The A-Team
The A-Team is an American action-adventure television series that ran on NBC from January 1983 to March 1987 about former members of a fictitious United States Army Special Forces unit. The four members of the team were tried by court martial for a crime they had not committed. They were convicted and sentenced to serve terms in a military prison, but later escaped to Los Angeles and began working as soldiers of fortune, while trying to clear their names and avoid capture by law enforcement and military authorities. The series was created by Stephen J. Cannell and Frank Lupo. A feature film based on the series was released by 20th Century Fox in 2010.
This article is about the 1980s television series. For the 2010 film based on this television series, see The A-Team (film). For other uses, see The A-Team (disambiguation).The A-Team
- George Peppard
- Tim Dunigan (series pilot)
- Dirk Benedict
- Dwight Schultz
- Mr. T
- Melinda Culea (Season 1–2)
- Marla Heasley (Season 2–3)
- Eddie Velez (Season 5)
- Robert Vaughn (Season 5)
- Mike Post
- Pete Carpenter
- Garry Schyman (uncredited)
United States
English
5
98 (list of episodes)
- Frank Lupo
- Stephen J. Cannell
- John Ashley (seasons 1–4)
- Patrick Hasburgh (season 1)
- Tom Blomquist (season 5)
- Film (1982–86)
- Film (principal photography)/Videotape (post-production) (1986)
- Single-camera setup
48 minutes
- Universal Television
- Stephen J. Cannell Productions
January 23, 1983 –
March 8, 1987
History[edit]
The A-Team was created by writers and producers Stephen J. Cannell and Frank Lupo at the behest of Brandon Tartikoff, NBC's Entertainment president. Cannell was fired from ABC in the early 1980s, after failing to produce a hit show for the network, and was hired by NBC; his first project was The A-Team. Brandon Tartikoff pitched the series to Cannell as a combination of The Dirty Dozen, Mission: Impossible, The Magnificent Seven, Mad Max, and Hill Street Blues, with "Mr. T driving the car".[1][2][3][4]
The A-Team was not generally expected to become a hit, although Cannell has said that George Peppard suggested it would be a huge hit "before we ever turned on a camera".[5] The show became popular; the first regular episode, which aired after Super Bowl XVII on January 30, 1983, reached 26.4% of the television audience, placing fourth in the top 10 Nielsen-rated shows.[6]
The show is prominent in popular culture for its cartoonish violence (with few injuries even with heavy weapons), formulaic episodes, its ingenuity of quickly constructing ad-hoc weaponry and vehicles out of seemingly random parts, and its distinctive theme song. The show boosted the career of Mr. T, who portrayed the character of B. A. Baracus, around whom the show was initially conceived.[7][8] Some of the show's catchphrases, such as "I love it when a plan comes together",[9] "Hannibal's on the jazz", and "I ain't gettin' on no plane!" have appeared on T-shirts and other merchandise.
The term "A-Team" is a nickname coined for the Operational Detachments Alpha (ODA) of the U.S. Special Forces during the Vietnam War. The US Army Special Forces still uses the term ODA for its 12-man direct operations teams.[10]
In a Yahoo! survey of 1,000 US television viewers published in October 2003, The A-Team was voted the "oldie" television show viewers would most like to see revived, beating such popular television series from the 1980s as The Dukes of Hazzard and Knight Rider.[11]
On-screen violence[edit]
The violence presented in The A-Team is highly sanitized. People do not have visible wounds and blood though they might have a limp a sling, nor does the A-Team kill people. The results of violence are only ever presented when required for the script. After almost every car crash, there is a brief shot showing the occupants of the vehicle climbing out of the mangled or burning wreck, even in helicopter crashes. However, more of these types of takes were dropped near the end of the fourth season. According to co-creator Stephen J. Cannell, this part of the show became a running joke for the writing staff and they would at times test the limits of believability on purpose.[34]
The show has been described as cartoonish and likened to Tom and Jerry. Dean P. of the Courier-Mail described the violence in the show as "hypocritical" and that "the morality of giving the impression that a hail of bullets does no-one any harm is ignored. After all, Tom and Jerry survived all sorts of mayhem for years with no ill-effects."[35] Television reviewer Ric Meyers joked that the A-Team used "antineutron bullets—they destroy property for miles around, but never harm a human being".[36] According to certain estimates, an episode of The A-Team held up to 46 violent acts. Cannell responded: "They were determined to make a point, and we were too big a target to resist. Cartoon violence is a scapegoat issue."[2] Originally, The A-Team's status as a hit show remained strong, but it ultimately lost out to more family-oriented shows such as The Cosby Show, Who's the Boss? and Growing Pains.[2] John J. O'Connor of The New York Times wrote in a 1986 article that "...a substantial number of viewers, if the ratings in recent months are to be believed, are clearly fed up with mindless violence of the car-chasing, fist-slugging variety".[37]
Production[edit]
Weapons[edit]
In early episodes, the team used Colt AR-15 SP1 semi-automatic rifles (with automatic sound effects, simulating the M16), while in later seasons they used the Ruger Mini-14, and on rare occasions, the selective fire AC-556K variant of the Mini-14. Hannibal is also seen using an M60 machine gun (which Hannibal called "Baby") in some episodes as well as a Micro-uzi. MAC-11s with parts added to simulate the Uzi appear in at least two early episodes. Hannibal's sidearms are either a nickel-plated Smith & Wesson Model 59, or a stainless steel Smith & Wesson Model 639. Unusually in the episode "Black Day at Bad Rock" he is seen carrying a Browning Hi-Power. Face's usual sidearm is a Colt Lawman Mk III, though he does use Smith & Wesson revolvers in latter seasons. Many antagonists and members of the team use 1911s as well. Starting from Season 4, the then-exotic Steyr AUG bullpup rifle also became prominent in the series. "So many different firearms were used in the 1980s hit The A-Team that it's impossible to list them all. For five seasons, the wrongly accused foursome used rifles, handguns, submachine guns and shotguns to bring justice for the little guy while trying to stay out of jail. Regardless of the number of explosions or rounds fired, nobody ever got seriously hurt except for the occasional flesh wound of a team member." The American Rifleman declared The A-Team the Number One Show on Television to regularly feature firearms.[48]
Home media[edit]
Universal Studios has released all five seasons of The A-Team on DVD in Region 1, 2, and 4. In Region 2, a complete series set titled The A-Team—The Ultimate Collection was released on October 8, 2007. A complete series set was released in Region 1 on June 8, 2010 including 25 discs packaged in a replica of the black van. The complete series set was released in Region 4 on November 3, 2010. All 5 seasons were re-released in Region 2 with new packaging on June 21, 2010. The series was remastered and released on Blu-ray disc in the United Kingdom by Fabulous Films on October 17, 2016.
Legacy[edit]
Bring Back... The A-Team (2006)[edit]
On May 18, 2006, Channel 4 in the UK attempted to reunite the surviving cast members of The A-Team for the show Bring Back... in an episode titled "Bring Back...The A-Team". Justin Lee Collins presented the challenge, securing interviews and appearances from Dirk Benedict, Dwight Schultz, Marla Heasley, Jack Ging, series co-creator Stephen Cannell, and Mr. T.
Collins eventually united Benedict, Schultz, Heasley, Ging and Cannell, along with William Lucking, Lance LeGault, and George Peppard's son, Christian. Mr. T was unable to make the meeting, which took place in the Friar's Club in Beverly Hills, but he appeared on the show for a brief talk with Collins.