At long last, Mission: Impossible! - Page 3

Re: At long last, Mission: Impossible!

Speaking as the Matthew that asked the initial question, I can confirm that I was, indeed, asking about the description of it as the first TV season. I even bolded the word "TV" in my post to try and make that clear, but since TV is such a short word, perhaps the fact that it was bolded for emphasis wasn't sufficiently noticable.

Re: At long last, Mission: Impossible!

Not everybody purchases stuff from Best Buy!!

Online e-tailers don't necessarily tell you that an item is a TV show vs. a movie.

Wal-Mart stores do not really have an area that's significantly defined as "TV-DVDs" where they exclusively keep non-TV releases out of that area; there are always films creeping in among the season sets at every Wal-Mart I visit (4 of them). Maybe it's my town, but I kinda doubt it's better elsewhere.

Best Buy, Circuit City and Target all have very well-defined TV-DVD sections, but they also have "Best Seller/New Arrival" areas where TV and Film DVD releases are always mixed together.

I agree that it is strange to specify "TV" in "TV Season". On the other hand, it's probably a cover-your-ass thing: with them purposefully confusing fans of the films by using the film logo on the TV show box in order to trick film fans into buying the DVD, they are trying to "CYA" themselves by specifying "TV" on the cover so that they can claim "but we SAID it wasn't the film!"

I imagine that fan reaction to this move of using the film logo on the box for the TV series will be accepted by fans about as easily as a Star Trek: TOS release would be accepted by Trekkies if the font used on the box was the ST:TNG font. Fans go apeshit over that sort of thing; it's wise for the studio to avoid biting the hand that feeds them by doing this crap. Same reason Trekkies are irritated that the Star Trek: Animated Series art shows what seems to be a film version of the Enterprise; it just doesn't feel authentic.






To answer a separate question, James Landau has stated in at least one other thread here at HTF that he is not related to Martin Landau.

Re: At long last, Mission: Impossible!

Never underestimate the intelligence of those who work in retail stores. In several recent trips to the mall, I've browsed through the FYE store, looking in the TV shows section. I'd been somewhat surprised by the fact that they always had VOYAGE TO THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA, but never TIME TUNNEL, and not even a card to indicate they had it, but might be sold out. On the most recent trip there, I found TIME TUNNEL - in the Science Fiction Movies section.

I too would have preferred the use of the original "MISSION:IMPOSSIBLE" logo, but if the set is well-mastered, I won't care too much about the artwork. The first season will be a treat, since it was often skipped in syndication. The whole "specialized team" concept was utilized effectively in the first year. The people pictured tended to be in many episodes, but, IIRC, Martin Landau was listed as a "guest star" (was Barbara Bain also listed that way?). The Willy character was used in a few episodes and didn't speak. Other guest stars with varying specialties joined in the missions as required.

As for the use of the word "TV" on the cover - it's probably a clause in Tom Cruise's contract!

This is great news - and I'll be there, first in line, on September 12th.

Harry

Re: At long last, Mission: Impossible!

Martin Landau (as revealed in an old Starlog interview), said that when Bruce Geller came to him with the concept, he was intrigued, but didn't want to commit to the whole season in case it wasn't as good as everyone thought, so he just signed on with the intention of being an occasional guest star. He liked doing it so much that he signed on for 20 or so of the episodes that season and agreed to become a regular in season 2.

I think part of the deal for Martin doing the series at all was that Barbara Bain was to be signed on as a regular.

BTW, Landau's character was originally to have been named "Martin Land", but Landau thought that was a bit "too much", so they changed it to Rollin Hand.

Re: At long last, Mission: Impossible!

Which is why they should change it to something like this...




edit: I tweaked it a bit to better reflect the actual logo and color.

Re: At long last, Mission: Impossible!

You're a genius, Matt A lot better than the studio cover. I think maybe you have found that "2nd career"

Re: At long last, Mission: Impossible!

Jeff, you give me way too much credit. I just modified the title to reflect its correct typestyle. The one Paramount announced is just too "modern" and "sleek" looking for this vintage show. There's no reason to tamper with its original look.

Re: At long last, Mission: Impossible!

I thought the Artwork to be pretty cool, Love that we are getting the early shows since syndication rarely showed them. There's just so much TV Stuff Coming it's Mind Boggling

Re: At long last, Mission: Impossible!

I'm glad so many shows from the '60s are finally coming! Three of my most-wanted '60s shows are released this year (Big Valley, M:I, Get Smart.) That leaves only Batman and The Addams Family... and there is recent buzz on both these shows. I'd say things are looking real good!

Now, about those '70s shows... (The Six Million Dollar Man, The Bionic Woman...)

Re: At long last, Mission: Impossible!

I normally can't stand "floating head" covers, but this one is pretty good (except for the wrong font for the title.) At least Paramount didn't try to capitalize on the Tom Cruise movies with a cover like this...

Re: At long last, Mission: Impossible!

Here's a simple way to tell the difference - the TV show was great, the movies suck.

Re: At long last, Mission: Impossible!

True, it could've been worse, but to be fair, I don't think Paramount could've gotten away with a cover featuring Tom Cruise's picture on it, as he does not appear in the content. Apart from being unethical and overtly misleading, I'm sure Mr. Cruise has some kind of merchandising clause in his contract forbidding using his image on something that doesn't feature him.

Now, if they bundled the movie with the show, I guess that they could get away with it...

Re: At long last, Mission: Impossible!

It really doesn't make a bit of difference to me which Mission: Impossible logo Paramount uses, as long as the shows are complete and unedited. Besides...the original logo appears in the episodes themselves. We won't be looking at the box art that much anyway.

Re: At long last, Mission: Impossible!

