TV SERIES · 1966– · USA
Mission: Impossible
88 archived facts 5 topics 1 source Last reviewed Oct 2026
All facts (88)
- #001
Greg Morris and Peter Lupus were the only original cast members who stayed with the series throughout its entire run, though Sam Elliott replaced Lupus in roughly half of the fifth season's episodes.
- #002
Many people had grown so accustomed to Jim Phelps (Peter Graves) as the team's leader that many viewers were shocked when they saw reruns of the first season, in which Dan Briggs (Steven Hill) was the leader of the IMF.
- #003
Nearly every actor or actress who was not a main cast member on Star Trek: The Original Series (1966) also appeared on this series. This was likely because both series were initially filmed at Desilu Studios and later at Paramount Studios. Prominent "Star Trek" performers who appeared as guest stars include George Takei, William Shatner and series regular Leonard Nimoy. Vic Perrin appeared in several episodes, and Percy Rodrigues appeared in Court Martial (1967)(#1.20) and also provided the voice-over for the Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987) trailer. There were also those who did not work on Star Trek: The Original Series but later appeared at some point in the Star Trek franchise.
- #004
When the tape recorder played the mission instructions, it was actually in "rewind" mode rather than "play" mode. This was because the tape moved too slowly to be believable as "playing."
- #005
Steven Hill left the cast after one season for two main reasons: 1) as an Orthodox Jew, he was unwilling to accommodate a production schedule that required the series to shoot on the Sabbath; 2) his disruptive behavior often brought filming to a halt.
- #006
The faceless figure shown striking a match in the opening title sequence was the series' creator, Bruce Geller. Until the series' 1988 revival, it was never shown being illuminated by a known character (Jim Phelps).
- #007
Pasadena City Hall in Pasadena, California, was frequently used as the capital building of a foreign country.
- #008
In the first season, Martin Landau's face was not shown in the main title sequence. Throughout that season he was listed in the credits as making a "special appearance." He was not considered a full cast member until the second season. This was because Landau, who at the time had a successful film career, did not want to commit to the standard five-year contract that studios typically demanded of actors on a television series. Series producer Bruce Geller wanted Landau so badly that he agreed to use him on a "guest star" basis in the first season. Landau signed one-year contracts at the start of the second and third seasons.
- #009
"Action!", "The Town" and "Kidnap" are the only episodes in which the head of the I.M.F. appears. The team did not receive instructions. In "Action!" Cinnamon Carter received the instructions instead, and it is the only first-season episode in which Daniel Briggs does not appear. In "The Town," while Jim Phelps was on vacation, he uncovered a town full of assassins who immobilized him and tried to kill him. In "Kidnap," Phelps was abducted and information regarding his release was given to Barney Collier. In "Homecoming," Jim came to his hometown to discover that someone was killing young women. There are only six episodes that are not "true missions": "Homecoming," "Kidnap," "Death Squad," "The Condemned" and "The Ransom." In "Cat's Paw," Barney's brother is killed and the team helps bring his killer to justice.
- #010
Willy Armitage was one of the few members of the team who did not smoke.
- #011
In many episodes, a large, white, ornate arch with metal gates was used, usually as a prison entrance. It was in fact the former main gate of the Paramount Pictures studios, where the series was filmed.
- #012
This series (excluding the 1988 revival) had the most episodes of any English-language spy series, with 171. Its closest rival was "The Avengers (1961)," with 161 episodes.
- #013
Greg Morris appeared in most episodes of the series, missing only five. He is also the only actor to appear in all 171 opening sequences.
- #014
When Lynda Day George had to miss several episodes of the seventh season due to maternity leave, her absence was explained by Casey being on a "special assignment" for the I.M.F. in Europe. This is the only time the reason for a regular cast member's disappearance from the series was stated.
- #015
The main reason Daniel Briggs (Steven Hill) and later Jim Phelps (Peter Graves) looked at photographs to select the various team members for each mission was that in most of the early episodes guest actors played the team members. However, once it became clear that the same members were chosen every time, the practice was abandoned.
