Professor Mark Csele's Home Page

I'm a big fan of the original Mission:Impossible TV series which began in 1966 and ran for seven years. The 1990's movie (with Tom Cruise) wasn't a bad action flick but it just wasn't a real Mission and was, in fact, a complete betrayal of the original series' intent ... I mean JIM PHELPS as a BAD GUY??? One could argue that the original series lacked the kind of action found in the movie ... sure ... but the movie hardly made the viewer think like a real Mission did. And the second attempt by Cruise, et al ... I thought it just plain sucked (I don't go for the silly camera angle and slow-motion stuff). Ditto for #3.

In the 1980's there was an attempt to revive MI as a new TV series but it was quite lame compared with the originals. In the original series, YOU, the viewer were made to think (Hey, thats novel ... making the viewer use his/her brain while watching the 'idiot box' :) and fill-in the missing pieces. In other words, you had to PAY ATTENTION while watching. The original series made you think while today's TV programs spell it all out for you. The 'new' series made everything so blatant and obvious it lacked the suspense of the original. Excessive dialog was also added making the obvious become PAINFULLY obvious. Too much smoke-and-mirrors, not enough plot. I suppose though since the advent of the remote control one can't expect the average TV viewer to stay tuned long enough for an original MI to work today anyway.

So what was Mission:IMPOSSIBLE all about?

The best way to describe this show is to describe what is probably the best (and certainly most cerebral) episode. This episode, which aired January 12, 1969, was entitled The Mind Of Stefan Miklos. It was number 62 in a string of episodes which aired over seven years.

This episode, like all MI episodes, begins with Jim Phelps, team leader of the 'Impossible Missions Force' (or IMF), retrieving orders in the form of a tape and pictures describing the mission. Usually Jim went to some obscure location to receive the message such as a projectionist's booth or through a tourist's coin-operated telescope. For this mission, Jim gets the following message:

Good morning, Mr. Phelps. The man you are looking at is Walter Townsend, one of our high-ranking intelligence officers, whom we recently discovered is a top enemy agent. Upon learning this, we allowed Townsend access to false information which will cause his country severe embarrassment if believed and acted upon. Unfortunately, this man, George Simpson, Townsend's only contact in America, discovered the information was false and reported to his superiors that Townsend had defected. However, his superiors are aware Simpson is jealous of Townsend. The truth or falsity of this information is so important that they are sending their most brilliant intelligence officer. Stefan Miklos, to investigate. Your mission, Jim, should you decide to accept it, is to make Stefan believe Townsend's information. As always, should you or any of your IM Force be caught or killed, the secretary will disavow any knowledge of your actions. This tape will self-destruct in five seconds. Good luck, Jim.
Tape Self-Destructing

Before we analyze how the episode progresses, a quick background regarding the IMF team which Jim picks to carry out this mission. After receiving the message an episode usually begins with Jim picking his team from a series of photographs at his apartment. Jim Phelps, of course, is team leader and the planner of the group. Rollin is the impersonation expert of the team who has the ability (and makeup talents) to become any character required. In this episode he plays two characters (without masks) showing his talent as an actor even within the series itself. Cinnamon Carter is a fashion model who plays the secret girlfriend of an agent. In other episodes she is seen breaking into vaults, stealing papers, and other things spies are usually up to. She was a great asset to the team but unfortunately left at the end of the third season (never to be sucessfully replaced). Barney Collier is an electronics expert who is usually responsible for planting bugs and making special effects required for the mission. Finally, Willy Armitage is a large bodybuilder whose talents aren't really employed in this episode but are certainly required in others in the series. Once the team is picked, they convene in Jim's apartment to review the plan.

The following is a description of the episode adapted from the book The Complete Mission:Impossible Dossier by Patrick J. White (Avon Non-fiction, 1991). It should give you an idea of how intricate and involved the plot of an MI episode can be. (BTW: This is a must-have book for the Mission afficianado).

