[opening narration]
Narrator: 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.
(www.imdb.com/title/tt0084967/quotes?ref_=tt_ql_3)
The A-Team is een televisieserie uit de jaren tachtig. De serie gaat over een groep huurlingen die in hun busje dwars door Amerika trekt. Onderweg helpen ze onderdrukte mensen in hun strijd tegen rijke criminelen en onderdrukkers. Kenmerkend voor de serie was de unieke combinatie van humor, stripachtige actie en jongensboekachtig avontuur. The A-Team was een succes en trok wereldwijd een miljoenenpubliek. Vandaag de dag wordt The A-Team nog vaak op tv herhaald. Omdat de serie destijds vooral kinderen van onder de 10 jaar aansprak, wordt het nu vooral gerekend tot jeugdsentiment. Ook zijn er vele A-Team fanclubs opgericht en heeft de serie een zekere cultstatus. De serie werd in Nederland voor het eerst door de TROS uitgezonden.
Opmerkelijk is dat de serie destijds veel controverse opriep, vanwege het vermeende geweldsgehalte en pro-militaire karakter. Vandaag de dag blijkt dat allemaal best mee te vallen: ondanks de ontelbare explosies, stunts, kogelregens en vuistgevechten, valt in de gehele serie slechts één zichtbare dode en vloeit er zelden bloed (https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_A-Team_(televisieserie)).
During the entire series, only five people died on-screen. They include Gen. 'Bull' Fulbright (Jack Ging), who got shot in the back by a hostile during an operation working together with the A-Team. The deaths of at least three more characters were left ambiguous (www.imdb.com/title/tt0084967/trivia?ref_=tt_ql_2).
Opgesloten in een schuur, met alleen wat hooivorken en kruiwagens, wist The A-Team hun bus om te bouwen in een tank waarmee ze de strijd aangingen met de bad guys. En iedereen die de show vroeger keek weet nog wel dat er nooit iemand gewond raakte. Ondanks de vele explosies en schietpartijen zag je de bad guys opkrabbelen en zichzelf afstoffen. “I love it when a plan comes together” daarmee sloot Hannibal altijd af wanneer zijn team weer als winnaar uit de bus was gekomen (www.serieblog.nl/the-a-team-komt-terug/).
...the biggest hit and very best television show of the ’80s was a show on 4 Vietnam-veterans who were falsely accused of a bank robbery in Hanoi and were thusly destined to start living their lives as fugitives on the run. To make ends meet, they would perform freelance missions as vigilantes fighting corrupt politicians, dirty cops, mafia members and guerilla soldiers. The show became an overnight classic and after a mere 3 weeks, it already crowned the number 1-spot!
The thing that made The A-Team so wonderfully pleasing for the eye was its simplicity. The group had only four members and each one of them had their own special set of skills, almost like superheroes in a comic book.
There was the leader of the group – a brilliant strategist and tough-as-nails military genius – who would meet any and all challenges without a moment’s hesitation, preferably with a big white smile on his face!
There was also a multi-talented mechanic who was able to transform any piece of old iron into a near brand-new engine or never-seen-before machinery. A reinforced vehicle or beefed up bulldozer which never seem to fail or backfire. Oh, and he was also strong … very strong!
Then you had the best pilot the American army has ever known, but … this man was as crazy as a runaway twisted merry-go-round on steroids.
Last but not least, you had the ladies’ man. A suave, smooth-talking scrounger who was hugely successful with women and who was able to get his team anything they needed, using a variety of disguises. He was the perfect con man, though always neatly dressed like the gentleman that he was.
(https://belgianfilmfreak.wordpress.com/tag/a-team/)
The original A-Team series was created by Cannell and Frank Lupo from a pitch by NBC Entertainment President Brandon Tartikoff. The show revolved around the four former commandos-turned-mercenaries — John “Hannibal” Smith (George Peppard), Templeton “Faceman” Peck (Dirk Benedict), the team’s pilot H.M. “Howling Mad” Murdock (Dwight Schultz) and strongman, B.A. (Bad Attitude) Baracus (Mr. T) (http://deadline.com/2015/09/a-team-series-remake-chris-morgan-stephen-j-cannell-1201544600/).
