This year, the Mission: Impossible film series will, presumably, wrap things up with the ominously titled Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning. But this is not the first time the Mission franchise has called it a day. In fact, Final Reckoning will represent the third time Mission: Impossible has had one last impossible mission. While it may be the most Boomer thing of all time to point out, some elder Millennials out there might also remember when Mission: Impossible was a charming 1960s/1970s show that you could watch in reruns. Yes, the original Mission debuted in 1966, just one week after the classic Star Trek, and was even produced by the same guy who sold Star Trek: Herbert F. Solow.
But as beloved as the classic Mission was, what is almost completely forgotten is that it had its own version of “the next generation.” And that’s because after Mission: Impossible went off the air in 1973, it was later revived as a reboot/sequel series, running from 1988 to 1990. That’s right, just six years before the first Tom Cruise Mission: Impossible movie, the sequel series — which starred original IMF leader Peter Graves as Mr. Phelps — aired its final episode. And tracking down this version of this Mission: Impossible final reckoning, borders on the impossible.
