Back in the ‘90s and early ‘00s, Hollywood was on a rush to remake popular ‘60s television shows into blockbuster movies. Maybe the success of Star Trek: The Motion Picture and its successors gave the studios false hope? Most other TV-based movies bombed—aside from the Tom Cruise-headed “Mission Impossible” franchise that still hasn’t run out of paying customers. Another impossible Ethan Hunt adventure is waiting for release.
For fans of the movie series who want to go deep into its origins, or boomers nostalgic for ‘60s network television, the holidays bring a box set too big for a stocking stuffer, “Mission: Impossible—The Original TV Series.” And so, for the first time, M:I 1.0 is available on Blu-ray—46 discs worth for a binge that could occupy weeks.
One of the most memorable aspects of the show was the tape recording that introduced each episode—you know, the one that “will self-destruct in five seconds” after one play leaving no paper trail. Like the cast, the mini reel-to-reel gag solidified only on season two. In episode one, season one (1966), the mission instructions were found on side one, final track of a vinyl LP. In episode two, they were conveyed on a calling card that disintegrated upon touch. Oh, that familiar poker face of Peter Graves, playing the head of the Impossible Mission Force, was also introduced in season two. Initially, the force’s head was played by Steven Hill, familiar in recent times for his long-running part in “Law and Order.”
Until its cancellation in 1973, IMF hopscotched across the globe (mostly Southern California sets), foiling rogue countries, corrupt foreign officials and transnational criminals (including heroin traffickers). Guest stars signed onto the Force for single episodes, giving the show a continual round of fresh faces, but consistency was maintained by core cast members Barbara Bain as Cinnamon Carter, a small-screen Bond Girl whose mission was often to distract male villains; Greg Morris as electronics expert Barney Collier, a black agent on the heels of Bill Cosby’s “I Spy”; and Martin Landau, whose Rollin Hand man-of-many faces role is interesting in the context of a film career that spanned from Alfred Hitchcock to Tim Burton.
Perhaps the most outstanding feature of “Mission: Impossible” was its music. The tense theme that promised intrigue as it guided the plotlines along their thin rails was composed by the great Lalo Schifrin, author of music for Bullitt, Magnum Force and some 70 other films.