Four Vietnam vets, framed for a crime they didn't commit, help the innocent while on the run from the military (www.imdb.com/title/tt0084967/). The crime the team didn't commit was that their commanding officer in Vietnam, Colonel Morrison, ordered them to rob the Bank of Hanoi. The hope was that this would help bring the war to an end. The mission was successful, but when they returned to headquarters, the A-Team found it burned to the ground, and that Morrison was murdered by the Viet Cong. All the evidence that they were acting under orders vanished in the fire (www.imdb.com/title/tt0084967/trivia?ref_=tt_ql_2).
[repeated line]
Hannibal: I love it when a plan comes together!
...
Murdock: I'm a bird! I'm a plane! I'm a choo-choo train!
...
B.A. Baracus: Shut up, fool.
(www.imdb.com/title/tt0084967/quotes?ref_=tt_ql_3)
Ook B.A. heeft diverse belangrijke tekst...
In the opening credits, Dirk Benedict reacts to a passing metallic "Cylon warrior". Cylons were the nemesis in Benedict's earlier series, Battlestar Galactica (1978) (www.imdb.com/title/tt0084967/trivia?ref_=tt_ql_2).
The A-Team launched after the Super Bowl in 1983 and became a breakout hit and a pop culture stapl, running on NBC for five seasons (http://deadline.com/2015/09/a-team-series-remake-chris-morgan-stephen-j-cannell-1201544600/).
Kolonel John "Hannibal" Smith (gespeeld door George Peppard). Dit is de sigaarrokende leider van het team. Hij kreeg de bijnaam Hannibal omdat hij een briljant strateeg is. Hij is een meestervermommer en het grote brein achter de plannen om de missies tot een succesvol einde te brengen. Een van zijn favoriete uitspraken is dan ook "I love it when a plan comes together" ("Ik houd ervan als een plan werkt"). (https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_A-Team_(televisieserie)).
Sergeant Bosco Albert Baracus (gespeeld door Mr. T). Hij wordt B.A. genoemd. Dat zijn zijn initialen maar het kan ook "bad attitude" betekenen (hetgeen verwijst naar zijn agressieve gedrag). B.A. is de krachtpatser en de techneut van het team. Hij is dol op kinderen, maar heeft last van vliegangst. Dat is de reden waarom hij meestal verdoofd wordt voor ze gaan vliegen https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_A-Team_(televisieserie)).
Luitenant Templeton Peck (gespeeld door Dirk Benedict). Zijn bijnaam Faceman, meestal afgekort tot Face, verwijst naar zijn knappe gezicht, waarmee hij veel voor elkaar krijgt. Face is de regelneef van het team. Zonder enige moeite weet hij van alles te regelen. Vooral bij het vrouwelijk schoon kan hij veel voor elkaar krijgen https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_A-Team_(televisieserie)).
Kapitein H.M. "Howlin' Mad" Murdock (gespeeld door Dwight Schultz). Hij is de piloot van het team. Hoewel hij officieel tot gek verklaard is, is hij een waardevol lid van het team. Hij doet vaak vreemd, maar weet zijn mannetje te staan. Hij is dol op dieren (vooral zijn onzichtbare hondje Billy). Murdock wordt met rust gelaten nadat kolonel Lynch zichzelf er in aflevering 1 van overtuigd heeft dat Murdock geestelijk gestoord is. Vaak moet Murdock voor een opdracht uit een psychiatrische inrichting ontsnappen. B.A. en Murdock hebben vaak ruzie of een woordenwisseling omdat B.A. niet goed om kan gaan met het vreemde gedrag van Murdock, maar stiekem zijn ze wel op elkaar gesteld.
https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_A-Team_(televisieserie)).
In de eerste aflevering gaat verslaggeefster Amy Allen (gespeeld door Melinda Culea) op zoek naar het A-Team. Daarna werkt ze een tijdje met hen samen. Later wordt ze vervangen door Tawnia Baker (gespeeld door Marla Heasley), een collega-verslaggeefster. In de aflevering "The Bend in the River" huurt Tawnia het A-Team in om haar verloofde te zoeken. Als het A-Team een Nazi-complot heeft verijdeld, trouwt ze met haar verloofde om daarna het team te verlaten.
