Customer Reviews

Mission: Impossible - The Fourth TV Season

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

You step into the fourth season (1969-1970) of "Mission: Impossible", produced by two men: Stanley Kallis from season 3 and newcomer Bruce Lansbury (former "Wild Wild West" producer) who brings with him writer Ken Pettus, and, above all, it's creator Bruce Geller's final input before his departure. Witness if you will two paramount changes: a new master of disguises named Paris (played by Leonard Nimoy) and a legion of female agents but only one appear almost regularly (six times): Tracey (played by Lee Meriwether aka Bruce Geller's protégée) and she gives her best performance as fortune-teller Mrs. Vinsky in the three parter "The Falcon". You'll find three top episodes: "The Controllers, Part I & II" (guest starring David Sheiner and Dina Merrill), "The Falcon, Part I, II & III" (a superb monarchist and adventure story written by scripts genius Paul Playdon and guest starring John Vernon, Diane Baker and Noel Harrison), "Submarine" (guest starring Stephen McNally), and a selection of good ones: "The Crane", "Fool's Gold", "Gitano", "The Choice", "Orpheus" (written by scripts genius Paul Playdon and guest starring Albert Paulsen and Jessica Walter), "The Numbers Game", "The Code", "Robot" (guest starring Malachi Throne and Larry Linville), "The Double Circle" (guest starring Anne Francis). Actor Leonard Nimoy shines in three episodes: "The Code" as Che Guevara-like revolutionary El Lider, "The Falcon" as flamboyant magician Zastro, "The Choice" as Rasputine-like charlatan Emile Vautrain. Supported by producer Bruce Lansbury, writer Laurence Heath introduces private episodes centered around the love affair of IMFers: Paris ("Lover's Knot") and Barney ("Death Squad"). The music scores are very strong, especially two: "The Controllers" composed by Jerry Fielding and "Submarine" by Lalo Schifrin.

Have watched the first two seasons so far. Gorgeous prints and sound. Remarkable how a mid-sixties show holds up and doesn't come across dated. Imagine the great writers this show employed because every week for seven years they wrote a one hour sting movie!In this fourth season Martin Landau left the show and was replaced by Leonard Nimoy just off the cancelled Star Trek series ( dumb Paramount executives! )His character was named Paris. Ironically, Martin turned down the Spock character and here we now have Nimoy replacing HIM on Mission Impossible!.. By the way Paramount, do we have to thank the ghost of Lucille Ball ( cause it was created by Desilu) for not screwing the public on the price by splitting it into two half seasons and charging the same price as an entire series like you have with Gunsmoke, Rawhide and the Untouchables? Shame on you. You should stop this practice immediately. We have only so much money to spend on DVD's. The Untouchables is four years, Rawhide is eight, and Gunsmoke is twenty. Please stop! PLEASE!!!!

Being a looong time Mission fan, this season was my personal favorite. It told the viewers we can make a huge cast change & still hit it big.

Unfortunately, this was the last season of the high ratings. Just when the show was high on the hog, the departure of Bain & Landau didn't set well with some, but was welcome for others.

If you could lump all of the things that made Mission great, the episode that shows this is here: Submarine.
Voted a fan favorite & an award winner, it compiles all that made Mission good.

The whole set contains great a transfer, excellent sound quality & all that is to love about the greatest spy show ever.

A true diamond in anyone's collection.

The fourth season of Mission: Impossible finds the series making a second major change in cast. After season one Stephen Hill was replaced by Peter Graves which was a very positive change. After the third season the team loses Martin Landau (Rollin Hand) & Barbara Bain (Cinnamon). To the best of my knowledge Landau wanted a big raise but CBS wouldn't give it; Bain quit in support of Landau, they were married at the time. So in season four Leonard Nimoy joins the cast replacing Martin Landau but no permanent replacement was made for Bain. I distinctly remember this change & looked eagerly toward the new season. I was a big fan of Leonard Nimoy after his portrayal of Mr. Spock from the legendary series Star Trek. I didn't have anything against Landau, I enjoyed his performances very much &, honestly, CBS made a wise decision in not attempting to replace Bain.

