History YMMV / MissionImpossible

* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: Music/LaloSchifrin's iconic [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cSpGbYTZbpk theme tune]], still used in parodies and commercials to this day.

* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: Music/LaloSchifrin's iconic theme tune, still used in parodies and commercials to this day.

* SeasonalRot: This trope set in after the third season, with the departures of producer Bruce Geller and co-stars Creator/MartinLandau and Barbara Bain. Landau's role was taken over by Creator/LeonardNimoy, who made the most of his opportunity but never seemed completely comfortable with his character. The lack of continuity in the female co-lead also affected the show’s chemistry, with CreatorLeeMeriwether (adequate), Creator/LesleyAnnWarren (clearly miscast), Lynda Day George (a slight improvement over Warren), and Barbara Anderson (a temporary replacement for George when the latter went on maternity leave) taking on that role and falling short of filling Bain's shoes. Later seasons were also hit with increasingly limited budgets, which resulted in formulaic scripts that had the IM Force almost exclusively battling organized crime.

* SeasonalRot: The show became less well-received in later seasons when it started replacing fan favorite cast members with rotating guest stars who never stayed for more than one episode. The series also switched from using foreign adversaries to focusing solely on organized crime in the US (due to changing American attitudes toward foreign intervention), which led to formulaic scripts that avoided taking too many risks.

* ValuesDissonance: Originally, the IMF were a group of people choosing to use their specific talents in spy work purely for the good of their nation. (Starting in 1966, still the era of "[[UsefulNotes/JohnFKennedy Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country]].") This wouldn't have worked in the 1996 movie, so it made the IMF a deeply covert part of the US intelligence services. Even in the time of UsefulNotes/RichardNixon, the idea of American agents covertly manipulating foreign countries as heroes was going out of fashion, and in later seasons the IMF spent most of their time working their wiles on organised crime at home. (Although in the revival and the movies they got to travel around the world again.)

* MorePopularReplacement: Jim Phelps (played by Creator/PeterGraves) was the second leader of TheTeam and is the series' most iconic character. The original leader, Dan Briggs (played by Creator/StevenHill), only appeared in the original series and is forgotten by all but the most dedicated fans.

** Original series's "The Carriers": [[VileVillainSaccharineShow Janos Passik]] takes 200 people into his mission to become as American as possible. "Teaching" them how to become American, Passik travels with the trainees to America and give them jobs as well as hotels to stay in. Passik uses this as a way of killing, and has been spreading a [[SyntheticPlague highly lethal disease]] with which he will infect the agents, who will then infect their colleagues on their jobs, and so on. While Passik shows signs of love against one of the protagonists [[FemmeFatale Cinnamon Carter]], he still has no problems with trying to kill her by trying to infect her with the disease. At the end, Passik plays a game of RussianRoulette when he discovers that they are planning on stopping his plan, including Cinnamon.

* CompleteMonster: Janos Passik, from Season 1's "The Carriers", takes 200 people into his mission to become as American as possible. "Teaching" them into becoming American, he travels with the trainees to UsefulNotes/{{America}} and give them jobs as well as hotels to stay on; each job has many employees, including one becoming a cook, one a dancer, etc. However, it is revealed that he uses this as a way of killing, and has been spreading a [[SyntheticPlague highly lethal disease]] which he will infect the agents with, who will infect their colleagues on their jobs, and so on, fully knowing how many people it will kill. While he shows signs of love against one of the protagonists [[FemmeFatale Cinnamon Carter]], he still has no problems with trying to kill her by trying to infect her with the disease. At the end, he plays a game of RussianRoulette when he discovers that they are planning on stopping his plan, including Cinnamon. In such a [[VileVillainSaccharineShow campy, silly show]], Passik is a surprisingly dark villain and mass murderer, with one of the protagonists confirming that the disease could possibly kill over five million people when taking everything into account. [[spoiler: Which is why the team infects him with his own disease before they escape, meaning that he and all his agents will die before leaving base.]]

