Mission: Impossible (1988 TV series)

Mission: Impossible
Created by	Bruce Geller
Starring	Peter Graves (with various other cast members, see below)
Theme music composer	Lalo Schifrin
Country of origin	United States
No. of seasons	2
No. of episodes	35 (list of episodes)
Production
Running time	46–48 minutes
Original release
Network	ABC
Release	October 23, 1988 – Template:J

Mission: Impossible is an American television series that chronicles the missions of a team of secret American government agents known as the Impossible Missions Force (IMF). The show is a revival of the 1966 TV series of the same name. The only actor to return for the series as a regular cast member was Peter Graves who played Jim Phelps, although two other cast members from the original series returned as guest stars.

Series synopsis

The events of the series take place 15 years after the last season of the original Mission: Impossible TV series. After his protege and successor as leader of the top-secret Impossible Missions Force is killed, Jim Phelps is called out of retirement and asked to form a new IMF team and track down the assassin.

His team consists of Nicholas Black, a disguise expert and actor; Max Harte, a strongman; Casey Randall, a model-turned-agent; and Grant Collier, the son of Barney Collier, the IMF's original technology expert, and a technical genius in his own right. After finding the killer, Jim decides to stay on and keep the team together. Midway through season 1, Casey is killed during a mission (becoming the first ongoing IMF agent to be disavowed), and Secret Service agent Shannon Reed replaces her for the remainder of the series. With the exception of this cast change, Phelps' team remains constant throughout the series.

Background

In 1988, the American fall television season was hampered by a writers' strike that prevented the commissioning of new scripts. Producers, anxious to provide new product for viewers but with the prospect of a lengthy strike, went into the vaults for previously written material. Star Trek: The Next Generation, for example, used scripts written for an aborted Star Trek series proposed for the 1970s. The ABC network decided to launch a new Mission: Impossible series, with a mostly new cast (except for Peter Graves, who would return as Phelps), but using scripts from the original series, suitably updated. To save even more on production costs, the series was filmed in Australia; the first season in Queensland, and the second season of episodes in Melbourne. Costs were, at that time, some 20 percent lower in Australia compared with Hollywood. The new Mission: Impossible was one of the first American commercial network programs to be filmed in Australia. The show's core cast included several Australian actors, and numerous Australians (along with Australian-based American and British actors) were cast in guest-starring roles, too.

According to Patrick White's book, The Complete Mission Impossible Dossier, the original plan was for the series to be an actual remake/reimaginging of the original series, with the new cast playing the same characters from the original series: Rollin Hand, Cinnamon Carter, et al. Just before filming began, White writes, the decision was made to rework the characters so that they were now original creations, albeit still patterned after the originals, with only Jim Phelps remaining unchanged, and with the Collier character becoming the son of the original to take advantage of the fact the actor cast in the role, Phil Morris was the son of Greg Morris, the actor who played Barney Collier. One of the reworked scripts incorporated a guest appearance by the elder Morris as Barney Collier.

The strike ultimately ended and the series was able to compose original storylines; ultimately only a couple of episodes ended up being outright remakes of the original series, including the show's premiere episode.

Cancellation

Originally, the show had aired on Sundays, being moved to Saturday evenings starting with episode 9 of the first season. At the start of the second season, ABC moved the show to the Thursday 8:00 p.m. timeslot, which proved to be a disaster for the show. Being forced to compete with NBC's The Cosby Show and A Different World, Mission: Impossible's ratings quickly declined. ABC responded by moving the show back to Saturday nights to replace the sitcom Mr. Belvedere, which faltered badly in the time slot. The move was to no avail as the series was cancelled at the end of the season. ABC later played host to the network television premiere of the 1996 feature film in 1998. Similarly, CBS, which aired the original TV series (and now owns the rights to both of the TV series) would host the broadcast premiere of the sequel in 2002.

Episode remakes

The series was originally planned to be a limited series. A new cast was hired to play the characters from the original Mission: Impossible, and the episodes were all going to remake original series scripts. This changed when Peter Graves returned to the role of Jim Phelps; the other characters were then renamed, and the show became a continuation of the original.

The new series was not a huge hit, but it was produced cheaply enough to keep it on the ABC schedule. The new M:I ultimately lasted for two years; the writers' strike was resolved quickly enough that only a few episodes were actual remakes.

Formula

The formulaic episode structure from the original series was largely repeated in the second Mission: Impossible series of the 1980s, though the writers took some liberties and tried to stretch the rules somewhat. Most notably, by the time of the revival series, the Impossible Missions Force (which was originally suggested to be an independent agency) was no longer a small, clandestine operation; but larger in scale, with references now made to IMF divisions and additional teams similar to the one run by Phelps. The 1980s series also had IMF agents using technology that nearly pushed the series into the realm of science fiction, such as one gadget that could record dreams.