The fourth season of Mission: Impossible has a total of 26 episodes &, like any series, there are some good episodes & some weak episodes. The opening episode, "The Code" was a good choice for the premiere introducing the character Paris to the viewing public. "Numbers Game" is one of the team's most complicated efforts. "The Submarine" is even more elaborate. "The Falcon" is a three part episode that has no padding; this story is a strong one. I think that casting could have cast someone else in the role that Noel Harrison does, he's not the best actor in the world. It seems to me that with this episode CBS was making a conscious effort to appeal to younger viewers. "Gitano" has a young Barry Williams (Greg Brady from The Brady Bunch) portrays a 12 year old king. "Lover's Knot" might be the set's weakest episode in which the team goes to London. Paris falls for a foreign agent & doesn't like the consequences the lady will have to face. I'm not saying it isn't possible for an agent to become romantically involved but this was a VERY professional team. Some of it might be because I didn't feel that Nimoy was very convincing in this episode. "Death Squad" is an unique episode in the Mission: Impossible catalog; Barney is accused of Murder while on vacation with Jim in a Spanish speaking locale. It dispenses with the normal "Good Morning, Mr. Phelps..." bit & shows the team at their ad-libbing best having to create a plan on the spot. Pernell Roberts guest stars making his second appearance in a Mission: Impossible episode. Season four closes with "The Martyr" another weak episode that makes a strong appeal to younger viewers.

There aren't any bonus features unless you include subtitles. There is a warning that "some episodes may be edited from their original network versions" though, honestly, I can't tell. It's been a long time since I have seen these episodes. Of course this IS CBS/Paramount who became notorious with their release of The Fugitive, Season 2, Vol. 1. But the tampering as in the previous season releaes has been kept to a minimum.

I've been very impressed with my Mission:Impossible boxed set which I ordered off of this website. I actually received the 4th season edition a day ahead of its release in stores which I was just ecstatic about. I've watched close to half of the episodes so far in the set and they look great. The only small complaint I have is the lack of extras. I would love to be able to watch a small featurette in which cast and crew members discuss the 4th year of the show or if select cast and crew members would have a commentary or to during specific episodes. That's it. I can't wait to buy Year 5. Keep up the great work. Have a good one. Chow.

Many fans will miss the presence of Martin Landau and Barbara Bain in this fourth season. They both added a very distinctive flavor to the show.

Replacing them were Mr. Spock... sorry, Leonard Nimoy... and a stream of guest actresses, some good, others very much of "guest star" stature or worse.

Nimoy starts out rough. His acting for the first handful of episodes is flat and insipid. Later, he starts to show more range and variety and it becomes interesting to see different sides of him. I suspect that this is at least in part due to bad directing in the early episodes. It doesn't take long for Nimoy to relinquish the title of worst actor among the regulars to Peter Graves.

Once the new cast hits its stride, it's back to being enjoyable, but Landau and Bain weren't the only ones who got dumped. So was plausibility.

In the first three seasons, the scenarios mostly tended to be built around highly improbable situations and confluences of favorable events, but while extremely unlikely, they were still plausible. In the fourth season, plausibility is thrown to the wind and you find our happy-go-lucky crew instantly writing 200-page books that pass muster when experts in the field read them and wielding sci-fi gadgets like holographic projectors. Sticking to the plausible made the first 3 seasons seem clever. Gone is the cleverness, replaced by cheap theatrics and so much divine intervention that the ancient Greek thespians themselves would cringe at the abuse.

It's still fun to watch, but it's a lower form of art than the previous seasons.

