It is really hard to put into words just how much I love this show, but I'm going to try."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 can help, and if you can find them, maybe you can hire... the A-Team." Cue greatest theme song ever written.These larger-than-life characters include Templeton "Face Man" Peck, a good-looking con artist whose job it is to scam the A-Team's equipment from any hapless passerby and question everything dangerous the team undertakes, John "Hannibal" Smith, the cigar-chomping disguise- wearing dated-insult-slinging leader of the group, and B. A. Baracus, who is essentially just Mr. T. I'm not kidding, Mr. T was the only cast member who never had to audition since the role was written specifically for him.There is a fourth member named Murdock who was the pilot that flew them to Hanoi for the infamous bank job. He has since gone banana balls and spends his days in the greatest mental hospital ever constructed. They let Murdock have his own private arcade and snack stash; THAT is good service. Face Man is usually the one sent in to break him out, and it's always fun to see what new con he'll pull to sneak Murdock out in plain sight, from a case of TB to a bout of rabies that Murdock contracted from his imaginary pet dog. Yes, that actually happened. And it was hysterical.The series centers around the A-Team doing jobs for people who can't prove who done it or otherwise can't count on the police for aid. In fact, more than once the A-Team are HIRED by the police to take care of dirty cops or corrupt officials. Other clients include logging companies, taxi companies, college students, Wild West show owners, all-female funk groups, and sometimes a pretty girl with a diamond mine to her name.And from that point on each episode begins building up to the big showdown, which is always crammed full of explosions, cars flipping over, guns that can't shoot straight, and poorly edited gun shot sounds. It's totally fake, but one does not watch this show for any amount of realism. One watches the A-Team because this is the romanticized action genre, the kind where the heroes always win, Face Man always gets the girl, cars blow up without injuring anyone, and the bad guys never stand a chance. It's cheesy, it's over-the-top, it's upbeat, and, above all, it's a ton of fun and I would happily rewatch it any time.I pity the fool who doesn't like The A-Team. Trademarked Mr. T 1997.

I was introduced to The A-Team on Christmas, and ever since then, I've been hooked. I watched all five seasons to get ready for the upcoming movie. Hannibal, B.A., Face, and Murdock are ex Special Forces and were sent to prison for a crime they didn't commit. 10 years after they break out, they are hired by people who seek their help. Hannibal is the leader of the group. Face is the charm and cons people to get what he wants. B.A. is the muscle, and Murdock is the crazy out-of-control pilot who helps fly the plane. (Murdock is my absolute favorite character) If you have a problem. If no one else can help, and if you can find them, maybe you can hire THE A-TEAM!!!

The A-Team television series debuted in 1983, one year after the release of Rambo I, borrowing from First Blood the theme of the renegade Vietnam veteran being chased by the authorities for no just cause. It is far more humorous than the Stallone vehicle, however, and perpetuates in an eighties context the rollicking medieval legend of Robin Hood and his merry band of men. The A-Team is sometimes criticized for its almost constant (but non- lethal) violence. The show's cartoonish fighting style is in fact an almost exact translation of the hyped-up fakery of professional wrestling, which was so popular during the show's run. It is no accident that Mr. T , star of the A-Team, was paired up with Hulk Hogan in Wrestlemania I.Ostensibly an action program, the A-Team may now be enjoyed more as a comedy. In the first three seasons, the writers almost never took the plot seriously. This was not the case in the final two seasons, which increasingly lapsed into uninspired action formulas. Even so, they are a breath of fresh air compared to more recent television productions such as CSI, whose unremittingly grim lack of irony is insufferable. Combining violence and comedy involves a delicate alchemy that few television shows pull off. The A-Team's success in this department may partly be attributed to its co-producer, Frank Lupo - who also achieved comparable results in the first season of Hunter. In addition, one should call attention to Sledge Hammer!, an outrageous cop sit-com of the eighties that has achieved cult status even though its syndication has been limited.Plans to produce a movie version of the A-Team seem to have been shelved. This might change if studio chiefs realize that the central premise of the A-Team is most timely in a recession. A viewer whose mortgage is about to be foreclosed will undoubtedly connect with the idea of a bunch of persecuted, homeless eccentrics on the run from the law because of their involvement in a murky, bank-robbing scheme.

I remember seeing The A-Team, come onto the small screen back in early 83'. I especially remember the white haired man, who didn't even seem like an old-guy to a young kid of 14. George Peppard was in a helicopter, just about to jump out and I can see that scene frozen in my mind's eye after two and a half decades.I caught the commercial for it on NBC and was immediately amazed by the different style of series that it was, I really couldn't describe why I liked it in all ways ...I simply did. My uncle laughed that the show (The A-Team) was that one where they shot off thousands of rounds of ammunition and no one ever got hit or died. My uncle was a 'Fed' and a sharp-shooter who would face off in competition. I didn't mind that about the show so much, yeah no one died. I got familiar with who Mr. T was from this as I had seen him once on 'Silver Spoons' as Ricky Schroeder's body guard.I followed the show on the network and onto the cable stations that would carry it later. Then as I was living in Los Angeles in 2003, I was sitting in an older cigar shop that is very famous with the locals and local Celeb's, and I see a blue Porshe 911 pull up out side and who should come into the store but "Faceman" Dirk Benedict!!! I was pretty happy about that. As I was sitting there in a big leather chair, in the sitting area, Dirk came up and said something to an acquaintance of his there, then, sat down and smoked a premium cigar. He talked to some people, then with me about everyday stuff, politics and then I asked about his work and the days of The A Team and he said that they (He and Peppard) used to sit in between the shooting 'break' and smoke cigars and get in trouble sometimes with the studio, probably rowdy behavior. All in all, this was a great time to be sitting puffing on great cigars exchanging smoke and listening as well as shooting the breeze with good Ole Dirk B. I had also heard that when the beginning of shooting started for the production of the A-Team DeWight Shultz arrived and went to meet his co-stars. On the lot he went to be introduced to Peppard and George replied after meeting Dewight, "Hi my name is George Peppard...and I am not a nice man." That might knock you on your tail if you had a confidence problem. At any rate I have enjoyed the show and still do on DVD.This was a show that on the departure of the network running it after cancellation. Peppard quipped that "It was like being on a thundering runaway freight train. I was happy to see it end. I needed some rest." This is just one of those 'things' that makes the eighties a great time to be alive. Good stuff, all wrapped up. (****)