[[quoteright:338:http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/missionimpossibleseries.jpg]]
-->''"Good morning, Mr. Phelps..."''

Unique SpyDrama based around a semi-ad hoc covert operations team employed by the US Government for dicey missions needing maximum deniability. With a few rare exceptions every episode followed the same outline: First, a prerecorded briefing informs the team leader, Jim Phelps, of the target, what needs to be done to him, and why. Second, Jim assembles his team and the viewer gets to see a selected but [[UnspokenPlanGuarantee mostly uninformative subset of their planning and briefing]]. Thirdly, the mission -- usually a [[TheCaper caper]] or [[TheCon con]] -- is executed, sometimes with real or bogus crises along the way. Finally, the team reassembles in a convenient panel truck and drives off as the target confesses, turns state's evidence, or slowly cools in a spreading pool of blood.

The original cast:
* Steven Hill as Dan Briggs, a cold, cerebral strategist who would be given the mission, formulate a plan, select a team of agents (not always the same ones in early episodes), and put everything in motion.
* Barbara Bain as Cinnamon Carter, a glamorous FemmeFatale who could wrap men around her finger with a single raised eyebrow.
* Greg Morris as Barney Collier, a mechanical genius and reverse AirVentEscape artist -- the casting of a black actor as this highly accomplished character in 1966 was revolutionary, although the producers insisted race had nothing to do with their decision.
* Former bodybuilder Peter Lupus as Willy Armitage, essentially a GentleGiant. Despite being the muscle of the team, Willy displayed surprising bursts of speed on occasion, in addition to being a gifted actor and improviser.

Martin Landau played Rollin Hand, a MasterOfDisguise, sleight-of-hand, card sharping and many other skills, as a guest star in the pilot, but was so popular with audiences that he became the EnsembleDarkhorse and was called back for virtually every subsequent episode, always billed as a "special guest star." He was made a series regular in season two.

When Hill became increasingly difficult to work with, he was gradually written out of the series; when he was replaced by Peter Graves as Jim Phelps in season two, the classic cast was set. Other cast changes followed, with Landau and Bain leaving at the end of season three, Landau replaced by Leonard Nimoy, fresh from the recently cancelled ''StarTrek'' (which Landau turned down to do MI instead), and Bain by an assortment of leading ladies, none of whom had the same panache, culminating in a tragically miscast Lesley Warren as the waif-like Dana. An attempt was eventually made to invigorate the role by casting Lynda Day George as Casey, who was both the leading lady and the MasterOfDisguise, but by then the series was on its last legs.

''MissionImpossible'' was a thinking man's espionage program. Gunplay was kept to a minimum, and the focus was always on outwitting and outmaneuvering the foe, who usually didn't know he was being targeted at all. The IMF were never dispatched for ''ordinary'' tasks that a simple JamesBond type could handle with a couple of explosions and a chase scene -- they were called upon to accomplish their goals by outplanning and outthinking their opposition, often by playing mind games with them on such a scale that more than one may have been driven into madness.

All but invented LatexPerfection and the MasterOfDisguise, and originated many of its own unique tropes, not the least of which is its most famous and most parodied elements, "this tape will self-destruct in five seconds" and "if any of your IMF team are caught or killed, the Secretary will disavow all knowledge of their actions".

The show's distinctive use of what creator Bruce Geller called "a team of specialists" to carry out a complex plan inspired numerous imitators, most notably ''TheATeam'', but also shows such as ''CharliesAngels''. None did it as well, though.

There was a brief revival of the franchise in the 80's, but a more successful revival occured with a ''Film/MissionImpossible'' film series starring Tom Cruise.
----
This show provides examples of:
* AirVentEscape
* AppliedPhlebotinum
* AsLongAsItSoundsForeign (or looks like it on a sign)
* AvengersAssemble
* BananaRepublic
* BatmanGambit
* BigStore
* BloodlessCarnage
* BookEnds (Movie only. Ethan is offered another assignment same as Jim in the beginning.)
* {{Brother Chuck}}
* CameraSpoofing
* CastingGag (the 80's sequel series starred Greg Morris's son as Barney Collier's son)
* CharacterDerailment (In the movie, [[spoiler:Phelps becomes a traitor and murders most of the team.]])
* TheCaper
* TheCaptain (Jim Phelps)
* CatchPhrase
* ChainedHeat ("Nerves")
* {{Claustrophobia}}
* TheCon
* ConMan
* CrowningMomentOfAwesome
* EngineeredPublicConfession
* EnsembleDarkhorse (Landau quickly eclipsed star Steven Hill, even though he was only intended as an occasional guest star)
* FakeDefector
* FakeGuestStar (Martin Landau had to wait till the second season to get his name into the show's titles)
* FakeGunshot
* FauxtasticVoyage
* FiveManBand
* GogglesDoSomethingUnusual
* HardWorkMontage (complete with a signature tune called "The Plot")
* ImpossibleMission
* InsertCameo
* InstantSedation
* JailbirdOfPanama (strange variation - both the jailbird and the rescuing team were in the IMF)
* JonasQuinn (There were changes to the team almost every season)
* KangarooCourt (multiple episodes)
* LatexPerfection
* LeaveBehindAPistol
* MagnificentBastard (So ''very'' many)
* ManchurianAgent ("Mindbend")
* TheMark
* MasterOfDisguise
* MindControl (''My Friend, My Enemy'')
* MrExposition
* MrFixit
* NoNameGiven
* ObstacleExposition
* OhCrap ([[TheMark The Mark's]] standard expression when they realize they have been ''had'' and the plan is shot/there's a visit to the clink in the offing/they're meeting TheGrimReaper.)
* OnceAnEpisode ("This tape will self-destruct in five seconds.")
* PseudoCrisis
* {{Ruritania}}
* TheSadisticChoice (''The Ransom'')
* ShoePhone
* SpyDrama
* SpySpeak (At the start of every episode)
* ThemeTune
* ThisPageWillSelfDestruct (Most probably the TropeMaker)
* ThoseWackyNazis
* ThouShaltNotKill
* TouristTrap
* TownWithADarkSecret (''The Town'')
* {{Tricksters}}
* TrojanPrisoner
* UnspokenPlanGuarantee
* VillainousBreakdown
* TheVoice
* WhyDontYouJustShootHim (How the team survives being captured)
* XanatosSpeedChess
* {{Zeerust}} (The ersatz future in ''The Freeze'')
----
<<|CrimeAndPunishmentSeries|>>
<<|TropeMakers|>>
<<|AmericanSeries|>>