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Mission: Impossible (TV series): Difference between revisions
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Martin Landau played Rollin Hand, a [[Master of Disguise]], sleight-of-hand, card sharping and many other skills, as a guest star in the pilot, but was so popular with audiences that he became the [[Ensemble Darkhorse]] and was called back for virtually every subsequent episode, always billed as a "[[And Starring|special guest star]]." He was made a series regular in season two.
When Hill became increasingly difficult to work with<ref>As one of the few Orthodox Jewish actors in Hollywood, Hill was unwilling to abide by the show's production schedule, as it stipulated that he work on the Sabbath and after sundown of Friday when he was committed to being in prayer. (Source: ''The Complete Mission: Impossible Dossier'' by Patrick White.)</ref>, he was gradually written out of the series; when he was replaced by Peter Graves as Jim Phelps in season two, the classic cast was set. Other cast changes followed; with Landau and Bain leaving at the end of season three, Landau replaced by [[Leonard Nimoy]], fresh from the recently cancelled ''[[Star Trek:
''[[Mission Impossible (TV series)|Mission Impossible]]'' was a thinking man's espionage program. Gunplay was kept to a minimum (with a few notable [[Early Installment Weirdness|early-series exceptions]] when the series was still finding its rhythm), and the focus was always on outwitting and outmaneuvering the foe, who usually didn't know he was being targeted at all. The IMF were never dispatched for ''ordinary'' tasks that a simple [[James Bond]] type could handle with a couple of explosions and a chase scene - they were called upon to accomplish their goals by outplanning and outthinking their opposition, often by playing mind games with them on such a scale that more than one may have been driven into madness. After the first season IMF operatives rarely killed anybody directly, but their targets didn't always survive as a favored outcome was usually the target being killed by his own organization.
All but invented [[Latex Perfection]] and the [[Master of Disguise]], and originated many of its own unique tropes, not the least of which is its most famous and most parodied elements, "[[This Page Will Self-Destruct|this tape will self-destruct in five seconds]]" and "if you or any member of your IM force are caught or killed, the Secretary will disavow all knowledge of your actions." Interestingly, early seasons only used the self-destructing tape on occasion, with other methods such as melting vinyl records and hidden recordings being used more frequently. A growing number of episodes as the series went on omitted the tape scenes altogether, sometimes featuring missions joined in progress, or "[[A Very Special Episode|personal missions]]" where an IMF member goes off-book.
The show's distinctive use of what creator Bruce Geller called "a team of specialists" to carry out a complex plan inspired numerous imitators, most notably ''[[
There was a two-season Next Generation-style continuation of the original series filmed in Australia in the [[The Eighties|1980s]]; Peter Graves returned as Jim Phelps, mentoring an all-new team (including Barney Collier's son); originally conceived as a straight-out remake in order to fill a hole in ABC's schedule created by a Hollywood writer's strike, the series ended up being a continuation of the original. An NES game was also developed. But a more successful revival occurred with a ''[[Mission Impossible (
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* [[Applied Phlebotinum]]
* [[Argentina Is Naziland]]: In "The Legend", Briggs and Cinammon impersonate a former Nazi and his daughter who are invited to attend a reunion of aged Nazi leaders at the South American home of Nazi fugitive Martin Bormann, who is planning the creation of the Fourth Reich.
* [[As Long
** In some European countries [[Reality Is Unrealistic|there really are]] utility covers that say "Gaz", a frequent example of "Gellerese".
* [[Avengers Assemble]]: The apartment scene.
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* [[Crazy Prepared]]: The IMF team had a plan, a backup plan, a backup plan for the backup plan, and sometimes one more backup plan for good measure. Even when a mission went wrong, it went right.
* [[The Danza]]: Subverted. Bruce Geller wrote Martin Landau's part with the actor in mind, going so far as to name the character "Martin Land" in the pilot script. Landau said he was honored, but requested the name be changed, which it was to "Rollin Hand".
* [[Dead Guy
* [[Defictionalization]]: According to the book ''The Complete Mission: Impossible Dossier'' the government contacted the producers to find out how they created a tiny hovercraft-like device that was (in show) controlled by remote control and sent down a shaft, somehow missing the somewhat obvious strings that were actually controlling the gizmo.
** The self-destructing CDs seen in the 1980s revival series appear to act like DVDs - even though DVDs weren't introduced until the 1990s.
** In the episode "Robot" Leonard Nimoy plays his part under heavy make-up. This allows Paris to rip off his face mask in one take instead of the standard 'mask actor starts to take off face, cutaway to something else, cut back to IMF agent removing last bits of latex' routine.
*** At least in the first season, Martin Landau often played (with similar amounts of make-up) the people Rollin Hand was called on to impersonate.
* [[Directed
* [[Edited for Syndication|Edited For F/X]]: When US cable channel F/X ran the series, bits with Briggs/Phelps giving [[Spy Speak|counter-statements]] to agents in order to gain access to the recordings were removed, with the Tape Scenes beginning with Briggs or Phelps turning on the devices to hear the assignment. Other than that, episodes were presented edit free.
