194 replies to this topic

[Brian Flagg]

Yeah, well don't rejoice too fast : all new remasters of this season just cut out parts of the pilot, and literaly duplicate twice the same opening sequence on two different episodes, probably due to damaged negatives (ie one episode opening sequence is replaced by another, the tape scene). The videos were already that way, and I'm 100% sure it will come out CUT the same way. To spot the cut, it's simple : in the pilot, right before going to hear the audio tape, Briggs speaks to the lady. In all subsequent airings and videos, the dialogue is cut. Same when he leaves the place.

So, anyone notice any cuts in the pilot? I'll have to look for that. If it's an instance of a damaged negative, then it's not really a "problem."

I watched the pilot and there is in fact a scene where Briggs speaks to the lady upon entering the shop. He asks for a specific Classical music recording. There is no dialogue with the lady as he leaves, however, but it doesn't seem to be necessary. The episode runs 50 minutes.

One minor quibble about the set: the prongs that hold the discs into the cases were mostly broken, even before I attempted to remove the discs the very first time. Are double DVD slimline cases sold in office supply stores?

[Brian Flagg]

I can't express how THRILLED I am that this show is finally out on DVD! I haven't seen the show in nearly ten years and have NEVEr even seen the Briggs eps until this past week. I absolutely LOVE him as IMF leader! From his nebbishy lawyer in "Operation: Rogosh" to his dim-witted chef in "The Frame", Steven Hill was a true chameleon in this show. Bain is tremendous (the shot of her in only a towel in the Pilot is a must-see!) and Landau is simply brilliant, as usual. But my favorite character has always been Greg Morris' Barney Collier character. IMO, he was the heart and soul of this show and I really miss him to this day.

Favorite episodes: (In order):

1) The Traitor
2) Snowball in Hell
3) Memory
4) A Cube of Sugar
5) Shock
6) Operation: Rogosh
7) The Ransom
8) The Frame
9) Pilot
10)The Carriers

I also can't say enough about the remastering, as picture is gorgeous and sound is top notch with the exception of a few eps that sound better in the original mono, IMO. Funny, I recently came across an old audio tape from 1985 when I used to record the tape recorder scenes of the show and have my friends "find" the tapes and play them. I was obsessed with the show as an eight grader.

[Blofeld's Cat]

I dunno about everyone else, but I really like Steven Hill as an actor, in both Law & Order and as Dan Briggs.

Bingo!

I'm halfway through the set and I couldn't help but think I'd seen this actor before, and it just twigged last night that he's the DA in Law & Order! I much prefer the Peter Grave character because he's the only one I ever saw as leader of the IMF team. I'm really enjoying watching the 1st season on DVD because I've never ever seen them on TV. It seems that whenever MI was repeated on TV here in Oz it's always shown the Jim Phelps eps.

[Monkeyfoahead]

I'll clearly have to pick it up.

Edited by Monkeyfoahead, 31 December 2006 - 12:54 AM.

[Blofeld's Cat]

2nd season box set due out June 5th.

Can't wait!

[K1Bond007]

Awesome.

Phelps > Briggs.

[Brian Flagg]

Awesome.

Phelps > Briggs.

I dunno about that. I hadn't seen the Briggs season until the DVD release, but I was really impressed with Steven Hill and I miss him already! I already know what to expect with Peter Graves, as he's essentially the same in virtually whatever role he's in. IMO his "undercover" role playing in M:I often seemed forced. I still like him, though.

[Blofeld's Cat]

Awesome.

Phelps > Briggs.

I dunno about that. I hadn't seen the Briggs season until the DVD release, but I was really impressed with Steven Hill and I miss him already! I already know what to expect with Peter Graves, as he's essentially the same in virtually whatever role he's in. IMO his "undercover" role playing in M:I often seemed forced. I still like him, though.

To me MI isn't MI without Graves because he's who I grew up with while watching the show in the early 70's. Until now I'd never seen the 1st season so I enjoyed seeing the Briggs character because it was different, and kind of had me in an alternate MI universe which was a hoot.

[Napoleon Solo]

Awesome.

Phelps > Briggs.

I dunno about that. I hadn't seen the Briggs season until the DVD release, but I was really impressed with Steven Hill and I miss him already! I already know what to expect with Peter Graves, as he's essentially the same in virtually whatever role he's in. IMO his "undercover" role playing in M:I often seemed forced. I still like him, though.

