Mission: Impossible (1966-1973)

Gonna start watching this. After my Star Trek phase, I want another taste of classic 60s TV. I hadn't seen any of this since the 90s, so it should be fun revisiting it. I don't think I've seen all of it before because I have no recollection of catching any of the seasons when Nimoy joined.

MI was like Trek's better received cousin -- many of the same crew and guest stars, so it was an easy move and Nimoy was attracted to the fact that as an ensemble show he didnt have to work as mich as on Trek where he was nearly in every scene by the end. Instead he could work three days a week and as a master of disguise he could essentially play a new role each week. He thought it would get him out of being typecast but ultimately the things that drew him to the part made him dislike it after a few years as Paris the Great had no real character of his own and Nimoy grew bored.

If only TOS lasted seven seasons. Will be interesting to see Nimoy in a non-Spock role for a change.

So I remember there was this thing where an MTV reporter had no clue why Landau was at the 1996 movie premiere, and he wasn't happy. To my surprise, MTV actually has it up on their site: http://www.mtv.com/videos/misc/101196/martin-landau-berates-kennedy.jhtml

Yep, M:I and Trek were sorta sister shows. And JJ got to fuck with both.

Fantastic video. As for J.J., I just hope his defecting to Wars means Brad Bird takes over like he did with GHOST PROTOCOL.

I'll take a Brad Bird Trek movie. Why not?

I would have taken a Brad Bird Star Wars movie too. For all that he has done I have yet to see anything really creative or original from Abrams -- his movies are all either franchise pictures ir homages and he basically just godfathers his TV shows whose creative visions are really the work of others. The only stylistic element he brings is an ugly colour palette and an overuse of flare.

Has anyone ever seen the 1988 revival? I don't recall ever seeing that and it's not available on Netflix. Should the franchise return to TV? I think it works as a film series when done right and GHOST PROTOCOL felt closest to the spirit of the show without either bastardizing the hero, becoming an over the top action opera (though I found a guilty pleasure) or just being fucking dumb. Still, it would be fun to see it return to TV.

Anyway, still on S1. I don't recall seeing Steven Hill as the lead so this was a bit of a surprise not to have Peter Graves. I like Hill, but on this show there doesn't seem to be anything remarkable about him, and from what I read he'll be given less to do. Too bad.

Watching "Odds on Evil", its amusing to hear that Gerald Fried reused his work between this and Star Trek, several cues are note for note the same. And so this is the first episode where Hill is absent after the briefing. I understand what the deal was behind the scenes, but would they try doing this with Graves or was that just Hill?