Mission: Impossible is 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 theme music for the series composed by Lalo Schifrin is widely considered one of
the iconic television themes.
Series overview
The series, which was created and initially produced by Bruce Geller, follows 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 is 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 is an independent agency. The IMF
answered to "the Secretary" but it was never indicated which secretary.
IMF leaders
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.
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.
Cold War subtext
Although a Cold War subtext is present throughout the series, the actual "Cold War" between
the United States and the Soviet Union is rarely mentioned over the course of the series.
(See, for example, the mission objectives for "The Trial" and "The Confession" in Season 1.) However, in the early years many of
the targets appear to be the leaders of Slavic or anonymous Baltic countries; major named enemy countries include 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 are 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 include peaked caps,
jackboots, and Sam Browne belts, hinting at
connections with Nazi Germany or the Warsaw Pact.
Adversaries unrelated to the Cold War
The IMF is 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. There is some inconsistency in this policy and, as an example, the sadistic camp commander in
"Snowball in Hell" is killed directly by the team.
Fifth season
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 are usually associated with the "Syndicate," a generic organization, or its franchises. Generally when describing such
assignments the tape message noted that the target was outside the reach of "conventional law enforcement". The objective of such
missions was usually simply to obtain evidence admissible in court or to trick the mobsters into making a confession while being
recorded.
Format
Mission: Impossible is noted for its format which rarely changes throughout the series. Indeed the opening scenes
acquired a ritualistic feel, befitting the "quasi-official" aura the program sought for the clandestine operations it
showcases.
Tape scene
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 or attendant
(using a code sentence to signal to them that he is after the recording), 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" (in the history of the series, this happened only once when an IMF
agent died during the 1988 revival season). At this point the message needed to be destroyed in order to maintain secrecy; the
most famous rendition of this is the recorded voice's advisory, "This tape will self-destruct in five seconds", and then the tape would disintegrate in a cloud of smoke. Until this
became standard, Briggs and Phelps would also often be requested to destroy the tape manually, usually by tossing it into a
nearby furnace or pouring acid on the record or tape.
A unique situation occurred with the tape scene in the first season episode "Action!" Due to the absence of actor
Steven Hill, who portrayed Briggs, 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 regular-format 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 they evidence a familiarity with Briggs and Phelps, enough so 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 the fifth season the producers experimented with
the format by eliminating the taped briefing, starting the episode with the mission already underway. In a few other cases, a
personal matter involving Briggs, Phelps or an IMF operative would result in an "off-book" mission being undertaken.
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.
Dossier scene
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 were
plastic-wrapped dossiers (usually featuring standard 8x10 "glossies" of the respective actors) 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 early seasons the agents selected often included guest stars playing agents with skills not present among the usual team. A
doctor, particularly a specialist in a condition known to afflict the target, was a common sort of "guest agent". In numerous
early episodes the IMF leader would only choose one or two team members, though at least one of the main credited cast members
was always involved. In later seasons the team was much more stable, consisting of the leader and the regular cast of the season,
and the use of guest agents became markedly less frequent.
In the Pilot it is stated the team leaders have unlimited resources and wide discretion in choosing their team. Presumably the
actual plan is settled on based in part on the agents available, an evaluation of the goal, etc. Whether the leader arrives at
the plan independently or has assistance in developing it is never made clear. These preparations and the logistics are never
shown though are generally implied by the scenes that depict various steps of the process by which the team undertakes its
mission. IMF protocol seems to be rapid deployment as it is implied only a short period of time lapses from the initial
assignment until the team is in the field.
Apartment scene
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 first-season episode "Action!", which took place in an apartment
(presumably Cinnamon Carter's) decorated in saturated reds and pinks.
The "Apartment Scene" acted as a teaser; in discussing the plan to achieve the objective of the mission and their role in
executing it the team members would make vague references to preparations necessary for its successful execution while leaving
most details undisclosed. This scene also demonstrated—and thereby established credibility for—various gadgets or ploys that were
key to the plan, such as a TV camera hidden in a brooch, a miniature radio-controlled hovercraft, a chess-playing computer, a
"mentalist" or sleight-of-hand act, or even a trained animal. This scene in addition would establish, or at least hint at, the
specialties and role in the plan of any "guest star" agents. Team members posing questions about aspects of the plan or why an
alternative wasn't considered provided the writers an opportunity to offer explanations for what otherwise might have seemed
plot holes. And often Phelps in summing up would stress the difficulties in the action they
were about to undertake or some key element of the plan vital to its success, such as a deadline by which the mission was to be
completed.
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, but the dossier-choosing scene was eliminated
for the rest of the series run. 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.
Plan
The episode then depicted the plan being put into action. This almost always involved very elaborate deceptions, usually
several at one time. Facilitating this, certain team members had among their skills being masters of disguise able to enact a
role to insert themself onto the target's staff, impersonate/replace a member of the staff or sometimes even taking the place of
the target themself. This was accomplished by the donning of elaborate latex masks and makeup.
Some impersonations were done with the explicit cooperation of the one being impersonated. Also bona fides would be arranged
("the letter from Chicago was sent Monday") to aid infiltrating the target organization. In some cases, the impersonation was
facilitated for filming purposes by having the actor playing the IMF agent also cast as the person to be impersonated (this most
frequently occurred during Martin Landau's tenure on the series); in other cases, a guest-starring actor would provide either the
physical performance or overdubbed vocal performance to make Hand's, Paris' or Casey's impersonations perfect.