To me MI isn't MI without Graves because he's who I grew up with while watching the show in the early 70's. Until now I'd never seen the 1st season so I enjoyed seeing the Briggs character because it was different, and kind of had me in an alternate MI universe which was a hoot.

There's definitely a different dynamic, re: Phelps vs. Briggs. Phelps comes across as much more of a participant than Briggs. This is a reflection of how, in real life, Steven Hill did not want to work beyond sundown on Friday because of his faith. So, to get around that, in many first-season M:I shows, Briggs is depicted more the mastermind who is sitting back watching events unfold and plotting counter moves. Briggs also comes across as more of a chamelon than Phelps. In one early episode, "Operation: Rogash," we see Briggs become the meek, mild, ineffective attorney part he's playing before our eyes as he goes from standing up straight to hunching over.

[Brian Flagg]

Awesome.

Phelps > Briggs.

I dunno about that. I hadn't seen the Briggs season until the DVD release, but I was really impressed with Steven Hill and I miss him already! I already know what to expect with Peter Graves, as he's essentially the same in virtually whatever role he's in. IMO his "undercover" role playing in M:I often seemed forced. I still like him, though.

To me MI isn't MI without Graves because he's who I grew up with while watching the show in the early 70's. Until now I'd never seen the 1st season so I enjoyed seeing the Briggs character because it was different, and kind of had me in an alternate MI universe which was a hoot.

There's definitely a different dynamic, re: Phelps vs. Briggs. Phelps comes across as much more of a participant than Briggs. This is a reflection of how, in real life, Steven Hill did not want to work beyond sundown on Friday because of his faith. So, to get around that, in many first-season M:I shows, Briggs is depicted more the mastermind who is sitting back watching events unfold and plotting counter moves. Briggs also comes across as more of a chamelon than Phelps. In one early episode, "Operation: Rogash," we see Briggs become the meek, mild, ineffective attorney part he's playing before our eyes as he goes from standing up straight to hunching over.

Briggs is also excellent in "The Ransom", which is one of the better "personal" missions of the series. Nice to see that Briggs also battled "The Syndicate" (as TV shows seemed to call the Mafia in roughly the 1965-1975 period) without even having to wear a plaid sportscoat and turtleneck! I think that Briggs' active participation in the missions make him all the more effective because we don't always get to see him outside of that ultra-Mod apartment. And I love how he tosses away the Bruce Geller dossier in many episodes!

[Napoleon Solo]

[ I think that Briggs' active participation in the missions make him all the more effective because we don't always get to see him outside of that ultra-Mod apartment. And I love how he tosses away the Bruce Geller dossier in many episodes!

In the Phelps episodes, ace M:I writers William Read Woodfield and Allan Balter will also up in the discard pile of dossier photos.

Nice to see that Briggs also battled "The Syndicate" (as TV shows seemed to call the Mafia in roughly the 1965-1975 period) without even having to wear a plaid sportscoat and turtleneck!

That was written by Woodfield and Balter, and they seemed to like to bring in the Mafia as adversaries (perhaps as a change of pace). In the upcoming season 2 set, one of the highlights is a two-part episode written by Woodfield-Balter that deals with a Mafia figure (played by Paul Stevens, with Martin Landau dubbing his voice). The writing duo also did another "syndicate" two-parter in season 3, shortly before their stormy departure from the show.

[Brian Flagg]

[ I think that Briggs' active participation in the missions make him all the more effective because we don't always get to see him outside of that ultra-Mod apartment. And I love how he tosses away the Bruce Geller dossier in many episodes!

In the Phelps episodes, ace M:I writers William Read Woodfield and Allan Balter will also up in the discard pile of dossier photos.

Nice to see that Briggs also battled "The Syndicate" (as TV shows seemed to call the Mafia in roughly the 1965-1975 period) without even having to wear a plaid sportscoat and turtleneck!

That was written by Woodfield and Balter, and they seemed to like to bring in the Mafia as adversaries (perhaps as a change of pace). In the upcoming season 2 set, one of the highlights is a two-part episode written by Woodfield-Balter that deals with a Mafia figure (played by Paul Stevens, with Martin Landau dubbing his voice). The writing duo also did another "syndicate" two-parter in season 3, shortly before their stormy departure from the show.