Amy Allen was introduced to viewers in the pilot episode
and became a friend of The A-Team’s. Amy Allen
came into contact with The A-Team through a fellow journalist
at the paper where she worked – The Los Angeles Courier.
Tawnia Baker was a friend of Amy Allen,
both ladies worked at The Los Angeles Courier Express
In order of descending rank Hannibal is a Colonel, Murdock a Captain, Face a Lieutenant and BA a Sergeant. Although Murdock technically outranks him when Hannibal is absent it's normally Face who takes charge due to Murdock's apparent insanity. Hannibal, Face and BA were all Green Berets, members of the US Army Special Forces. In The A-Team: A Nice Place to Visit (1983) we see Murdock wearing his formal uniform at a funeral and see that he was an army helicopter pilot but not a Green Beret. His uniform does display the Parachutist Badge (Airborne wings) showing that he has undergone paratrooper training (www.imdb.com/title/tt0084967/trivia?ref_=tt_ql_2).
So the first ever episode of “The A-Team.” This is the show that made a pin-on button of Mr. T pretty much the coolest thing you could wear to my third grade class.The B.A. button supplanted even the seemingly invincible, studded leather jacket with zippers all over it, from second grade. This is serious business. But I think the most important thing about The “A-Team” pilot has to do with the fact that it has a different Face.
Quoth Wikipedia:
Tim Dunigan played this role in the pilot episode, but reputedly he was thought to look too young to be a believable Vietnam veteran, and he was much taller than the rest of the cast. He was replaced by [Dirk] Benedict… ....the pilot is actually a two parter and kind of the classic Western scenario, borrowed partially from, yes really, The Seven Samurai. This gang of Mexican bandits, led by a man who says things like “come, we will talk! You will see that I am a lover of life! A hunter of Rabbits! A Singer of Songs!” plague a small village and shake them down for all of their money and terrorize their women...So some journalist is investigating all of this for some reason and they capture him. He works for the same paper as that chick Amy and since nobody else can help, she tracks down the A-Team, even though most people seem to regard them as an urban legend. After that, a whole ton of predictable stuff happens and none of it makes any sense. It turns out that the banditos terrorizing this small town are part of what must be a billion dollar business, smuggling crates of marijuana to The States, where it will no doubt lead to countless overdoses and cases of hard core addiction. So why are these guys, with direct ties to the military (WOOPS, I mean “gorillas” because the real Mexican army would never dabble in narcotics trafficking) call attention to themselves by shaking down a farming village for what must literally be a couple thousand dollars a year? Because, um…When we meet Hannibal, one of the most wanted men in America he is keeping a low profile working in the movie industry. Granted, he is in a big rubber suit playing a sea monster or something, but that’s never really explained. Murdock is semi-faking his stay in the nut house and the guys get him out. I think Face is just a gigolo, everywhere he goes. B.A. is kicking it in the ‘hood and polishing his van while passing on life lessons to black youth, which at least seems like something that could actually happen. ...So Amy goes through this whole bullshit routine and brings on the A-Team. They go down, uncover the drug ring, blah, blah, blah. At some point they use a crop duster to kill the pot crops. Amy doesn’t have enough money to pay their full fee, but they do the job anyway. B.A. converts an old school bus into a tank or something. It’s just a mess. A big part of this is Face using pure bullshit to con the staff of a high end resort into believing he is a producer looking to make a big Hollywood movie there to the extent that the concierge gets the national minister of culture or whatever to arrange for them to have a military helicopter. Nobody is ever like, “by the way, what studio do you work for because I’d like to call them.” Or, “I know this is only Mexico, but we’re still not going to give you a military helicopter.” The rest of it is really kind of boring and involves tons of Jeeps. The other really noteworthy thing about this episode is that this massive Mexican dude fights B.A. and kicks his ass! I can’t guarantee anything, but I bet that B.A. doesn’t lose a fight for the whole rest of the series (www.ruthlessreviews.com/10509/the-a-team-season-one-and-the-malt-liquors-of-the-world-a-journal-episodees-1-2/).