The tape scene

Instead of a tape recorder, Phelps would be directed by his contacts (usually through brief conversations with ordinary people) to the location of a small optical disc player with a thumbprint scanner built into its lid. After scanning the print, the device would open to reveal a video screen and a 12-button numeric keypad, on which Phelps would type in an access code to retrieve and play the disc. Once he had watched/heard the mission's description as well as its goal, the voice would warn that "As always, should you or any of your I.M. Force be caught or killed, the Secretary will disavow any knowledge of your actions. This disc will self-destruct in five seconds. Good luck, Jim." At that point, he then would close the lid and walk away as smoke began to emit from inside the case to indicate the disc's self-destruction, at which point the camera would freeze and zoom up as the show's logo was revealed and theme song played prior to the apartment scene. As was the case with later seasons of the original series, with the exception of the very first episode the new series did away with the ritual of showing Phelps choosing his team as he consistently used the same personnel week after week, with the occasional addition.

These briefings were read by voice actor Bob Johnson in the original series and the 1988 revival but the identity of the character was never revealed, nor was his face ever shown.

The apartment scene

The 1980s revival reinstated the "dossier scene" in the first episode when Phelps selected his new team (in keeping with the updated theme of the series, Phelps uses a computer system rather than folders of clippings and documents to make his decision), but since he kept the same team in subsequent episodes no subsequent dossier scenes were made.

The plan

In the 1980s revival, the mask-making process involved a digital camera and computer and was mostly automatic. Most episodes included a dramatic "reveal" near the end in which the team member would remove the mask.

Variations

In the 1980s series, former IMF agent Barney Collier was framed for a crime he didn't commit and the IMF team had to rescue him, leading to a reuniting of Barney with his son and IMF agent Grant Collier (in real life played by father-and-son Greg and Phil Morris).

Improvisation

In contrast to the original series, the 1980s missions often departed from the team's original plan, requiring the team to think on their feet and use their equipment in ways that had not originally been intended.

Conclusion

In the 1980s revival, this format was altered with the addition of a tag scene showing the IMF team regrouping (often still in disguise) and walking away from the site of their concluded mission, often accompanied by a quip uttered by Jim Phelps. Phelps is first shown uttering said quip in the episode "The Fixer", which was also the first episode featuring Shannon Reed as a full member.

Breaking the formula

Several episodes break the formula, the most notable being "The Fortune", an episode that aired midway through the first season and featured the death of Terry Markwell's character, Casey Randall. Casey became the first core IMF member to be killed off, and the discovery of her death by Phelps during a mission in progress leads to the mission becoming personal, with one IMF member, Max, openly questioning his ability to complete the mission, and Phelps reacting in anger when the culprit is captured. "The Fortune" ends with a unique tag scene showing, for the first, time an IMF agent actually being disavowed. "The Fortune" is also the only episode in Mission: Impossible history to be a "changeover" episode as it introduces Casey's replacement, Shannon Reed (played by Jane Badler), who helps bring Casey's killer to justice.

Appearances from original IMF veterans

The revived series included special appearances by several 1960s–1970s IMF veterans, including appearances by Lynda Day George (George's character name Casey was here said to be her surname and she was given the first name Lisa, due to this version's first resident female operative being called Casey) and by Greg Morris as Barney Collier; the character played here by Morris' son, Phil Morris, was Grant Collier, Barney's son.

Revival cast

• Peter Graves as Jim Phelps
• Thaao Penghlis as Nicholas Black
• Antony Hamilton as Max Harte (credited as Tony Hamilton)
• Phil Morris as Grant Collier
• Terry Markwell as Casey Randall (early episodes 1988–1989 season)
• Jane Badler as Shannon Reed (1989–1990)
• Bob Johnson as Voice on Disc (voice only)

DVD release

On November 29, 2011, CBS DVD (distributed by Paramount) released Mission: Impossible- The '88 TV Season on DVD in Region 1. The 5-disc set features all 19 episodes of the first season but, as was the case with CBS' release of the original series, no special features.

CBS DVD has announced the second and final season will be released in North America as Mission Impossible- The '89 TV Season on February 28, 2012. Unlike all previous original- and revival-series DVD releases, this final volume is scheduled to include bonus feature - a "Holiday greeting" from the cast and episode promos.

See also

• Mission: Impossible (Nintendo Entertainment System)

External links

• Mission: Impossible at IMDb (1988 version)