- #016
After five seasons of international intrigue stories, the I.M.F. spent its last two seasons pursuing American gangsters.
- #017
Barney Collier was the only team member shown to have a relative; Collier's brother Lawrence was killed in "Cat's Paw," the fifteenth episode of the fifth season.
- #018
Aside from Bob Johnson (the voice heard saying "Good morning, Mr. Briggs" or "Phelps" in most episodes), Greg Morris and Peter Lupus were the only actors who worked on the series throughout its run.
- #019
In "Operation Rogosh," the third episode of the first season, the last photograph left in the portfolio as Briggs selects agents for the mission belongs to series creator Bruce Geller.
- #020
As creator Bruce Geller said, the series takes its cue from the French film Topkapi (1964), its direct inspiration.
- #021
The series gave Peter Lupus (Willy) the chance to work under his own name. Much of his earlier acting career had been in Europe, where he starred as "Rock Stevens" in sword-and-sandal mythological muscleman films. It also gave him the chance to play a role not based primarily on his physique.
- #022
When the series began, Ford was the main supplier of cars. In later seasons the main supplier became Chrysler, and in the final seasons it was GM.
- #023
After Charlie Bluhdorn bought Desilu from Lucille Ball in 1968, he cut the budgets of "Star Trek" and "Mission: Impossible." Producing each episode of "Star Trek" and "Mission: Impossible" cost Desilu at least $185,000 (about $1,601,352 in 2022), the main reason Ball decided to sell. Since then each series has become a billion-dollar franchise for Viacom, which bought Paramount in 1994.
- #024
Martin Landau and his then-wife Barbara Bain left the series together after the third season over a contract dispute when their requests for a pay raise were not met. Desilu had just been bought by Gulf-Western (Paramount) and the show's budget had been cut. Landau was angry that Peter Graves received a raise when Paramount took over but he did not. Martin's contracts were annual, so no legal consequences followed when he was released from them. Bain, however, was barred from working in Hollywood for two years (the remainder of her contract). Landau's and Bain's professional reputations declined as a result of leaving the series and eventually hit career lows. It took Landau decades to restore his standing in Hollywood; Bain never did.
- #025
When selecting an agent from the IMF, the pictures of the agents chosen for the mission in the folder were almost always in color. The pictures of rejected agents were in black and white.
- #026
Although he usually received his I.M.F. instructions from a self-destructing reel-to-reel tape, the first two seasons generally featured other methods. In early episodes Briggs and Phelps received their instructions from other sources, such as vinyl phonograph records and film projectors. The "tape scenes" (as they were known) for each episode were usually filmed in a single block at the start of each season. Peter Graves said he never knew which episode would use which tape scene until it aired.
- #027
According to Peter Lupus, Bruce Geller did not want any of the regular actors appearing on talk shows while the series was running because he wanted viewers to believe they really were the characters.
- #028
Although Barney's file contains a letter from the United States Air Force, the first episode of the third season, "The Contender," mentions that he was a boxing champion while in the United States Navy.
- #029
In the fifth season, Sam Elliott replaced Peter Lupus in some episodes.
- #030
As of 2022, Peter Lupus and Sam Elliott are the only surviving regular male actors. Among the female actors, Barbara Bain, Lynda Day George, Lee Meriwether, Barbara Anderson and Lesley Ann Warren are also still alive.
- #031
No explanation was ever given for why Daniel Briggs was no longer head of the IMF or how Jim Phelps came to lead the team.
- #032
Of the 148 missions in which Phelps or Briggs received a taped briefing, 119 began with "Good morning," 21 with "Good afternoon" and 8 with "Good evening."
- #033
In an interview, Leonard Nimoy (after playing for two seasons) said he left the series because he felt the character of Paris had not progressed or changed much after the first season. He also said that acting in this series felt very different from acting in Star Trek (1966).
- #034
The fourth season was the only season without a regular female cast member.
- #035
In "Memory," the second episode of the first season, Briggs received his instructions not via a tape or film projector but on a card handed to him by a photographer.
