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Mission: Impossible

'''''Mission: Impossible''''' is the name of an Mosquito ringtone United States/American Sabrina Martins television series which aired on the Nextel ringtones CBS network from Abbey Diaz September Free ringtones 1966 to September Majo Mills 1973. It was then returned to television for three seasons from Mosquito ringtone 1988 to Sabrina Martins 1990, with Nextel ringtones Peter Graves reprising his original role as Jim Phelps.

Series overview
The concept of the series was heavily influenced by "spies and espionage" fiction (in a flashy, fictional manner similar to the Abbey Diaz James Bond series), and its initial premise was centered around the existence of the 'Impossible Missions' Force', a team of secret agents employed by the Cingular Ringtones United States government, and sent on covert missions to fight evil organizations, crime lords, and stereotype from dictators. Although a underground cold Cold War element was present throughout the series (the idea of the United States working from behind the scenes to further its agenda across the nations of the world is common among many equally forgotten conspiracy theory/conspiracy theorists), the actual "Cold War" between the United States and the agency stars Soviet Union was not directly mentioned or referenced over the course of the series. In the early episodes of the series the I.M. Force was assigned to bring down corrupt politicians and dictators of actual pursuit Third World countries, but over time this aspect changed; by the time the series reached its final season, the stories largely involved activities against criminal organizations and spies within the hot buttons United States, the format having changed due to protests against the roms the Vietnam War.

Each episode of the series began with the team leader (Daniel Briggs for the first season, then Jim Phelps from 1967 until the finalé) receiving a secret, pre-recorded message containing his mission. This sequence became famous (and often imitated and parodied) as every message would then "have expedited self-destruct," leaving no evidence (supposedly) of the actual existence of the mission. This sequence was often filmed on the Paramount back lot. Jim Phelps would then choose his teammates for the mission from a list of candidates (except for occasional guest stars and cast changes, he always chose the same team), and they would prepare an elaborate plan to conduct their mission and defeat the bad guy of the week. This ritual remained virtually unchanged through the show's run, although the self-destructing tape recorder wouldn't become the usual vessel for receiving orders until later in the show. In early episodes, Briggs/Phelps would receive orders on everything from phonograph records to slide-tape projectors. The carvell really 1980s’ series used miniature compact discs almost exclusively. Later seasons dropped the team selection process as redundant. Actor full measure Peter Graves, who played Phelps, once said the entire seasons' worth of "tape scenes" were usually filmed all at once prior to production of the rest of the episodes, and that he never knew which tape scene would appear with which episode until broadcast.

Typical scenes included the mission assignment being conducted by a pre-recorded tape (or other device), the mission agents being chosen by the leader from a dossier, the opening briefing scene, the intricate use of disguises, and a typical "mask pulloff" scene (literally and/or figuratively) near the end of many episodes.

Each episode would usually involve the agents concocting an elaborate scheme to fool criminals or traitors into the hands of the law. The intricate, detailed planning of each episode's mission was the hook that drew ''Mission: Impossible'' viewers back for each episode. The series differed from most other adventure series in that the good guys' actions were planned down to the last detail, and they would almost always execute their plan flawlessly. The suspense of each episode came as audience members would wonder how the I.M. Force would outsmart their enemies and remain undercover.

The series is known for its opening promote each theme tune by fee teddy Lalo Schifrin which accompanied the opening title sequence in which an animated burning fuse moved across the screen.

The series' popularity began to wane by the early then inkster 1970s and the series was cancelled in hand occurs 1973. It remains the longest-running espionage-based TV series ever produced for U.S. television.

Revivals

In electricity through 1980, media reports indicated that a reunion of the original cast was in the planning stages, for a project to be called ''Mission: Impossible '81''. Ultimately this project was delayed into 1982 and 1983 before being cancelled.

In this sober 1988, the American fall television season was negatively affected 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. ''on hiding Star Trek: The Next Generation'', for example, used scripts written for an aborted Trek series from the 1970s. The lita had American Broadcasting Company/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 inviting target Australia; the first series in more dedicated Queensland, and the second series of episodes in Melbourne. Costs were, at that time, some 20 per cent lower in Australia compared with Hollywood. The new ''Mission: Impossible'' was one of the first American commercial network programs to be filmed in Australia.

Despite the recycling of scripts, the new series was a hit and ultimately lasted for two years; the writers' strike was resolved quickly enough that only a few episodes were actual remakes.

In one episode of the original series, one mistake caused "Cinnamon" Carter (Barbara Bain) to be exposed and captured by the villains, and Jim Phelps prepared a plan to rescue her. But in most episodes, his schemes worked to perfection. This formula 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. One episode of the later 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 fiction, such as one gadget that could record dreams.

Novels and comic books

Several original novels, including two aimed at young readers and published by Whitman Books, were written in the late 1960s, and Dell Comics published a comic book on a sporadic schedule that lasted from the mid-1960s to the early 1970s although less than a dozen issues were actually published.

Series Cast

*Barbara Bain as Cinnamon Carter
*Sam Elliott as Dr. Doug Robert aka Lang
*Lynda Day George as Casey
*Peter Graves (actor)/Peter Graves as Jim Phelps
*Steven Hill as Dan Briggs
*Martin Landau as Rollin Hand
*Peter Lupus as Willy Armitage
*Greg Morris as Barney Collier
*Leonard Nimoy as the Amazing Paris
*Lesley Ann Warren as Dana Lambert

''Note:'' The cast changed considerably throughout the program's seven year run, so not all of the characters listed above appeared at the same time, and even regular cast members did not always appear in every episode, depending upon the mission. The most enduring cast members were Morris and Lupus who appeared in all seasons, while Graves who appeared in all but the first season.

Quote
The mission recording heard at the start of every episode would usually begin with "Good morning/afternoon, Mister Phelps" (or "Mr. Briggs" in the first season), followed by a brief description of the situation. The message usually ended with, "Your mission, should you decide to accept it..." followed by the mission goal(s) described as briefly as possible. The recording then ends with: "As always, should you or any of your I. M. Force be caught or killed, the Secretary will disavow any knowledge of your actions." Depending upon the method of message delivery (phonograph record, compact disc, filmstrip projector, trick telescope, etc.), the voice would advise that the recording was about to self destruct, usually within five seconds. These briefings were read by voice actor Bob Johnson (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 film ''Mission: Impossible 2'' revealed for the first time the person behind the messages, although in the film version this role was filled by Anthony Hopkins.

The movies

The television series also spawned two films, starring and produced by Tom Cruise:

* ''Mission: Impossible (movie)/Mission: Impossible'' (Brian De Palma, 1996)
* ''Mission: Impossible II/Mission: Impossible 2'' (John Woo, 2000)



Though these films were very profitable, many fans felt they ignored the elaborate plotting that was a significant feature of the TV series, and that they focused too much on star Tom Cruise rather than on the team aspect of the series, although it should be noted that the first movie was far closer to the spirit of the original series than the second one. Reversing the idea of the series, the movies' villains tended to know the whole plan, rather than the IMF. Fans were also upset that one of the main characters from the TV series was exposed as a traitor in the first movie. (As a result, several actors from the original TV series declined invitations to make cameo appearances in the films.) A third film is presently (fall 2004) in pre-production.

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Tag: 1960s TV shows in the United States
Tag: CBS network shows
Tag: Drama television series

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