[ARCHIVE 5-30-2020] Ep 4: The Shared Universe of "Mission: Impossible"

[THIS VIDEO WAS UPLOADED TO YOUTUBE, MAY 30, 2020.]

ORIGINAL DESCRIPTION:
WAIT! WHAT!? "Mission: Impossible's" Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) shares a "cinematic universe" with "Touched by an Angel!?" It's true!

LOOKS LIKE IT'S TIME TO BINGE!

BUT, I WARN YOU: If you're a compulsive "completist" when it comes to continuity and canon, you've got your work cut out for you when it comes to the (shared) universe of "Mission: Impossible." Or is it a multiverse? It's hard to be sure, but it is all connected. Unless you've been living under a rock for the last twenty-five years, you probably know that Tom Cruise does the, well, IMPOSSIBLE as IMF secret agent Ethan Hunt in one of the biggest ongoing movie franchises in the world--"Mission: Impossible." However, if you're even slightly younger than me, you may only be vaguely aware--or not aware at all--that "Mission: Impossible" began as a long-running, extremely popular television series over fifty years ago!

Back when comedy giant and high powered media mogul Lucille Ball, co-founder and head of Desilu Studios, was looking to produce some high profile TV dramas in the mid-1960's, she personally green lit three intriguing candidates around the same time. The most famous was "Star Trek." Another was private eye action drama "Mannix," which ran solidly for eight seasons. The third was a procedural spy drama called "Mission: Impossible"--which not only ran for seven seasons from 1966 to 1973, it spawned a 1980's sequel series (which I grew up with), and in 1996, a multi-billion dollar movie franchise starring superstar Tom Cruise...making it all the more baffling as to why CBS has, for decades, kept the original "Mission: Impossible" TV series so "quiet" and mysteriously absent from syndication until recently. (It's now quietly airing at 2 AM (3 AM Eastern) on MeTV and streaming on CBS All Access.)

So, if you're at all surprised by the existence the original 1960's M.I. series (which the Tom Cruise movies treat as canon), let alone it's 1980s revival/sequel series (or if you're just old enough to be vaguely aware of them), you maybe even more surprised to learn that, through a spiderweb of canonical crossovers and spin-offs, the entire "Mission: Impossible" franchise is part of a shared "cinematic universe" of blockbuster movies and CBS-owned television series ranging from hard-driving crime drama "Mannix" and slapstick sitcom "Here's Lucy" through the 1970's to later series you may even be old enough to recognize, such as "Diagnosis: Murder" and "Touched by an Angel" in the 1990's and early 2000's.

NOTE: A portion of this video does contain an excerpt from my previous episode for reasons of context. However, if you have already seen that portion, you can skip forward to my brand new rant--I mean, analysis--that continues immediately afterwards and is guaranteed to blow your mind! Here's a table of contents to help navigate your personal interests:

TABLE OF CONTENTS:
00:01 Satirical Intro
01:50 Mission: Impossible, a 50+ year old TV series
02:41 Mission: Impossible, a multi-billion dollar franchise
05:02 Mission: Impossible vs. Mission: Impossible
12:33 Why has CBS kept the original series buried? (Updated thoughts)
15:31 M.I. “Cinematic Universe”??
19:08 Closing Credits (Works Cited)

DISCLAIMER AMENDMENT/FAIR NOTICE: The disclaimer at the beginning and/or end of this video regarding non-monetization of this video applies only to THIS video, directly, and shall not apply to the overall channel in general (such as accepting general donations for the channel or commentator), or to other future videos, including “sub-episodes” and other videos which may utilize excerpts and/or clips from this video.