Mission Impossible - The Fourth TV Season Reviews

• MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE #4: Enter Paris the Great!

  
  By A3SO2TIUEE8FKG on 2008-01-31
  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.
  
  

• Jim, if any of your IM force is caught or killed the secretary..

  
  By APNFSO2RCZ2KD on 2008-01-30
  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!!!!
  
  

• great great tv.

  
  By A8W5RRV3C9NGY on 2008-02-01
  THIS WAS THE BEST TV SHOW OF ALL TIME. CANT WAIT TILL THE 5TH SEASON. I HOPE SOME.
  
  

• Not as good as the previous three

  
  By A1RCLGY4LYN31Y on 2008-05-31
  First off, I really miss Cinamon and Rollin. Paris doesn't seem comfortable in his role.
  
  I am also finding familiar plots. Compare The Numbers Game with The Submarine. In both, the IMF is trying to obtain a bank account number. Compare Fools Gold with other counterfeiter episodes. Even some of the guest actors reappear from earlier episodes.
  
  I am also tired of seeing studio buildings (The Submarine) and the same obvious locations in the suburbs, being used over and over again -- same buildings, different country, LOL. I should have stopped watching with the first three seasons. The fourth season just doesn't cut it with me.
  
  

• One of TV's Best Espionage Shows In Its Fourth Season

  
  By A3BMRSE8N1858V on 2008-04-14
  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.
  
  
• Misleading Credit
  By A11JPDB28HIYTU on 2008-04-29
  I found it very misleading to have the main credit of this season to be Barbara Anderson,who according to internet movie database only appeared during 1972 in 7 episodes.Surely Peter Graves or Leonard Nimoy should be given top credits for the 4th season?. This has been long awaited by Nimoy fans and contains some really great episodes ..highly recommended !
  
  
• Leonard Nimoy is a great actor.
  By A7GYMENVVXYO3 on 2008-03-19
  I have fond memories of this show in re-runs. Nimoy was great as Paris the new master of disguises. I particularly remember an episode where he does Japanese Kobuki(sic). Strange there was a series a few years later called "The Barbary Coast" where William Shatner plays a con-man/master of disguise in old San Francisco. Even forty years later this show looks like it was done yesterday. Great quality.
  
  
• Your mission Jim...
  By AVRWBMDDXV2XS on 2008-05-15
  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.
  
  
• IMF
  By A1W7IHIP158OVV on 2008-06-06
  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.
  
  
• Unhappy customer
  By A1N1B9BUL9IHAE on 2008-06-18
  I was very disappointed with the fourth TV season.
  The second disk of original purchase and replacement had color lines in the middle of the show, stops and then got frosen.
  I had to retern both of these sets.
  Until this problem exist I will skip this season
  
  
• Mission Impossible - The best of the best...
  By A2PF96JR7Z01ZP on 2008-03-08
  Undoubtedly, I'm an ardent fan of Mission Impossible TV series which would run to the 7th Season ultimately. Just placed an order for the 4th. I will look forward to seeing the coming series the soonest. Too bad that Martin Landau and Barbara Baine are no longer present in the 4th. But, hey, actors and actresses come and go, depending on their acting ability. The better they are they want to get paid more and if they don't get what they want, they just quit
  ! This is only human. I will forgive the couple. But the world of Mission Impossible still goes on with or without them. I like to see through the end of the 7th. After this, my wish to see the HIGH CHAPARRAL SERIES with 98 episodes and hope Paramount will take into consideration of this popularity and demand just like Mission Impossible, The Fugitive and other well-produced series. And Paramount should know that High Chaparral is also a high revenue earner if it has the vision for the fans all over the world. Cheers.
  
  
• Mission: Impossible Goes In New Directions
  By A2MNB9PF4QMK9P on 2008-10-29
  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.
  
  
• Season 4 No Landau/Bain but Nimoy is pretty darn good!
  By A3OVWQ38UBKLLU on 2008-05-15
  I am looking forward to season 5, 6 & 7. Just got season 4 from Amazon & watched The Code from disc one. Same great quality audio/video & as good as Landau & Bain were, Nimoy does a good job too. The scripts are still solid & I highly recommend this set.
  
  
• Got to Love Leonard!
  By A2EHFYSRLY45Z3 on 2008-05-21
  I was so looking forward to Mission Impossible the fourth season. Even though Martin Landau(Sorry if I spelled his name wrong) is good, I enjoy Leonard Nimoy so much more. He is so great as Paris. I also don't think the quality of the show diminished when the cast changed either. I just hope season five is as good, but I don't think I will be disappointed in Leonard.
  
  
• I have accepted this mission...
  By AF6XT53C8AEQF on 2008-06-07
  Used to watch this on CBS TV on Saturday evenings at 7 PM CST with my aunt/babysitter. Most of these episodes I remember seeing in re-runs years ago on FX...except for "The Submarine". This brought back memories of seeing it in first run...without dealing with the commercials.
  
