Thank Lucille Ball for Mission Impossible!

[Crazy About TV]

CBS had actually rejected Mission Impossible! Lucille Ball went ahead
with production at her Desilu Studios and ultimately convinced CBS to
change their minds! Lucille also went ahead with production of "Star
Trek" against pretty much everyone else's advice! Smart lady!

http://www.crazyabouttv.com/missionimpossible.html
http://www.crazyabouttv.com/missionimp88.html

[Wiseguy]

Post by Crazy About TV
CBS had actually rejected Mission Impossible! Lucille Ball went ahead
with production at her Desilu Studios and ultimately convinced CBS to
change their minds! Lucille also went ahead with production of "Star
Trek" against pretty much everyone else's advice! Smart lady!
http://www.crazyabouttv.com/missionimpossible.html
http://www.crazyabouttv.com/missionimp88.html

I had heard that Lucille Ball mistakenly thought Star Trek was a variety
show (with a lot of stars.)

Ed Asner, Tom Bosley, Loretta Swit, Larry Linville, Tyne Daly, Will Geer,
Martin Sheen and even Joan Collins were hardly household names when they
appeared on M:I. Not the "biggest stars of the time."

Martin Landau still insists that it was not a contract problem that led to
his leaving but a reduced budget from Paramount and declining quality.

Space: 1999 actually began production in late 1973. It was first broadcast
two years later.

And if you really want to be picky, the line "Your mission, Jim, should you
decide to accept it ...... " came after the details of the mission, not
before it.