* [[Engineered Public Confession]]
* [[Enhance Button]]: Done '''without''' a computer, amazingly enough. In "The Bank", Barney is playing back a video recording of a bank vault on a black-and-white cathode ray screen. With the tape paused at a critical juncture, Jim Phelps uses a ''pocket telescope'' to zoom in on the CRT(!) and read the number of a safe-deposit box.
** The 1988 update introduced an IMF device that could recover erased images from a VCR tape, which is a bit more realistic.
* [[Exactly What It Says
** Arguably What It Doesn't Say On The Tin, since episode titles weren't shown on screen. While not unheard of for a 1960s-70s-era series, it was somewhat unusual for a program of this nature not to display episode titles on screen.
* [[Fake Defector]]
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* [[I Never Said It Was Poison]]: "Elena".
* [[It's Personal]]: A handful of episodes have Briggs or Phelps plotting a plan to right a wrong affecting someone close to them instead of a mission given to them by the Secretary. In one episode Phelps is kidnapped and the team members are blackmailed into helping his kidnapper commit a crime. Arguably the most "personal" of these comes in the '80s version, when {{spoiler|Casey, the new version's initial [[Femme Fatale]], becomes the ''only'' regular in either version to be killed off. Note: not to be confused with Lynda Day George's Casey character from the original series.}} The "it's personal" aspect of the storylines is usually emphasized by there being no tape scene shown.
** The '80s revival series notably ''opened'' with a personal mission - Jim's is forced out of retirement when [[Remember the New Guy?|his protegé]] is murdered, but getting to the killer and his employee is still an official IMF mission... at least as official as those missions got.
* [[Jailbird of Panama]]: Strange variation - both the jailbird and the rescuing team were in the IMF.
* [[Joker Jury]]: A fake one in "The Flight".
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* [[Oh Crap]]: [[The Mark|The Mark's]] standard expression when they realize they have been ''had'' and the plan is shot/there's a visit to the clink in the offing/they're meeting [[The Grim Reaper]].
** Would also be used in almost every episode by our heroes before a commercial break when something seemingly goes wrong or it looks like someone has discovered them. After we'd come back from the commercial we'd find it was a just part of the plan and the fake 'Oh Crap' just acting to fool the bad guys, or a deus-ex machina comes in to distract the mark. At worst we see the heroes quickly resolve it through [[Xanatos Speed Chess]].
** One example is in “The Crane”. Junta leader General Yuri Kozani agrees to execute his second in command, Colonel Alex Strabo. He is then deceived into further explaining Strabo’s treachery and unreliable character traits to a disguised Strabo (Strabo is wearing the mask of the rebel leader). {{spoiler|Strabo removes his mask and Kozani is barely able to speak before Strabo kills him. This is also an example of [[Hoist
* [[Once an Episode]]: "This tape will self-destruct in five seconds." (At least, that is the stereotype. In fact there are many episodes in which this is not actually heard, especially in early seasons when another method of messaging is used, or in episodes in which Briggs or Phelps are instructed to destroy the tape themselves.)
** Also seen above, when the mark appears to be close to discovering [[The Masquerade]] or something appears to have went wrong, right before a major commercial break.
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* [[Spy Speak]]: At the start of every episode, Dan Briggs and later Jim Phelps would hold a seemingly innocuous conversation that provided the signs/countersigns to be given the mission briefing.
* [[Staged Shooting]]
* ''[[Star Trek:
** In at least one case, some alien artwork featured in an episode of ''[[Star Trek:
** One of ''Star Trek's'' infamous gag reels makes use of the ''Mission: Impossible'' theme music.
* [[Suspiciously Similar Substitute]]: There were changes to the team almost every season, with the exception of between Seasons 2 and 3 where stability was maintained.
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* [[Thou Shalt Not Kill]]: in theory, from about Season 2 onwards. In Season 1 the IMF were occasionally seen using direct deadly force. "In theory" because while the IMF rarely kills anyone directly, their actions often result in the [[Big Bad]] being killed by a third party. One episode from the early seasons unambiguously states that the team is undertaking a form of assassination.
** The revival series tended to follow this "in theory" pattern too, though the season 2 two-parter "The Golden Serpent" averts the trope by having an IMF member kill a thug, and the fact the team orchestrates the assassination of a villain is made non-ambiguous; lastly, the team actually {{spoiler|consciously leaves the [[Big Bad]] to die rather than attempt to rescue him from an exploding cave}}.
* [[Town
* [[Tricksters]]
* [[Trojan Prisoner]]
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* [[Vehicular Sabotage]]: In the episode "The Missile", a psychotic mechanic tampers with the brakes in Dana's car.
* [[Villainous Breakdown]]
* [[Voice
* [[The Voice]]: Two, in fact. Any disembodied voice you hear that isn't telling Mr. Phelps about the mission is probably professional announcer Vic Perrin.
* [[We Do the Impossible]]: Rather appropriately.
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