I just watched an episode of Mission Impossible entitled The Carriers which originally aired Nov. 19, 1966. George Takei was a guest star on the show. This was during the same time he appeared as Sulu on Star Trek. Was it unusual for him to appear on Mission Impossible as a guest star at the same time he was on Star Trek?
"50, count 'em 50, ambassadors will definitely appear at the peace conference."
Not at all. “Mission: Impossible” and “Star Trek” were both properties of Paramount and were shot on adjoining sound stages. They both premiered in September 1966 (Star Trek on the 8th, M:I on the 17th). Martin Landau and Leonard Nimoy were already good friends when the shows’ casts were selected. When Start Trek was in development the previous year, both Nimoy and Landau were on the short list for Spock. When Landau quit M:I at the end of the third season, Nimoy stepped in as a differently named character but fulfilling the same function in the cast as Landau had. Nimoy stayed with M:I for two seasons (and, in my opinion, did some of his best work). So there was a lot of Trek/Mission crossover.
Conclusion: Paramount must have concluded that whatever was good for one series was good for the other. If viewers recognized Takei (who plays an Impossible Missions Agent) as being in the Star Trek cast, all the better.
mf
Trust me. I’m The Doctor.
Not at all unusual. Mission:Impossible was filmed by Paramount studios like StarTrek was. It was very common for actors & Actresses to appear as guests on shows filmed by the same studio. They were all working on the same lot. Bill Shatner starred in TJ Hooker, also filmed at Paramount. Getting back to George Takei...he missed doing a Trek episode "Gamesters of Triskelion" because he was co-starring in "The Green Berets" with John Wayne at the time.
shareAnd it is, by the way, one of my all time favorite Mission: Impossible episodes.
This was early days for the show and the agents were allowed a bit more personality and vulnerability. Note how Rollin jumps to Cinnamon's defense when the bad guy of the week slaps her. Also, the fact Rollin was injured at all, nearly ruining their mission, was interesting to watch.
In later years everything would be really well planned. This episode was really playing it from moment to moment.
I liked the actor who played Mr. Briggs, the leader of the group, in the 1st season of the show a lot better than Peter Graves who played Jim Phelps in the subsequent seasons. I liked Steven Hill a lot more than Peter Graves in the role as head of the group. He did a way better job than Peter Graves.
Kind of odd coming from me because I am a Peter Graves fan. I really enjoy the Science Fiction films he starred in from the 1950's. He was great in The Beginning of the End, Killers From Space and my all time favorite 1950's Science Fiction film, It Conquered The World.
"50, count 'em 50, ambassadors will definitely appear at the peace conference."