Mission: Impossible - The Third TV Season

Well, here we are again with the third installment from the original Mission Impossible. This is the final season for Martin Landau and Barbara Bain. They will be replaced with Leonard Nimoy in the fourth season. Lots of good episodes here, including my favorite, "The Execution". The theme is the same as for the previous seasons. Jim gets a secret mission, selects and briefs his team (although we don't get every detail so there are always surprises), and then they go out and roust the bad guy. Most of these are credible and believable. Once in a while there is an episode which stretches reality. All are entertaining to watch, and the hour-long show is just about right, time wise. This set will be out in November and I'm looking forward to it with great anticipation. To date there are no extras on the DVD's and I imagine this one will follow suite. Still, the picture is sharp and clear and the audio track is reasonable (remember, these are from the 60's). Once again, if you've never seen one of the television episodes and only know Mission Impossible from the Tom Cruise movies, do yourself a great favor and buy or rent one of the sets. All are good. Many, many evenings of entertainment value for the whole family here. For those who want an episode list ..... Episode 1: The Heir Apparent Original Air Date: 29 September 1968 Episode 2: The Contender: Part 1 Original Air Date: 6 October 1968 Episode 3: The Contender: Part 2 Original Air Date: 13 October 1968 Episode 4: The Mercenaries Original Air Date: 20 October 1968 Episode 5: The Execution Original Air Date: 10 November 1968 Episode 6: The Cardinal Original Air Date: 17 November 1968 Episode 7: The Elixir Original Air Date: 24 November 1968 Episode 8: The Diplomat Original Air Date: 1 December 1968 Episode 9: The Play Original Air Date: 8 December 1968 Episode 10: The Bargain Original Air Date: 15 December 1968 Episode 11: The Freeze Original Air Date: 23 December 1968 Episode 12: The Exchange Original Air Date: 4 January 1969 Episode 13: The Mind of Stefan Miklos Original Air Date: 12 January 1969 Episode 14: The Test Case Original Air Date: 19 January 1969 Episode 15: The System Original Air Date: 26 January 1969 Episode 16: The Glass Cage Original Air Date: 2 February 1969 Episode 17: Doomsday Original Air Date: 16 February 1969 Episode 18: Live Bait Original Air Date: 23 February 1969 Episode 19: The Bunker: Part 1 Original Air Date: 2 March 1969 Episode 20: The Bunker: Part 2 Original Air Date: 9 March 1969 Episode 21: Nitro Original Air Date: 23 March 1969 Episode 22: Nicole Original Air Date: 30 March 1969 Episode 23: The Vault Original Air Date: 6 April 1969 Episode 24: Illusion Original Air Date: 13 April 1969 Episode 25: The Interrogator Original Air Date: 20 April 1969

It was in season 3 that the show reached it peak. One outstanding episode after another. And what is really remarkable was that this was in the midst of a major behind-the-scenes power struggle that could have destroyed the series. The original pair that wrote many of the scripts and basically determined which ideas would be used were William Read Woodfield and Alan Balter. However, in the middle of the filming of the third season, they got into a major confrontation with series creator Bruce Geller and abruptly left the show which was in the midst of production without any scripts for upcoming shows. In a panic, the writer Paul Playdon, a young writer only in his 20's came on board and cranked out a series of really outstanding stories and supervised others which were written by other writers. Playdon's stories often (but not always) use a lot of fancy gadgetry which I like. This is seen in episodes like "The Bunker" and "The Glass Cage". On the other hand, his most cerebral episode, "The Mind of Stefan Miklos", has no action and no gadgetry and yet is one of the finest hours of television ever produced with some outstanding acting by Martin Landau and guest star Steve Ihnat. In this one, the viewer is challenged to pay especially close attention to the plot and to understand what is going on. "The Glass Cage" has a political prisoner locked in a glass cage which is surrounded 24 hours a day by guards, television monitors, an electric floor and alarms, but the IMF has to get this prisoner out. As you watch it, the viewer keeps asking himself "how the heck are they going to pull this one off!". For the more morbid viewers out there, in "The Execution", the MI producers were given access to the actual gas chamber used to execute criminals in the state of California of the time and they built an exact duplicate showing how it worked. Buy this DVD and prepare yourself for some of the finest entertainment ever made by Hollywood. I'll just leave you with some cryptic words : "January Suborbital Denomination!".

This particular season 3 is a peak from a creative standpoint (scripts, film-making, actings) but later seasons still contain fine episodes: don't miss them, especially those with Leonard Nimoy (season 4 and 5) and Lynda Day George (season 6 and 7). Season 3 is chaotic because of producers' changes: William Read Woodfield/Allan Balter keep the spirit of Gantman's season 1 and 2, Robert H. Thompson and Stanley Kallis--Kallis will continue until season 4. Martin Landau deliver his finest performances in a masochist and pathological trilogy: as an agonizing death row convict in "The Execution" (produced and written by William Read Woodfield and Allan Balter), as a guinea pig simulating death by suffocation in "The Test Case" and as a hysterical political prisoner tortured to reveal informations in "The Interrogator". Season 3 features some top television directors: Sutton Roley, Stuart Hagmann, John Moxey, Resa S. Badiyi. Writer Laurence Heath fashions three of his best offerings: "The Mercenaries" (guest starring Pernell Roberts) which highlights the most impressive gold heist of the entire series, "The Exchange" (guest starring John Vernon) that explore Cinnamon's hidden phobia (claustrophobia) and "Illusion" (guest starring Fritz Weaver) in which Cinnamon performs three songs a la Marlene Dietrich in an East German cabaret. But above all, one man revolutionizes the series: young writer/story consultant Paul Playdon who concocts the ultimate masterpiece in cerebral games: "The Mind of Stefan Miklos" guest starring the late Steve Ihnat in the title role playing USSR's finest secret agent which has a photographic memory. Playdon also introduce Rollin's greatest nemesis: master of disguises Alexander Ventlos in the two parter "The Bunker", and Playdon rewrite "Live Bait": another seminal episode guest starring Anthony Zerbe and Martin Sheen.

