Mission: Impossible (1988 TV series)
Encyclopedia
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.
, 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.
According to Patrick White's book, 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.
's The Cosby Show
and A Different World, Mission: Impossibles ratings quickly declined. ABC responded by moving the show back to Saturday nights to replace 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.
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.
, such as one gadget that could record dreams.
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.
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.
(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.
) will release Mission: Impossible- The '88 TV Season on DVD in Region 1 for the very first time. The 5-disc set features all 19 episodes of the first season.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
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
1966 in television
The year 1966 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 1966.For the American TV schedule, see: 1966-67 American network television schedule.-Events:...
TV series of the same name
Mission: Impossible
Mission: Impossible is an American television series which was created and initially produced by Bruce Geller. It chronicled the missions of a team of secret American government agents known as the Impossible Missions Force . The leader of the team was Jim Phelps, played by Peter Graves, except in...
. The only actor to return for the series as a regular cast member was Peter Graves
Peter Graves (actor)
Peter Aurness , known professionally as Peter Graves, was an American film and television actor. He was best known for his starring role in the CBS television series Mission: Impossible from 1967 to 1973...
who played Jim Phelps.
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 was killed, Jim Phelps was called out of retirement and asked to form a new team and track down the one who killed his protege. His team consists of Nicholas Black, a disguise expert; Max Harte, the tough guy; Casey Randall, the obligatory female operative; and Grant Collier, the son of Barney Collier, the original technology expert. After finding the killer, Jim decided to stay on and keep the team together. Eventually, Casey was killed and she was replaced by Shannon Reed, a Secret Service Agent.Background
In 19881988 in television
The year 1988 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 1988.For the American TV schedule, see: 1988-89 United States network television schedule.-Events:-Debuts:...
, the American fall television season was hampered by a writers' strike
1988 Writers Guild of America strike
The 1988 Writers Guild of America strike was a strike action taken by members of both the Writers Guild of America, East and the Writers Guild of America, West against major United States television and film studios represented by the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers...
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
Star Trek: The Next Generation
Star Trek: The Next Generation is an American science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry as part of the Star Trek franchise. Roddenberry, Rick Berman, and Michael Piller served as executive producers at different times throughout the production...
, for example, used scripts written for an aborted Star Trek
Star Trek: Phase II
Star Trek: Phase II was a planned television series based on the characters of Gene Roddenberry's Star Trek, which had run from 1966 to 1969. It was set to air in early 1978 on a proposed Paramount Television Service...
series proposed for the 1970s. The ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
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
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
; the first season in Queensland
Queensland
Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...
, 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.
According to Patrick White's book, 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.
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 NBCNBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
's The Cosby Show
The Cosby Show
The Cosby Show is an American television situation comedy starring Bill Cosby, which aired for eight seasons on NBC from September 20, 1984 until April 30, 1992...
and A Different World, Mission: Impossibles ratings quickly declined. ABC responded by moving the show back to Saturday nights to replace 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
Mission: Impossible (film)
Mission: Impossible is a 1996 action thriller directed by Brian De Palma and starring Tom Cruise. Following on from the television series of the same name, the plot follows a new agent, Ethan Hunt and his mission to uncover the mole within the CIA who has framed him for the murders of his entire...
in 1998. Similarly, CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
, 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
Mission: Impossible II
Mission: Impossible II is a 2000 action film directed by John Woo, and starring Tom Cruise, who also served as the film's producer...
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 GravesPeter Graves (actor)
Peter Aurness , known professionally as Peter Graves, was an American film and television actor. He was best known for his starring role in the CBS television series Mission: Impossible from 1967 to 1973...
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. One episode early on in the series featured the only occasion in which a regular IMF agent was killed on a mission and subsequently disavowed. The 1980s series also had IMF agents using technology that nearly pushed the series into the realm of science fictionScience fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
, 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 discOptical disc
In computing and optical disc recording technologies, an optical disc is a flat, usually circular disc which encodes binary data in the form of pits and lands on a special material on one of its flat surfaces...
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.
These briefings were read by voice actor Bob Johnson
Bob Johnson (actor)
Robert Cleveland Johnson , known professionally as Bob Johnson, was an American actor and voice actor who played supporting roles on series television and in films from the late 1950s until a few years before his death...
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, 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.Appearances from original IMF veterans
The revived series included special appearances by several 1960s–1970s IMF veterans, including appearances by Lynda Day GeorgeLynda Day George
For other entertainers with similar names, see Linda George .Lynda Day George is an American television and film actress whose career spanned three decades from the 1960s to the 1980s...
(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
Greg Morris
Francis Gregory Alan "Greg" Morris was an American television and movie actor.Born in Cleveland, Ohio, Morris began his acting career in the 1960s making guest appearances on many TV shows such as The Twilight Zone and Ben Casey...
as Barney Collier; the character played here by Morris' son, Phil Morris, was Grant Collier, Barney's son.
Revival cast
- Peter GravesPeter Graves (actor)Peter Aurness , known professionally as Peter Graves, was an American film and television actor. He was best known for his starring role in the CBS television series Mission: Impossible from 1967 to 1973...
as Jim Phelps - Thaao PenghlisThaao PenghlisThaao Penghlis is an Australian actor. He is better known for roles in the U.S. daytime soap operas such as Days of our Lives, Santa Barbara, and General Hospital, but he has also guest-starred on a number of crime dramas, such as Kojak, Cannon, Tenspeed and Brown Shoe, Hart to Hart, Nero Wolfe, ...
as Nicholas Black - Antony HamiltonAntony HamiltonAntony Hamilton was an Australian actor, model, and dancer.-Early life:Hamilton was born in Liverpool, England, was adopted by an Australian RAF-hero and his wife soon after birth, and grew up on a sheep farm in Australia. He attended the Scotch College in Adelaide, where dance and ballet was a...
as Max Harte (credited as Tony Hamilton) - Phil Morris as Grant Collier
- Terry MarkwellTerry MarkwellTerry Markwell, born Teresa Markwell, is an American-born actress, born in Phoenix, Arizona. Terry got her first taste of acting while modeling for Plaza Three, a premiere talent agency in Phoenix, Arizona during the late 70's and early 80's...
as Casey Randall (early episodes 1988–1989 season) - Jane BadlerJane BadlerJane Badler is an American actress and singer. She is best known for her role as Diana, the chief antagonist in NBC's science fiction TV series, V, between 1983-85. Badler also appeared in ABC's "reimagined" version of V in 2011, again playing an alien named Diana, who this time is the mother of...
as Shannon Reed (1989–1990) - Bob JohnsonBob Johnson (actor)Robert Cleveland Johnson , known professionally as Bob Johnson, was an American actor and voice actor who played supporting roles on series television and in films from the late 1950s until a few years before his death...
as Voice on Disc (voice only) - Daryn Sibley as Pierre Bouchet (Guest Star Series 1)
DVD release
On November 29, 2011, CBS DVD (distributed by ParamountParamount Home Entertainment
Paramount Home Entertainment is the division of Paramount Pictures dealing with home video founded in late 1975.-History:...
) will release Mission: Impossible- The '88 TV Season on DVD in Region 1 for the very first time. The 5-disc set features all 19 episodes of the first season.