- #036
Many episodes feature warehouses and industrial buildings. These were office buildings, warehouses and sound stages on the Paramount lot.
- #037
Many actors and actresses were reused across the series: John Vernon appeared in "The Exchange", "The Falcon", "The Catafalque" and "Movie"; William Windom in "The Fighter", "Blues", "The Widow" and "The Train". This was a common practice in 1960s television programs.
- #038
For the film Mission: Impossible (1996), Tom Cruise wanted the series' cast to appear as the team killed at the beginning of the movie as a way of passing the torch. Every one of the actors declined.
- #039
In several later episodes, Jim Phelps is seen driving a 1969 Dodge Coronet R/T convertible. It is an extremely rare car.
- #040
The character Mimi Davis, played by Barbara Anderson in seven episodes across several seasons during Lynda Day George's maternity leave, is the only female IMF agent with a criminal record; the seventh-season premiere states that she served four years in prison, but why she was in prison was never explained and was never mentioned again.
- #041
Oscar winner Edmond O'Brien and George Sanders both appeared on the series: O'Brien in the second-season episode twenty, "The Counterfeiter", and Sanders in the fifth-season episode twenty-three, "The Merchant".
- #042
Leonard Nimoy's character replaced Martin Landau's character in the fourth season. Largely because of this, it is widely believed that Landau was originally offered the role of Spock on Star Trek (1966).
- #043
The Secretary's exact name was never revealed, but given the IMF's international jurisdiction in the first five seasons, it is almost certain that this person was the Secretary of State. However, given that in the last two seasons the Secretary is never named and the team's missions are almost entirely related to organized crime, it is possible that the IMF moved this role from the State Department to the Department of Justice. Some fans of the series assumed the Secretary referred to the IMF Secretary.
- #044
In "The Photographer", Cinnamon's full name is revealed to be Cinnamon Carter Crawford. The episode also implies that she is a retired model and biochemist as well as a resident IMF operative. Since she always goes undercover as a nurse when a mission requires it, it had already been established that she has some knowledge of the medical field. If her true cover story is that of a top-secret government biochemist, this explains how she was never recognized despite taking part in so many missions.
- #045
The series not only reused existing exterior sets and buildings on the old R. K. O./Desilu/Paramount lots with minor to major set dressings, but also reused some enormous interior studio sets; in the second season, for example, huge hotel lobby rooms reappear dressed as the King's palace chambers. Basement cells with different walls become a palace dungeon and a South American prison. Unsurprisingly, some of these same standing sets were reused as other planetary locations in Desilu-Paramount's Star Trek (1966).
- #046
In almost every episode, a large portion of the "incidental" music actually consists of various arrangements of the main theme played in different styles, instruments and timings. Alongside the more traditional studio orchestra style, you can also hear magnificent harpsichords, military drums, pianos, strings, winds and experimental jazz styles.
- #047
Lynda Day George's character is now referred to as "Lisa Casey". The name came about as a result of Mission: Impossible (1988). When George was brought back for the episode "Reprisal", the creators were worried there might be confusion between her character and the character played by Terry Markwell, who was also named "Casey". Although Markwell's character had been killed in "The Fortune", they rechristened the original Casey as "Lisa Casey", a name that had never been used for George's character in the original series.
- #048
The mission assignment recording usually self-destructs after five seconds. Six times it is ten seconds. For the pilot, it is "one minute" after the seal is broken, and on another occasion "sixty seconds". Once it happens when you stop the machine, and once when it reaches the final slot. Only Miss Carter was told she would disintegrate "immediately".
- #049
In the pilot episode, Cinnamon freely accepts and appears to embrace this part of the IMF. The role also includes acting as a distraction as a good-looking woman when a mission requires it. Since she is also a model, this would fit the choices she makes for certain missions. Clearly she is also an extremely intelligent and versatile team member who can play other women, often in disguise, when missions require it. She is far from being the "token" female team member and is an equal to the rest of the IMF team.
- #050
Joseph Ruskin, who appeared many times as a villain during the series' first six seasons, played an IMF agent in one seventh-season episode.