The formula was always the same.
One good citizen was abused or pushed into giving up their home, money – or worse – their life by a worthless set of hoodlums or authority figures from the criminal underworld, but the police was powerless to do anything about it. They would need definite proof or the very police officer who was assigned the case, was part of the conspiracy.
Cue The A-Team!
Time for this quintessential quartet to make their mark and who better to solve this issue than four heavily trained and extremely skilled elite soldiers who feared no one and always brought home success?
The victims who cried out for help in each episode were hard working people like a local farmer, a fire brigade who were on the brink of having to close their business, an honest to God police officer who wanted to exterminate any corruption in his department to even the a very powerful mafia boss who made his money with extortion.
But there was more! The four members of The A-Team were continuously hunted down by the American army or an overzealous sheriff of a one-horse town. So the premise of the show wasn’t just about our heroes staying alive against a powerful opponent and trying to finish their missions. No, there was always the looming danger that they would end up in prison …
One classic element that can be found in every single episode is how the mission half-way through would suddenly pose serious problems. Usually, this meant that our heroes were captured and they had to find an ingenious way to escape their captivity. For a moment there, it seemed that the ‘good guys’ would lose from the ‘bad guys’!
ut nothing to fear! B.A., Hannibal, Face & Murdock of The A-Team would always rise to the occasion and stand tall. THAT was the number 1-reason for its success. You knew the good guys were going to win.
The show was an innocent, childlike look upon the world, a purposely naive and innocent picture without any bloodshed or real pain. It was the same way children used to play cowboys & Indians.
The A-Team only had one ideal: to make people enjoy the show!
...
Of course, everything that has a beginning must come to an end. And it is the last season of The A-Team which is the weakest, because the creators of the show started tampering with the rules. Seasons 1, 2 3 & 4 all followed the same basic set of guidelines, but season 5 became quite something different. The new trend was already set in motion when a character was killed on-screen for the very first time in the show!
Colonel Lynch and the legendary Colonel Decker – amazingly performed by William Lucking and Lance LeGault – were never successful in apprehending the A-Team in seasons 1 through 4. Thus, they were replaced by Jack Ging who would play the part of General Bull Fullbright.
Unbeknownst to the viewer, this latest character would be shot in the back and come to pass seconds later – a true shock for the otherwise docile television show. Oh no!! Someone died on The A-Team!!! I knew it …
With the very first death set in motion, the show started its last season. It wasn’t much of a success and it became clear that the show was running on its last legs.
In season 5 the team is lured in a trap by General Hunt Stockwell (measly performed by Robert Vaughn) resulting in the team having to work for the government + a new character was added to the group. His name was Frankie Santana, a young but very talented Puerto Rican stuntman from Hollywood who managed to come up with an unlimited resource of equipment to create special effects, such as fake explosions, and such.
The new character was played by Eddie Velez. The actor tried to fit in, but in truth never became a familiar face like the original set-up.
The biggest problem of The A-Team started when the show took itself too serious. B.A. and Face started to fade to the background, Hannibal was hardly the leader of the group and no longer took on any more disguises and even Murdock was only occasionally amusing.
All in all, it wasn’t that bad, but it became painfully obvious that The A-Team had started to drain. Once so fresh and powerful, the best show of the ’80s had become a bit of a humdrum …
(https://belgianfilmfreak.wordpress.com/tag/a-team/)
Ed Sheeran heeft een liedje over, genaamd A-Team, of toch niet?
“Witte lippen, bleek gezicht, branende longen, lange nachten en vreemde mannen.” Nee, Ed Sheerans lied A Team gaat niet over de vrolijke boefjes van de gelijknamige tv-serie (https://goedgelovig.wordpress.com/2012/01/21/recensie-ed-sheerans-the-a-team/).
