CBS Press Release: Mission Impossible: The Original TV Series (1 Viewer)

[Blimpoy06]

It's been almost a decade since I've re-watched the 1988-1990 M:I series. However, you're right - I do seem to remember that the show had more exposition than the original version.

The original series had already started to dumb it down by season 5. Season's 6 and 7 even went so far as to set up the story with "The Syndicate" before Jim Phelps received his mission. The audience had already seen the target of the IMF and the whole backstory, making the tape scene superfluous. You now had two scenes to figure out the plot. To me, the 88' series was better than many of the the stories in the 70's.

Nice continuity with the original by having Peter Graves reprise his role as Jim Phelps, and having Grant Collier as one of the new characters.

Don't forget that Lynda Day George and Greg Morris appeared as their characters Casey and Barney on the 88' show. And Bob Johnson once again provided the voice giving the IMF their mission every week.

 

[Lord Dalek]

"Dumbing down" was basically Bruce Lansbury's contribution to Mission. Instead of the secret crusaders against international injustice that the IMF were durring Stanley Kalis's and Paul Playdon's runs, Lansbury felt the IMF should be more focused on domestic issues. IE: Gangster of the Week represented by the anonymous Syndicate.

 

[Harry-N]

Part of that was budget cutting. Trying to show a new foreign country every week was expensive, and they'd used the Paramount lot over and over again already.

I preferred the earlier seasons.

The 88-89 series used Australian locations giving the show a fresher look, even if it was "dumbed down" a bit.

 

[Neil Brock]

They should have done a flashback episode, showing how the IMF (aka CIA) killed JFK. Now, that would have been a great episode!

 

[The Drifter]

Part of that was budget cutting. Trying to show a new foreign country every week was expensive, and they'd used the Paramount lot over and over again already.

I preferred the earlier seasons.

The 88-89 series used Australian locations giving the show a fresher look, even if it was "dumbed down" a bit.

Yes, I also preferred the earlier seasons of the original M:I, but I understand that budgetary reasons dictated that the later seasons had to be set in the U.S. And, as I said earlier - I did like the whole series, even the later seasons. Any episode of the original M:I (either an earlier season or a later one) was still better than many other TV shows out there.

Yes, the '88-'90 series was filmed in Australia, and I found this setting visually interesting & unique. I also felt it made the show stand out more (for the better) than it would have if it had been filmed in the U.S./Canada.

 

[bmasters9]

Any episode of the original M:I (either an earlier season or a later one) was still better than many other TV shows out there.

Ditto for me on Streets (Richard Hatch included)!

 

[David Weicker]

Just an FYI,

Both ImportCDs and DeepDiscount have listings for a Mission Impossible Complete Series on Blu-Ray with a release date of 11/17/20.

They show a disc count of 51 discs, so either the first seven series are on more discs (it was 46 discs on DVD, plus a bonus disc), or the '88/'89 revival series may be included (although they were 9 discs on DVD).

 

[ScottHM]

It's listed on Amazon too, but at about $40 higher than DeepDiscount.

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[mark27b]

With 2 M:I movies being filmed back to back will probably be released as a tie-in as with the Wonder Woman blu-rays to WW84

 

[mark27b]

On HD Wow too

Number of Discs:	51
Attributes:	Boxed Set, Widescreen, Special Packaging
Release Date:	17/11/2020
Media Format:	Blu-ray
Rated:	NR
UPC:	032429348289
Run Time:	8618 minutes

 

[Ethan Riley]

Good lord... See on Amazon

 

[Matt Hough]

Yes, I got the press release/review solicitation for it today, too. I had NO idea it was even being worked on for Blu-ray release.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

This is a real surprise, particularly for CBS in the year 2020. They’re smart to be releasing it as a complete series; that suggests they understand where they went wrong with other vintage shows on BD that weren’t able to sustain interest in incremental releases.

 

[Harry-N]

I'm torn here. I never thought this would get an actual Blu-ray release, but here it is - announced and out there for pre-order. I'm torn because I already have the DVDs of all seven original seasons, plus the two sets from the 80s series. As I recall, I spent around $25 to $33 for each of those seasons as they came out, so all totaled, I've got a minimum of $225 in those purchases. By comparison, if this goes for around $100, I might do it. We'll see.

