Forget the makeup and flashy stagecraft deployed by the members of the Impossible Missions Force in their quest to bring justice to merciless dictators in South America and iron-fisted rulers behind the Iron Curtain. What's really impressive is that no matter what country they infiltrate,they speak the native language flawlessly..that would be English of course,with a dusting of a Latin or Balkan accent even to scoop down to the level of their enemies to save the world. Impossible indeed. Such suspension of credibility is necessary to appreciate by any means one of the most interesting and outrageously clever shows ever to grace the mid-1960's and would continue that streak toward the early 1970's...."Mission:Impossible"....which aired for seven seasons on CBS-TV from September 17,1966-March 30,1973,and produced an astounding 171 episodes all shown in brilliant color under the head creator and executive producer of this series Bruce Geller under the supervision of Herb Solow and the head of Desilu/Paramount Lucille Ball.
Credit Lalo Schifrin's unforgettable,pulsating theme(one of the all time great television themes)with turbocharging each episode. And its a kick to see what cold war anxieties the show's writers exploited in a TV era that was fraught with espionage series("The Man From U.N.C.L.E., "I Spy","Secret Agent","The Saint","The Avengers","The Wild,Wild West", "It Takes A Thief"). "Mission:Impossible" was a show that went beyond the norm of the espionage thriller and basically took it to heights never before witness,and it shows in some of the episodes. The I.M.F. encounters villains armed with nuclear warheads,plague and vials of deadly bacteria capable of contaminating a city's water supply-fears that sound depressingly plausible today but at the time this show premiered in 1966,it was something that really kept viewers on edge to see what would happen next. Not only Tom Cruise saw the movie potential in the series,but also Kiefer Sutherland who saw the potential in the series for the basics of his own espionage show "24"(which in fact dethrone the show's 171 episodes which held the record as the longest- running espionage series in television history for 35 years until 2010 when "24" surpassed it with 195 episodes).
Unlike James Bond,who got his marching orders face to face from the curt but indulgent M,Dan Briggs,the I.M.F's chief,travels to the oddest places-a liquor store,a drive-in movie,and amusement arcade-to discover the mission(should he decide to accept it). Wherever the venue,there was always a tape warning Briggs that should he or any of the I.M.F. "be caught or killed,the secretary will disavow any knowledge of your actions"-the same tape that self destructs after its finished. The missions,if accepted,were carefully executed to the sharpest norm and split second timing to take care of any situation that comes up and to save the world from any and all that would commit to sabotage. During the show's first season the role of Briggs was played with sly intelligence by Steven Hill(the estimable actor who later portrayed District Attorney Adam Schiff on "Law and Order"),Briggs of course,accepts all assignments. Briggs's ensemble includes Martin Landau as Rollin Hand,an actor and master of disguise(a man of million faces);Barbara Bain(who was then married to Mr. Landau)as the sultry model Cinnamon Carter;Greg Morris as Barney Collier,whose electronic wizardry powers much of the I.M.F.'s chicanery;and Peter Lupus as Willy Armitage,the thinking person's muscleman. Other cast members that came onboard the IMF force later on during the series were Leonard Nimoy, Barbara Anderson,Lesley Anne-Warren,Sam Elliott and in the last two seasons of the series Lynda Day-George.
As far as the actors are concerned,only actors Greg Morris and Peter Lupus remained throughout the series during the show's entire seven-year run. However,actor Steven Hill(who appeared in 28 episodes of Season One only of 1966-1967),left at the end of season one,and was replaced by Peter Graves as Jim Phelps(the new chief of command)who led the I.M.F. from Seasons 2 thru 7 appearing in 143 episodes from 1967- 1973. More interesting at the end of the show's third season actors Martin Landau and Barbara Bain left the series and were replaced by Leonard Nimoy during the fourth season. Nimoy appeared in 49 episodes from Seasons 4 thru 6 from 1969-1971. Nimoy left at the end of season 6 and was replaced by Sam Elliott(season 5 for 13 episodes),Lesley Anne- Warren(Season 5 for 13 episodes),Lynda-Day George(in the final 2 seasons of the series for 44 episodes),and Barbara Anderson for seven episodes of Season 6. "Mission:Impossible" was nominated for an impressive 15 Prime-Time Emmys winning seven Prime-Time Emmys during its run for Best Dramatic Series, Best Actress in a Dramatic Series, Best Actor in a Dramatic Series, Best Outstanding Achievement in Writing,and was nominated for Best Supporting Actor/Actress in a Dramatic Series. Nominated for five Golden Globes winning three Golden Globes for Best Television Series,Best Supporting Actor in a Television Series,and Best Actor in a Television Series wins for actors Peter Graves and Martin Landau. In 1967 it won the Edgar Award for Best Episode in a Television Series.
Big time writers for some of the great episodes came from the show's creator Bruce Geller along with Allan Balter,Laurence Heath,to William Read-Woodfield,Paul Playdon, Kenneth Pettus, Stephen Kandel, Jackson Gillis, Chester Krumholz, Arthur Weiss, Edward J. Lakso, Norman Katkov and top-notch direction from Tom Gries, Barry Crane, Paul Krasny, Alexander Singer, Murray Golden, Marc Daniels, Alf Kjellin, Robert Totten, Joesph Pevney, Leslie H. Martinson to Sutton Roley, Lee H. Katzin, Virgil W. Vogel, Leonard Horn and Sutton Roley with top-notch guest stars each week ranging from Ricardo Montalban, Cicely Tyson, William Marshall, Fritz Weaver, Anthony Zerbe, Pernell Roberts, Lee Meriwether,Edward Asner, Joan Collins, William Windom, Robert Conrad, Ed Nelson, James Daly, Nehemiah Persoff, Lloyd Bridges, Joesph Campanella, Eartha Kitt, Malachi Throne, Wally Cox, Bradford Dillman, and William Shatner, George Takei,and Carroll O'Connor just to name a few whose performances were convincing and outstanding during the show's seven season run on CBS.
