1 DVD on December 5, 2006 by CBS Home Video (which has the rights to the Paramount library).

CBS/Paramount has recently announced that the second season of the original series will be released on DVD on June 5, 2007. [4]

It has not yet been announced whether the 1980s revival will also be released.

DVD Name	Ep #	Release Date
The Complete 1st Season	28	December 5, 2006
The Complete 2nd Season	25	June 5, 2007

[edit] Feature Films

So far, the television series has also spawned three films, starring and produced by Tom Cruise:

• Mission: Impossible (directed by Brian De Palma, 1996)
• Mission: Impossible II (directed by John Woo, 2000)
• Mission: Impossible III (directed by J. J. Abrams, 2006)

[edit] Reaction

Though these films were very profitable, many fans felt they ignored the elaborate plotting that was a significant feature of the TV series, and that they focused too much on star Tom Cruise rather than on the team aspect of the series. The first movie was somewhat closer to the spirit of the original series than the second one, which focused more on elaborate action, rather than espionage. The third movie was arguably the closest in spirit to the series. Reversing the idea of the series, the movies' villains tended to know the whole plan, rather than the IMF; indeed, the villains in the first two films were rogue or former members of IMF, with an "insider" plot in the third movie.

Fans were also upset that Jim Phelps, team leader in the TV series, became a traitor in the first movie, selling the details of government agents to an arms dealer. As a result, several actors from the original TV series declined invitations to make cameo appearances in the films - the role of Jim Phelps went to Jon Voight, while no other characters from the series appeared in the final version. Greg Morris was reportedly so disgusted with the first film's treatment of the Phelps character that when he went to see the movie, he walked out of the theater before it ended.^[2]

[edit] Change to Theme Song

Another notable difference between the Motion Picture and Television versions of Mission:Impossible is a significant change to the theme song.

The television version is in a rarely used 5:4 (5 beats to a measure) time and is difficult to dance to, as was proven by a memorable segment of American Bandstand in which teenage dancers were caught off-guard by Dick Clark's playing of the Lalo Schifrin single release. For the motion picture soundtrack the time signature was changed to standard pop 4:4 (4 beats to a measure) time, though the versions included in the score retained the 5:4 time signature.

[edit] Future Films

In light of the trilogy star Tom Cruise's recent split from Paramount Pictures, rumors circulated that Brad Pitt was a frontrunner to star in the fourth installment, which would have launched another M:I film series of its own. If this had been the case, Pitt's character would have been a replacement for Cruise's Ethan Hunt, who retired completely from IMF to fully pursue his marriage with Julia, from Mission: Impossible III. Despite Hunt's absence from the film, Cruise would have still received producer credit and salary for initially developing the film series. This rumor, however, turned out to be false. Both Paramount Pictures and Brad Pitt's representatives denied such a deal and plot outline.^[3]

[edit] Trivia

• One Martin Landau episode had a non-human addition to the IMF team -- a cat named "Rusty".
• The Cartoon series Freakazoid in Episode {2/#3} has a spoof of "Mission Impossible"-"Mission:Freakazoid".
• Both Mad Magazine and Cracked magazine had spoof episodes of "Mission Impossible". MAD's was entitled Mission: Ridiculous! and was consistent with the show in terms of characters, situations and typical storyline; a sign, in MAD, that the show being spoofed was good.
• The Star Trek: Voyager episode "Future's End" includes a reference to Mission: Impossible, a series that once shared studios and producers with the original Star Trek series.
• The Get Smart episode, "The Impossible Mission" was a spoof of the series, opening with a "tape scene" ("should you decide not to accept this mission, you're fired!"), and a dossier scene (in which Maxwell Smart tears up one of the photographs).

[edit] Notes

1. ^ The Mission: Impossible Dossier
2. ^ 'Mission: Impossible' TV stars disgruntled, CNN, May 29, 1996
3. ^ http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14911726/

[edit] Bibliography

• Patrick J. White, The Complete Mission: Impossible Dossier. New York: Avon Books, 1991.

[edit] External links

• Mission: Impossible at the Internet Movie Database
• Mission: Impossible at Yahoo! Movies
• Mission: Impossible at the Internet Movie Database (1988 version)
• Encylopedia of Television
• Infos about Memorabilia of the show, such as Dell Comics, Toys, Posters etc.
• Database and cover gallery for the Dell comic book series