De serie gaat over vier Vietnamveteranen die er ten onrechte van worden beschuldigd de bank van Hanoi net na het einde van de oorlog te hebben overvallen. Zij zeiden dat het een missie was, doch daags na de missie wordt het kantoor van de officier opgeblazen en zo ook de officier. Ze worden ervoor veroordeeld, maar weten uiteindelijk te ontsnappen uit Fort Bragg. Ze vluchten naar Los Angeles en duiken onder. Daar overleven ze als huurlingen, maar zo nu en dan helpen ze ook gratis mensen die onrecht wordt aangedaan.
Hoewel iedere aflevering van het A-Team op zichzelf staat en dus onafhankelijk is te kijken, zijn er toch een aantal subplots die als een rode draad door de serie lopen. Zo worden ze gedurende de eerste helft van de serie opgejaagd door verschillende personen van het Amerikaanse leger: kolonel Lynch, kolonel Briggs en kolonel Decker en hun soldaten van de militaire politie.
Ook worden zij enkele afleveringen gevolgd door generaal Harlan The Bull Fullbright die er, net als Lynch en Decker, zelfs na grote moeite niet in slaagt om het A-Team achter slot en grendel te krijgen. Wanneer Fullbright samen met het A-Team in Vietnam op zoek is naar zijn dochter, raakt hij echter overtuigd van de onschuld van de leden van het A-Team. Hij krijgt echter geen kans meer om hen te helpen, doordat hij door een Vietnamese oorlogsmilitie wordt doodgeschoten.
De eerste drie afleveringen van het vijfde (en laatste) seizoen draaien om de gevangenname, berechting en (voorkomen) executie van drie van de vier A-Teamleden. Ze worden gearresteerd als ze achter een legerkapitein aangaan die hun onschuld kan bewijzen. Door een militaire rechtbank worden B.A., Face en Hannibal veroordeeld tot de doodstraf en in afwachting van de voltrekking daarvan zitten ze op een militaire basis op een eiland in de oceaan. Ze worden echter gered door Murdock en het nieuwe teamlid Franky Santana, met hulp van generaal Hunt Stockwell. Doordat ze nog steeds veroordeelde criminelen zijn, kan Stockwell hen dwingen voor hem te werken in ruil voor bescherming. De opdrachten die ze moeten uitvoeren dienen de Amerikaanse overheid, maar zijn allemaal clandestien (https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_A-Team_(televisieserie)).
Much like First Blood and Rambo: First Blood, Part II, The A-Team has taken potshots at civilians who don’t acquiesce to Military Majesty. But where Stallone’s movies punch hippies and anti-war critics, The A-Team instead isolates said military critics into cowboy hat-wearing villains.
In this episode, it is not enough that the villains were the town bullies. It is not enough that Brenner was the only one to stand up to them and was killed because of it. It was not enough that “The Law” condones the behavior of the Villains of the Week. We had the add that the Villains hate Military Personnel. In this case, the Watkins Boys forbade ANYONE from going to Mr. Brenner’s funeral. Because Ray Brenner, you see, was a Vietnam Veteran. And, because of it, Brenner was hated. The “Why He Was Hated,” however, is never addressed here – much like any other Peacenik-bashing picture fest (https://heavyarmor.wordpress.com/2014/04/20/hiring-the-a-team-season-1-episode-14-a-nice-place-to-visit/).
The series was originally conceived by NBC executive Brandon Tartikoff. Tartikoff was influenced by The Dirty Dozen (1967) and Mad Max 2 (1981). Murdock was inspired by Bruce Weitz's character, Mick Belker, from Hill Street Blues (1981). Tartikoff was impressed with Mr. T in Rocky III (1982) (www.imdb.com/title/tt0084967/trivia?ref_=tt_ql_2).
B.A. Baracus bears the tattoos "Pity" and "Fool" on his knuckles, as a tribute to Mr. T's catchphrase from Rocky III (1982): "I pity the fool!". Contrary to popular myth, B.A. Baracus never uttered that exact phrase on "The A-Team" (www.imdb.com/title/tt0429493/trivia?ref_=tt_ql_2).
