Product Description
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The original, hit television classic and its explosive revival
are now available in one dynamite 56-disc Collector’s Edition
gift set which includes all 7 seasons from the original, Emmy®
and Golden Globe® winning series and the 2 seasons of its 1980’s
revival. Collectible set also includes a bonus disc of special
features! The inspired casts, fast-moving plots, neat gadgets,
pre-recorded tapes that self-destruct – all these elements made
this brilliant TV franchise one of television’s crowning
achievements. Don’t be left behind…be sure to accept this
MISSION…before it is too late!
.com
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Season One
With its combination of Cold War villains and James Bond-like
techno-gadgets, Mission: Impossible was an instant hit when it
premiered on September 17, 1966. Airing Saturday nights at 9:00
on CBS, the series was the brainchild of creator/producer Bruce
Geller, whose formula for seven successful seasons included a
well-chosen ensemble cast, noteworthy guest stars, and a flexible
premise that inspired clever plots twists and a constant variety
of "international" locations (mostly filmed on a studio backlot).
This seven-disc set includes all 28 episodes of season 1, the
only season to feature Steven Hill as Dan Briggs, leader of the
top-secret counterintelligence team known as Impossible Missions
Force (IMF). As the no-nonsense Briggs, Hill (better known for
his later role on Law & Order from 1990 to 2000) began each
episode by sneakily retrieving the dossier and recorded
instructions (voiced throughout the entire series by uncredited
actor Bob Johnson) for the IMF's latest assignment. "Your
mission, should you decide to accept it" and "this will
self-destruct in five seconds" quickly became pop-cultural
catch-phrases, as Briggs routinely selected his preferred
teammates based on their mastery of practical skills. With
"special appearance" billing for M:I's first three seasons,
Martin Landau played master-of-disguise Rollin Hand; his
off-screen wife, Barbara Bain, played top-model and undercover
seductress Cinnamon Carter; Greg Morris brought hip coolness (and
racial diversity) to his role as electronics expert Barney
Collier; and Peter Lupus played handsome hunk Willy Armitage,
adding IMF muscle to Briggs' brainy strategies.
As a Desilu production based at Para Studios, Mission:
Impossible shared guest stars, production personnel, locations,
and even occasional sets with the original Star Trek. Fans of
both shows will enjoy spotting these crossover details (including
George Takei's appearance in "The Carriers," a first-season
highlight), and this season's other stand-out episodes include
the "Pilot" (featuring Wally Cox as an ace safe-cracker),
"Operation Rogosh," "A Spool There Was," "Action!," "The Train,"
and "The Traitor." Whether they were toppling dictators, rescuing
doomed prisoners, foiling despots, or framing Mafia kingpins, the
IMF agents were consistently blessed with taut, well-written
plots, many unfolding with minimal dialogue and highly visual
schemes that demanded (and rewarded) the viewer's close
attention. Although Steven Hill eventually left the series (as an
Orthodox Jew, he preferred not to work on the Jewish Sabbath, as
M:I required), his single season set the stage for M:I's
long-term popularity, with Peter Graves (replacing Hill as "Jim
Phelps") leading the IMF from 1967 to 1973. And while Para
has again neglected to offer DVD extras with this set, the
episodes look and sound just about perfect, with a parade of
guest stars including Carol O'Connor, Simon Oakland, Fritz
Weaver, Nehemiah Persoff, Barbara Luna, Vic Tayback, and a host
of other '60s TV regulars. Your mission--and you shouldn't
hesitate to accept it--is to enjoy this classic series all over
again! --Jeff Shannon
Season Two
The classic Impossible Missions Force lineup made its debut in
Mission: Impossible's sopre season (1967-1968), which is
preserved in this essential set for classic TV fans. Gone was
Steven Hill as Dan Briggs, and in his place the supremely
confident and smooth Peter Graves as new team leader Jim Phelps,
whom most viewers identify with the series. Carrying out the
missions assigned from a pre-recorded voice on the
self-destroying tape recorder was magician and master of disguise
Rollin Hand (Martin Landau, who moved up from guest star to
regular cast member with this season), top model Cinnamon Carter
(Landau's real-life spouse Barbara Bain, who won three Emmys for
her work on the show), electronics genius Barney Collier (Greg
Morris), and all-purpose strong man Willie Armitage (body
builder-turned-actor Peter Lupus). Among the 25 adventures
carried out in this seven-disc set: "The Seal," in which the IMF
uses a trained cat to assist in the recovery from an important
statue from thief Darren McGavin; "The Town," with Phelps
discovering that Communists have overrun an entire hamlet; and
"The Slave," in which the team tangle with a Middle Eastern
slavery ring. Guest stars include Anthony Zerbe, Paul Winfield,
Fritz Weaver, and Sid Haig, but it's the team itself that shines
the brightest, especially Landau and Bain, who exude the breezy
charm of the series itself (though both would depart the show by
the following season). Sadly, the second season set includes no
extras. -- Paul Gaita
Season Three
Season 3, should you decide to accept it (and you definitely
should), was Mission's most accomplished. It garnered six Emmy
nominations, and an Emmy for Barbara Bain, her third consecutive
win, probably for "The Exchange," one of her finest hours, in
which, breaking series format, her character is captured and
psychologically tortured to discover for whom she works. As
always, the first five minutes of any Mission: Impossible episode
are the coolest: the lit fuse signaling Lalo Schifrin's indelible
theme song, the opening-credits montage teasing the action in the
upcoming episode, and Jim Phelps (Peter Graves), in some
nondescript location, receiving his covert mission (usually to
some nonexistent, but real-sounding country as Povia or Costa
Mateo), on that self-destructing tape. It always seemed a waste
of time for Phelps to go through the dossiers of possible
Impossible Missions Force agents for each mission (and he does
that less this season) as he invariably chose the same ones:
model beauty Cinnamon (Bain), master of disguise Rollin Hand
(Martin Landau), electricians expert Barney Collier (Greg
Morris), and strongman Willie Armitage (Peter Lupus).