A few early episodes of the first season included a scene depicting the painstaking creation and application of these masks,
usually by disguise and makeup expert Rollin Hand. This was later omitted as the series progressed and the audience presumably
became familiar with the mechanics of the team's methods. In the 1980s revival, the mask-making process involved a digital camera
and computer and was mostly automatic. Most episodes included a dramatic "reveal" near the end in which the team member would
remove the mask.
Various technological methods were commonly used as well. The team would often re-route telephone or radio calls so these
could be answered by their own members. Faked radio or television broadcasts were common, as were elevators 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 had passed while the target
was in a coma or similar condition. In one episode the IMF even convinced their target (an aging mobster played by
William Shatner) that he had somehow traveled back in time.
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. Many plans simply caused the target to become
confused or erratic or irrational, lose self-assurance, lose trust in subordinates or partners, etc., so that either the target
would do what the team wanted (by falling back on predictable acts of desperation), or else the target's subordinates would
replace the target and then act according to the team's predictions.
These various ploys 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, staff, or rivals, 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 obtainable by
"conventional law-enforcement agencies." The team wasn't above falsifying evidence if authentic evidence couldn't be
obtained.
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.
Variations
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 his rescue. Other episodes featured Phelps on personal missions when he
returned to his home for a visit; on one occasion he was captured and the team had to rescue him, on another he involved the team
in an attempt to solve a series of murders among his childhood acquaintances. 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).
Conclusion
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.
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
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 actually 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.
Part of each episode's title sequence was unique, as it was composed of a number of
very short clips of key scenes from the subject episode. This was, and remains, very unusual for series television. The modern
series of Battlestar Galactica also uses this device. It created
some production difficulties as the title sequence for an episode could not be completed until after most of the principal
photography and editing was done. Most series' title sequences are composed once per season at most.
Mission: Impossible is still recognized for its innovative use of music. Composer Lalo
Schifrin wrote several distinctive pieces for the series. The visual cuts in the main title sequence were timed to the beats and measures of the theme
tune, while an animated burning fuse moved across the screen. 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.
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–1970s 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]
- See also: Mission: Impossible
(1988 TV series)
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 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 notably Lee Meriwether who appeared in six episodes as "Tracey"). The character of Casey was not given a first
name on screen until her appearance in an episode of the 1980s revival series, that name being Lisa.
Notable guest stars
-
Revival cast
Episodes
-
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:
- Mission: Impossible by John Tiger (1967)
- Code Name: Judas by Max Walker (1968)
- Code Name: Rapier by Walker (1968)
- Code Name: Little Ivan by Tiger (1969)
In addition, two hardback novels for young readers were published by Whitman Books, both by
Talmage Powell:
- The Priceless Particle (1969)
- The Money Explosion (1970)
Of the above, only the 1967 John Tiger novel featured the team as led by Dan Briggs; the rest all featured the Jim Phelps-era
IMF.
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 and the name of "Mr. Phelps" which is mentioned on the tape recording at the very
beginning of the game, it 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).
Home video
In North America, Mission: Impossible received limited VHS format release in the mid-1990s
through Columbia House, and 12 episodes were also released on Laserdisc. 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 TV library), with distribution by Paramount.
CBS/Paramount released the second season of the original series on DVD on June 5,
2007[1], and the third season will be released on November 20, 2007.[2]
It has also not yet been announced whether the 1980s revival will also see a DVD release.
Feature films
So far, the television series has also spawned four films, the latter three starring and produced by Tom Cruise:
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 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.[4]
Change to 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.
The opening theme music for the all three films are stylized renditions of Lalo Schifrin's original iconic theme, preserving
the 5:4 rhythm, by Danny Elfman, Hans Zimmer, and
Michael Giacchino respectively by the films' chronology. Most of the versions included
in the score also retained the 5:4 time signature.
However, for Adam Clayton & Larry Mullen
Jr.'s remix featured on the first film's motion picture soundtrack, the time signature was changed to standard pop 4:4 (4
beats to a measure) time to make it more dance-friendly. Also, the Limp Bizkit song
Take a Look Around from the soundtrack to the second film was set to a similar
4:4 modification of the theme, with an interlude in 5:4.
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.[5]
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 - Desilu Studios (see Desi Arnaz and
Lucille Ball), since absorbed into the CBS/Paramount Television family.
- 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).
- In the movie versions, the phrase "This mission, should you choose to accept it..." was used instead of the TV series' "Your
mission, should you decide to accept it...".
- The hand that holds the match that lights the fuse in the title sequence of the original series is Bruce Geller's hand. In
the 1980s revival, Peter Graves's face is shown, and it's his hand.
- Several goofs show up in the series, including one in a Soviet Bloc/Eastern European country with a clockface that reads
"Elwood Illinois", or an episode featuring a spy camera disguised as a flying saucer with
control strings visible.
Notes
- ^ The Mission: Impossible Dossier
- ^ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0559178/
- ^ http://www.if-legends.org/~aimemorial/secret.html
- ^ 'Mission: Impossible' TV stars disgruntled, CNN, May 29, 1996
- ^ http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14911726/
Bibliography
- Patrick J. White, The Complete Mission: Impossible Dossier. New York: Avon Books, 1991.
External links
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