- #051
Peter Lupus appeared in only 14 of the 23 episodes of the fifth season because producer Bruce Lansbury disliked the character of Willie. However, after a major fan mail campaign to CBS and Paramount, he was brought back. He decided not to return because he felt disrespected and unappreciated. He was also given much more to do in the sixth and seventh seasons and even starred in several episodes in seasons six and seven.
- #052
The 1967 season of "The Avengers" included Mission… Highly Improbable (1967).
- #053
Daniel Briggs can be seen driving a black or light blue 1967 Lincoln Continental convertible.
- #054
It was parodied as "Mission: Ridiculous" in issue 118 of Mad Magazine, published in 04/1968, written by Dick DeBartolo and drawn by Mort Drucker.
- #055
All mission assignment recordings end with "Good luck, Dan" (first season) or "Good luck, Jim" (from the second season through the seventh), but one recording for "Miss Carter" (first season, "Action!") ends with "Good luck."
- #056
The reason for the occasional reuse of Jim's mission-receiving scenes is clearly logical production economy, since it saves on pre-title/cold open footage. However, it can easily be explained within the IMF: there are a known number of locations Jim goes to several times to receive missions. In the second season, for example, Jim visits both the rooftop and the street photo booth twice for four separate missions. He clearly knows the locations well and has all the keys he needs in the second season.
- #057
In the third-season episode "Nitro," Barney poses as a computer programmer to get into the villain's computer room. When Barney introduces himself to one of the villains, he is asked what happened to the regular programmer, "Mr. Connery," and Barney tells him that Mr. Connery is on another assignment.
- #058
When Jim Phelps first appeared, his main car was a greenish-blue 1967 Mercury Parklane convertible.
- #059
In most European countries, the team and the locals use Checker cars. Checker was a Detroit company.
- #060
The same footage was used repeatedly in the opening sequences. The only things that changed were the music from the recorder and the pictures Phelps looked at.
- #061
For the episodes from the 1960s, weapons left over from World War II were used.
- #062
The amount of time that passed between Jim initially receiving the assignment, selecting the team, planning, placing the relevant materials and people, carrying out the mission and completing it at the end of the episode was never explained.
- #063
The series' original title was "Briggs' Squad."
- #064
Greg Morris also signed a contract in the fourth season and received a salary increase of 500 dollars per episode.
- #065
Whenever Dan or Jim received instructions, they first turned on the recorder and then opened the folder containing the photographs.
- #066
Among the guest stars were five Oscar winners (Kim Hunter, Edmond O'Brien, George Sanders, Beatrice Straight and Lee Grant) and nine Oscar nominees (Sam Elliott, Richard Jaeckel, Kevin McCarthy, John Ireland, Dean Stockwell, Theodore Bikel, Sal Mineo, Cicely Tyson and Paul Winfield).
- #067
Anthony Zerbe, Albert Paulson and John Vernon each played different characters in 5 episodes. The most prominent actor, with 10 unusual roles, was Jack Donner.
- #068
Peter Graves played in the series for six seasons (from 1967 to 1973), during the same period in which his famous brother James Arness also appeared in the long-running Gunsmoke (1955).
- #069
In "Zubronik's Ghost" and "Elena," Dan mentions during the mission briefing that he cannot take part because Martha Zubronik and Elena know him, but that neither of them knows he is an intelligence agent.
- #070
When the series was bought by ARD for the West German market in 1967, only selected episodes from the first three seasons were dubbed (the episodes were also cut to the standard length of forty-five minutes). A few years later, they did the same with the later seasons (with new dubbing actors and actresses). When the series aired on Kabel 1/Pro 7, all the other episodes (except one) were also dubbed (again with new dubbing actors and actresses). The last remaining episode was dubbed for the 2006 DVD release.
- #071
The reason Tom Cruise wanted to make a film version of "Mission Impossible" was that he was a big fan of the television series.
- #072
While Mr. Phelps examines the candidate photographs for the mission packet, the character played by Greg Morris can be seen using a slide rule. Slide rules were used for making calculations long before electronic calculators and computers became widely available.
