Mission: Impossible

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Mission: Impossible
Original series logo
Genre	Espionage
Running time	approx. 0:52 (per episode)
Creator(s)	Bruce Geller
Starring	Peter Graves (with various other cast, changing over seasons; see below)
Country of origin	United States
Original channel	CBS
Original run	September 1966–March 1973
No. of episodes	171

This article is about the American television series which aired from 1966 to 1973, as well as the revival series that aired during the late 1980s.

For the movies of the same name, see Mission: Impossible (film).

For the games based on the franchise, see Mission: Impossible (video game).

Mission: Impossible was an American television series which aired on the CBS network from September 1966 to September 1973. It returned to television for two seasons on ABC, from 1988 to 1990.

The theme song, composed by Lalo Schifrin, is very well known, not only by television and movie buffs but throughout pop culture.

Contents 1 Series overview 2 Awards 3 Inspirations and Innovations 4 Revivals 5 Series cast 5.1 Notable guest stars 5.2 Revival cast 6 Mission briefing 7 Original novels 8 Related items 9 Home video 10 Feature films 11 Notes 12 External links

[edit] Series overview

The series was written, created, and produced by Bruce Geller. It featured stories about the Impossible Mission Force (IMF), a team of secret agents employed by the United States government. The team is sent on covert missions to fight dictators, evil organizations, and crime lords.

Although a Cold War element was present throughout the series, the actual "Cold War" between the United States and the Soviet Union was not 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 Baltic countries; major named enemy countries included the "European People's Republic" and the "Eastern European Republic". Additionally, fictitious, Slavic-seeming languages were used; police vehicles were often labelled as such with words such as "polǐiçia", and "pőĮįia", and a gas line would be labelled "Gaz." (This "language" was referred to by the production team as "Gellerese.") 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.

It followed the adventures of Dan Briggs (Season 1) and Jim Phelps (Seasons 2-7) and the team of agents they led on various missions. Most episodes of the series began with the team leader receiving a secret, pre-recorded message describing his mission. Although the most common method of delivering these messages was via reel-to-reel tapes played on small recorders, other methods were also used including 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, secret place. The message would usually close with the famous "this tape will self-destruct in ten seconds", and then the tape would disappear in a cloud of smoke, in order to leave no evidence of the mission. In a few cases the team leader was asked to destroy the tape/LP record/other conveyance himself in "the usual manner".

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

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.

In the first few seasons, Briggs or Phelps would then choose his teammates for the mission from a group of candidates' photographs and bios. In addition to the regular cast members, the early episodes frequently included guest stars playing other IMF agents. However, these scenes were eventually dropped after the show trimmed down the casting of each episode, and it became apparent that Phelps kept on picking the same people.

The team would then be shown convening for their final briefing, in a room generally assumed to be 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.

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, or aftermath of a major disaster.

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. 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."

In one episode of the original series, one mistake caused Cinnamon Carter (Barbara Bain) to be exposed and captured by the villains, and Jim Phelps prepared a plan to rescue her. Another episode had Willie 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 most episodes, the missions worked with some or little difficulty.

[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 Rogesh"), 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.

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 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. Most episodes included fairly long dialog-free sequences showing the team members—particularly electronics expert Barney Collier—making technical preparations for the mission, 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 "it worked very well but never got in the way or called attention to itself." Mission: Impossible was largely responsible for changing that.

The original version of Mission: Impossible is the longest-running espionage television series ever produced for U.S. television (If the Fox series 24 continues to air at its current pace, it will surpass Mission: Impossible in early 2009, with episode 4 of its eighth season).

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 negatively affected 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.

The new series was not a hit, but it was produced cheaply enough to keep it on the ABC schedule where it could be thrown against the popular Cosby Show as a sacrificial lamb. The new M:I ultimately lasted for two years; the writers' strike was resolved quickly enough that only a few episodes were actual remakes. Many believe the new series was one of the better remakes, for most part staying true to the original ideas of the series (in stark contrast to the Tom Cruise movies) and being a continuation as much as it was a remake.

The formula 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. 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.

[edit] Series cast

In alphabetical order:

• Barbara Anderson as Mimi Davis (Season 7)
• Barbara Bain as Cinnamon Carter (Seasons 1–3)
• Sam Elliott as Dr. Doug Robert a.k.a. Lang (Season 5)
• Lynda Day George as Casey (Seasons 6–7)
• Peter Graves as Team Leader Jim Phelps (Seasons 2–7)
• Steven Hill as Team Leader Dan Briggs (Season 1)
• Bob Johnson as the Voice on Tape (uncredited, voice only)
• Martin Landau as Rollin Hand (Seasons 1–3)
• Peter Lupus as Willy Armitage (all seasons)
• Greg Morris as Barney Collier (all seasons)
• Leonard Nimoy as the Amazing Paris (Seasons 4–5)
• Lesley Ann Warren as Dana Lambert (Season 5)

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.

[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)
• 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)
• 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)
• 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 Man in Car (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)
• 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 (1988–1989 season)
• Jane Badler as Shannon Reed (1989–1990 season)
• Bob Johnson as Voice on Disc (voice only)

[edit] Mission briefing

The mission briefing heard at the start of almost every episode would usually begin with "Good morning/afternoon, Mr. Phelps" (or "Mr. Briggs" in the first season), followed by a brief description of the situation. (By the 1988 revival, the briefer was on a first-name basis with Phelps, opening his recordings with "Good morning, Jim.") The message usually ended with, "Your mission, should you decide to accept it..." followed by the mission goal(s) described as briefly as possible. The recording then ends with: "As always, should you or any of your I. M. Force be caught or killed, the Secretary will disavow any knowledge of your actions." Depending upon the method of message delivery (phonograph record, compact disc, filmstrip projector, trick telescope, etc.), the voice would generally advise that the recording was about to self destruct, usually within five or ten seconds. (In some cases, Briggs or Phelps was simply advised to dispose of the recording in the "usual manner.")

In the first season episode entitled "Action", Cinnamon Carter (Barbara Bain) receives the recorded briefing, as the episode was filming during a period when Steven Hill was in the process of having his appearances as Briggs scaled back in preparation for his departure from the series at the end of the first year.

It took about a year for the series to firmly establish the briefing format, as during the first season Briggs was shown on occasion using non-recorded methods to receive his instructions. By the show's second series, the use of a self-destructing tape recorder had become the most commonly used (and best known) method of providing the briefings. In the 1980s revival, this was replaced by a miniature compact disc.

These briefings were read by voice actor Bob Johnson in the original series and the 1988 revival, but the identity of the character was never revealed, nor was his face ever shown. 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 (who did not appear in the credits). 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.

[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)

[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.

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.[1] 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). Although it is presumed the remaining six seasons will be released to DVD in due course, it has not yet been announced whether the 1980s revival will also be released.

[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)

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 close 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).

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. ^[1]

[edit] Notes

1. ^ http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14911726/

[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