Yes, the Patrick White book is very informative; one of the best books ever written about a TV show both behind the scenes and as a handy-dandy episode guide.

[Napoleon Solo]

Yes, the Patrick White book is very informative; one of the best books ever written about a TV show both behind the scenes and as a handy-dandy episode guide.

Agreed. I have the season 2 syndicate story on VHS (Paramount released M:I in a "best of" format in the 1990s), and I'm looking forward to the DVD.

[Brian Flagg]

Amazon.com has the second season of Mission: Impossible up now.

[Blofeld's Cat]

Amazon is also offering a deal that includes the 1st season of that wonderful 70's TV series Banacek.

[Blofeld's Cat]

Here in Sydney JB HiFi are selling the set for under $40.

I bought the 1st set in K-Mart for cheaper than that though, so I'll have to check 'em out over the weekend.

[Blofeld's Cat]

Just finished watching the last ep of the 2nd season box-set. Loved it! As I knew I would.

I've yet to remember seeing any of the eps, except one - THE PHOTOGRAPHER. I clearly remember the periscope and the payoff with....

Spoiler

the diorama used to depict a nuclear holocaust!

I'm pretty sure it was this particular ep that sold the show for me when I was a young lad.

Can't wait for the 3rd season box-set.

Incidentally, I bought this box-set along with the Hawaii Five-O season 1 box-set, and decided to watch both series at the same time by alternating discs each time I finished one. As much as I liked HF-0, I much prefer to continue buying the MI box-sets. Can't really afford to keep getting both series anyway.

[level007]

Hi

I'm also a big fan of the old series, and i'm very delighted to see one episode each night before going to sleep. Very cool, specialy the Barney moment. They are always very silent and we can see him installing stuff somewhere or preparing something.

What i like about this show is this kind of slowness.

The second seacon was out earlier than in the US. I think it went out in the end of April in the netherlands and at the beginning of may in France, where i live.

Anyone has information on the season 3 ?

i'll let you know if i find some.

[Brian Flagg]

Can't wait for the 3rd season box-set.

Incidentally, I bought this box-set along with the Hawaii Five-O season 1 box-set, and decided to watch both series at the same time by alternating discs each time I finished one. As much as I liked HF-0, I much prefer to continue buying the MI box-sets. Can't really afford to keep getting both series anyway.

I'm in the opposite position! I opted out of M:I season two because of the cost issue; I'd rather put the money towards my beloved Five-O. However, I'm also not too crazy about M:I's second season, but the third, fourth and sixth seasons were the ones i remember best, especially season three, the best of them all, IMO.

Any extras on M:I's second set?

[Blofeld's Cat]

Can't wait for the 3rd season box-set.

Incidentally, I bought this box-set along with the Hawaii Five-O season 1 box-set, and decided to watch both series at the same time by alternating discs each time I finished one. As much as I liked HF-0, I much prefer to continue buying the MI box-sets. Can't really afford to keep getting both series anyway.

I'm in the opposite position! I opted out of M:I season two because of the cost issue; I'd rather put the money towards my beloved Five-O. However, I'm also not too crazy about M:I's second season, but the third, fourth and sixth seasons were the ones i remember best, especially season three, the best of them all, IMO.

Any extras on M:I's second set?

None that I could see or were listed. Perhaps there are easter eggs on it that no one has found yet.

[Brian Flagg]

I took the plunge and bought season two on Tuesday. I've only watched "The Widow" so far and it is a decent, if not great, episode. Phelps has that great line at the end about being widowed twice by the same man, however. It's good to see Jim Phelps again.

[Brian Flagg]

My top ten for season two:

10)Trek
9) A Game of Chess
8) Echo of Yesterday
7) The Town
6) The Slave
5) The Killing
4) The Astrologer
3) The Widow
2) Operation Heart
1) The Condemned

[Blofeld's Cat]

3rd season box set due out Nov 20

Sweet!

[Brian Flagg]

3rd season box set due out Nov 20

Sweet!

Sweet indeed! Mission's third season is my favorite and IMO the show's finest hour(s)! Season three of The Wild, Wild West is released the very same day! Huzzah! (as is Love, American Style, one of my all-time guilty pleasures, but keep that under your chapeau, okay?)

