At long last, Mission: Impossible! - Page 4

Re: At long last, Mission: Impossible!

Over at the 'Bits site (Digital Bits), today's "Rumor Mill" post has a street date for the movie 10/31 - Mission: Impossible III (Paramount) . If the tie-in theory applies to the series, maybe that's the reason for the delay. Makes sense. But then, when does the TV/DVD industry make sense?

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Eh, shows me to post at work.

And matching up with the movie DVD release would make sense. I know Paramount missed the movie's theatrical release for some reason (I think tvshowsondvd.com were guessing that Paramount was going to put out the first two seasons so they could get people fond of Peter Graves into buying a season). Just as long as they put it out....plus it would rock if they somehow managed to get Season 2 out before the end of the year. I'll keep my fingers crossed there.

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It looks as though Paramount has quietly changed the artwork for this set, or at least the title's logo. Davisdvd.com has posted the back-cover art:

http://www.davisdvd.com/images/backs...possibletv.jpg

The originally-announced cover featured the title in a modern typestyle, while this back-cover shot shows the title in its original design. Maybe someone from Paramount has been reading this thread.

Re: At long last, Mission: Impossible!

EzyDVD have the r4 release of the M:I series listed for 2 November, the same date as they have the r4 release of M:I:3.

So they definitely seem to be pairing the release of the series with the movie.

Well spotted. That looks much better. Hopefully it does follow through to the front cover also.

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It doesn't matter how the Mission: Impossible package cover design looks, just as long as the shows themselves are in pristine condition.

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Matt, I received a number of complaints from people about the logo, and I forwarded them on to Paramount. Glad to see the complaints made it to the right people....now if they'd only tell us when the set will be released.

Gord

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December 5th.....Mission Impossible (Season One) on DVD!!!!!

Woo Hoo !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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The recently released Perry Mason DVD has a preview section which includes clips from the upcoming MI set.

If the quality of the clips in the preview is any indication of the full product fans of this series are going to be in for a real treat. Absolutely stunning is the only description I can think of.

Steve

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Steve, thanks for the info on the MI preview. I'm counting the days for that one. 13 days, then the "mission" begins

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On my "to buy" list. too.

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Awesome, and season 2 is set for R2 for March I believe! Woohoo

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Steve, I just received PM S1 V2 and went to the "Preview" section first after reading your post. Awesome is the word! I thought that 2-3 second clip with Steven Hill was a cool way for Paramount to do that Xfrs as Steve said are outstanding! Can't wait for this one! Who can forget that MI theme soundtrack? It's great to hear that S2 is coming in R2 in March. That tells me that Paramount will at least release 2 seasons of this series. Thanks for that info, Nick!

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Here's another show that I haven't seen in a long time and barely remember but I'm planning on buying this series. I'm certain I will love it and there's a good chance that I will find it rewatchable. I'm a big fan of Martin Landau and I love the theme song.

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I live in the UK and got the R2 boxed set about a week ago. If the R1 is anywhere near as good picture- and sound-wise, then you guys are in for a treat. No, it's not going to win prizes for best sound or cinematography, but given the vintage of this series, everything looks clean and unfaded, and the sound is agreeably crisp, even if a bit bass-light. My only beef is a complete absence of extras. As I believe all the cast of the first series are still very much with us (with the sad exception of the guy who played Barney, one of my childhood heroes) a cheap and cheerful set of interviews would have been nice. Perhaps these are being planned for the next series if this one sells...

As regards the shows, all I can say is that as a Brit, I am one happy bunny. I realised that I've never seen series 1 at all. The only shows I can recall seeing as a kid had Mr Phelps and as an adult, I don't think I've ever seen series 1 on re-runs.

The shows themselves still hold up. Okay, some things are dated (especially the interrogation/torture scenes, which consist of being slapped lightly across the face) and there's the occasional dud (e.g. the fake spiritualist episode) but in the main there is a commendable vigour to the scripts. Oh yes, and another thing - I hadn't realised how hot Barbara Bain was.

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How can the late Greg Morris (who played Barney Collier) be your childhood hero, if you didn't even know the actor's name?

As for the interrogation scenes, they sometimes involved chemical injections so the old show wasn't completed dated. The only things that age it are the "switch box" technology, the clothes, and the music.

Barbara Bain was very hot indeed, and she actually got do some comedy in an early episode of Get Smart the season before Mission: Impossible started.

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The character of Barney was my hero, not the actor.

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Ok, fair enough. Did you get to see the 3 episodes that Greg did (including a 2-parter) playing Barney again in the late 1980s revival of Mission: Impossible?

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No, damnit! To the best of my knowledge, the revival was only ever shown during the daytime in the UK and I missed it until what turned out to be the last episode broadcast. Figures ...

I just hope that the issues of MI include the revived series. I understand it wasn't up to the original, but even mediocre MI was better than a lot of what's currently on the box.