  Just waiting for the last three seasons from the 60's/70's to be released. Am wondering if Viacom will be releasing the late 80's episodes shown on ABC TV with Phil Morris (lawyer Jackie Chiles from Seinfeld) & an older Peter Graves?
  
  
• Mission Impossible season 4 rating
  By A17HEVORKEFAQF on 2008-06-13
  The quality of the different shows varies somewhat for the Mission Impossible fourth season. I enjoy watching all of them. As a look back into the late sixties and early seventies TV shows, I believe that Mission Impossible was one of the better shows. Even with some variety in quality, all of the shows are enjoyable to watch. Some are 4 stars, some are 5 stars.
  
  
• Mission Imp Seas IV
  By A1O9GTS2LD7TR0 on 2008-07-20
  As with the other 3 seasons, this DVD set arrived in perfect condition and played every episode with out a glitch. One thing I wish -- a commentary on a few of the episodes, I realize it has been nearly 40 years, but most of the crew is still alive. Unlike Hogan's Heroes, where only Helga and LeBeau are able to discuss their memories of making the show. Even without, it is a great series to watch and watch again.
  
  
• Not only actors got flushed
  By A2HN5AMWG02F1 on 2008-08-06
  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.
  
  
• Mission Impossible - The Fourth TV Season
  By A276M3NSIY9B82 on 2008-09-17
  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.
  
  
• New cast, more impossible missions
  By A2QQHIY23PL7H3 on 2008-10-06
  Season 4 of Mission: Impossible continues the intricate missions and cerebral plots of the previous seasons. With the departure of Martin Landau and Barbara Bain after season 3, there's some new blood in the IMF this year: Leonard Nimoy joins the cast as new master of disguise Paris, while various guest stars are recruited to fill the female agent role.
  
  Watching this series for the first time, I find the introduction of Paris to be a nice change of pace. While none of the agents are ever developed much and Paris is pretty much Rollin Hand, a fresh face does draw attention from what are the increasingly noticeable flaws in the series - the repeated use of the same backlot sets and California locations, stories that strain believability with the IMF predicting every thought and action of their targets, and cliffhangers that are resolved almost immediately. The fun is still there, and the payoff at the end of each episode is still worth it, but the show isn't quite as fresh as it was a few seasons back.
  
  Still the addition of Paris works, and the rotating female agents mix things up too (since it makes more sense to change agents as needed by the mission, and it also brings some relevance back to the dossier selection scene that precedes most of the stories). Notable is Lee Meriwether, who appears in a handful of episodes, and you end up wishing if they'd selected a permanent female agent this season, it would've been her. She certainly matches Bain in style and beauty. Standout episodes this season include a faked submarine voyage in "The Submarne," "Lover's Knot" and "Death Squad" which break the usual story mold, and "The Falcon" which is a well-paced 3-parter with some genuine twists. If you're in the mood for more classy 60's spy action that takes itself seriously, season 4 of Mission: Impossible still delivers the goods.
  
  
• Mission Impossible 4
  By A2MYAE7T1KS5O2 on 2008-10-12
  I just love the old MI series and they keep getting better. The stories were so much better as the years went by and the acting in this set was superb.
  
  
• Mission Impossilbe 4 Great !!
  By A3GXMKVRWW0YYJ on 2008-10-17
  HI EVERYONE TO READ THIS SECTION, I LIKE TO SHARE ABOUT THIS TV SERIES FROM THE 60s and 70s. IN MY PERSONAL OPINION IN THIS FOURTH SEASON IS UNBELIEVABLE, THIS TIME I MISS ROLLIN HAND, HIS DO A GREAT JOB BEFORE THIS SEASON, BUT MR SPOKE IS EXCELLENT ( PARIS ) LEONARD NIMOY, AND CINNAMON CARTER (BARBARA BAIN) TOO. THE CHANGING IN THIS SEASON IS GOOD, ALWAYS THE SAME SOMETIMES IS BOURING. I CAN REMEMBER TO WATCH ALL THIS EPISODES FROM THIS 4TH SEASON, BUT ALREADY I HAVE TO WATCH Y ENJOY THIS SEASON AND I RECOMMENDED THIS TV SERIE, THIS IS MY MISION IMPOSIBLE FOR YOU.
  
  
  
  
• AMAZON is the BEST!
  By A2GFTVCWL80JHD on 2008-06-12
  I thoroughly love to do business with Amazon! I will always try to look there FIRST for things that I want to get. I have NO COMPLAINTS! THANK YOU AMAZON!!! I got ALL of the Mission Impossible seasons and I have been thoroughly satisfied with them. Getting things RIGHT from Amazon is NOT an "Impossible Mission" for THEM!
  
  
• MI all over again
  By A1ZZ12W2CBMEEJ on 2008-06-14
  I loved it as a kid and now my kids love it. Well made and edge-of-your-seat adventure from a 70's series. Loved it!!
  
  
• Not bad at all
  By A2ISYIPW5O080I on 2008-06-28
  Quality season...I think the first that has Leonard Nimoy (Dr. Spok from the old Star Treks) therein.
  
  

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• Mission Impossible - The Second TV Season
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