[Turn]

3rd season box set due out Nov 20

Sweet!

Sweet indeed! Mission's third season is my favorite and IMO the show's finest hour(s)! Season three of The Wild, Wild West is released the very same day! Huzzah! (as is Love, American Style, one of my all-time guilty pleasures, but keep that under your chapeau, okay?)

Isn't it great when they bring out all this cool stuff during the holiday season when you're usually short on extra cash?

Then again, isn't that why they call it exchanging gifts?

[Blofeld's Cat]

3rd season box art

[Brian Flagg]

Season three's "The Mercenaries" alone makes this one worth getting (not to mention The Cardinal") Keep 'em coming, Paramount!

BTW, I'm shocked and stunned (and shocked) that more CBNers aren't digging this show! I guess lack of syndication coupled with the public's short memory hurts a program. Remember It Takes a Thief ? Another favorite show of mine that's not making the syndication rounds.

Edited by Brian Flagg, 15 September 2007 - 01:16 PM.

[Turn]

Season three's "The Mercenaries" alone makes this one worth getting (not to mention The Cardinal") Keep 'em coming, Paramount!

BTW, I'm shocked and stunned (and shocked) that more CBNers aren't digging this show! I guess lack of syndication coupled with the public's short memory hurts a program. Remember It Takes a Thief ? Another favorite show of mine that's not making the syndication rounds.

You've hit on an interesting point. I remember MI when it was originally broadcast when I was a very little kid. I loved watching the tape self destruct and not much else. Of course, by then the team was always fighting the syndicate or whoever.

Then nothing. If it was syndicated where I lived, I either never noticed or it was on at weird times when I wasn't home. The spy shows of the day I remember getting play were Wild Wild West and The Avengers, although I was too young to appreciate Avengers at the time. Although I've seen in old newspapers at least I Spy and The Saint were occasionally shown.

By the time I became a big spy fan in the '80s, nobody was showing these except for an occasional UNCLE or Saint movie, although CBS had The Avengers, The New Avengers, The Saint and Return of the Saint in its late night schedule for a while. UNCLE came to a cable channel, ironically called CBN, in 1985, as well as The Prisoner and Secret Agent on a local PBS station.

Two things helped me discover more of these shows -- video and cable. I got tapes of Avengers, The Saint and UNCLE, while they were revived on other cable channels in the early '90s.

But MI was never around. I remember it was on the F/X channel before it came to my cable system. When the first Cruise film hit in '96, they had a few compilation tapes that I just never got. The film actually got me more interested in MI and bought the book on the series.

I do plan on picking up some of the MI DVDs, hopefully in the coming months. The only hard thing is I have other series on DVD I just never get around to and it may fall into the same fate. And it's competing with UNCLE, a series I've been waiting for for years to come out on DVD.

[Brian Flagg]

TV dramas can disappear for years at a time. Notice how TVLand airs primarily sitcoms nowadays? There seems to be a collective amnesia regarding dramas. Every yahoo out there regurgitates the innuendo of a Gilligan's Island or Petticoat Junction, and half-hour programs are everywhere, syndicated like a cancer. How many different channels air stuff like Eveybody Loves Raymond or Sex In the City ?

My M:I experience was much like yours, except I was able to see it continuously during the summer of 1985 (aka "the good olde days") when it was on at 1am on a local independent station (long since absorbed by WB or UPN) in a great late night lineup that included The Untouchables and Mannix. I was able to see most of seasons three, four, and six, and don't recall the other seasons in that particular stretch of syndication. Anyway, I didn't have a VCR in those days, so I had to stay up until 3am to watch the shows, so if I fell asleep during the Untouchables and woke up to Mike Connors getting his head dented, I knew I'd slept through M:I! I still have the audio cassettes of the tape recorder and apartment scenes from those Mission's I was able to watch. So glad they're out on DVD now!

As for shows like I Spy, Man From UNCLE, et al., I haven't seen a single scene from those shows, even though I know the music by heart! When UNCLE finally gets it's release, I'm going to be experiencing this program for the first time. I have some UNCLE books and magazines I've had for 25 years, and those alone were enough to inspire me to think highly of it.

[Brian Flagg]

November 20 is only ten days away...