Mission Impossible - The Complete First TV Season

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DVD details

Actor: Barbara Bain, Martin Landau, Steven Hill
Brand: Paramount
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
Format: Closed-captioned, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 1404 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2006-12-05
Studio: CBS Paramount Domestic Television

DVD Reviews of Mission Impossible - The Complete First TV Season

DVD Review: Mission Impossible Season 1
Summary: 5 Stars

It's been great to see what amazed us so long ago. Still stands up, maybe even better - than some of the current spy movies. MI did it all without hi tech toys, too.

DVD Review: Good, but not as good as I remembered
Summary: 4 Stars

MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE was one of the very few 60s series I'd even think about revisiting, so I sprung for Mission: Impossible (The Complete 1st Season). To my disappointment, the show didn't match the intensity of my affection, which led to my acceptance of a couple of obvious facts. Vintage TV series were manufactured by studios like a factory produces widgets. To meet rapid shooting schedules and tight budgets, production values were often stinted, especially in effects-driven shows like this. If you take into account your entertainment options at the time -- only THREE networks -- a studio could get away with some pretty clunky results. This show was no exception.

The first thing I noted was that the intricate and elegant planning that was the hallmark of the stories was missing from almost the entire first season. Not until the last few episodes did it begin to hit its stride, to exploit what really made it clever. During the best episodes, the audience witnesses a member of the crew performing solo some puzzling task in the course of IMF's meticulously interwoven subterfuge, the purpose for which would be revealed only later for a wonderfully satisfying ah-ha moment. Those pleasures were absent for most of these early episodes, about two-thirds of them. The writing was lazy and perfunctory, fobbing off a fight scene as an action sequence, which lacked real tension and misdirected focus from the real appeal of the show. Many episodes included a karate chop to the neck as a quick remedy for many contingencies. All of the shortcomings of pop-culture 60s television were featured in ample supply here, all backlot and soundstage, and it just didn't work for me at this point. I admit to having some fun, but without a nostalgic component to transmute the experience, there's nothing a newer generation can appreciate; not as adults, anyway. That it did by the end of the season come closer to the series I remembered wasn't enough to balance my heavier disappointment, and I wasn't so eager to jump for M:I's second season.

As for the DVD set itself, it's been remastered with 5.1 sound and a picture that's sparkling bright and clean. I can honestly say you've never seen or heard it like this. Amazing, really. The packaging for the 7-disc set is equally as classy, a glossy slipcase containing four plastic inner sleeves with two discs in each, with a final disc to itself. The episodes are arranged chronologically according to the original air dates, precisely documented. Unfortunately, there's not a single special feature included on any of the discs. Not one.

Well, that's not exactly true. There's Barbara Bain. Man, I always thought she was one sultry, smoky beauty, in the classic mold. But even in that superlative estimation, she was better than I remembered.
___________________________________________________

DVD Review: The Best Season Ever
Summary: 5 Stars

With all respects to Peter Graves, the first season of Mission:Impossible (with Steven Hill in the lead,) was the best season ever for this classic series. The Pilot episode was, and still is, one of the best pilots I have ever seen. I really cannot think of one truly inferior episode the entire season. "The Train" episode remains one of my favorites, a truly fascinating episode.
As the season wore on Hill appeared less and less due to his inability as an Orthodox Jew to work on Saturday and Jewish holidays. He was replaced by Graves in season two. Despite this however, season 1 of Mission: Impossible is truly its best.
Like so many other classic series released by CBS/Paramount, there are no extras on this set despite the entire cast, with the exception of Greg Morris, still being with us. It is utterly disgraceful that there are no retrospectives or audio commentaries on any of the seasons of Mission:Impossible currently in release.

DVD Review: Great Series
Summary: 5 Stars

This is a great beginning to a TV Series that I have collected since the DVD's were released. Each year got better and better. Mission Impossible
never goes out of style as time goes on...in fact...it is a style that is more in need today as it was in years past.

DVD Review: MI-1
Summary: 5 Stars

Mission Impossible was started in 1966-67. The nostalgia we have with these movies is a lot of fun. It really shows how far the industry has come since then. The fight scenes were especially phony, but in the day, we didn't notice it. Stories are good. The portrayal of how the missions differ from later days. We will most definetely get more series. We are really enjoying it.

Description of Mission Impossible - The Complete First TV Season

The head of the "Impossible Missions Force", a top-secret government group of operatives, starts a tape recorder and finds out about his latest assignment. Throughout most of the series, they would have to stop some petty dictator or powerful bad guy from whatever evil plot they had against the U.S. or Democracy in general. The elaborate use of electronic gadgetry, masters of disguise and detailed plans that require split-second timing made this tv show an "on the edge of your seater"!

With its combination of Cold War villains and James Bond-like techno-gadgets, Mission: Impossible was an instant hit when it premiered on September 17, 1966. Airing Saturday nights at 9:00 on CBS, the series was the brainchild of creator/producer Bruce Geller, whose formula for seven successful seasons included a well-chosen ensemble cast, noteworthy guest stars, and a flexible premise that inspired clever plots twists and a constant variety of "international" locations (mostly filmed on a studio backlot). This seven-disc set includes all 28 episodes of season 1, the only season to feature Steven Hill as Dan Briggs, leader of the top-secret counterintelligence team known as Impossible Missions Force (IMF). As the no-nonsense Briggs, Hill (better known for his later role on Law & Order from 1990 to 2000) began each episode by sneakily retrieving the dossier and recorded instructions (voiced throughout the entire series by uncredited actor Bob Johnson) for the IMF's latest assignment. "Your mission, should you decide to accept it" and "this recording will self-destruct in five seconds" quickly became pop-cultural catch-phrases, as Briggs routinely selected his preferred teammates based on their mastery of practical skills. With "special appearance" billing for M:I's first three seasons, Martin Landau played master-of-disguise Rollin Hand; his off-screen wife, Barbara Bain, played top-model and undercover seductress Cinnamon Carter; Greg Morris brought hip coolness (and racial diversity) to his role as electronics expert Barney Collier; and Peter Lupus played handsome hunk Willy Armitage, adding IMF muscle to Briggs' brainy strategies.

As a Desilu production based at Paramount Studios, Mission: Impossible shared guest stars, production personnel, locations, and even occasional sets with the original Star Trek. Fans of both shows will enjoy spotting these crossover details (including George Takei's appearance in "The Carriers," a first-season highlight), and this season's other stand-out episodes include the "Pilot" (featuring Wally Cox as an ace safe-cracker), "Operation Rogosh," "A Spool There Was," "Action!," "The Train," and "The Traitor." Whether they were toppling dictators, rescuing doomed prisoners, foiling despots, or framing Mafia kingpins, the IMF agents were consistently blessed with taut, well-written plots, many unfolding with minimal dialogue and highly visual schemes that demanded (and rewarded) the viewer's close attention. Although Steven Hill eventually left the series (as an Orthodox Jew, he preferred not to work on the Jewish Sabbath, as M:I required), his single season set the stage for M:I's long-term popularity, with Peter Graves (replacing Hill as "Jim Phelps") leading the IMF from 1967 to 1973. And while Paramount has again neglected to offer DVD extras with this set, the episodes look and sound just about perfect, with a parade of guest stars including Carol O'Connor, Simon Oakland, Fritz Weaver, Nehemiah Persoff, Barbara Luna, Vic Tayback, and a host of other '60s TV regulars. Your mission--and you shouldn't hesitate to accept it--is to enjoy this classic series all over again! --Jeff Shannon

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