Sergeant Bosco Albert "B. A." (Bad Attitude) Baracus /bəˈrækəs/, played by Mr. T... is a fictional character and one of the four protagonists of the 1980s action-adventure television series The A-Team. B. A. Baracus appeared on The A-Team from the series beginning in 1983 until its cancellation in 1987. He is arguably the breakout character of the series and has become a cult icon worldwide.....In the pilot episode, "Mexican Slayride", B. A. is described as follows by a reporter colleague of Amy Allen: "Bosco Baracus. Known as B. A. for 'bad attitude.' The man is a mechanical genius. He also has one of the worst conduct records in the army. He likes to slug officers." A rough-and-tough fighter, the character of B. A. Baracus is basically that of the public persona of Mr. T himself. He is known for his trademark African Mandinka warrior hairstyle (often mistaken for a mohawk hairstyle), and his gold jewelry.
While the other members of the team regularly resort to disguises, scams and subterfuge to achieve their goals, B. A.'s distinctive appearance and confrontational attitude usually lead to a more direct approach to problems, which often involve either his skills at hand-to-hand combat, or his mechanical talents.
He is a highly skilled mechanic and has an amazing talent for making impressive machinery out of just about any ordinary parts.
...
A teetotaler, B. A. never touches alcohol, preferring milk instead. He suffers from pteromechanophobia, an intense fear of flying, especially when the plane in question is flown by "Howling Mad" Murdock. He typically exclaims, "I ain't gettin' on no plane!" This difficulty is often overcome by other members of the team drugging him, knocking him unconscious, or, as in one episode, hypnotizing him, so he can be transported without objection. In the Season 1 episode "The Beast from the Belly of a Boeing", he is on a plane pretending to be a maintenance technician with Murdock when the plane suddenly takes off (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B._A._Baracus).
De serie werd door Stephen J. Cannell geschreven rondom Mr. T naar aanleiding van zijn optreden in Rocky III met Sylvester Stallone. De bedoeling was dat Mr. T de leider van het A-Team werd en dat de andere personages veel minder tekst kregen. Gaandeweg het schrijfproces besloten de schrijvers de andere personages veel uitgebreider te maken, ook bedachten ze een nieuw personage (Hannibal) dat de leiding kreeg.
Ook het karakter van de serie veranderde: eerst wilde men er een serieuze actieserie van maken, maar al snel koos men voor een kinderlijker, minder gewelddadig en vooral humoristischer karakter. Interessant is hierbij dat men als uitgangspunt voor de serie koos voor een parodie. Het A-Team moest eigenlijk een soort parodie op actie- en oorlogsfilms worden. Dit verklaart waarom de actie, de verhalen, het acteerwerk en de muziek allemaal een tikkeltje overdreven zijn.
De titel A-Team is een verwijzing naar de standaardbenaming voor de kleinste Green Beret (Commando)-legereenheid. In hun Vietnam-tijd waren de vier hoofdpersonages uit de serie lid van zo'n A-Team (https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_A-Team_(televisieserie))..
According to Stephen J. Cannell, the writers had a running gag where they would stage these horrific car crashes, but the people would come out unscathed. They would do this to test the limits of realism on purpose (www.imdb.com/title/tt0084967/trivia?ref_=tt_ql_2).
This hat shows up in almost EVERY episode of this series.
Although ratings soared during its early seasons, many television critics described the show largely as cartoonish and thereby wrote the series off. Most reviews focused on acting and the formulaic nature of the episodes, most prominently the absence of actual killing in a show about Vietnam War veterans.
They are all Vietnam veterans. The gradual assimilation of Vietnam into acceptable popular mythology, which began solemnly with The Deer Hunter, has reached its culmination with The A-Team: No longer a memory to be hurriedly brushed aside, but heroes of a network adventure show. Their enemy is a comic army officer, Col. Lynch, see Sgt. Bilko, see Beetle Bailey, see M*A*S*H*, whose pursuit of our heroes is doomed to slapstick failure. This is classic right-wing American populism; patriotic, macho, anti-authority, and is unlikely to be understood in Britain, where to be right-wing implies an obsequiousness towards officers and the status quo. But right-wing this series certainly is. The bandits, it turns out, are in league with a group of sinister guerrillas who are trying to destabilise the country. Thanks to the A-Team's hearts and minds policy, the villagers rise up and put them to rout, in a 20-minute series of comic-book battle scenes, over-turning cars and airplane stunt-tricks, in which not a single person is hurt.
