HISTORY OF THE A-TEAM:
For the United States Army Special Forces unit, Operational Detachment-Alpha, see Special Forces (United States Army).
| The A-Team | |
 The A-Team title screen (seasons 1-4). | |
| Format | Action/Adventure |
|---|---|
| Created by | Frank Lupo Stephen J. Cannell |
| Starring | George Peppard Dirk Benedict Dwight Schultz Mr. T Melinda Culea Marla Heasley Eddie Velez Robert Vaughn |
| Country of origin |  United States |
| No. of seasons | 5 |
| No. of episodes | 98 (List of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Stephen J. Cannell Frank Lupo (seasons 4 and 5) |
| Producer(s) | John Ashley Tom Blomquist (season 5) |
| Running time | 48 minutes per episode (without advertisements) |
| Production company(s) | Universal Television In Association With Stephen J. Cannell Productions |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | NBC |
| Original run | January 23, 1983 – March 8, 1987 |
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), for 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.[1][2] Some of the show's catchphrases such as "I love it when a plan comes together",[3] "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.
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Development
Tartikoff pitched the series to Cannell as a cross between The Dirty Dozen, Mission Impossible, Seven Samurai (and its western remake The Magnificent Seven), Mad Max and Hill Street Blues, with "Mr. T driving the car."[4][5][6][7]
Initially, The A-Team was not expected to become a hit, although Stephen J. Cannell has claimed that "[George Peppard] said it would be a huge hit before we ever turned on a camera."[8] In fact, the show became a huge hit and the first regular episode, which aired after Super Bowl XVII on January 30, 1983, reached 26.4% of the television watching audience, placing fourth in the top 10 rated shows, according to the Nielsen Ratings.[9]
Characters
For its first season and the first half of the second season, the team was assisted by reporter Amy Amanda 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[10], 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 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 after. 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 portion 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".[11] 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."[12]Tia Carrere was intended to join the principal cast of the show in its fifth season after appearing in the season four finale,[10] 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.[4]
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.[13]
Notable guest appearances
Notable guest stars included:- Wendy Fulton — as Kelly Stevens in "Bounty". Fulton and Dwight Schultz had married a few years before the episode, and the episode plays on the theme of Kelly and Murdock falling in love.
- Boy George — as himself in "Cowboy George"
- Isaac Hayes — as C.J. Mack in "The Heart Of Rock N' Roll"
- Hulk Hogan — as himself in "The Trouble With Harry" and "Body Slam"
- Rick James — as himself in "The Heart of Rock N' Roll"
- David McCallum — as Ivan Trigorin in "The Say U.N.C.L.E. Affair". McCallum guest stars as a former associate of Robert Vaughn's character General Stockwell. Vaughn and McCallum had co-starred together as friendly American and Russian in The Man from U.N.C.L.E.. The A-Team episode spoofed many aspects of the classic series.
Cultural and social impact, the Saga Continues:
Popularity
The A-Team was one of a wide variety of successful television shows from prolific television producer Stephen J. Cannell. Cannell is known for having a particular skill at capitalizing on momentary cultural trends, such as the helicopters, machine guns, cartoonish violence, and joyful militarism of this series, which are now recognizable as trademarks of popular entertainment in the 1980s as seen in the TV shows Magnum PI and Airwolf as well as the films Rambo II and The Final Countdown. Cannell had been producing shows for ABC in the early 1980s, but was fired by the network for not producing a hit for them. His next project would be The A-Team.The show became so popular that in 1984 the main cast members of The A-Team, George Peppard, Mr. T, Dirk Benedict and Dwight Schultz were invited to the Netherlands. George Peppard was the first to receive the invitation and thus thought the invite pertained only to him. When the other cast members were also invited, Peppard declined, leading only Mr. T, Benedict and Schultz to visit the Netherlands.[18] Unpredicted, however, was the immense turn-out for the stars, and they were forced to leave early as a security measure. A video was released with the present actors in which Dwight Schultz apologized and thanked everyone that had attended.[19]
In syndication
The show has achieved cult status through heavy U.S. and international syndication. It has also remained popular overseas, such as in the United Kingdom, where the show has been on-air almost continuously in some form (ITV network, ITV regional re-runs, satellite) since it was first shown in July 1983.In 2003, in research conducted by web-portal Yahoo! amongst 1,000 television viewers, The A-Team was voted as the one "oldie" television programme viewers would most like to see revived, beating out other popular televisions series from the 80s such as The Dukes of Hazzard and Knight Rider.[20]
As of February 2008, NBC has begun posting the first season of The A-Team online for free with the option to download (pay for download). Netflix also has most episodes from seasons 1-5 available for instant viewing. All five seasons are also available for free viewing on Hulu.com.
Merchandise
As well as having huge ratings and being especially popular amongst children, there was countless merchandise available, including action figures of the characters, as well as their famous van and car. A cola flavored popsicle in the shape of Mr. T was also on the market at the show's height. Marvel Comics even produced a three issue A-Team comic book series. Mr. T has also appeared in his own comic books, while a Mr. T graphic novel is set for worldwide release in summer 2008, preceded by a Limited Advance Edition launched in February 2008. Similarly, in the United Kingdom, an A-Team comic strip appeared for several years in the 1980s as part of the children's television magazine and comic Look-In, to tie in with the British run of the series. It was preceded, though, by a short run in the final year (1984) of TV Comic, drawn by Jim Eldridge. A View-Master A-Team gift set, with 3-D viewer and 3 reels containing 21 3-D pictures of the A-Team episode "When You Comin' Back, Range Rider?", was produced by View-Master International.
Cast reunions
Bring Back... The A-Team (2006)
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".[21] 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 managed to bring together 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 did manage to appear on the show for a brief talk with Collins.
Feature film
A feature film based on The A-Team is planned for release on June 11, 2010, produced by 20th Century Fox.[22] As of January 28, 2009, director Joe Carnahan is set to direct and Ridley and Tony Scott are set to produce.[23][24] The plot will involve a shift from Vietnam to the Middle East, and both Jules Daly and Stephen J. Cannell are involved in the project.[25] John Singleton was initially assigned to direct, but in October 2008 he pulled out of the project.[26]The film has been in development since the mid 1990s, going through a number of writers and story ideas, and being put on hold a number of times. Producer Stephen J. Cannell hopes to update the setting, perhaps using the first Gulf War as part of the backstory.[27] The cast has been revealed, Jim Carrey will take on the role of Murdock, while Tom Cruise as Quinton Beck (a.k.a "Face") and legendary Radio-Personality, Wrestler, Pro-Football Player, Book Author, and ex-Navy Seal: Vic "The Iceman" Beckles (also an Ordained Church Pastor) will assume the role of B.A. Baracus.[28] It also has been rumored that George Clooney is being considered for the role of John "Hannibal" Smith. (2011 release of movie "The A-Team")[29]
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