Talk:List of Mission: Impossible characters

Recurring Characters from later seasons
Howdy. I'm the guy who originally put this together. It is a work in progress. I am currently watching all the episodes in order during my morning workouts and I'm getting through a few a week. As such, I hope to get through all seven seasons by the end of 2009. I will fill in character bios as I get to each character and start to understand their skills and personalities. In the meantime, if anyone else can put in some info about the Seasons 4 through 7 characters and give me a head start, that would be really cool. BillFromDDTDigest (talk) 17:49, 1 February 2009 (UTC)

Dan Briggs and Disguises
A recent addition had Dan Briggs as having skills with Voice Mimicry and Disguises. I 100% agree with Voice Mimicry, especially given the episode "Shock". However, I don't recall Briggs having real disguise skills...it was always Rollin Hand that did the work with disguises, and Briggs just put them on. On the other hand, a case could be made that Briggs was the only agent other than Rollin Hand to actually wear a true disguise in Season One ("The Legend" and "Shock"). Any thoughts? BillFromDDTDigest (talk) 01:10, 4 February 2009 (UTC)

"Rollin Hand"
Does anyone know if the character name "Rollin Hand" was a play on the name of baseball player Rolly Fingers (who was just starting out professionally ca. 1966)? 108.1.71.76 (talk) 15:00, 17 October 2009 (UTC)

Tracey "Fielding"?
A little over a year ago on the talk page of the original series, 23skidoo and I had a discussion about Casey's first name being Lisa, and in the course of it, the last name "Fielding" for Lee Meriwether's Season Four agent, Tracey, came up. Neither of us could find any justification for it, and in the end agreed to its removal. Anybody got any reason we shouldn't do the same here? --Tbrittreid (talk) 20:36, 22 October 2009 (UTC)


 * This is such a good question. I did most of the original work on this page and, if I'm not mistaken, I was originally going to just put "Tracey" and I eventually put "Tracey Fielding" after doing some research. I did the research because there seems to be a prevailing sentiment (for lack of a better word) that her last name was Fielding. An Internet search does show her name to be that in a number of places, so I went with it. My hidden agenda was to hopefully get someone to bring this up and maybe get some confirmation. I know that personal observations aren't valid for Wikipedia, but I will tell you that I watched all six episodes she was in looking for the last name, and I never heard it mentioned. It is always possible that the DVD versions had an originally broadcast scene where this was said edited out. I was hoping it was in Patrick White's often-cited book about the show, which is sort of a bible for the show, but there was no mention of a last name that I found in there. I asked this question on a forum of Mission: Impossible fans that I'm on some time ago, and no one there had anything beyond what I had..."seeing it on the Internet". Someone there did note that it might have been in scripts or storyboards, which would make this valid, but without any proof of that, who knows. Bottom line, I have no problem with taking it out. Ideally, it might be worthwhile to note that "some sources give a last name of Fielding" or something like that, but that's probably too much detail for a character that was only in six episodes. --PoughkeepsieNative (talk) 23:30, 22 October 2009 (UTC)


 * I for one am resistant to flatly giving canonicity to pre-production materials (early script drafts or storyboards). The early characters have full names given on-air, the IMF chiefs' from the messages ("Good morning, Mr. ..." and "Good luck, ..."), while the others' came primarily from what represented each in the portfolio, clearly identifying their respective specialties. The money-concerned studio discouraged specialized agents, reducing the number of actors potentially needed to be hired, so later dossiers were rarely more than photos of the actors. Throw in Geller's non-characterization mandate ("They are what they do"), and it's unlikely such gave any fuller names than what's seen or heard in the episodes. Note the dispute over the last names of Season Five's Doug the doctor (Robert or Lang?) and Dana (is Lambert authentic/legitimate?), and the Aussie producers of the revival having the option of claiming Casey was that agent's last name, to distinguish from their Casey Randall. --Tbrittreid (talk) 22:12, 23 October 2009 (UTC)
 * "Lang"? And what about Mimi Davis? (And "Rollin Hand"/"Rolly Fingers" is a good question too!) 108.1.70.249 (talk) 21:12, 28 October 2009 (UTC)
 * "Lang" was a name used by Doctor Doug on at least two missions during the mission. Since that name was only used within missions, I've always assumed it was an alias. --PoughkeepsieNative (talk) 21:42, 28 October 2009 (UTC)

Casey's Year 7 absence
The section on Casey is self-contradictory, and less than 100% accurate either way. It states that she was "missing [from] several missions at the beginning of Season Seven, when the actress who played her [Lynda Day George] took maternity leave." Later, "Casey would be on a long-term deep cover assignment in Eastern Europe in the early part of Season Seven." The problem is that the only way to have George's maternity leave start at the outset of that season is to go with CBS' original airing order, wherein episodes with and without her were more-or-less alternated, presumably so as to avoid giving the audience an extended absence of a regular star. The George-less episodes are run consecutively in syndication, which Patrick J. White's book on the program reveals is production order (not quite synonymous with filming order, mind you, but close), and there are about a half-dozen with Lynda on each side of that run. In fact, as seen on CBS the season not only opened but also closed with an episode made during the maternity leave. So this passage needs a heavy rewrite. --Tbrittreid (talk) 20:09, 26 November 2009 (UTC)


 * Totally agree. I'm still trying to sort it all out watching Season Seven before the rewrite. Assuming that the DVD set is, in fact, in broadcast order, it's totally confusing. Casey is under deep cover, then she appears, then she's under deep cover again, then she appears... --PoughkeepsieNative (talk) 12:03, 28 November 2009 (UTC)


