As Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning, the eighth (!) entry in the Mission: Impossible film franchise, hits theaters today, it’s worth taking a moment to remember that Ethan Hunt and his crew at the Impossible Mission Force actually got their start on the small screen. The original Mission: Impossible TV show ran from 1966 to 1973 on CBS, with stars Steven Hill, Peter Graves, Martin Landau, Barbara Bain — and later, Leonard Nimoy, Lee Meriwether, Lesley Ann Warren, and Sam Elliott — taking on nearly, well, impossible spy missions on behalf of a shadowy government organization, all with the knowledge that “should you or any of your IM force be caught or killed, the Secretary will disavow any knowledge of your actions.”

The show was known for its action sequences, impressive spy tech, and cool characters; Graves revealed in a 2011 PBS interview that “I remember the very first Mission I did.  As we conquered the villains, I let the slightest smile just crease one side of my face. The next day Gabrielle Moss, TV Insider Bruce Geller is down on the set saying ‘Don’t editorialize!’”