Mission: Impossible (1966–1973)

An elite covert operations unit carries out highly sensitive missions subject to official denial in the event of failure, death or capture.

Stars:

Greg Morris, Peter Lupus, Peter Graves

Won 3 Golden Globes. Another 14 wins & 37 nominations.

Cast

Complete series cast summary:
Greg Morris	...	Barney Collier (171 episodes, 1966-1973)
Peter Lupus	...	Willy Armitage (159 episodes, 1966-1973)
Peter Graves	...	James Phelps (143 episodes, 1967-1973)
Barbara Bain	...	Cinnamon Carter (78 episodes, 1966-1969)
Martin Landau	...	Rollin Hand (76 episodes, 1966-1969)

Storyline

Jim Phelps is the head of a super-secret government agency ("Impossible Missions"), and is often given secret anonymous covert missions to attempt; quite often they are unmasking of criminals or the rescuing of hostages. He picks his team depending on which tasks need to be done. One thing is vital on an Impossible Mission: the mission must be carried out in entire secrecy, often relying on high-tech equipment and elaborate deceptions.

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Plot Keywords:

mission | deception | gadget | tape recorder | famous opening theme | 

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Taglines:

Failure impossible.

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Crime | Drama | Thriller

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

17 September 1966 (USA)

Also Known As:

Misión imposible

Filming Locations:

Desilu Studios - 9336 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Desilu Productions, Paramount Television

Technical Specs

Runtime:

50 min 50 min (168 episodes)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

4:3

Did You Know?

Trivia

Lalo Schifrin's score - played in a highly uncommon 5/4 time signature earlier popularized by Dave Brubeck's "Take Five" (1959) - went on to achieve the dubious distinction of most parodied theme music closely paralleled by the Twilight Zone's eerie leitmotif trill.

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Goofs

In numerous episodes one of the characters will unscrew an electrical outlet, then reach in and pull it out of the wall by grasping the sides of the outlet. This would put their fingers in direct contact with the wiring resulting in, at the very least, a severe shock.

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Quotes

Voice on Tape: Good morning Mister Briggs.

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Crazy Credits

Episode titles were not shown on-screen. Although this became commonplace with dramatic series in the late 1980s, it was unusual in the 1960s for a one-hour action series to not have episode titles.

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Connections

Referenced in Soldier's Girl (2003)

User Reviews

There'll never be another show like that!

I fondly remember back in the late sixties and early seventies anxiously awaiting and then enjoying each episode of "Mission: Impossible", from the opening montage to the final credits. As far as I know, no other show has (before or since) come up with anything as clever as the opening montage, where certain clips from that week's episode were shown as the theme song played, before the showing of the pictures of the stars of the show. It was always fun for me to try to pick out the scenes as the show progressed (they always looked more dramatic in the montage than they did in the actual episode). The shows were always well written and the cast did an excellent job of portraying a crew that were all good at their jobs and that even enjoyed their jobs, dangerous though they were.

And the music! Lalo Schifrin's music was excellent!