Mission: Impossible

The Glass Cage - S3-E16

Continuity mistake: When the Major checks the prison log book, the box next to 27 where the time entry should be is blank. He closes the book and holds it under his arm while conversing with a subordinate, and when he opens it again to show it to the other man, the time box has, impossibly, been filled in. (00:43:30)

Jean G

The Contenders (2) - S3-E3

Continuity mistake: Barney is on the floor unconscious when the scene fades out for a commercial break. When we fade back in, he's still unconscious, but his head is in a different position. (00:14:40)

Jean G

Recovery - S2-E25

Continuity mistake: As Phelps receives his assignment, the amount of tape on the recorder changes several times between shots. So does the style/design of the plastic reels. (00:02:05)

Jean G

The Photographer - S2-E15

Continuity mistake: In the opening sequence, the tape giving Phelps his assignment is running backwards in some shots, isn't threaded properly in others, and in reverse angles, it's running twice as fast as it is in the previous shots. (00:02:30)

Jean G

Charity - S2-E10

Continuity mistake: When Rollin sets the bed quilt on fire, the burned portion gets larger, then smaller, then larger again in alternating shots. (00:21:05)

Jean G

Charity - S2-E10

Continuity mistake: The drink Cinnamon ultimately knocks off the edge of the pool table moves several inches between takes, and in one shot disappears altogether. (00:23:40)

Jean G

Charity - S2-E10

Continuity mistake: When Hagar's wife opens the Mercedes' trunk, the deflated silver mat is wrinkled and covers the entire space. When she picks it up, it's less than half its original size and has no wrinkles in it at all. (00:47:50)

Jean G

The Bank - S2-E4

Continuity mistake: When the two baddies are counting out the money stolen from their latest victim, the piles of currency change positions on the table between takes.

Jean G

The Bank - S2-E4

Continuity mistake: Cinnamon watches The Bank secretary get up and walk to the manager's door. After a cut, the woman is once again seated at her desk, stands and again approaches the door. (00:32:15)

Jean G

The Traitor - S1-E27

Continuity mistake: Tina demonstrates her contortionist abilities by crawling through the cubicle shelves in Briggs' apartment. A large orange cat figurine on the upper left shelf is brightly lit when she's doing her demo. The moment she finishes, though, the cat is in shadow and its orange tones are muted to brown. (00:05:00)

Jean G

The Reluctant Dragon - S1-E16

Continuity mistake: The 8-track tape Briggs listens to is in shadow when he inserts it in the car's player. A few shots later, though, it's brightly illuminated so that we can see the tape spinning inside. (00:02:00)

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

Fakeout - S1-E12

Continuity mistake: All of the lighting and sound equipment Barney loads into the back seat of the police cruiser disappears during the car chase. (00:43:45)

Jean G

The Diamond - S1-E19

Continuity mistake: Rollin strikes the duplicate diamond with a hammer and chisel, and it breaks cleanly into several pieces that fly out of the dish entirely. In the next shot, however, all the pieces are not only back in the dish, they're crushed into a fine powder. (00:35:30)

Jean G

The Reluctant Dragon - S1-E16

Continuity mistake: After the gun goes off during his fight with Yankovski, blood appears on the right side of Rollin's mouth: it wasn't there a moment before. And a few shots later, the blood is on the left, then changes back to the right. (One shot in the sequence was, for some reason, flipped.) (00:48:00)

Jean G

The Bank - S2-E4

Character mistake: The 'perfect' German postcard Rollin has written is full of mistakes: 1) The 'sie' must have a capital 'S' because it's a personal pronoun; 2) The only sentence stops in the middle and makes no sense; 3) The word 'Besten' has to be written without a capital because it's not a noun; 4) In Germany the house number stands after the street name, not before; 5) The streetname makes no sense. Too many mistakes for a so-called 'perfect' card. (00:04:40)

More mistakes in Mission: Impossible

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

More trivia for Mission: Impossible

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.

More questions & answers from Mission: Impossible

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