Come to think of it, in some ways, MI was ahead of its time. Cinnamon got to play the helpless airheaded female in a lot of episodes, but that was her playing a role to play up to the misogynistic mindset of the villains, and the rest of the MI team always treated her as an equal. In a similar way, Barney wasn't treated as the token black on the team, but was an equal. And all along was a message that brains can outsmart brawn (compare with e.g. the number of gratuitous scenes of fist fights and kissing in the supposedly more advanced Star Trek from the same stable). I know that as a put-upon brainiac kid, it left me with some good role models based on intellectual rather than physical strength (even Mr Lupus's character was quick-thinking), so I suppose I've something to thank the writers of MI for.

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I remember those episodes. Wasn't Barney supposed to be the father of one of the team?

I really hope the 80s series gets a release after the classic series is finished being releases, as that was the version I grew up watching.

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Greg Morris (Barney), was in fact, the real father of actor Phil Morris, who played Barney's son in the '80s revival series.

Harry

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Well, the new MI had a superior version of the famous theme song, but it could be argued that the vastly inferior Tom Cruise movies managed to top that. At least both TV versions had Peter Graves, and in the 1980s Phelps got his missions on laserdisc.

Not really. The original Mission: Impossible wasn't the first series to give women or blacks equal treatment -- far from it. As with Bill Cosby on I SPY or Cicely Tyson on the George C. Scott series "East Side, West Side" a few years earlier, it had no relevance. And when Barbara Bain and her husband quit MI in 1969, the various women that replaced the Cinnamon character just happened to all be beautiful -- most notably Casey, played by Lynda Day George. Lynda didn't age too well when she guest starred on the new series in 1989, but it was a welcome return to acting for Lynda. And it was in that episode in which Casey's first name (Lisa) was revealed.

Peter Lupus didn't play Willy as a dumb guy, in spite of the fact that he just happened to be the muscle on the team. In later years Willy got more lines, and in one episode he even became the impetus of the plot!

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Apologies, I knew not of these shows. I can't recall watching 'I Spy' (I think it was on UK TV, but it certainly wasn't as big a hit as MI or Star Trek) and East Side, West Side, to the best of my knowledge, was never shown in the UK.

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I'm Enjoying Lupus's Brief Stint as Neurborg on the Ploice Squad Series, Love the ep when he's Grinding Keys!

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That's one of several examples of race not mattering, but it is amusing to note that O.J. Simpson replaced Lupus in the Sgt. Nordberg role in the Police Squad: Naked Gun movies.

Other famous TV characters who went from white to black:

Telly Savalas and Ving Rhames as KOJAK. Telly made it to Inspector by the 1990 series, but in this century, Ving remained a Lieutenant.

The Wild Wild West's Robert Conrad and in the feature film remake that ruined the concept of the TV series, Will Smith as James West.

There must be others, but I can't think of any at the moment.

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Here is a cast pic from the New Mission Impossible series. The female actress Terry Markwell (shown here) was replaced by Jane Badler (from "V")



I have most of the episodes taped on slp vhs and the quality is stinky. I do hope they release this show on dvd.

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I remember the episode when that happened. I was sad after that episode.

Last night, I was talking to a friend, and when I mentioned that I was excited about picking up this release, he was confused. "A Mission: Impossible TV series?" I was appalled. He had no idea there was a series before the movie. So I explained to him about the 60s series, the 80s series, and why the ending of the first movie was such an insult to those that watched the series.

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What I liked about the original Mission: Impossible series is that the American series maintained its European style of filmmaking even into later seasons. Even before Bruce Gellar was banned from the Paramount lot in 1971, he modernized the show a bit in the 1970-71 season with a much better-sounding new version by Lalo Schifrin of his theme music. What's odd to me is that once another Bruce (Lansbury) took over as Executive Producer, they reverted to the original 1960s theme for the 1971-72 season. Finally in the 7th and last season the show had another hip new version that in some ways improved upon the 5th season theme.

What's much more important though is how the writers got away from the foreign dictators and emissaries seen during the first 5 years. They were abandoned during the last 2 seasons when the MI crew felt that due to increased American opposition to the war in Vietnam, to have all of the stories instead focus on The Syndicate here in the United States. Phelps and his IM team went after mob bosses and also smaller-time hoods. Somehow that seems almost as relevant today with Homeland Security essentially doing the same thing (we hope) due to the ongoing threat of terrorism. Although I prefer the foreign locales, the Paramount lot had too many technical limitations as the set designers were forced to change and re-use the same sets numerous times. It's tough makng Los Angeles look like a European or African locale!

The late 1980s Mission: Impossible brought back the international flavor that made the original series great. The new show was on a different network (ABC), and for the first time they really did leave the U.S. because as a cost-cutting measure it was filmed in Queensland, Australia.

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any reviews as yet?

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Mine just came in the mail today.

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I received the set today and have only had time to do a spot check of a few episodes. But... they look absolutely fantastic -- especially considering the age of the series. Colors are rich and intense and yet the image has a distinctly 60's feel. I can't remember ever seeing look anywhere near this good in syndication.

-greg