 

[Osato]

I'm torn here. I never thought this would get an actual Blu-ray release, but here it is - announced and out there for pre-order. I'm torn because I already have the DVDs of all seven original seasons, plus the two sets from the 80s series. As I recall, I spent around $25 to $33 for each of those seasons as they came out, so all totaled, I've got a minimum of $225 in those purchases. By comparison, if this goes for around $100, I might do it. We'll see.

Miya pretty expensive. I’m guessing a price break is coming eventually.

cool news that another classic tv show is coming to Blu ray though!!

 

[Robert Crawford]

It's listed on Amazon too, but at about $40 higher than DeepDiscount.

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That's the MSRP on Amazon as they haven't discounted it yet like DD.

 

[Museum Pieces]

If I didn't already have the complete series on DVD (and paid premium for it), I'd buy this. I just can't justify it, even if CBS does their usual good transfer job. But I'm happy for the fans that never kicked out for the DVDs or those who kick out again and enjoy the better quality. The real question is: will I be able to resist later when the reviews come out or even later when the price drops?

I think so, since honestly, I only watch the first four seasons or so. I rarely watch anything beyond that, and mostly just watch seasons 1-2. But glad this is out there for posterity. What a surprise.

 

[dawnshadow]

46 (or supposedly 51) Blu-rays is an absolute bargain at $100, or even the MSRP of $144.99. It's only $2-3 a disc, honestly. There's a reason Blu-ray is dying if you guys aren't even willing to support this lifeline that we're being thrown here. This is a CBS property, CBS are the people who were asking $90 just for Season 1 of I Love Lucy, and didn't even learn their lesson by the time Charmed was getting a Blu-ray release. They are finally doing this the correct way, at a super affordable price, and you guys are seriously considering not supporting it? So yeah, you spent $225 on the DVD releases. That's double this price, and it's an inferior format. If you were willing to spend $225 on a complete series DVD back then, but won't spend $100 on a complete series Blu-ray, that's absurd to me.

For comparison, Warner Home Video is asking $84.99 for The Flintstones on Blu-ray, and that's only 10 discs - which quite clearly shows they're putting in zero effort and probably a ton of DNR. Paramount is offering nearly 5 times that many discs for less than double that price, and I'd say they're clearly actually putting care into the product. This is the kind of release that this community needs to support to benefit us in the future with more classic TV on Blu-ray.

 

[BobO'Link]

Well... I paid roughly $15/season for this on DVD. The BR price is absolutely competitive. It's a favorite series. I'll be getting this - probably not on release date but as soon as possible (quite likely it'll be this year's Christmas set from my wife).

 

[Robert Crawford]

46 (or supposedly 51) Blu-rays is an absolute bargain at $100, or even the MSRP of $144.99. It's only $2-3 a disc, honestly. There's a reason Blu-ray is dying if you guys aren't even willing to support this lifeline that we're being thrown here. This is a CBS property, CBS are the people who were asking $90 just for Season 1 of I Love Lucy, and didn't even learn their lesson by the time Charmed was getting a Blu-ray release. They are finally doing this the correct way, at a super affordable price, and you guys are seriously considering not supporting it? So yeah, you spent $225 on the DVD releases. That's double this price, and it's an inferior format. If you were willing to spend $225 on a complete series DVD back then, but won't spend $100 on a complete series Blu-ray, that's absurd to me.

For comparison, Warner Home Video is asking $84.99 for The Flintstones on Blu-ray, and that's only 10 discs - which quite clearly shows they're putting in zero effort and probably a ton of DNR. Paramount is offering nearly 5 times that many discs for less than double that price, and I'd say they're clearly actually putting care into the product. This is the kind of release that this community needs to support to benefit us in the future with more classic TV on Blu-ray.

To say Warner Archive isn't putting any effort into their Flintstones release is a cheap shot that I don't agree with. Secondly, how people spend their discretionary income is their personal business. I'm not going to be presumptuous to tell others how to spend their hard earned monies.