Mary Harron, New Statesman (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_A-Team)
The violence presented in The A-Team is highly sanitized. People do not bleed or bruise when hit (though they might develop a limp or require a sling), nor do the members of the A-Team kill people. The results of violence were only ever presented when it was required for the script. In almost every car crash there is a short take 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 Stephen J. Cannell, this part of the show did become a running joke for the writing staff and they would at times test the limits of realism on purpose.
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." Television reviewer Ric Meyers joked that the A-Team used "antineutron bullets—they destroy property for miles around, but never harm a human being". According to certain estimates, an episode of the A-Team held up to 46 violent acts. Stephen J. Cannell, co-creator of the show responds: "They were determined to make a point, and we were too big a target to resist. Cartoon violence is a scapegoat issue." 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 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_A-Team).
Aanvankelijk had men voor de rol van Hannibal James Coburn op het oog, maar het werd uiteindelijk toch George Peppard.
Dwight Schultz stond voor z'n rol als Murdock ook op de tocht: de producers vonden dat hij zijn rol overdreef. Pas nadat men een proefaflevering met testpubliek maakte besloot men om Schultz toch te houden.
Men had voor de rol van 'Face' Dirk Benedict op het oog, maar wegens contractuele problemen werd de rol in de pilot-aflevering gespeeld door Tim Dunigan. Hierna werd Dunigan alsnog vervangen door Benedict.
Gedurende de opnames waren er enkele strubbelingen tussen de acteurs. Amy werd uit de serie geschreven, naar verluidt omdat Melinda Culea te veel eisen had; ze wilde deel uitmaken van het team en meer actiescenes doen. George Peppard en Mr. T konden niet samen door een deur, voornamelijk omdat Peppard het niet verkroppen kon dat, hoewel hij in tegenstelling tot Mr. T een formele opleiding tot acteur had gevolgd, Mr. T de echte ster van de serie was.
Het budget van de serie was op sommige momenten zo laag dat men ervoor koos om sommige bijrol-acteurs te recyclen. Acteurs die soms een gastoptreden als slechterik hadden werden in een bepaalde aflevering verslagen maar verschenen in de volgende aflevering weer als slechterik maar dan in een ander personage. Hierdoor kwam het dat een acteur meerdere slechteriken speelde en dat veel van de slechteriken op elkaar leken. Alle scènes van meerdere personages die door 1 acteur werden gespeeld werden dan op 1 dag opgenomen (https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_A-Team_(televisieserie)).
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 (www.imdb.com/title/tt0084967/trivia?ref_=tt_ql_2).
George Peppard and Mr T were the big names to start with in The A-Team and this showed off screen as toward the end of the shows life George Peppard refused to work beyond 5:30. When Mr T herd about this he also refused to work beyond this time which only left Dirk Benedict and Dwight Schultz working late into the evening to make up the shots. This is why in later episodes you will see a lot of scenes with just Dirk and Dwight (www.legendarytv.com/the_a-team/the_a-team_show_facts.asp).
Na het einde van de serie ging er jarenlang het gerucht van een bioscoopfilm over het A-Team. De film zou een soort reünie moeten worden. Het team zou in deze film een volledig pardon krijgen en dus niet meer gezocht worden door de overheid. Deze plannen kregen geen doorgang toen George Peppard in mei 1994 overleed (https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_A-Team_(televisieserie)).
The 1983 black and metallic gray GMC Vandura van used by the A-Team, with its characteristic red stripe, black and red turbine mag wheels, and rooftop spoiler, has become an enduring pop culture icon. The GMC Vandura used on the A-Team movie was also on display at the 2010 New York International Auto Show.
Early examples of the van had a red GMC logo on the front grille, and an additional GMC logo on the rear left door. 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 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_A-Team).