*Original commentary written on September 13, 2007 but was revised on September 17,2016 to commemorate the series' golden 50th anniversary.
Credit Lalo Schifrin's unforgettable,pulsating theme(one of the all time great television themes)with turbocharging each episode. And its a kick to see what cold war anxieties the show's writers exploited in a TV era that was fraught with espionage series("The Man From U.N.C.L.E., "I Spy","Secret Agent","The Saint","The Avengers","The Wild,Wild West", "It Takes A Thief"). "Mission:Impossible" was a show that went beyond the norm of the espionage thriller and basically took it to heights never before witness,and it shows in some of the episodes. The I.M.F. encounters villains armed with nuclear warheads,plague and vials of deadly bacteria capable of contaminating a city's water supply-fears that sound depressingly plausible today but at the time this show premiered in 1966,it was something that really kept viewers on edge to see what would happen next. Not only Tom Cruise saw the movie potential in the series,but also Kiefer Sutherland who saw the potential in the series for the basics of his own espionage show "24"(which in fact dethrone the show's 171 episodes which held the record as the longest- running espionage series in television history for 35 years until 2010 when "24" surpassed it with 195 episodes).
Unlike James Bond,who got his marching orders face to face from the curt but indulgent M,Dan Briggs,the I.M.F's chief,travels to the oddest places-a liquor store,a drive-in movie,and amusement arcade-to discover the mission(should he decide to accept it). Wherever the venue,there was always a tape warning Briggs that should he or any of the I.M.F. "be caught or killed,the secretary will disavow any knowledge of your actions"-the same tape that self destructs after its finished. The missions,if accepted,were carefully executed to the sharpest norm and split second timing to take care of any situation that comes up and to save the world from any and all that would commit to sabotage. During the show's first season the role of Briggs was played with sly intelligence by Steven Hill(the estimable actor who later portrayed District Attorney Adam Schiff on "Law and Order"),Briggs of course,accepts all assignments. Briggs's ensemble includes Martin Landau as Rollin Hand,an actor and master of disguise(a man of million faces);Barbara Bain(who was then married to Mr. Landau)as the sultry model Cinnamon Carter;Greg Morris as Barney Collier,whose electronic wizardry powers much of the I.M.F.'s chicanery;and Peter Lupus as Willy Armitage,the thinking person's muscleman. Other cast members that came onboard the IMF force later on during the series were Leonard Nimoy, Barbara Anderson,Lesley Anne-Warren,Sam Elliott and in the last two seasons of the series Lynda Day-George.
As far as the actors are concerned,only actors Greg Morris and Peter Lupus remained throughout the series during the show's entire seven-year run. However,actor Steven Hill(who appeared in 28 episodes of Season One only of 1966-1967),left at the end of season one,and was replaced by Peter Graves as Jim Phelps(the new chief of command)who led the I.M.F. from Seasons 2 thru 7 appearing in 143 episodes from 1967- 1973. More interesting at the end of the show's third season actors Martin Landau and Barbara Bain left the series and were replaced by Leonard Nimoy during the fourth season. Nimoy appeared in 49 episodes from Seasons 4 thru 6 from 1969-1971. Nimoy left at the end of season 6 and was replaced by Sam Elliott(season 5 for 13 episodes),Lesley Anne- Warren(Season 5 for 13 episodes),Lynda-Day George(in the final 2 seasons of the series for 44 episodes),and Barbara Anderson for seven episodes of Season 6. "Mission:Impossible" was nominated for an impressive 15 Prime-Time Emmys winning seven Prime-Time Emmys during its run for Best Dramatic Series, Best Actress in a Dramatic Series, Best Actor in a Dramatic Series, Best Outstanding Achievement in Writing,and was nominated for Best Supporting Actor/Actress in a Dramatic Series. Nominated for five Golden Globes winning three Golden Globes for Best Television Series,Best Supporting Actor in a Television Series,and Best Actor in a Television Series wins for actors Peter Graves and Martin Landau. In 1967 it won the Edgar Award for Best Episode in a Television Series.
Big time writers for some of the great episodes came from the show's creator Bruce Geller along with Allan Balter,Laurence Heath,to William Read-Woodfield,Paul Playdon, Kenneth Pettus, Stephen Kandel, Jackson Gillis, Chester Krumholz, Arthur Weiss, Edward J. Lakso, Norman Katkov and top-notch direction from Tom Gries, Barry Crane, Paul Krasny, Alexander Singer, Murray Golden, Marc Daniels, Alf Kjellin, Robert Totten, Joesph Pevney, Leslie H. Martinson to Sutton Roley, Lee H. Katzin, Virgil W. Vogel, Leonard Horn and Sutton Roley with top-notch guest stars each week ranging from Ricardo Montalban, Cicely Tyson, William Marshall, Fritz Weaver, Anthony Zerbe, Pernell Roberts, Lee Meriwether,Edward Asner, Joan Collins, William Windom, Robert Conrad, Ed Nelson, James Daly, Nehemiah Persoff, Lloyd Bridges, Joesph Campanella, Eartha Kitt, Malachi Throne, Wally Cox, Bradford Dillman, and William Shatner, George Takei,and Carroll O'Connor just to name a few whose performances were convincing and outstanding during the show's seven season run on CBS.
*Original commentary written on September 13, 2007 but was revised on September 17,2016 to commemorate the series' golden 50th anniversary.