 * That would certainly seem to be the CBS airing order, all right. As I say, the syndication order has all ten Lynda-less episodes running consecutively. If what the DVD set starts with introduces Mimi Davis (Barbara Anderson's role), and features Robert Conrad among the guests, that would just about confirm it. This is one of many instances proving that original broadcast order does not deserve blind devotion. Star Trek (the 1966 original) and The Fugitive (again, the 1960s original) are two others. --Tbrittreid (talk) 21:49, 28 November 2009 (UTC)


 * I should get to this in a few weeks or so...I'm currently on episode 10 of Season Seven. Once I'm done with the season, I will do all my final updates I'm going to do here, including putting in Mimi Davis' bio (I currently have it in draft), cleaning up the Casey bio, and putting in miscellaneous odds-and-ends in for other characters that I'm picking up in Season Seven. Thanks for the encouragement. As an unrelated side note, if you want to talk about weird broadcast order, check out the ending of the series Kung Fu sometime...very strange how they did that...they did what was effectively a three-part series finale, and then did three episodes afterwards. --PoughkeepsieNative (talk) 02:28, 30 November 2009 (UTC)

Casey's Name
I understand the point being made about Casey's name, i.e. she didn't get a first name until the revival. However, if the revival series is canon, then I'm make the case that it is appropriate to list her first name as "Lisa" here. --PoughkeepsieNative (talk) 09:35, 30 November 2009 (UTC)


 * Canonicity of the revival is dubious, as discussed in the thread linked in at the top of Tracey Fielding thread above. --Tbrittreid (talk) 23:34, 30 November 2009 (UTC)


 * Interesting...I'm pretty new to genuine M:I fandom, so I didn't even know there was dubiousness (sp?) on the part of some over the canonicity of the revival. (For the movies, I think it's a no-brainer there are non-canon.) I always assumed that with the same general approach and four returning characters (including the Voice On Tape), that the revival was canon. --PoughkeepsieNative (talk) 01:08, 2 December 2009 (UTC)

Tape Recorder most used was the CRAIG MODEL T-212.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSRkOqXpS5Q —Preceding unsigned comment added by 174.55.172.71 (talk) 08:02, 18 February 2010 (UTC)

Other IMF agents
Hoiw about a list of other specific IMF agents with the specialty (where applicable, which would be most) and the actor in the role? It would probably be interesting to show that frequent series baddies such as Albert Paulsen and Joseph Ruskin each appeared once as a team member. I'm not suggesting any great detail, mind you. For one (in fact, the first) example:

--Tbrittreid (talk) 23:17, 3 March 2010 (UTC)
 * Terry Targo (Season 1, Episode 1); safecracker; Wally Cox.

19 edits by IP
There are nineteen consecutive edits by unregistered IP 68.83.242.237. I find some of them dubious: Others, however, I agree with or at least don't actively disagree with, such as mentioning Doug's other given last name. Anybody else? --Tbrittreid (talk) 22:09, 9 April 2010 (UTC)
 * 1) Willy (Armitage) is short for William? Never said to my knowledge, and therefore it could just as easily be from Willard, Wilton, Wilson, etc.? Even if he/she can source it, I deny deserves the high profile given, and a similar dispute to the use of James for Jim (Phelps).
 * 2) Giving "Lisa" (Casey) more discussion than it is due here.
 * 3) "Barbara Anderson...never gained such name-in-the-title-sequence prominence...." She was a temp!
 * I find those dubious as well...I was thinking it was just me that thought so. --PoughkeepsieNative (talk) 19:14, 10 April 2010 (UTC)
 * For the record, the IP must have found "David" as a first name for Briggs in the Patrick J. White book (p. 9), in its descriptions of early outlines, treatments, etc. --Tbrittreid (talk) 21:56, 12 April 2010 (UTC)

One more?
The one-sentence intro reads, "This is a list of recurring fictional characters in the original television series Mission: Impossible." Somebody else who, however slightly, fits that description has occurred to me. Actor Allan Joseph appeared in two first season episodes ("Operation Rogosh" and "Ransom") as IMF physician Dr. Ira Green. He was referenced in the "apartment scene" of "A Cube of Sugar" (much as the otherwise absent Barney was in "A Spool There Was"), and according to Patrick J. White's much cited book (which, oddly enough, is inconsistent as to whether the actor's given name is spelled as "Allan" or "Allen," but either makes a red link here), Dr. Harrison Selby (William Schallert) of "The Train" was originally scripted to be Joseph's Green. Even dismissing that last, I think he qualifies as "recurring" as much as the Hartford and Globe theatrical companies. Does anybody else think so? --Tbrittreid (talk) 21:38, 27 May 2010 (UTC)


 * Hey, there. It seems it's just you and me on this Talk page, doesn't it? While, on paper, two appearances makes for a "recurring" character, I just don't think it suffices for Dr. Green. Heck...if it were totally up to me, I probably wouldn't have even put Tracey in the article, but since M:I fandom does seem to consider her to be a recurring character, I put her in. --PoughkeepsieNative (talk) 00:26, 30 May 2010 (UTC)

In Universe?
Someone tagged this article with In Universe yesterday. I understand the impetus for it, but I disagree with the overall assessment. I think that the article sufficiently prefaces bios with "The character..." and discusses the actor/actress playing the part. However, I didn't want to get in an Undo War by removing the tag. Does anyone else have any thoughts on this? --PoughkeepsieNative (talk) 18:19, 6 August 2011 (UTC)

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