This is probably the best season of Mission Impossible. In most of the episodes they have dropped the opening sequence where Mr. Phelps selects his agents (by photograph). The season was well produced though they did have a change in producers about one-third into the season which didn't seem to effect the quality of writing. This is also the last season that has Martin Landau & Barbara Bain as cast members. Those of you that might not have noticed there was a strong connection between this series & Star Trek. They were both casted by Joseph D'Agosta; over the course of the first three seasons there were many actors & actresses that appeared in both series. This even included George Takei who was a regular on Star Trek portraying Sulu. The episode that really stood out in season three was "Nicole" which guest star Joan Collins was featured as a love interest for Mr. Phelps, alas, she was a double agent. This particular episode also had two more alumni that did at least one Star Trek episode. "Nicole" also stood out because it only had Phelps & Hand from the IMF team. DVD quality is excellent & it has subtitles in English, Spanish & Portugese. Unfortunately, There aren't any other bonus features. A featurette or two would've been really nice giving behind the scenes info on some of the special effects or producers & directors thought on episodes. It's still a great buy though.

Mission: Impossible's third season was its best -- best stories, best cast, best guest stars, and best puzzle-boxes for the IM force to break into. In fact, the first episode features a literal puzzle box -- a toy that Cinnamon has to solve while impersonating a blind heiress (or not, like Anastasia) who could prevent a petty dictator from taking power in a mysterious country located somewhere on the border between Venezuela and Bulgaria, where everyone speaks English in a broken Eastern European accent, and blue-eyed silver-haired force leader Jim Phelps (Peter Graves) fits right in. Such was always the backdrop for the foreign settings of the missions, where the force could rely on outstanding intelligence to discover everything from the bad guys' preferred method of torture and murder to the existence of underground tunnels to take them to vaults full of gold bars. It's probably my personal bias, but I like these episodes the most because I remember them from when I was eight years old, watching this show in its original run. The DVD set includes my favorite episode -- well, two episodes -- "The Bunker", in which a nuclear scientist is working on a bomb for a small country that's holding his wife hostage. For the first time in the series, the IM force is also up against a third country that has sent an assassin after the scientist as well. There's also "The Mercenaries", during which Barney is able to melt a million bucks' worth of gold with a lawn-mower-engine powered set of curling irons in about six hours, after which Willy reconstitutes the molten gold into new bars that he is easily able to lift onto a forklift. Okay, so it sounds like you have to suspend disbelief until it cracks, but it works. The production values are at their zenith in this episode, if you overlook the fact that the basements all look identical for about five episodes in a row, and the guest stars (Pernell Roberts, Lee Meriwether, and the inimitable John Vernon, among others) were the cream of the crop in the '60s. The incidental music is the best the series had to offer as well. Like the previous sets, the DVDs don't come with lots of extras, but have good transfers and high sound and picture quality, and the package is trim as can be. As always, should you choose not to purchase these DVDs, the Secretary will disavow any knowledge of your action.

The third season of Mission Impossible in my opinion is my favorite so far of the series I've been buying each season once a month and this is my favorite so far. The entire cast from the previous season is back from Peter Graves to Greg Morris, Peter Lupus, Barbara Bain and Martin Landau. In my opinion this is when the show was at the height of its excellence and could show that it could also be a great drama series not just a great action series. The episode titled the execution I thought was really well-written drama on top of being an exciting Action episode. I highly recommend this DVD set Amazon selling it for a very low price you get all the episodes from the season but there are no special features however

Hi folks, just to let you know that I have aleady pre-ordered Season 3. Seasons 1 & 2, I just received this morning. You can trust Amazon.com with fast and reliable delivery, even though I live in Canada! I look forward very much to viewing Season 3 which would come prior to Christmas time, and with nothing much to do since I have retired. Season 3 will provide me with nights of good entertainment and nostalgia of the good old days of 1960s. I was then in my twenties and actively raising a family. My children together with my late grand uncle and his family would drop by on every Saturday evening and watch Mission Impossible together with much joy and great anticipation. Of course, we thoroughly enjoy this weekly TV show. I still enjoy listening particularly to the stirring theme song! Then our TV was only in black-and-white as color television was not yet introduced in Malaysia! My family and my grand uncle's family definitely had a great time watching this weekly episode. He was also my fishing buddy. Too bad he wasn't around anymore to share the same thrill and relive the old times together...! With tears in my eyes I remember him when I watch Mission Impossible. I hope in Season 3 onwards, Paramount Studios would introduce some bonus features regarding this most popular TV series. An inclusion of an interview with Peter Graves, Martin Landu, Barbara Bain, Peter Lupus and Greg Morris would be great and eargerly sought after by MI fans worldwide. So how about that dear Paramount Studios? Well...MI fans I hope you would also order Season 3 soon so that your Christmas this year would have more joy, excitement and color. All the best to all of you from me - Western Canada. Remain in good health to watch the entire series folks. Cheers & goodbye for now.

Loved it