Mission: Impossible

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!

I have fond memories as a child of desperately awaited another re-run on Mission: Impossible to fill my Summer days. While a few episodes were little on the long-winded side, most of them were cleverly constructed mysteries. The actors always had to come up with new accents, characters, and mannerisms for each of their undercover roles, which added immense variety to the show. If the US can lay claim to something "James Bondian" it is indeed M:I. Lots of creative ideas and technique found their way into this show and I hope the entire series sees DVD release. However, I'm not some fanboy who can't stand change. I personally felt the movie was nowhere near as bad as the majority of reviews did. The plot kinda mirrored the complexity of the TV show, although making Jim Phelps a villain was a strange twist. Regardless, the TV series was a magnificent combination of good writing and excellent actors. You'll never see anything like this again witht he current state of network TV "pretty boy" pap. The attempt at ressurecting the series in the 80's was a bad idea, though. The new cast and "MacGuyver" style plots showed how the concept just didn't hold up to writers trying to spin it into modern times to furiously.

I grew up watching this series and enjoyed it throughout its run. It was, of course, completely outrageous, but that was what made it fun. In the first years of the show, the MI team concentrated on espionage in foreign countries; later, they turned to the USA.

Although I loved Peter Graves in the show, I think Steven Hill brought an air of mystery to his character. I'll always have a soft spot in my heart for the original cast of Hill, Landau, Bain, Morris, and Lupus. Bain was ahead of her time, an older woman playing a glamor girl. Lupus, whom I had the pleasure of meeting and interviewing a few years ago, played a character of few words - in fact, people used to have contests counting his lines. He was quoted as saying if he ended up in one more tight space with Greg Morris, he was going to wind up engaged! This was a show where the cast changes seemed to work pretty well, Graves, Leonard Nimoy, and Linda Day George especially.

I have so many favorite episodes. One was Cinnamon's involvement with Eric Braedon in the days when he was Hans Gundegast, the psychic one about the bees, the William Shatner back in time episode, the episode with Robert Conrad - there were so many. Later on in the show, the missions would go wrong and Graves or one of the others would have to improvise - that was great.

As far as I'm concerned, the movies had nothing to do with this show. Very disappointing what they did with the Jim Phelps character. He was furious, and I don't blame him. Some things are sacred!

Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to forget what Tom Cruise and John Woo made of MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE with their movies and watch this intelligent and entertaining TV series instead. It's (even after more than 30 years) the best show of its kind. The stories are complex, very exciting and the music score... Well, who doesn't love that wonderful theme written by Lalo Schifrin. This tape will self-destruct in five seconds. Good luck, Jim!

Classic televison, which was inspired by Jules Dassin's spoof of his own French masterpiece, Rififi, from the mid 1960s. One of its best elements were the famous guest stars that appeared in the show, which added more interest to the already interesting storylines. Unlike the film adaptations, Mission:Impossible(1966) is an excellent crafted tv show that was ahead of its time in some areas of special effects. My favorite actors from the show were Leonard Nimoy, Martin Landau, and Peter Graves.