"Calculating, ruthless, and possessing a photographic memory, Stefan Miklos has no flaws and is invulnerable to everyone except himself So Jim invents a painstakingly intricate plot designed to be uncovered by Stefan.
Stefan testing Rollin to ensure
he is really Simpson (who is left handed) Stefan (Rollin) visits Simpson, who delivers proof that Townsend is relaying false information. Phelps, as "Stefan's" aide, announces that they are under American surveillance and hustles Simpson out. The real Stefan arrives, and is told by Simpson (Rollin) that proof of Townsend's disloyalty is forthcoming. In this scene Rollin is required to quickly change his role from Stefan to Simpson in a matter of a minute. When Stefan arrives he throws an object at Simpson (Rollin) to ensure he really is left handed. Rollin passes the test and convinces Stefan that he is indeed Simpson.
Barney and Willy changing the message
Stefan receives Stefan is to receive a message hidden in the base of a statue in an art gallery. IMF members Barney and Willy are seen here changing the message while the statue is on display in the gallery. Posing as workers from the gas company they explain there is a leak in the back room of the gallery and proceed to cut a hole from that room into the rear of the display cabinet holding the statue. From underneath they remove the coded message destined for Stefan and replace it with their own. Of course they do this undetected ... for now. Searching Townsend's apartment, Stefan finds a photo of Cinnamon (planted earlier by Rollin) hidden away. He breaks into her hotel room to find her bags packed and two mysterious keys. He also finds a nearly burned matchbook cover containing the phone number of a brokerage firm. Broker Barney tells Stefan that Cinnamon has recently sold $200,000 in stocks. Cinnamon is spotted depositing items in two airport lockers. "Stefan" (Rollin) gives Simpson special orders: Simpson tells Townsend that he has been called back home and that Townsend will be getting a new contact and new codes that night at an airport locker. Simpson gives him the key to the locker. Townsend (his watch discreetly set back thirty minutes by the IMF) goes to the airport, opens the locker, and is grabbed by Stefan, who finds a passport and ticket to Rio in the locker.
Townsend (left) is set-up by the
MI team to look like a defector Townsend pleads his innocence to Stefan, who plans to kill him. "It was Simpson who sent me to the airport," he insists. "He told me to go to the airport at 4:30." "But you didn't get there until five," Stefan notes. "No," Townsend insists, "I got there at 4:30." Checking Townsend's watch and finding it thirty minutes slow, Stefan stops and thinks. He remembers that a matchbook belonging to left-handed "Simpson" (Rollin) had matches missing on its left side. But right-handed Cinnamon had a matchbook used in an identical manner. "It could be a link," he muses. Comparing notes, he and Townsend learn that Townsend's report to his country regarding a US arms treaty was altered in transit-presumably by "Simpson."
The MI team (Phelps, Cinnamon and Barney)
wait nervously as they listed to a bugged conversation between Townsend and Stefan Stefan returns to the art gallery drop point where he first received his information about Simpson, and checks videotapes which show Cinnamon, Barney, and Jim in the place moments before he arrived. Convinced that these American agents have tried to trick him, Stefan returns to "Simpson" (Rollin), who delivers proof of Townsend's treachery via fellow agent Phelps, whom Stefan recognizes from the tapes. Feigning acceptance of their data, Stefan returns to Townsend. "I allowed them to think they fooled me," says Stefan. "His proof authenticated the document concerning the arms treaty as being false. Therefore it must be true. Our immediate concern now is to get word back that the document is valid."

This particular mission was exceedingly cerebral. The plot (which is hard to follow in many MI episodes anyway) is exceedingly complex in this one. The episode shows the cunning, skill, and planning used by the team to carry out a mission.

Mission began in 1966 with Steven Hill as Dan Briggs, the original leader of the team. For season two, Jim Phelps was brought in as team leader and stayed for the duration of the show. Not surprisingly, year one episodes are considerably more 'gritty' and unfinished than those of later years, with seasons two and three being the best. Examples of 'gritty' include the pilot episode (where a guard is shot during the getaway near the end) and in The Carriers (where Rollin shoots a guard to get to the elevator) - violence like this was omitted from future seasons' episodes in favour of more 'cunning' approaches such as getting one 'baddie' to kill another by trickery. Still there are a few gems in year one such as The Pilot, The Carriers, and The Legacy.

Most Missions (esp in later seasons) did not use shooting, guns, and brute-force but rather logic, magic tricks, and good planning. In most episodes electronic wizardry (James Bond-esque gadgetry, really) was used. As an example of the 'magic tricks' used I recall in one episode (The Code from season four) Barney uses a miniature TV camera small enough to fit into a 1.5 inch diameter water pipe to spy on the enemy. Such cameras, now commonplace, would have been considered impossible technology during the 1960's and early 70's. As well, many episodes used psychological trickery in which a perpetrator was tricked into believing he was somewhere (or someone) else. A classic Mission theme was to create a situation where the prepetrator believes that some disaster such as an earthquake had occurred like in The Survivors (episode 28, season two) or that he was in an elevator which crashed (The Widow, episode 33).

"The Mind of Stefan Miklos", from the third season of MI, represents a high point in the series. It is available on DVD (most of the series is) and on an older twelve volume VHS tape set available containing the best MI episodes.

Other episodes which rank among the best MI episodes made include The Bunker (episode #69 as two parts) from year three,The Seal (episode #35) from the second season, as well as The Killer and The Innocent from season five.

As I said, IMHO the second and third season of MI were the best. As the early 70's arrived the cold war warmed and the international espionage theme gave way to more domestic themes such as drugs and organized crime. The TV viewing public quickly bored of episodes with basically similar themes and MI was cancelled after seven seasons in 1973. Still, the later seasons contain a few decent episodes. The series can still be seen occasionally on late-night TV as well as on some specialty satellite channels (namely TV-LAND available in Canada). As 2009, the first five seasons have been released on DVD (with the last two hopefully to be released).