
The hugely successful Mission: Impossible franchise began with the original television series created by Bruce Geller for CBS in 1966. The show ran for seven seasons, until 1973, and stood out from typical procedural dramas by focusing on the details of the heists themselves, rather than the agents carrying them out. Led by the calm and collected Jim Phelps (played by Peter Graves), the Impossible Missions Force operated like a precision instrument, using disguises, advanced technology, and clever psychological tactics to defeat dictators and criminal organizations. The show’s distinctive Cold War style—complete with Lalo Schifrin’s famous theme music in 5/4 time and self-destructing tapes—helped it become a pop culture icon. While there was a later attempt to revive the series, it wasn’t very successful and has largely been forgotten. This 1988 sequel, which continued the story from the original 1960s show, struggled to capture the same magic and ended after two seasons on February 24, 1990 – 36 years ago.