In this update of the original 60's series, Peter Graves returns as Jim Phelps, head of the Impossible Missions Force (IMF). Brought out of retirement by the death of his successor and protege, he brings together a team of four skilled operatives and leads them as they travel the globe conducting "impossible" covert missions for the U.S. His new team consists of Nicholas Black, master of disguise; Max Harte, self-trained soldier; Grant Collier, technological genius and son of former IMFer Barney Collier; Casey Randall, femme fatale (and killed in action in episode 1.10), and Shannon Reed, another femme fatale and former newscaster and Secret Service Agent.
Elite special agents undertook top-secret assignments in crackerjack episodes, which kicked off with the team leader receiving instructions via a tape-recorded message that self-destructed in five seconds. What followed were usually breakneck spyjinks set to a pulsating Lalo Schifrin score. Martin Landau turned down the Spock role in 'Star Trek' to play IMFer Rollin Hand. When Landau left the series in 1969, his replacement was the man who built a career on Spock, Leonard Nimoy.