- #073
Barry Atwater and Jason Evers each appeared in five episodes of the series. Warren Stevens and Antoinette Bower each appeared in four episodes.
- #074
Martin Sheen played Lieutenant Albert Brocke in Live Bait (1969). His real-life son Emilio Estevez continued acting 27 years later, appearing in the lead role of Jack Harmon in the film Mission: Impossible (1996).
- #075
Whenever someone wore a rubber mask, it was almost always one of the heroes.
- #076
The name of Paula Patton's character in "Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol" is Jane Carter, a nod to Barbara Bain, whose character's surname was Carter.
- #077
The villains almost always drove around in a Chrysler Imperial limousine.
- #078
At the start of an episode, while the team leader reviews candidates for the mission roster, Barney (Greg Morris) is seen holding a slide rule. Slide rules were used to perform mathematical calculations at a time when electronic calculators and computing devices were not widely available.
- #079
It is never specified in which city the various characters live.
- #080
Martin Landau and Lesley Ann Warren appeared in "Joseph (1995)."
- #081
In the last two seasons, the cars preferred by the team were Chrysler Corporation and Chevrolet models.
- #082
Most of the photographs accompanying the recorded instructions appear to have been taken by the same photographer (the same background, lighting and scale), even when the characters have no connection to one another.
- #083
Between the 1960s and the 1980s there were two major American-flag airlines: TWA (Trans World Airlines) and Pan-Am (Pan-American). Before deregulation in the 1980s, the nearly only way airlines could differentiate themselves was through service, gourmet meals, luxurious interiors, in-flight entertainment and uniforms always designed for young and beautiful female cabin crew. Pan-Am had the unofficial aura of the US government's "chosen instrument" abroad, the privilege of being one of the most recognized symbols of American aviation, which gave it a slight edge over TWA. TWA was more of a Tiffany or luxury airline, known for its first-class service and with some Hollywood connections thanks to Howard Hughes's involvement in the airline's early days. Both flew clean and comfortable 707s across the Atlantic, with excellent in-flight service and convenient schedules. When the wave of liberalization hit the airlines, there was a race to the bottom in which costs were cut across the board, leading to poor customer service, below-average meals, basic maintenance and in-flight entertainment that did not work. Americans wanted cheaper tickets. Neither Pan Am nor TWA was structured in a way that allowed it to compete effectively in the post-deregulation era. They were dinosaurs doomed to extinction.
- #084
It is little known that Peter Graves and James Arness were brothers!
- #085
According to an interview with Peter Lupus, filming each episode took seven days. The crew usually worked 12 to 13 hours a day. They also frequently went over budget.
- #086
While making the Tom Cruise-focused 'Mission: Impossible' films, the producers looked at which 'clever' features from this series' episodes could be borrowed (for example, the team swapping a number or signing a door). It was determined that viewers or fans of this series would recognize the 'callbacks'.
- #087
The series is quite popular in France. However, when an episode is set in a French-speaking country, there is always a sign containing a spelling error. Whether this was intentional is still debated among fans (for example: S2E1: "ne functionne pas", which should be "ne fonctionne pas"; S2E8: "compagnie des Agent de change", which should be "Compagnie des Agents de Change"; S2E13: "Consigne à bagage", which should be "Consigne à bagages"; etc.).
- #088
A numbered account is a bank account in which the owner's name is replaced by a multi-digit number or code in internal documents. It is designed to maximize privacy and limit the number of bank employees with access to the client's identity. The real name is recorded securely but is restricted to a very limited number of senior staff. Only the designated number appears on bank statements, digital banking portals and transaction records. This minimizes the risk of internal leaks or data breaches. Despite the concealed name, the account operates the same as a standard bank account, allowing deposits, withdrawals and bank transfers.
Continue through the archive
Sources & editorial notes
Reference databases
Sources for the entries on this page
- IMDb IMDb kaydı
Information from external sources is independently selected, consolidated and edited by Arka Evren. Sources are listed for verification and further reading. Encyclopedia text is used under its licence (CC BY-SA). How we work