Season Three of Mission Impossible had major upheavals in which the main writers of the series abruptly quit. The show survived this by brining in Paul Playdon as lead writer and Stanley Kallis as Producer. Season Four began with even more potentially damaging changes as Martin Landau and Barbara Bain also abruptly left the show. To replace Landau's "Rollin Hand" character who wore masks and impersonated other people, Leonard Nimoy was brought in as "Paris" (we never learn his first name). Nimoy is not the actor Landau is, and he complained later that he was not given enough challenging roles, but he was adequate. His best performances were in the episodes "Gitano" and "The Code" which otherwise were not among the best stories. Later in the season, lead writer Paul Playdon left the show due to exhaustion, along with Producer Stanley Kallis. In spite of this, the show continued to make fine entertaining episodes, in spite of the fact that no single leading lady actress was brought in to replace Barbara Bain's "Cinnamon Carter" character.
In two especially good episodes, "The Crane" and "The Submarine", the IM Force has to race the clock as intensive police cordons are zeroing in on them while they have to deceive a leader of a police state or break an "unbreakable" prisoner. On the whole, this season has as many fine episodes as do the preceding seaons, in spite of the difficulties the cast and crew faced. Highly recommended.

It is almost impossible to discuss the fourth season of Mission Impossible, without mentioning the contract dispute that caused the husband and wife team of Martin Landau and Barbara Bain, to end their three year association with the highly successful program. Paramount Studios refused to meet Landau's request to rise his salary, bringing about the last minute addition of Leonard Nimoy, who was available after winding up a three year stint as Mr. Spock on Star Trek. The show's producers did not find a true replacement for Barbara Bain, who had won three consecutive Emmy awards for her portrayal of Cinnamon Carter. Instead a number of actresses including Lee Meriwether, Anne Francis, Jessica Walter, Antoinette Bower, Julie Gregg, and Barbara Luna, filled in. In nine of the twenty six episodes, there simply was no female IMF member.

With Landau's and Bain's departure, the show had a new look. Jim Phelps (Peter Graves) was still running the operation, but having no one cast in Bain's role, created problems both for the cast, and for the audience who both never knew what to expect, week to week. As The Great Paris, Nimoy assumed the roles normally reserved for Landau. When impersonating a key figure, Paris employed conventional methods of disguise more often than the rubber masks, that the writers had overused with Landau. While having no regular female IMF member created a huge void, it did provide the opportunity to expand the roles of Barney Collier (Greg Morris), and Willy Armitage (Peter Lupus).

Deception and masterful con jobs are what Mission Impossible is all about. One of the best is "The Submarine", where in the East European Republic, Kruger Schtelman (Stephen McNally), who knows where loot stolen by the German SS in World War II is stashed away, is about to finish a 25 year prison term. The IMF's mission is to find out where the money is, and prevent the growth of a neo-Nazi organization. In classic fashion, the IMF convinces Schtelman that he is aboard a submarine, and is about to die, and soon he is screaming over and over, the secret he has kept for decades. It's deliciously absurd.

Intrigue at the highest levels of government is familiar ground for the IMF. One of their most ambitious undertakings is "The Falcon", which stretched over three episodes. The plot reads like a fairy tale, where corrupt General Sabattini (John Vernon) is holding Prince Stephan (Joseph Reale) prisoner, in order to force Stephan's fiancé Francesca (Diane Baker) to marry him, and make him first heir to the throne. The current heir, is Francesca's cousin Nicolai (Noel Harrison), an adult with the mind of a child. Fascinated by magic, Nicolai has invited the magician Zastro to perform at the palace. Paris impersonates Zastro, while Tracey (Lee Meriwether) is the psychic Madame Vinsky. In addition Barney temporarily losing his sight, Francesca is entombed alive, and the crown jewels are stolen. What is most unusual, is that the plan unravels at the end, and the IMF has to scramble wildly, in order to complete the mission.

