80s TV Shows

The A-Team is an American action adventure television series about a fictional group of ex-United States Army Special Forces who work as soldiers of fortune while being on the run from the military for a “crime they didn’t commit”. The A-Team was created by writers and producers Frank Lupo and Stephen J. Cannell (who also collaborated together on Wiseguy, Riptide and Hunter) at the behest of Brandon Tartikoff, NBC’s Entertainment president.

Despite being thought of as mercenaries by the other characters in the show, the A-Team always acted on the side of the good guys and helped the oppressed. The show ran for five seasons on the NBC television network, from January 23, 1983 to December 30, 1986 (with one additional, previously unbroadcast episode shown on March 8, 1987), with a total of 98 episodes.

It remains known in popular culture for its cartoon-like use of over-the-top violence (in which people were seldom seriously hurt), supposedly formulaic episodes, featuring the ability to form weaponry and vehicles out of old parts, and its distinctive theme tune. The show also served as the springboard for the career of Mr. T, who portrayed the character of B. A. Baracus, around whom the show was initially conceived. Some of the show’s catchphrases such as “I love it when a plan comes together”,, “Hannibal’s on the jazz” and “I ain’t gettin’ on no plane!” have also made their way onto T-shirts and other merchandise.

Although not directly referenced in the series, the name of the show comes from “A-teams”, the nickname for Operational Detachments Alpha (ODA). The US Army Special Forces uses the term ODA for their 12-man direct operations teams.

Characters

The A-Team revolves around the four members of a former commando outfit and current group of mercenaries. Their leader is Col. John “Hannibal” Smith (George Peppard), whose plans tend to be unorthodox but effective. Lt. Templeton “Faceman” Peck (Dirk Benedict — Tim Dunigan appeared as Templeton Peck in the pilot) is a smooth-talking con-man who serves as the team’s appropriator of vehicles and other useful items. The team’s pilot is Capt. H.M. “Howling Mad” Murdock, (Dwight Schultz), who has been declared insane and resides in a mental institution for the show’s first four seasons. Finally, there is the team’s strong man and mechanic, Sgt. Bosco B.A. (”Bad Attitude”) Baracus (Mr. T).

For its first season and the first half of the second season, the team was assisted by reporter Amy Amanda “Triple A” Allen (Melinda Culea). She was ultimately replaced by fellow reporter Tawnia Baker (Marla Heasley) for the rest of the second season. The character of Tia (Tia Carrere), a Vietnam war orphan now living in the United States, was meant to join the Team in the fifth season, but she was replaced by Frankie Santana (Eddie Velez), who served as the team’s special effects expert. Eddie Velez was added to the opening credits of the fifth season after that season’s second episode.

During their adventures, the A-Team was constantly met by opposition from the military police. In the show’s first season they were led by Colonel Lynch (William Lucking), but he was replaced for the second, third and earlier fourth season by Colonel Roderick Decker (Lance LeGault) and his aide Captain Crane (Carl Franklin). Lynch returned for one episode in the show’s third season (”Showdown!”) but was not seen afterwards again. Decker was also shortly replaced by a Colonel Briggs (Charles Napier) in the third season for one episode (”Fire!”) due to Lance LeGault being unavailable for the episode, but returned shortly after. For the latter of the show’s fourth season, the team was hunted by General Harlan “Bull” Fullbright (Jack Ging), who would later hire the A-Team to find Tia in the season four finale, during which Fullbright was killed.

The fifth season introduced General Hunt Stockwell (Robert Vaughn) who, while serving as the team’s primary antagonist, was also the team’s boss and joined them on several missions. He was often assisted by Carla (Judith Ledford, sometimes credited as Judy Ledford).

Casting

In the pilot, the role of Face was portrayed by Tim Dunigan, but he was later replaced by Dirk Benedict, because he was “too tall and too young”. According to Dunigan’s own account: “I look even younger on camera than I am. So it was difficult to accept me as a veteran of the Vietnam War, which ended when I was a sophomore in high school.”

Tia Carrere was intended to join the principal cast of the show in its fifth season after appearing in the season four finale, providing a continuing tie to the team’s inception during the war. However, Carrere was under a prior contract to General Hospital at the time, and was unable to join the cast of The A-Team. Her character was abruptly dropped as a result.

According to Mr. T’s own account in Bring Back… The A-Team in 2006, the role was written for him from the beginning. This is corroborated by Stephen J. Cannell’s own account of the initial concept proposed by NBC Entertainment President Brandon Tartikoff.

James Coburn, who co-starred in The Magnificent Seven, was considered for the role of Hannibal in The A-Team, while George Peppard (Hannibal) was the original consideration for the role of Vin (played by Steve McQueen instead) in The Magnificent Seven.