In The A-Team zijn vijf GMC-bestelbusjes gebruikt, waarvan twee mooi en onbeschadigd moesten blijven (deze worden ook wel de gave uitvoeringen genoemd). Er zijn heel veel onofficiële Vans gebruikt (ook van andere merken als Chevrolet en Ford), die werden gebruikt om grote stunts mee te doen (https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_A-Team_(televisieserie)).
The series has achieved cult status through heavy syndication in the U.S. and internationally. It has also remained popular overseas, such as in the United Kingdom, where the show has been on-air almost continuously in some form since it was first shown in July 1983 (currently running on the satellite and cable channel Esquire Network. This series is also slated to begin airing over NBC-TV's OTA digital subchannel network, Cozi TV, in January 2016 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_A-Team).
Dit programma is een van de jeugdherinneringen die worden aangehaald in het lied Kvraagetaan (2007) door Fixkes. De zanger zingt dat in zijn jeugd "niemand Hannibal of Murdock wilde zijn" (https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_A-Team_(televisieserie)).
20th Century Fox revived the series as a feature starring Liam Neeson, Bradley Cooper, Quinton Jackson and Sharlto Copley as the four characters from the show. Directed by Joe Carnahan, the feature was released in 2010 (http://deadline.com/2015/09/a-team-series-remake-chris-morgan-stephen-j-cannell-1201544600/).
The A-Team is een Amerikaanse speelfilm uit 2010, geregisseerd door Joe Carnahan. De film is gebaseerd op de gelijknamige TV-serie uit de jaren tachtig.
Enkele gewezen Amerikaanse soldaten uit de Irakoorlog worden er vals van beschuldigd dat ze een paar drukplaten van de U.S. Treasury hebben gestolen uit Bagdad. Ze werden op deze missie uitgestuurd door een legerkapitein en ene Lynch van de CIA. Het werkelijke doel was om het A-Team erin te luizen. Dit plan slaagde en het A-Team werd gevangengezet. Door toedoen van Lynch werd het A-Team weer bevrijd met de opdracht om de drukplaten op te sporen. Tijdens deze missie komen ze erachter dat Lynch de platen al in zijn bezit heeft. En dan gaat het A-Team druk aan de slag om hun naam te zuiveren (https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_A-Team_(film)) A sequel was planned but Bradley Cooper and Joe Carnahan confirmed that it was canceled because of this film's disappointing box-office returns (www.imdb.com/title/tt0429493/).
The movie that plays at the Frankfurt psychiatric hospital begins with the original The A-Team (1983) theme music, and its credits contain names that relates to the original Team's careers:
The first name credited is "Reginald Barclay." Dwight Schultz, who was the original Murdock, played a character named Reginald Barclay in Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987), Star Trek: Voyager (1995), Star Trek: First Contact (1996) and Star Trek: Elite Force II (2003).
The next credit reads "Thomas Banacek." George Peppard, who was the original Hannibal, played detective Thomas Banacek in Banacek (1972).
The third and final credit reads "G.F. Starbuck." Dirk Benedict, who was the original Face, played Lieutenant Starbuck in Battlestar Galactica (1978) (www.imdb.com/title/tt0429493/trivia?ref_=tt_ql_2).
(http://deadline.com/2015/09/a-team-series-remake-chris-morgan-stephen-j-cannell-1201544600/, www.comingsoon.net/tv/news/616551-the-a-team-remake-series-in-the-works-at-20th-century-fox-tv) (www.serieblog.nl/the-a-team-komt-terug/)
Iconisch voor de jaren tachtig..
En zelfs de film kan niet tippen aan die parodie-stijl. Als kind was ik niet echt bekend met dat gegeven. Al ga je na een tijdje wel twijfelen aan al dat geschiet zonder dat iemand geraakt wordt. Deed me een beetje denken aan Sinterklaas. Al dat geloof ergens in. Maar de A-team-TV-serie was een parodie, een soort knipoog naar al die actiefilm's en series...
Jazelker, zoals we al zagen in de scene barfight...
Hmm, beetje weinig bier...
Dat geeft te denken, ik had beter met het bier kunnen beginnen, dan had ik niet al dat uitzoekwerk hoeven doen... Achja, weer drie TV-avondjes