I'm so excited about this release and so impressed with its quality that, even though I already have the first season (recorded from TV Land's uncut prints), I plan to pick this set up. Of course, the quality of my DVD-R copies is nowhere near that of this Paramount set.

I'm still surprised that Paramount chose not to start with Season Two, the first to star Peter Graves, but not disappointed. Season One (with star Steven Hill) has some remarkable episodes, including "Snowball in Hell" with Ricardo Montalban, "The Train" with William Windom, and "The Carriers," which has the same premise as an excellent SECRET AGENT episode. If Graves had starred in Season One, it would probably be the series' best overall (which is not to say that Hill wasn't any good, because he's quite good).

I'm sorry there are no extras, since M:I always had its share of backstage drama, and many of the show's participants are still alive (of the cast, only Greg Morris has passed away).

You can see DVD Beaver's review of the box set here. One small nitpick for Paramount: the shot of Morris used on the episode menu is from a later season.

I just watched the first two disks and I'm quite pleased.

I've watched the show any number of times over the years and enjoyed it immensely, but I've never sat down and watched it at length before. Man, it's smarter and more ahead of its time than I ever noticed.

I'm looking forward to watching more and may have more to say then.

Unlike many shows, M:I was great right out of the gate. "Pilot" is particularly strong. Mary Ann Mobley is sexy in the sharp two-parter "Old Man Out." The cleverly rendered card game that ends "Odds on Evil," with Martin Landau deftly "pwning" Nehemiah Persoff, is as suspenseful a card game as I've ever seen on film.

Really, though, I don't think the first season has any clunkers at all.

I thought "Wheels" went on a bit past where I was believing they could manage the con, but I enjoyed it overall anyway.

I read a profile of Steven Hill a few years back that claimed he was Marlon Brando's favorite actor. Young Brando looked up to Hill on the NY Stage, an 'actor's actor.

I picked up MISSION during B & N two-for-one sale based largely on your enthusiasm, and haven't been disappointed. I only vaguely remembered it from childhood, and some of the caveats I held still hold; it can be a bit silly watching him go through the files at the beginning of each episode when he picks pretty much the same people all the time But beyond that, the plotting is generally equal to anything Hollywood is coming up with these days, and actors were given more allowance to act than to be props in a hyper-edited jigsaw puzzle. Not having loving memories of the show, I was not betrothen to Graves, and find Hill excellent as the leader. I've watched the first disc and am glad to add this to my increasingly large rotation of classic shows (SAINT, I SPY, TAXI, NEWHART, ROCKFORD FILES) that I watch instead of, you know, "new" television (save HOUSE, which was the other season disc I picked up at B & N, and 30 ROCK). I swear, I wouldn't do it if they didn't force me!

I agree, but there's some entertainment value in pondering who provided the photos of the agents Hill doesn't pick (one of them that pops up occasionally is show creator Bruce Geller, and I think I spotted Desilu exec Herb Solow once). The show pretty much eliminated this scene around the 5th season, although it did come in handy during the 4th season after Barbara Bain left the series and there was a different "girl" agent in most episodes (Barbara Luna, Jessica Walter, Lee Meriwether, Julie Gregg, Dina Merrill, Michele Carey, etc.).

I showed "The Train" to some friends who are unfamiliar with M:I the other night, and they seem to have liked it better than I feared they would. The plot, as with most M:Is, is ludicrous, but the audience bought into it fine and got quite a kick out of the climactic scene.

MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE's "Second TV Season" is coming to DVD in June. The 1967-68 season was the show's first with its new star Peter Graves, and may be the series' best overall. Among the more interesting episodes were "The Seal," in which the IMF, with the help of a trained pussy, boosts Darren McGavin's jade right from under his nose; "The Photographer," in which the IMF convinces baddie Anthony Zerbe that World War III has occurred right outside his bomb shelter; "The Town," an unusual yarn about a typical American small town populated by Communist agents; and "The Money Machine," in which the IMF produces a preposterous cash duplicator that easily fools counterfeiter Brock Peters (one of M:I's few black villains).

Backed by Lalo Schifrin's innovative scores (even the music composed by others is closely based on Schifrin's themes) and '60s TV's highest production values (thanks to Geller's penchant for going over schedule and over budget), Season 2 of MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE is remarkably entertaining television and will likely look and sound as sharp as CBS/Paramount's Season 1 box. Although none are yet announced, let's hope the studio puts some care into creating supplemental features for the set, as all of M:I's regular cast (besides Greg Morris, who died of brain cancer in 1996) are still alive and very likely, from accounts I have read, willing to participate.

I don't watch the opening because it contains spoiler snippets from the episode. I know that didn't bother me when watching it originally but now I turn my eyes away and listen to the music.

Wow, that's hardcore anti-spoiler! Do you watch movie trailers?

I watch trailers. I just don't want to watch one right before the movie it's promoting starts. I just saw what seemed like a 2 minute trailer for SPIDER-MAN 3 the other day on tv. Would I want to watch that as a lead-in to the movie? No.

I'm the same with "The Rockford Files". I think there should be a chapter stop to enable the viewer to skip past the preview.