One of THE most suspenseful shows in the history of television.
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Good morning, Mr. Phelps. Your mission, should you choose to accept it... These were the words spoken in every episode of the show (except for first season when it was Mr. Briggs). After lighting a long burning fuse and watching a lightning fast barrage of scenes from the upcoming episode, the mission was laid out. Usually involving a third world country, or dictator, or crime boss...it didn't matter. Listen to what has to be done and ask yourself, "How the hell are they going to do that?". Finding out will be one of the most nail-biting experiences ever, and one of the best hours you ever spent in front of a television screen. Forget the movies..for get Tom what's-his-name. This is the real deal. Sure it was made in the sixties, and is a little dated. Sure the people on it are not as attractive and perfect on the screen as they are today. Who cares? If you let that stop you from experiencing this show, you're a fool! The writers of the first three seasons must have gotten migranes from coming up with different twists, turns and surprises week after week. The solutions and methods for accomplishing the missions were often mind-bending, and as the title states...seemingly impossible. It's seems the writers would constantly throw obstacles and blockades in the path of the IMF, just to come up with ways around them to keep audiences entertained on a weekly basis. One downside to this is, you're gonna run out of ideas after a while. You just are. Consequently, from the fourth season on, the plots and missions became increasingly similar, the writers having to recycle older script elements, which ended up letting the viewer figure out the resolution well before episode's end. This was almost never a problem with the first three years. The show originally featured Steven Hill (Law and Order) as IMF leader Daniel Briggs. Hill left/was replaced for reasons pertaining to his lack of availability for his own religious reasons. He was replaced by the more familiar Peter Graves as Mr. Phelps from the second season, on. The classic backup team was Martin Landau, as former illusionist and master of disguise, Rollin Hand.. his wife Barbara Bain played former model and seductress/sex kitten Cinnamon Carter, Gregg Morris played Barney Collier, an electronics and demolition specialist..and Peter Lupus played former circus strongman Willy Armitage. You never knew what roles these agents were going to play from week to week, or how they were going to escape from the almost certain death situations they were placed in. As the message always said, if any of them were caught or killed, they would be disavowed. They were almost always caught at one time or another, but managed to get free or were rescued, just barely, and always in the nick of time. If it sounds cliched, than you have been watching any one of the many imitators this series spawned... this is the original, the one that set all the ground rules! After the three year run, Leonard Nimoy replaced Landau after Star Trek's cancellation, Bain having departed with her husband . No real replacement was instituted for Miss Bain, except for Lee Merriwether in a few episodes. The only two characters to remain on the entire run were Morris and Lupus. In 1973, the original show ended (a little too late, if you ask me) and was revived in the eighties with Graves once again heading the team. It didn't last long. Then came the movies...and believe me, the similarity to the classic was in name only. If you get a chance, check the show out on DVD. But like I said, you're gonna want the first three seasons..top notch material! If you're younger, it might take you a short while to get used to the cold war atmosphere, but not long, and it's worth the effort. And be advised..this is not a show for multitasking. This is one you MUST watch. You take a break, or get distracted, you're gonna miss something, and the experience will be shot. Otherwise, you'll love it. This computer will self destruct in five seconds. Good luck, Jim.