Mission: Impossible - Season 3

Season 3 was the critical and commercial peak for Mission: Impossible. The cast remained intact, with Martin Landau signing another one year contract, but it was a tumultuous season behind the camera. Producer Joseph Gantman, who had won two Emmys for Outstanding Dramatic Series left after Season 2, citing the long hours. The writing team of William Read Woodfield and Allan Balter replaced Gantman as producers, which didn't sit well with some people. Both were excellent writers, but many felt they lacked the management skills to be producers, and either way, their stint as producers ended only a third of the way through the season, storming off the set after spectacular row (complete with name-calling and the threat of fisticuffs) with executive producer and creator Bruce Geller. Their departure meant a new producer was needed, and since they wrote many of the scripts, new writers were needed as well. Writer Robert E. Thompson stepped up as producer for two episodes before handing the show off to Stan Kallis, who was a producer by trade. Despite the drama behind the camera, the show's ratings were excellent, peaking at #8 in the ratings before finishing the year at #11. 
All this came at a cost, however, running at a loss of $830,000 (approximately $5.3 million in 2013 dollars) to Paramount. Desperate to reign in costs, Paramount sent in executive Douglas S. Cramer, who had to contend with Bruce Geller, who was very headstrong about the look and feel of the show. Although the show was losing money, Geller believed, correctly, that the show would end up in the black in the long run due to syndication and licensing.
Season 3 would prove to the be the last for Martin Landau and his wife Barbara Bain. When it became time for Landau to sign another contract, Paramount offered to give him a $500 a week raise to $7000 a week, which would pay him the same amount as Peter Graves, but Landau demanded $11,000 a week. Not only was this an absurd amount of money, but even if Paramount was willing to pay it, and they weren't, a clause in Peter Graves' contract stated that no other cast member could be paid more than him, so it would've been paying BOTH actors at least that much. CBS, who had been able to ignore Paramount budget woes since they paid a flat rate for each episode, enjoyed the excellent ratings too much to stand by and watch Landau leave, offered to help Paramount meet Landau's fee. Douglas S. Cramer, who was appalled that an actor on one of his shows was able to go year to year, insisted that Landau also sign a five-year contract as well, which Landau was unwilling to do even before the management upheavals. Landau also refused a deal that would gradually phase him out of the show throughout the next season. Unable to reach an agreement, Landau walked away. The show was able to hire Leonard Nimoy, right across the Paramount lot and fresh from the recently canceled Star Trek for exactly the same amount of money they had offered Landau.
As for Barbara Bain, she left despite having two years left on her contract on the grounds that certain contractually obligated amenities had not been delivered. 
Since Season 4 was already well into production by the time it was announced she wasn't returning, the show was unable to cast a permanent replacement, so the Season 4 only had four regulars and the female parts were spread out between various guest stars. 
Like Dan Briggs, Rollin Hand and Cinnamon Carter were never seen, heard of, or even mentioned on the show ever again, with their ultimate fates unresolved. Director J.J. Abrams contacted Martin Landau about a Rollin Hand cameo for Mission: Impossible III, but Landau decided against it, partly because he wasn't happy with how the movies treated the original characters (horribly) and partly because he wanted fans to remember Rollin Hand as the young man he was. Barbara Bain did appear as Cinnamon Carter one more time, but in an episode of Diagnosis Murder in 1997. The episode "Discards" (S05E10) not only featured Bain, but also other actors from TV spy series like Patrick Macnee (The Avengers,) Robert Culp (I Spy,) Robert Vaughn (The Man from U.N.C.L.E.,) and Phil Morris (the 1988 revival of Mission: Impossible,) although Bain was the only one to play her original character. 
As for the Landaus, they reunited onscreen again in 1975 for the cult science fiction series Space: 1999, and one final time (inexplicably) in The Harlem Globetrotters on Gilligan's Island in 1981 before divorcing in 1993. Bain continued mainly working in television with a guest spot here or there. Landau fell into a bit of a slump in the early eighties (starring in the movie where the cast of Gilligan's Island meets the Harlem Globetrotters, for example) before getting nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in Francis Ford Coppola's Tucker: The Man and His Dream in 1989 and another the very next year for his work in Woody Allen's Crimes and Misdemeanors. He finally won in 1995 for his work in Tim Burton's Ed Wood and continued to work regularly, picking up another two Emmy nominations before passing away in 2017 at the age of 89. 
When award season came along, every regular was nominated for an acting award except for Peter Lupus, but once again, only Barbara Bain walked away with any hardware, her third win in as many years. Her record for consecutive and total Emmys would not be broken until the 1980's by Tyne Daly.
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=Handguns=
==M1911A1==
The M1911A1 is another weapon seen in the series.
==Smith & Wesson Model 10==
Snub-nosed Smith & Wesson Model 10s are seen throughout the season.
== Colt Detective Special ==
Like the first two seasons, the Colt Detective Special is seen throughout the season.
==Beretta M1934==
Like the first two seasons, the Beretta M1934 is seen throughout the season.
==Colt Official Police==
Colt Official Police revolvers are seen throughout the season.
 