Adventure can occur anytime or anywhere. In "The Death Squad", Barney and Jim are vacationing in the Latin American country of Cuidamo, when Barney gets involved with a local artist (Cicely Tyson). He has a scuffle with a jealous admirer, and the man is accidentally killed. Police Chief Corba (Pernell Roberts) is in the habit of executing prisoners without a trial. As the dead man happens to be Corba's brother, Barney is under a death sentence, and Paris and Willy arrive to help. Leon Askin, and John Shuck also appear in this exciting "unofficial" adventure.

At its best, Mission Impossible is like a magician's illusion, where knowing that what you are seeing isn't real, doesn't necessarily detract from the enjoyment of the performance. With outlandish plots, set in fictional locations, often with slim ties to reality, and major loose ends, it is hard to regard Mission Impossible as anything other than an outrageous fantasy.

Lalo Schifrin wrote the theme for Mission Impossible, and helped to establish the musical tone for the program, with his unique selection of tonalities and instrumentation. Composer Jerry Fielding, who wrote the theme for Hogan's Heroes, adds a distinct "Hoganesque" flavor to Mission Impossible's music in season four.

Which of the female IMF operatives did the best job is debatable, but Lee Meriwether was the only actress featured in more than one mission, and reportedly wanted the role very badly. Of the rest, Jessica Walter seemed to have both the maturity and cool to be suitable, however the matter would become moot, when Lesley Ann Warren was chosen as a regular in season five. Other radical changes would come as series creator Bruce Geller, would be kicked off from his own show. Season four was a struggle, as besides the crisis with the cast, the show also had problems finding writers who could produce the unique kind of scripts the series required. Overall the quality of the shows was good, but not great.

Image quality varies, but is generally very good, as in some closeups you can remarkable facial detail. The subtitling often helps with figuring out some of the names and fictional locations. Unfortunately there are no extras. It would have been nice to have had some contribution from Leonard Nimoy, but he may have less than warm feelings about the show.

Mission Impossible - The Fourth TV Season continues the groundbreaking episodes that made this show so fun to watch.

The show continued with its great guest stars, sometimes complicated plots, and skillful use of the "con the bad guys" approach that was the hallmark of the series. Graves came in and fit seamlessly at the same time his brother James Arness was continuing his long run as Matt Dillon on Gunsmoke. A notable addition to this season was the arrival of Paris, a master of disguise, played with gusto by Leonard Nimoy, fresh off of what would later be a legendary performance as Mr. Spock on Star Trek.

This show will always be treasured for its pioneering plot devices and its challenge to the viewer to keep up with what was going on. It's great that this series is finally on DVD.

This review may contain spoilers.

I borrowed Season Four from my local library. Given that I am VERY familiar with Leonard Nimoy's work as Mr. Spock of Star Trek, I was VERY impressed with his work as "Paris", the newest member of the IM Force. I also had a lot of fun spotting other Star Trek actors and remembering the episodes that I had seen them in, (i.e. who remembers T'Pring from Amok Time?). I enjoyed the fact that Leonard Nimoy, (the former Mr. Spock), was in an episode that involved his "former Vulcan wife".

I was also pleasantly surprised to spot other actors from other TV series from my childhood, i.e. Pernell Roberts, formerly of Bonanza, and Barry Williams, formerly of The Brady Bunch. Seeing their faces again brought back fond memories.

However, the final episode of Season Four, "Martyr", was NOT to my liking! To me, it felt like the script writers took the Star Trek episode, "The Way to Eden" and recycled it. The writers also seemed to have forgotten one very important ingredient....persuading the audience into having a willing suspension of disbelief. This episode expected me to believe that Paris, (Leonard Nimoy), could pass for a 25-year-old college student in 1970. By this point, Mr. Nimoy was well into his 30's, possibly approaching 40, and there was NO way I could believe he was a 25-year-old. Handsome as he is, in 1970, he did not have a 25-year-old face. He was clearly much older than the character he was pretending to be.

Because of the way this last episode of Season Four was produced, I'm giving the Fourth TV Season of Mission Impossible four stars instead of five.