Cover to the first season MIssion: Impossible DVD set
Joseph Gantman, the day-to-day producer for the first two seasons of Mission: Impossible, died Dec. 26 at 95, according to an obituary in the Los Angeles Times.
Gantman came aboard Mission after the pilot was produced. Series creator Bruce Geller supervised the show, but it was up to Gantman to get things going, including securing a scripts that could be filmed. He would end up winning two Emmys for his work on the show.
Those two seasons featured stories such as Operation: Rogosh. The IMF tricks an “unbreakable” Soviet Bloc operative into thinking it’s three years later so he’ll give up where he’s planted germ cultures that will poison the drinking water supply of Los Angeles.
Gantman departed after the end of Mission’s second season. His successors, William Read Woodfield and Allan Balter, had written many of the best stories of the first two seasons. The pair bolted after disagreements with Bruce Geller — an indication that Gantman’s work wouldn’t be easy to duplicate. The series would gain a reputation for chewing up producers.
Before Mission, Gantmen worked on the pilot of The Man From U.N.C.L.E. with with the title of “production assistant.”
During the 1964-65 season, Gantman was associate producer for 16 of the 32 episodes of the first season of Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, when that Irwin Allen-produced shows emphasized espionage over monsters.
Later, during the 1968-69 season, he was producer for five episodes of the first season of Hawaii Five-O, including three of the first five telecast by CBS (excluding the pilot, which aired as a TV movie).
Filed under: The Other Spies | Tagged: Bruce Geller, Hawaii Five-O, Joseph Gantman, Mission: Impossible, The Man From U.N.C.L.E., Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea |
The Spy Command 
The Late Josepth Gantman R.I.P.. there’s a Patern of Good Producing where his work is Concern, the Spy Command article Mentions his involvement with the First Seasons of ”Mission impossible” Hawaii Five-o” And ” voyage to the Bottom of the sea” all are Great First Seasons. However, I have all three on DVD disc the storylines are very Espionage related, Great Scripts the Man new his Trade.
Thanks for the post, another unsung producer who did a great job!