Mission: Impossible

Mission: Impossible (1966)

80 mistakes - chronological order

(2 votes)

Old Man Out (1) - S1-E4

Revealing mistake: The Cardinal is being held in an Eastern European prison, yet the nearby carnival spectators all wear very American clothing. In fact, the same people wearing the exact same clothes are there watching for all four days of the circus' performances. (00:28:15)

Jean G

Odds on Evil - S1-E6

Continuity mistake: When he's talking to the arms dealer, Barney's right hand is free and gesturing until the shot cuts: then he's suddenly holding his drink in that hand. (00:12:20)

Jean G

Wheels - S1-E7

Continuity mistake: When Briggs listens to the recording giving him his assignment, the tape isn't even threaded, so the machine shouldn't be playing anything. When he stops it, the tape is now threaded - but it's now a completely different tape reel on a completely different machine. (00:02:05)

Jean G

The Ransom - S1-E8

Continuity mistake: When the doctor tells the agent he has to step behind the shield while they take the pictures, you can see that Augie's chest strap has already been secured. The very next camera shot shows Cinnamin (as a nurse) just starting to secure his ankle area with the straps, and you can see the chest has not been secured yet. A second mistake in the same timeframe shows Augie's unconscious head turned to his left. When she starts to secure his ankles, you can see his chin pointing straight up.

dfish

Fakeout - S1-E12

Continuity mistake: When Briggs finishes listening to his assignment tape and gets up, the tape recorder is on the very front edge of the seat. Next shot, as he walks away, it's moved itself to the back of the seat. (00:03:00)

Jean G

Fakeout - S1-E12

Continuity mistake: During the mission briefing, Cinnamon's hair alternates from messy to neatly combed several times. In fact, her hairdo changes combing styles throughout the episode. (00:05:00)

Jean G

Fakeout - S1-E12

Continuity mistake: Throughout the car chase and the scenes leading up to it, Poltroni's rear-view mirror disappears and reappears repeatedly. (00:35:30 - 00:43:00)

Jean G

The Legacy - S1-E15

Factual error: Reel-to-reel tape recorders were threaded left-to-right and pulled the tape in a L-R direction. The machine playing Briggs' assignment in the opening sequence, however, is running backwards. It also changes to a different reel and a different machine when he removes the finished tape from the wrong side of the recorder. (00:02:00)

Jean G

The Legacy - S1-E15

Factual error: For supposedly being Hitler's heirs, the three conspirators are pretty lousy Nazis. None of them notices that on their copy of their idol's book, Mein Kampf, Der Fuhrer's name is prominently misspelled "Adolph" instead of "Adolf." (00:13:00)

Jean G

The Legacy - S1-E15

Continuity mistake: When Rollin is struck and falls onto the bed, he knocks over the table lamp and crushes the shade. When the shot cuts, not only is the lampshade in a different position, it's completely undamaged. (00:34:30)

Jean G

Voice on Tape: Good morning Mister Phelps.

More quotes from Mission: Impossible

The Psychic - S1-E28

Trivia: Watch the drive-in theater marquis when Briggs drives in to pick up his assignment. It reads "Geller and Solow / Spend the Money" - an in-joke reference to producer Bruce Geller and Desilu executive Herb Solow.

Jean G

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Show generally

Question: At the start of each episode of Mission Impossible Briggs or Phelps received details of the mission from a tape recording that was 'hidden in plain sight', say a telephone booth displaying a poster saying 'Telephone Out Of Order. Do Not Use'. So, what would happen if somebody went into the kiosk before Briggs or Phelps, picked up the telephone and got the secret message ahead of the Mission Impossible team?

Rob Halliday

Answer: We don't know what would happen because the show never addressed this issue. Any answer would be speculation. This is a TV show, and the plot is structured so that only IMF team will retrieve the secret message.

raywest

Answer: This is not really a serious question. When I posted this question I was fully aware that Mission Impossible is only a television programme. Like many espionage thrillers (Man From Uncle, The Avengers, James Bond) it is meant to entertain, it is never meant to be taken literally seriously. It was essential to the story that Briggs or Phelps received a secret message, which would give them a mission to accomplish. If they did not receive the message you would not have had the story. When I used to watch Mission Impossible it just used to amuse me to wonder what might have happened had somebody picked up the phone containing the secret message ahead of Briggs or Phelps. I even considered writing to a comedian and suggesting that they devise a comedy sketch in which this happened. My question was only meant to be a joke, that I posted to amuse people.

Rob Halliday

The Lucy Show or Here's Lucy did an episode of exactly this scenario.

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