Mission: Impossible didn't delve into the team members' private
lives: it was all about the mission, and together, the IMF foils
any number of domestic and international villains. Some missions
(foil a coup, rescue a dissident) have more at stake than others
(restore boxing's good name), but there's that great moment in
almost every episode when the team's target discovers that he or
she has been royally IMF'd. "Don't you see?" the warden of a
so-called escape-proof automated prison protests in "The Glass
Cage," "they thought of everything!" He's not kidding. Not even
"Q" on his best day would have come up with that faux briefcase
that secretly dispenses exact replicas of the prison's towels.
Mission: Impossible today does seem a little low-tech, especially
when compared to the special effects-laden feature films. And for
anyone who has seen Airplane, it may be difficult initially to
keep a straight face whenever Peter "Do you like gladiator
movies?" Graves is onscreen. But with its clever and complex
stories, impeccable ensemble, and fun-to-spot guest stars (that's
John "Dean Wormer" Vernon torturing Cinnamon in "The Exchange"),
Mission is impossible to resist. --Donald Liebenson
Season Four
Foil the invasion of a democratic country? No problem. Rescue
members of a royal family from their would-be usurper? Piece of
cake. Replace the irreplaceable Martin Landau and
thrice-Emmy-winner Barbara Bain, who departed Mission after its
third season? Now that’s impossible! But in this classic series’
fourth season, the veteran and rookie members of the Impossible
Mission Force still put on a good show. The most prominent new
addition to the IMF dossier is Leonard Nimoy as Paris, magician
and master of disguise. Lee "Catwoman" Meriwether appears in
several episodes as Tracey. Other guest stars make less of an
impression; Alexandra Hay makes her only appearance on the show
in the season opener as Lynn, who, in the course of an elaborate
plot to shatter an alliance between two would-be dictators is
caught, strip-searched, and thrown into prison (she disappears
mid-episode and is never seen again; viewers never do get to see
her sprung). An unintentionally hilarious moment that would have
made Mad magazine proud comes in the three-parter, "The Falcon,"
in which IMF leader Jim Phelps’ (Peter Graves) dossier of agents
at his disposal includes the eponymous trained animal! Lending
Mission: Impossible its international intrigue are the villains
from such exotic sounding countries as Nueva Tierra. Great
character actors, including John "Dean Wormer" Vernon, Harold
Gould and Pernell Roberts portray accented bad guys to the hilt.
Each bafflingly complex mission unfolds precisely to plan.
Everything must go like clockwork, and usually does, even a lame
bit in "The Falcon" in which strongman Willy (Peter Lupus)
disguised as a peasant, delays a priest from a coronation by
transporting him via horse-driven cart in a roundabout route.
Like the previous season’s "The Exchange," one mission hits
closer to home. In "Death Squad" electronics expert Barney (Greg
Morris) is arrested by a brutal and corrupt chief who also
happens to be the brother of the man who was killed while
attacking Barney’s girlfriend (Cicely Tyson, by the way).
Mission: Impossible has yet to self-destruct, but this season
doesn’t exactly deliver on Paris’s promise to his audience to
deliver "excitement you haven’t seen before." We have seen this
before, but watching the IMF in episode after episode pull off
the impossible is still smart and suspenseful fun. --Donald
Liebenson
