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## Mission: Impossible and What Desilu Was Betting On
The parallel story of *Mission: Impossible* at Desilu in this period is worth examining, because it illuminates the full scale of what Ball’s studio was attempting and why the board was so concerned.
*Mission: Impossible* was developed by Bruce Geller, a television writer and producer who had been working in the medium since the mid-1950s. The show’s concept — a team of elite agents executing complex covert operations against adversaries who cannot be confronted directly — was original in its specific form even if the spy genre was well established. Geller pitched the show to CBS, which was interested, and the development pipeline went through Desilu at approximately the same time as *Star Trek*.
The two shows were thus running in parallel at Desilu throughout 1965 and 1966: simultaneous development, simultaneous pilots, simultaneous first seasons. The studio was deficit-financing both. The combined financial commitment was substantial even without *The Long Hunt of April Savage*.
*Mission: Impossible* premiered on CBS on September 17, 1966 — nine days after *Star Trek’s* September 8 premiere on NBC. Both shows debuted in the same fall season, both produced by the same studio, both having emerged from the same environment of financial pressure and creative ambition.
*Mission: Impossible* was an immediate hit. Its first season won strong ratings, its critical reception was positive, and the show was quickly established as a franchise that CBS wanted to maintain. The ratings success of *Mission: Impossible* was a vindication of Desilu’s programming strategy and a source of syndication potential that could eventually help recover the deficit costs.