* CompleteMonster: Janos Passik, from season 1's "The Carriers", takes 200 people into his mission to become as American as possible. "Teaching" them into becoming American, he travels with the trainees to America and give them jobs as well as hotels to stay on; each job has many employees, including one becoming a cook, one a dancer, etc. However, it is revealed that he uses this as a way of killing, and has been spreading a [[SyntheticPlague highly lethal disease]] which he will infect the agents with, who will infect their colleagues on their jobs, and so on, fully knowing how many people it will kill. While he shows signs of love against one of the protagonists [[FemmeFatale Cinnamon Carter]], he still has no problems with trying to kill her by trying to infect her with the disease. At the end, he plays a game of RussianRoulette when he discovers that they are planning on stopping his plan, including Cinnamon. In such a [[VileVillainSaccharineShow campy, silly show]], Passik is a surprisingly dark villain and mass murderer, with one of the protagonists confirming that the disease could possibly kill over five million people when taking everything into account. [[spoiler: Which is why the team infects him with his own disease before they escape, meaning that he and all his agents will die before leaving base.]]
* EnsembleDarkhorse: During the first season, Creator/MartinLandau quickly eclipsed series star Steven Hill, even though he was only intended as an occasional guest star.
* HarsherInHindsight: "Action!" centered around [[FramingTheGuiltyParty a staged film purporting to show atrocities committed by American troops in Vietnam]]. In light of what was later revealed, it gets uncomfortable fast. On the other hand, the episode also takes some self-deprecating jabs at the movie business and this part resonates as well as it ever did. Some things never change.

* MorePopularReplacement: Jim Phelps (played by Creator/PeterGraves) was the second leader of TheTeam and is the series' most iconic character. The original leader, Dan Briggs (played by Steven Hill), only appeared in the original series and is forgotten by all but the most dedicated fans.

* NightmareFuel: In "The Exchange", Cinnamon is captured and, during questioning, inadvertently reveals she has {{Claustrophobia}}. So, she's dosed with mind-weakening drugs and locked in a very small cell. She becomes so desperate to get out that she pries open an air vent and tries to crawl out. As soon as she's inside, the vent is closed off in front of and behind her, leaving her in a space no bigger than a coffin. She's so horrified she goes into shock.
* ReplacementScrappy: Dr. Doug Robert for Willie Armitage in most of the fifth season. He was written out early on in season 6 while Willie returned to the IMF team full time.

-->''Mission: Impossible'' matter-of-factly offered the premise that the United States government sponsored a group of saboteurs who were answerable to no one. In the course of their duties, the IMF could -- and did -- lie, cheat, steal, falsify media, hold persons illegally, falsely incriminate, destroy the property of innocent people, kidnap, plot (though never personally execute) assassinations, and break any civil and criminal rule that stood in their way. Individual rights were ignored... The IMF framed and entrapped opponents with no qualms, regrets, or remorse. If they couldn't nail [a villain] for something he did, they'd see to it he was punished for something he didn't do, or something they made him do.

* CompleteMonster: Janos Passik, from season 1's "The Carriers", takes 200 people into his mission to become as American as possible. "Teaching" them into becoming American, he travels with the trainees to America and give them jobs as well as hotels to stay on; each job has many employees, including one becoming a cook, one a dancer, etc. However, it is revealed that he uses this as a way of killing, and has been spreading a [[SyntheticPlague highly lethal disease]] which he will infect the agents with, who will infect their colleagues on their jobs, and so on, fully knowing how many people it will kill. While he shows signs of love against one of the protagonists [[FemmeFatale Cinnamon Carter]], he still has no problems with trying to kill her by trying to infect her with the disease. At the end, he plays a game of RussianRoulette when he discovers that they are planning on stopping his plan, including Cinnamon. In such a [[VileVillainSaccharineShow campy, silly show]], Passik is a surprisingly dark villain and mass murderer, with one of the protagonists confirming that the disease could possibly kill over five million people when taking everything into account.

* NightmareFuel: In "The Exchange", Cinnamon is captured and, during questioning, inadvertently reveals she has claustrophobia. So, she's dosed with mind-weakening drugs and locked in a very small cell. She becomes so desperate to get out that she pries open an air vent and tries to crawl out. As soon as she's inside, the vent is closed off in front of and behind her, leaving her in a space no bigger than a coffin. She's so horrified she goes into shock.

