What is MeTV doing with "Mission: Impossible"???

What in the world is MeTV doing with "Mission: Impossible"? The 60s/70s spy show is on at 11:30 pm every night, and until recently, the episodes were being shown in the order in which they originally aired. (As with many shows, the order in which episodes aired is not always the order in which they were produced. I have Patrick White's excellent book that covers everything about "Mission: Impossible," so I'm able to determine both the broadcast order and the production order.)

Having endured the Peter Graves-less first season (in which Law & Order's Steven Hill played robotic team leader Dan Briggs), I felt entitled to see seasons 2-7 in order. Well, I was less interested in season 6-7, where the IMF team mostly took on domestic organized crime.

For a few weeks, season 2 episodes aired in exactly the order I expected.

And then, all of a sudden, a third season episode aired out of order. And then an earlier third season episode, and then a sixth season episode, and now it looks like we're getting fourth season episodes. (Interesting side note: Martin Landau and Barbara Bain left the series after three years. Landau was replaced by . . . Leonard Nimoy, which is doubly interesting since Landau was offered the role of Spock but turned it down for "Mission: Impossible"!)

I still enjoy catching up on this show, but it's quite disorienting to be getting essentially random episodes thrown at us.

"24" and "Mission: Impossible": 2 peas in a pod?

Mission: Impossible cast, season 5

One of the unexpected benefits of getting rid of cable TV was the discovery of MeTV, which we get over the air as part of the ABC affiliate's split digital signal. And perhaps the best thing about MeTV is that it reruns the classic TV series Mission: Impossible. Not just the theme song, which may be the best ever TV theme, but the show itself.

Just discovered MeTV!

Thanks to cutting the cord, I just discovered MeTV, which is a syndicated channel that airs a bunch of old shows from the 60s and 70s mostly. It airs on the secondary HD feed on one of our local network affiliates, but I don't think it was part of the Comcast basic package that I had been getting.

Anyway, I first noticed it because at 11:30 pm, MeTV has been airing the old "Mission: Impossible" series. I'm a sucker for memorable TV theme songs/openings (which probably partly explains why I like "CSI: Miami"!), and "Mission: Impossible" definitely has that going for it. (Unfortunately, right now, MeTV is airing episodes from season 6, which was when the writers and producers got tired of sending the IMF team to vaguely eastern European locations and had them fighting organized crime domestically. Thus, the opening mission brief on the self-destructing tape no longer includes the catchphrase, "As usual, if you or any member of your IM team are captured or killed, the Secretary will disavow any knowledge of your actions.")



Still, energized by my discovery of "Mission: Impossible," I looked into what else MeTV has to offer, and it was like striking the gold mine! What Gen Xer wouldn't smile at the memory of reruns of the campy "Batman" with Adam West?

But wait, there's more! How about "Get Smart," "Gilligan's Island," "Lost in Space," "M*A*S*H," "Remington Steele," "Star Trek," and "Wonder Woman," among others?

Getting rid of cable is turning out better and better!