Mission: Impossible
Pilot
Season 1, Episode 1 · Aired 1966-09-17
Synopsis
IMF team leader Dan Briggs assembles his team for the first time. His team includes a master of disguise, a femme fatale, an electronics whiz, an incredibly strong man and a safecracker. Briggs will need all their skills to steal two atomic bombs from a hostile South American country.
Pilot desk note
From the desk: Mission: Impossible opens its catalog run with “Pilot” (1966-09-17). Team procedural template that movies later turned into a global brand. Cast turnover and the music rights lore are pure industry folklore.
In the series
This episode is part of Mission: Impossible (1966–1973) on CBS.
Self-destructing briefings and team-craft heists — cool as a cold war martini.
Key cast
- Peter Graves as Jim Phelps
- Barbara Bain as Cinnamon Carter
- Martin Landau as Rollin Hand
- Greg Morris as Barney Collier
- Peter Lupus as Willy Armitage