** In "Gitano", Peter Mark Richman plays a VillainOfTheWeek who tries to make it look like an EvilUncle tries to kill his nephew, Richman would later play [[Film/FridayThe13thPartVIIIJasonTakesManhattan one in a Paramount production]].

** In "Gitano", Peter Mark Richman plays an EvilUncle, this would not be the [[Film/FridayThe13thPartVIIIJasonTakesManhattan only time in a Paramount production]].

* HilariousInHindsight: In "Encore," Creator/WilliamShatner plays a 60-year-old gangster who's de-aged by the IMF for several hours. The show's idea of an old William Shatner is a bit at odds with how he really turned out...

-->''Mission: Impossible'' matter-of-factly offered the premise that the United States government sponsored a group of saboteurs who were answerable to no one. In the course of their duties, the IMF could -- and did -- lie, cheat, steal, falsify media, hold persons illegally, falsely incriminate, destroy the property of innocent people, kidnap. plot (though never personally execute) assassinations, and break any civil and criminal rule that stood in their way. Individual rights were ignored... The IMF framed and entrapped opponents with no qualms, regrets, or remorse. If they couldn't nail [a villain] for something he did, they'd see to it he was punished for something he didn't do, or something they made him do.

-->''Mission: Impossible'' matter-of-factly offered the premise that the United States government sponsored a group of saboteurs who were answerable to no one. In the course of their duties, the IMF could -- and did -- lie, cheat, steal, falsify media, hold persons illegally, falsely incriminate, destroy the property of innocent people, kidnap. plot (though never personally execute) assassinations, and break any civil and criminal rule that stood in their way. Individual rights were ignored... The IMF framed and entrapped opponents with no qualms, regrets, or remorse. If they couldn't nail him for something he did, they'd see to it he was punished for something he didn't do, or something they made him do.

* EnsembleDarkhorse: Landau quickly eclipsed star Steven Hill, even though he was only intended as an occasional guest star.

*** You can now get a boxset of music from throughout the series, via Creator/LaLaLand.

*** You can now get a boxset of music from throughout the series, via La-La Land.

* EarWorm: It goes hand-in-hand with the Crowning Music of Awesome. '''Everybody''' knows the ''Mission Impossible'' theme song.
** If you watch a few episodes, you'll also find the incidental music running through your head.

* CompleteMonster: Janos Passik, from season 1's "The Carriers", takes 200 people into his mission to become as American as possible. "Teaching" them into becoming American, he travels with the trainees to America and give them jobs as well as hotels to stay on; each job has many employees, including one becoming a cook, one a dancer, etc. However, it is revealed that he uses this as a way of killing, and has been spreading a [[SyntheticPlague highly lethal disease]] which he will infect the agents with, who will infect their colleagues on their jobs, and so on, fully knowing how many people it will kill. While he shows signs of love against one of the protagonists [[FemmeFatale Cinnamon Carter]], he still has no problems with trying to kill her by trying to infect her with the disease. At the end, he plays a game of RussianRoulette when he discovers that they are planning on stopping his plan, including Cinnamon. In such a [[VileVillainSaccharineShow campy, silly show]], Passik is a surprisingly [[KnightOfCerebus dark villain]] and mass murderer, with one of the protagonists confirming that the disease could possibly kill over five million people when taking everything into account.

* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: Lalo Schifrin's iconic theme tune, still used in parodies and commercials to this day.

* CrowningMusicOfAwesome: Lalo Schifrin's iconic theme tune, still used in parodies and commercials to this day.
** Special mention to Schifrin's scoring during the church climax of "The Heir Apparent" with Cinnamon trying (with some previously supplied help from Barney) to open a puzzle box that only the woman she's impersonating - [[NoCelebritiesWereHarmed who is absolutely not Anastasia]] - could have opened; this particular cue gets reused often in later episodes. [[spoiler: And yes, she does get it open.]]
*** You can now get a boxset of music from throughout the series, via La-La Land.

For the films, see [[YMMV/MissionImpossibleFilmSeries here]].

Works in this franchise with their own YMMV pages:


!!The TV series: