This writer was pleasntly shocked at the quality of television included on the Mission: Impossible: The Second TV Season box set. For some reason, as someone who had no experience with the franchise before Tom Cruise and Brian De Palma brought it to the big screen, I thought the original TV show was going to be the same kind of cheesy, antiquated beast that Knight Rider was. You know, admirable if not exceptional in terms of narrative construction. But Mission: Impossible was an effortlessly engaging series, one with as much crime-fighting excitement as high-tech wizardry. Sure, it wasn’t exactly top-of-the-line technologically as we in the 21st century might demand, but it made for a hell of a good time. And this third season gives us more of the same; for that, I give Paramount an earnest round of applause.

According to M:I purists, this third go-round is the last real installment of the show; stars Martin Landau and Barbara Bain would leave the series before its fourth season. But in this season, it delivers various permutations of a simple theme show after show, and does it well. Each episode has the setup that has been satirized in numerous episodes of SNL and pretty much every cartoon made since 1970. At the beginning of each show, Jim Phelps (Graves in all his gravelly-speech toughness) receives a bizarre, surprisingly cryptic self-destructing message that invites him to deploy his team of crackerjack problem-solvers to get the bad guys just in time.

But the M:I team isn't silly and over-the-top, like, say, The A-Team. These professionals are both capable and innately unique in their own funny ways. Consider episode in which ballistics ace Barney (Greg Morris) has to act the role of a professional boxer to infiltrate a mob boss’ realm. Sure, the guy can disarm anything you put in front of him, but can he do it while getting pummeled by much more macho boxer?

This rhetoric just keeps going and it’s fun as hell. Having only the Mission: Impossible films as a reference before being introduced to this series, I expected things to be super-serious and leaden, but as dedicated as these folks are to solving crime, Mission: Impossible has a fantastic giddiness. Like a MacGyver precursor, there’s a wild excitement not only in executing the plans, but in coming up with the plan in the first place. And don’t get me started on the guest list for this season. I was excited when Sid Haig popped up, but Ed Asner and Martin Sheen? I’m in.

Thank God there are four more seasons to go!

The Video: How Does The Disc Look?

As with the second TV season’s set, these 1.33:1 full frame transfers are relatively free of dirt and grime, especially in comparison to other shows of the period. Although color accuracy is a bit off (flesh tones err a bit on the bright side), it’s obvious that a lot of care was taken in presenting the show in the best possible light. There is some visible grain, particularly in the darker sequences, but it’s far less apparent and jolting than the grain that mars many other '60s shows. The show’s fans will continue to be ecstatic with the transfers.

The Audio: How Does The Disc Sound?

The Dolby Digital 5.1 tracks are also really fun. Just like the last batch, they’re a bit thin; 1967 TV was definitely mixed for a monaural broadcast. But compared to the original mono mixes that are also included, they’re surprisingly rich and full. Dialogue is scratchy, of course, and there isn’t a lot of dynamic range, but the show’s music gets a nice bump up, and the frequent sound effects are given a presence in the surround channels in a relatively aggressive fashion. Not bad.

Included are a Spanish mono track, English, Spanish, and Portuguese subtitles, and English Closed Captions.

Supplements: What Goodies Are There?

No bonuses are included.

Exclusive DVD-ROM Features: What happens when you pop the disc into your PC?

There are no DVD-ROM features on this DVD.

Final Thoughts

It’s disappointing that there are no bonuses; as such a newcomer to the franchise, I’m dying of curiosity concerning the show’s construction. But with excellent video transfers and wonderfully-upgraded 5.1 sound mixes, it’s hard to get really cranky about anything. This one’s an easy recommendation to any TV-on-DVD adventure seekers.