Mission: Impossible (1988–1990)

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

Creator:

Bruce Geller

Stars:

Peter Graves, Thaao Penghlis, Antony Hamilton

Nominated for 2 Primetime Emmys.

Cast

Complete series cast summary:
Peter Graves	...	Jim Phelps (35 episodes, 1988-1990)
Thaao Penghlis	...	Nicholas Black (35 episodes, 1988-1990)
Antony Hamilton	...	Max Harte (35 episodes, 1988-1990)
Phil Morris	...	Grant Collier (35 episodes, 1988-1990)
Bob Johnson	...	Voice on Disc (27 episodes, 1988-1990)
Jane Badler	...	Shannon Reed (24 episodes, 1989-1990)
Terry Markwell	...	Casey Randall (12 episodes, 1988-1989)

Storyline

Jim Phelps is the head of a super-secret government agency ("Impossible Mission Force"), and is often given secret anonymous covert missions to attempt; quite often they are unmasking of criminals or 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. An update of the classic 1966 series, featuring a great deal of high-tech gadgetry.

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Plot Keywords:

team | espionage | death | 1990s | travel | 

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Taglines:

Your Mission, Should You Decide To Accept It....

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Crime | Drama | Thriller

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

23 October 1988 (USA)

Also Known As:

Farligt uppdrag

Filming Locations:

Village Roadshow Studios, Oxenford, Queensland, Australia

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

47 min 47 min (35 episodes)

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Peter Graves, Greg Morris and Lynda Day George all reprised their roles from the original series.

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Quotes

Voice on Disc: [Line repeated near the beginning of each episode in the series as Jim Phelps listens to the tape/disc containing his instructions and setting up the episode storyline] Your mission, Jim, should you decide to accept it...

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Connections

Remake of Mission: Impossible (1966)

User Reviews

A pleasurable, if dated, update

When this series originally aired, I remember watching it with my father. I remember being enthralled by the gadgets.

Now that the series is available on DVD, in two sets, it was a pleasure to watch through the whole thing.

As an adult, I'm much more able to see the weaknesses the show had, but I also can appreciate some of the more responsible approaches that the show had, especially in the sense of being a largely peaceful team.

The budget isn't great. Some sequences appear to have been shot on video. Several episodes use stock footage, especially later ones.

The cast is remarkably attractive.

The area where the show falters is later in the first season, and during much of the second. The writing got lazy. The plots got more linear, more predictable. And in some cases, the gimmick for the episode got in the way of making a decent plot.

Another thing that gradually got on my nerves was the laziness in writing the opening scenes, when Phelps retrieves the mission. In many of these, he winds up retrieving the disc, and watching it, in a place much more public than usual. In one of them, he watches it on an amusement park ride, and we see people walking around in the background. Hardly a secure location.

I've been watching episodes from the original series, and while the writing was more careful, and better plotted, the biggest improvement that the 88 Mission Impossible had was the pacing. The episodes felt like they moved along very quickly.

This series is entirely worth watching. But, especially with the reliance on stock footage, the show looks far more dated than it should.