Re: At long last, Mission: Impossible!
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Originally Posted by Charles Ellis
Can someone answer a question for me? After the departure of Landau and Bain, the producers tried a lot of name actresses onscreen to fill in Cinnamon Carter's place. Among them were Anne Francis, Barbara Luna and mostly Lee Meriwether, who played "Tracey" in eight episodes in the fourth year. I've always wondered why Ms. Meriwether wasn't chosen as a full-time cast member- was it a question of money? Considering she had already made a name for herself in TV, her name value would've helped in the long run, as opposed to Season Five's Lesley Ann Warren (nothing against Ms. Warren, but I felt she seemed too young to play an IMF agent- on the other hand Lynda Day George was only two years older and yet she seemed far more worldly and sophisticated, making her a better Bain replacement on the show).
So, does anyone why the producers (and CBS) chose Ms. Warren over Lee Meriwether? |
The best answer is "timing". Martin Landau's request for a raise only happened because of his year-to-year status. He was initially hired for the pilot as a guest actor, but his popularity propelled him to near-regular status throughout the first season. Had the powers that be hired him initially as a regular, a lot of the year-four negotiations could have been avoided, and Landau and Bain probably would have continued through the series run.
Landua's request for $11,000 per episode would have put his salary higher than Peter Graves' $7000, which couldn't be because of Graves' favored nation status. That is, he had to paid at least what anyone else was getting since he was the "star". In addition Landau wanted a raise to $12,500 for year five. CBS was willing to pay the extra for Landau, but wouldn't add to Graves' salary, so the negotiations broke down. The powers that be also offered Landau a chance to do a reduced number of shows, but he didn't want to participate in a "planned exit."
Barbara Bain hadn't been fired for year four, but everyone associated with the show figured that if her husband was out, she'd walk too. After a confusion over dates to report for wardrobe for the season four opener at which Bain was nowhere to be found, basically the plug was pulled and she needed to be replaced for the role. Lee Meriwether was everyone's choice, except producer Stanley Kallis who had separately negotiated for Dina Merrill to take the role. Geller wasn't specifically told he HAD to use Merrill, but he didn't want to upset the apple cart, so he used Dina Merrill. Lee Meriwether was then put on a show-to-show basis throughout season four, making her another victim of poor timing.
When season five rolled around, Geller was out and new producer Bruce Lansbury wanted a fresher, younger look to the show, so he went with Leslie Ann Warren instead of Lee Meriwether, adding Sam Elliott to the roster as a physician character.
So basically, it all stems from the bad timing of not hiring Landau as a series regular initially, and the bad timing surrounding he and his wife's exits from the show that resulted in the haphazard casting in later years.
Personally, I liked the fact that the show used different characters from week to week, as it made for a more realistic scenario of assembling a different team each week.
Lee Meriwether was liked on the set though. The other regulars liked working with her and thought she was an asset to the show, classy and elegant in the same vein as Barbara Bain. And she too was thrilled with the show, enjoying the chance to play a different part each time. But it just wasn't to be.
This info was all gleaned from the book THE COMPLETE MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE DOSSIER by Patrick J. White. Naturally, there was a lot of "he said, she said" going on around the situation of Landau and Bain, and even after all these years, the story is different depending on who one talks to.
Harry
