"The A-Team" (1983) TV series 1983-1987

User Rating:

7.6/10   

Creators:

Stephen J. Cannell
Frank Lupo

Seasons:

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5

Release Date:

23 January 1983 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Comedy | Crime

Tagline:

Heroes for hire.

Plot:

Four Vietnam vets, framed for a crime they didn't commit, help the innocent while on the run from the military.

Plot Keywords:

Vietnam | Army | Soldiers Of Fortune | Special Forces | Satire

Awards:

Nominated for 3 Primetime Emmys. Another 2 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

George Peppard	...	Col. John 'Hannibal' Smith / ... (97 episodes, 1983-1987)
Dwight Schultz	...	Capt. H.M. "Howling Mad" Murdock (97 episodes, 1983-1987)
Mr. T	...	Sgt. Bosco "B.A." Baracus (97 episodes, 1983-1987)
Dirk Benedict	...	Lt. Templeton 'Faceman' Peck (96 episodes, 1983-1987)
John Ashley	...	Narrator / ... (84 episodes, 1983-1986)

Runtime:

60 min (98 episodes) | Argentina:60 min | Israel:45 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:TV-PG | Australia:M (some episodes) | Netherlands:6 (DVD rating) | Argentina:Atp | Australia:PG (DVD rating) | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Backlot, Universal Studios - 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, California, USA

Company:

Stephen J. Cannell Productions

Trivia:

The remaining cast members have not made it a secret that Mr. T and George Peppard did not get along very well on the set. Arguments were fed by the fact that Mr. T became the real star of the show, despite Peppard's being a 'proper movie actor'. Things got even worse when Peppard learned that Mr. T was paid more than he was.

Quotes:

B.A. Baracus: I'm gonna kill that crazy Murdock!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Los bañeros más locos del mundo (1987)

Formula, but in a good way. (And read on for some myths to be exploded.)

Some '80s shows that were hits at the time really don't hold up well today, but some very definitely do. "Moonlighting" was one of them, and so was this creation of Frank Lupo and Stephen J. Cannell. (Lupo later came to a parting of the ways with Cannell and inflicted "Werewolf" and "Something Is Out There" on the world. Blub.)

Like most of the people commenting on "The A-Team," I used to watch it as a kid (well, a teenager really). It had likeable heroes, comedy, action, top music (unlike most TV producers, Cannell billed Mike Post and Pete Carpenter in the main titles with the stars) ... the lot. The plots weren't exactly loaded with endless twists, but that was part of the fun - who else looked forward to the week's DIY montage where the quartet built that week's weapons? (As Hannibal pointed out in one of the novelisations, it's amazing how the bad guys always locked them up with precisely what they needed to escape.)

And contrary to popular belief, our heroes did get hurt from time to time (the clip show episode "Curtain Call" used Murdock being shot as an excuse for his comrades to hold a remembrance of episodes past; in "The Battle Of Bel Air" the helicopter containing the A-Team crashed at the end of the climax, injuring everyone EXCEPT B.A. Baracus); occasionally episodes started with someone actually getting murdered (the man in the exploding car in "Skins," one of the battling convicts in "Pros & Cons"). The show didn't dwell on it, true, but it was there.

This remains Cannell's most successful show as an independent producer, and demonstrates how he's more adaptable than the more critically acceptable Steven Bochco (this is not to put down Bochco, but can you imagine the man with the would-be violinist for a dad coming up with shows as wildly different as "The Greatest American Hero," "Top of the Hill" and "Wiseguy"?). It was fun in the 1980s, and it's fun now. Which is a lot more than can be said for "The Professionals."