Plot synopsis

During the Vietnam War, the A-Team’s commanding officer, Colonel Morrison, gave them orders to rob the Bank of Hanoi to help bring the war to an end. They succeeded in their mission, but on returning to their base four days after the end of the war, they found their C.O. murdered by the Viet Cong and his headquarters burned to the ground. Therefore no proof existed that the A-Team were acting under orders, and they were sent to prison by a military court. They were sent to Fort Bragg, from which they escaped before they could actually stand trial.

The show’s early seasons did not have overarching plots, although occasionally there would be two-part episodes. The episodes are linked to a specific season by their primary antagonist, a recurring assistant character and its particular use of guest stars (the first season was relatively low on guest stars while the show’s fourth season often featured well-known stars such as Boy George and Hulk Hogan).

As such, only a few significant developments are made during this time, which include the blood transfer between Murdock and B.A. in the first season episode “Bad Day at Black Rock”, the replacement of recurring character Amy Allen with Tawnia Baker and the replacements of the recurring antagonists of the Military Police. The final episode of the fourth season does present two unique occurrences; the antagonist (Gen. Fullbright in this case) works with the Team and also features the second on-screen death (also Gen. Fullbright). This episode, together with the first three of the fifth season deal extensively with the team’s Vietnam history.

As the television ratings of The A-Team fell dramatically during the fourth season the format was changed for the show’s final season in 1986-1987 in a bid to win back viewers. After years on the run from the authorities, the A-Team are finally apprehended by the military. General Hunt Stockwell propositions them to work for him, whereupon he will arrange for their pardons upon successful completion of several suicide missions. In order to do so, however, the A-Team must first escape from their captivity. With the help of new character, Frankie “Dishpan Man” Santana, the team fake their deaths before the firing squad.

The new status quo of the A-Team no longer working for themselves remained for the duration of the fifth season, and both Frankie Santana and Hunt Stockwell were added to the credits. The missions the team had to perform in season five were somewhat reminiscent of Mission: Impossible, and based more around political espionage than besting local thugs, also usually take place in foreign countries. However, these changes proved unsuccessful with viewers and ratings continued to decline. Only 13 episodes aired in the fifth season.

In what was supposed to be the final episode, “The Grey Team” (although a skipped episode was first broadcast during reruns), Hannibal, after being misled by Stockwell one time too many, tells him that the team will not work for him any more. At the end, the team discusses what they were going to do if they got their pardon, and it is implied that they would continue doing what they were doing as the A-Team.

Themes and other characteristics

Each episode of the first four seasons began with this voiceover introduction

Ten years ago / In 1972, a crack commando unit was sent to prison by a military court for a crime they didn’t commit. These men promptly escaped from a maximum security stockade to the Los Angeles underground. Today, still wanted by the government, they survive as soldiers of fortune. If you have a problem, if no one else can help, and if you can find them, maybe you can hire… The A-Team.

By the time the series began airing in January 1983, it was already out of date, as The A-Team escaped from prison in 1972 (the series began production in Fall 1982, and the first three stories carry a 1982 copyright). For the second to fourth season the dialogue was updated to “In 1972…”, confirming the correct date. Due to the first season opening dialogue, some early coverage for the series mistakenly cite the team as escaping from prison in 1973.

The intro was narrated by John Ashley, who was also one of the show’s producers. The intro was dropped for the final season, in which the A-Team’s circumstances changed to instead be working for General Stockwell. The theme tune was changed to match. In the first four seasons, George Peppard and Mr. T are credited in the opening sequence with their respective characters (”Starring George Peppard as John ‘Hannibal’ Smith” and “And Mr. T as B.A. Baracus”). For the show’s fifth season, however, this was changed to apply to all cast members (including new arrivals Eddie Velez and Robert Vaughn) except Dirk Benedict. The reasoning behind this change, and the exclusion of Benedict, is unknown.

The opening credits for the second season episode “The White Ballot” have the second season opening credits visually, but due to an error have the first season audio (identified by the “Ten years ago…” opening dialogue, and the sound of the bi-plane from the Pilot over the shot of the helicopter chase from “Till Death Do Us Part”).

In the later second, third and fourth season opening credits, in a clip taken from the second season episode “Steel”, Face (Dirk Benedict) reacts to an actor dressed in a metallic Cylon Centurion costume at Universal City Studios. Benedict had starred years earlier in the science fiction television series, Battlestar Galactica. His character, Starbuck, fought against Cylons.

In the fifth season opening credits, there is a brief shot of what may appear to be Airwolf, but was actually an unmodified black Bell 222 with a red nose, most likely the helicopter featured in the Airwolf Episode Airwolf 2. The footage is taken from the feature-length fourth season opener “Judgement Day”. It is followed by a shot of Murdock piloting what is actually a different helicopter, from a fantasy sequence taken from the fifth season episode “Trial By Fire”.

