Mission: Impossible--Complete Third Season (2007)

With each show beginning with the lighting of a fuse, it's up to the writers, the director and the cast to sustain the excitement and tension inherent within.

In the third season of this influential espionage show, which spawned a movie franchise, that proves true once again.

Here, the world is reduced to the size of a postage stamp and we're all over it, with Peter Graves, Martin Landau, Greg Morris, Barbara Bain and Peter Lupus smoothly handling the most crafty of criminals. Entertainment is key here--gadgets abound--but so is credibility.

The show does a fine job walking the tricky line each offers. Occasionally, when compelled, it also leaps off it.

Grade: B+