Star Trek was finishing its run on the very next soundstage, which made Leonard Nimoy, who looks a bit like Landau, available. Things went well for the first three seasons but then salary disputes with Paramount caused Bain and Landau to be replaced. Originally this was to have been a brief appearance but his work so impressed producers, that he was signed as a permanent cast member. Barbara Bain was the obligatory female agent, Cinnamon Carter.īain’s real life husband Martin Landau was cast as Rollin Hand, the master of disguise. The original cast included Greg Morris as Barney Collier, the electronics wiz, and Peter Lupus as Willie Armitage, the muscle. In later seasons, having reorganized a significant number of third world nations, the Mission Impossible Force turned its attention to crime syndicates in America. In short, the kind of thing we imagine the CIA really does but doesn’t want to get caught doing. The plots were always very complicated and usually involved the overthrow of some dictator or the theft of secret papers. Since Jim always picked the same people, this seemed sort of silly and was eventually dropped. In the first seasons the self-destructing tape came with a packet of pictures of potential agents to use on the assignment. Graves, brother of Gunsmoke star James Arness, is the leader we remember. In the second season, the team is headed by Peter Graves as Jim Phelps. In 1990, these limitations were accomodated by producer Dick Wolf as Hill began his 10 year run as D.A. Reportedly, Hill’s contract restrictions which limited the days and hours he would work in order for the Orthodox Jew to strictly observe his religion became a problem. In the first season, it was “your mission, Dan” as Steven Hill ( real name, Solomon Krakovsky) played Daniel Briggs, leader of the Impossible Mission Force. Poof! The tape went up in smoke! However much or little people may recall of Mission:Impossible, no one could forget the tension packed opening augmented by Lalo Schifrin’s jazzy theme music. This tape will self-destruct in five seconds. Force be captured or killed, the secretary will disavow any knowledge of your existence.
I believe its meant to allude specifically to the classified and/or top secret stamps since the missions in the tv series are meant to be completed in secret.“Your mission, Jim, should you decide to accept it, is… As usual, should you or any member of your I.M. I believe “Impossible” is presented in this font and red coloring to resemble a stamp. This title is in red and slightly angled below the words “Mission”. The title “Impossible” is typed in a different Sans Serif font. It looks similar to the fonts found on older computers, which might be intentional to allude to the high-tech equipment that the secret agency possesses and utilizes in various missions. The title “Mission” and cast list are presented in a font that is very blocky with slight imperfections that I believe are meant to resemble pixellation. Typography that is unique to this show (excluding writing of info and names on ID cards, etc.) isn’t presented until the last 28 seconds of the video. This creates a fast-pace feel which evokes excitement within the viewers.
From start to finish everyone and everything is moving, there are no static shots. I think this is a very good way of presenting to viewers the overall plot of the series before they watch the episode.Ī lot of movement is presented in the opening credits which I believe represents the amount of action and adventure that takes place within each episode. The introduction of each tv series character also creatively presents the different types of missions as well as the different kinds of disguises and devices they might use. I believe this imagery also alludes to the types of missions that the secret agents will take part in, in the tv series, such as reworking wires and deactivating bombs. The opening credits also convey the message of how missions must be completed in a timely manner as the wick of a bomb is lit with a match at the beginning of the scene and throughout the majority of the title scene the wick slowly runs out until it finally creates an explosion. Basically, everything that the job of a secret agent would entail can easily be visualized when listening to the theme song.
This music successfully conveys the message of action accompanied with a sort of smooth, sneakiness. It was originally composed by Lalo Schifrin. The theme song played in the opening credits of the tv series is now most iconically known for being, “spy music”. The Film Before the Film : Mission Impossible (1988 Original Series)