Episode structure

The A-Team is a naturally episodic show, with few overarching stories - except the character’s continuing motivation to clear their names - with few references to events in past episodes and a recognizable and steady episode structure. In describing the ratings drop that occurred during the show’s fourth season, reviewer Gold Burt points to this structure as being a leading cause for the decreased popularity “because the same basic plot had been used over and over again for the past four seasons with the same predictable outcome.” Similarly, reporter Adrian Lee called the plots “stunningly simple” in a 2006 article for The Express (UK newspaper), citing such recurring elements “as BA’s fear of flying, and outlandish finales when the team fashioned weapons from household items.”

Unlike modern shows, The A-Team episodes do not begin with a cold open, but instead start with the main introduction and title of the episode. Generally, the first few scenes will focus on the plight of the episode’s victim, who is hoping to hire the A-Team, thereby introducing the story for that episode. These prospective clients are usually led through a series of off-beat and comedic tests, after which a member of the team, most frequently Hannibal, will reveal himself and tell the clients they’ve “just hired the A-Team.”

Frequently, one of the clients will be a young woman who Face is immediately attracted to and who will serve as the object of his advances. Occasionally, the A-Team are on the road and simply stumble across someone who needs their help. The A-Team often return their fee to the most needy clients or find another way to pay their expenses.

By this time, Murdock will escape from the psychiatric hospital, where he is interned, with the help of Face. After scamming items necessary for the mission - often directly angering the episode’s antagonist - the A-Team will confront that antagonist, insulting him/her, which will lead to a counter-attack later on.

Generally, the A-Team then assist their clients in their daily routine, while furthering Face’s romance with the female guest star and initiating a conflict between B.A. and Murdock. These scenes will usually also feature clients and the team alike questioning Hannibal’s sanity, leading to the proclamation that Hannibal is “on the jazz”, a term to denote the adrenaline rush that accompanies their adventures.

Traditionally, the antagonist’s counter-attack then follows, which succeeds and leads to the team’s capture. In order to escape, the A-Team will usually construct a weapon - often in the form of a vehicle - of sorts from their available resources. This is detailed in a musical montage focussing on the team’s hands and the tools used. The escape will be successful and the antagonist will be defeated with use of the new weapon. The team’s opponents are rarely hurt, as bullets miss their targets and the enemies manage to evade or survive, unscathed, numerous explosions.

The show became emblematic of this kind of “fit-for-TV warfare” due to its depiction of high-octane combat scenes, with lethal weapons, wherein the participants (with the notable exception of General Fullbright) are never killed and rarely seriously injured (see also on-screen violence and Principle of Evil Marksmanship).

After the defeat of the antagonist, the episode’s other storylines will be wrapped up as the team make their escape. Every few episodes, the Military Police catches up with the team, giving them an extra obstacle to overcome in that particular episode, sometimes also appearing in the final few minutes of the episode, forcing the team to make a quick exit. A recurring element that can usually be fit anywhere into the episode is B.A.’s fear of flying, which leads to the team having to knock him out (either by drugs or, less often, a blow to the back of the head using a heavy object and once even using hypnosis) to get him onto a helicopter or plane.

The GMC van
The black and metallic grey GMC Vandura van used by the A-Team, with its characteristic red stripe, black and red wheels, and rooftop spoiler, has become an enduring pop culture icon. One of the original six vans used for the show is displayed in the Cars of the Stars Motor Museum in Keswick, northern England.

Early examples of the van had a red GMC logo on the front grill, and an additional GMC logo on the rear left door. However, early in the second season, these logos were blacked out (although GMC continued to supply vans and receive a credit on the closing credits of each episode).

It is a common error that the van is said to be all-black, whereas in fact the section above the red stripe is metallic grey (this error even followed through on to most toy models of the van). The angle of the rear spoiler can also be seen to vary on different examples of the van within the series. Additionally, some versions of the van have a sunroof, whereas others, typically those used for stunts (and including the one displayed in the aforementioned Cars of the Stars Motor Museum) do not. This on occasion led to continuity errors in some episodes, such as in the third season’s ‘The Bells of St. Mary’s’, in a scene where (the double of) Face jumps from a building onto the roof of the van. There is clearly no sunroof. However, a few moments later, in an interior (studio) shot, Face climbs in through the sunroof!

A number of devices were seen in the back of the van in different episodes, including a mini printing press (’Pros and Cons’), an audio surveillance recording device (’A Small and Deadly War’), and Hannibal’s disguise kits in various episodes.

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