==Luger P08==
Guards (implied to be East German) carry Luger P08s as sidearms in "The Exchange" (S03E12). 
 
 
==Astra 400==
The Astra 400 is a frequent handgun used by the IM Force and various characters.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
==Walther P38==
Foreign guards are sometimes armed with Walther P38s.
 
 
 
 
==Colt Model 1903/1908==
Nicole Vedette (Joan Collins) is armed with a Colt Model 1903/1908 in "Nicole" (S03E22). This is most likely a rubber copy, since it's later used to pistol-whip a guard.
 
==Unidentifiable revolver==
Barney and Rollin are both armed with unidentifiable revolvers when disguised as police officers in "The Execution" (S03E05). It's too dark and they are seen too briefly to make a proper ID.
=Submachine Guns=
==PPSh-41==
PPSh-41 submachine guns are seen throughout the season.
==Madsen M50==
The Madsen M50 is seen throughout the season, often in the hands of foreign police officers and military personnel. Many of them are non-firing replicas. The replicas do not have bolt actuators on top of the receiver, and have bare metal shoulder stocks, whereas all the real M50's have the leather cover on the shoulder stock.
 
 
 
==M1928A1 Thompson==
A prison guard is armed with a M1928A1 Thompson in "The Glass Cage" (S03E16). This appears to be footage reused from Season 1's "Memory" (S01E02).
=Shotguns=
==Remington 870==
Remington 870 shotguns are seen throughout the season.
==Winchester Model 1897==
Winchester Model 1897 shotguns are seen throughout the season.
=Rifles=
==Beretta BM59 (mocked up as M14)==
Soldiers are seen carrying what appear to be a Beretta BM59 rifle fitted with flash hiders that makes the rifles resemble an M14 in "The Mercenaries" (S3E04).
==Sturmgewehr 44==
Guards (implied to be West German) are armed with Sturmgewehr 44s in "The Exchange" (S03E12).
==Karabiner 98k==
Karakian soldiers are seen armed with Karabiner 98k rifles, both with bent and straight bolt handles, in "Nitro" (S03E21). Many wartime K98ks were fitted with straight handled bolts when they were reconditioned.
 
 
=Machine Guns=
==Colt MG38==
A Colt MG38, a commercial copy of the Browning M1917, is mounted on a Karakian vehicle in "Nitro" (S03E21). 
=Other=
==Weapons Display==
Colonel Hans Krim (Pernell Roberts) keeps a display of firearms in his office in "The Mercenaries" (S3E04). Several crates of firearms are also seen in the episode.
==Cap Gun==
Jim Phelps fires what appears to be a cap gun or starter pistol to demonstrate one of Barney's gadgets in "The Play" (S03E09).
==Flintlock==
Helmut Kellerman has a weapons collection in his office, including a few flintlock pistols.
 
Category:Television
Category:Espionage