Well it makes a big difference to me, plus I'll be seeing the logo on the spine when it rests on my shelf with the other classic tv sets. These insipid decisions to "retronym" everything classic is reaching bombastic proportions and I wish corporate minds would stop trying to modernize the product. The "Jonny Quest" cover with the new characters on it, the upcoming covers for "Star Trek" animated and "Rawhide" are some blatant examples. Then there's the generic "Time Tunnel".

Most companies seem to be afraid to showcase the fact that for some shows the episodes contained within are B&W, (Rawhide) which I find very insulting. Having a color close-up of Clint Eastwood, with Eric Fleming in the background is a slap in the face to fans of classic tv. Same holds true here for MI with the film logo. I very much appreciate the fact that these titles are being released but I tire of the corporate mindset failing to grasp the sentiments of the fan base. Just wait until old shows turn up on blue-ray or HD-DVD, if at all. I can just imagine some goofy hologram type picture with candy colors gracing the cover of "Burns and Allen".

Re: At long last, Mission: Impossible!

That doesn't matter one bit, because there were a number of color photographs taken of the stars while the series was in production. I haven't seen the one you're typing about, but I suspect it's either a publicity photo or is from a TV GUIDE article from that period. Putting color photos on the cover of a B & W series may help sell more units, and will increase the chances of more sets being produced in the future. I think that's great, by the way!

However, I am opposed to colorizing pics like what has already happened to some of the older TV series from the late 1940s / early 50s. Your Burns & Allen example sounds like it fits that description. They did that with The Jack Benny Program. The public domain stuff is characteristic of that.

Re: At long last, Mission: Impossible!

I realize that, but the fact remains that we, as fans of shows like "Rawhide" associate the cast with B&W imagery--why mislead customers into thinking it's a color series? No one under the age of 30 (read: monochromophobe) is going to be purchasing this set unless it's a gift for Dad who's aware already that it's B&W. And why try to tie in the MI series from 40 years ago to the dreadful series of films made with Cruise--they have as much relation to one another as "The Saint" and "The Avengers" series did with their respective (schlock) movie tie-ins.

Re: At long last, Mission: Impossible!

If they read the information on the back of the Rawhide box, it would say "B & W" and Copyright 1958, 1959, etc. Besides, if someone is a westerns fan anyway, they won't care that the show is in black & white. Either they'll like it or not.

Re: At long last, Mission: Impossible!

[Pulling out 5X magnifier] Ok, yes, I see it now...



Right, so just give us a cover that represents the show accurately then. Don't try to "candy coat" it. And don't insult us by trying to be "clever" in tying a film to a tv show with the illogic that if you like'd the MI films, you'll like the original series--because they are diametrically opposed, to put it mildly.

Re: At long last, Mission: Impossible!

Speaking of Best Buy and the TV section. I wonder why Best Buy has the Star Trek Fan Collective stuff in the movie section, with the Trek movies, and not in the TV section with the Trek TV shows? I asked, they dont know why. Its a Corporate thing.

Re: At long last, Mission: Impossible!

You've got it all wrong, Michael!

I didn't care for the Tom Cruise films, and they proved to be poor substitutes for the both the original series and even the 1980s series. But if they see photos of the original MI cast on the box, there's no way they're going to confuse that with the Tom Cruise MI regardless of the logo. I'm not candy-coating anything.

The old series stands on its own. If anything, I believe fans of Steven Hill from several seasons of the Law & Order series will be among those who buy the first season. Others unfamiliar with the 1960s series will purchase it out of curiosity, whether they've seen the remakes or not.

Re: At long last, Mission: Impossible!

Well, it's been almost 2 months since they announced the artwork & less than 2 months until it's release. Have they still not released the features which will be on this set?

Re: At long last, Mission: Impossible!

If I had to guess I would say NONE.

Recently Wild Wild West have had some and I was surprised by that, but Perry Mason, had none, Have Gun Will Travel, had some episode notes, I don't think there are any features on the Rawhide set. But I can't find fault with Paramount they usually give us great transfers and a decent price

Re: At long last, Mission: Impossible!

Features or no features, what worries me most about this is the fact that Amazon.com still maintains that "The studio is currently not producing this title...". Also, TVShowsonDVD.com does not show M:I in their list of upcoming releases.

Re: At long last, Mission: Impossible!

That's it, Dave. Extras, etc are nice, but "Give me the un-cut eps with 1st-rate video Q, anytime"

Re: At long last, Mission: Impossible!

I am starting to get nervous. I see no way to preorder from Amazon or DvdEmpire. Can someone find out if it is still coming out in September. I am so looking forward to this set as I have not seen the show for a long time. This and Hawaii Five-0 are my favorites. It would be cool if someone could find out if Paramount will still be bringing Mission Impossible to dvd. I see alot of other shows coming out of Paramount-Jag, NCIS etc but no word on MI.

Re: At long last, Mission: Impossible!

I've checked every online e-tailer I know of, NONE of them have this listed which is not an encouraging sign given that series which are not being released until October (i.e. Numbers S3, Lost-S2, That Girl S2, Wings S3) are and have been available for pre-order in some cases for a few weeks now.

Re: At long last, Mission: Impossible!

Is the 3rd more up for pre order yet? I bet it will be announced when MI:3 is.

Re: At long last, Mission: Impossible!

TSoD posted the news that M:I S1 has been delayed. I wonder what the reason[s] are for the delay? Hopefully it will make it this year.

Re: At long last, Mission: Impossible!

I hope it goes through. After that whole Man from UNCLE debacle, I'm getting sacred.

Re: At long last, Mission: Impossible!

Is nothing sacred?

There's nothing to be scared about, Nick. As great as both series were, they were still just TV shows that will be released. Their time will come when it comes.