Credit: Amazon.com
Creators:
Stephen J. Cannell
Frank Lupo
Cast:
George Peppard ………. Lt. Col. John “Hannibal” Smith
Dirk Benedict ………. Lt. Templeton “Face” Peck
Mr. T ………. Sgt. Bosco Albert “B.A.” Baracus
Dwight Schultz ………. Capt. H.M. “Howling Mad” Murdock
The Show
“If you have a problem, if no one else can help, and if you can find them, maybe you can hire… THE A-TEAM” (cue music)…
That is how every show started. With that slogan and the famous theme music of the show. The basic plot of the show is that four Vietnam vets were framed for a crime that they did not commit. They hide in the Los Angeles underground and now they help the innocent who can’t help themselves..for a price. Meanwhile, the military police are chasing them the entire time. Fun..fun..fun! This show was fun!
To be honest, I watched the show as a kid but I was born in 1982. Season Three took place in 1985, so I have very little memory of the show when it aired. I do remember it, though, and I knew it was a fun show. But didn’t really remember what the show was about until I got this DVD set. This was just a fun and entertaining 80’s show. It’s sorta like ‘Miami Vice’. I have memory of the show, but can’t remember the details of any one episode. Too young to remember.
Each episode usually followed the same outline. You had some innocent people who can’t take care of themselves. They get beat down by some bad people. The innocent people call The A-Team and hire them to help. The A-Team would defend the innocent people and beat up the bad guys until they would get captured by more bad guys. They would have to figure out some way to escape and used all the skills that MacGyver taught them to build things out of nothing to use against the bad guys. They take care of the bad guys and they leave the scene, because the military police have been chasing them the whole time. They run away seconds before they arrive. Some episodes were different. But they usually followed the same pattern. The setting and storylines just changed.
What made this show entertaining was the characters on the show. You had the leader of The A-Team, Hannibal (George Peppard). He was a master of disguises and was always chewing away at his cigars. He would also have plenty of cool things to say. You had Face (Dirk Benedict). He was the team’s con artist and a lady’s man. He would use his looks and his wit and his ability to disguise himself to invade an establishment. B.A. (Mr. T.), which stood for Bad Attitude, was the mechanic of the group. He was the strongman and was the main intimidation factor for the group. He would also cause as much damage and create as much mayhem as he could. He was also afraid of flying, which led to the other members of the team trying to figure out a way to get B.A. to fly. Usually..he was knocked out. Finally, you had Murdock (Dwight Schultz). He was an expert pilot and was CRAZY! At least, he made it seem like he was crazy. Some of that was an act to help the team, while most of it was because he was CRAZY! The cast interacted well together. B.A. and Murdock were always fighting and made the show have a great mixture of action and comedy. And the van, who could forget that black and grey GMC van with the red stripe and rooftop spoiler. It became a pop culture icon.
The show didn’t take itself that seriously. The A-Team couldn’t shoot anyone and some unbelievable stuff happened in the show. But it was all fun and entertaining. Season Three was the last great season of The A-Team. They had pretty much done every variation of the basic plotline of each episode that they could have done. So they changed it up for the next two seasons. It didn’t work that well. But Season Three is The A-Team at its best!
Episodes:
Disc One:
Side A:
Episode 1 – Bullets and Bikinis
The A-Team take over a beachfront hotel that a mobster wants to acquire.
Episode 2 – The Bend in the River (Part 1)
Tawnia wants The A-Team to find her missing fiance. This involves archaeology, evil pirates, and the Amazon.
Episode 3 – The Bend in the River (Part 2)
The A-Team continues their jungle adventure in the conclusion of the two-part search for Tawnia’s missing fiance.
Episode 4 – Fire
The A-Team aid a small-town fire chief in competition with a large rival company.
Episode 5 – Timber!
The A-Team come to the aid of a small logging business that is being antagonized by a corrupt union organizer.
Side B:
Episode 6 – Double Heat
An accountant’s daughter is used as a wager by two rival gangsters.
Episode 7 – Trouble on Wheels
Hannibal goes undercover in an auto plant to investigate possible employee theft.
Episode 8 – The Island
A doctor practicing medicine on a tropical island being ruled by bad guys asks for help from his old friends on The A-Team.
Episode 9 – Showdown!
A group of A-Team impostors harass a Wild West Show and the REAL A-Team must put a stop to the madness.
Disc Two:
Side A:
Episode 10 – Sheriffs of Rivertown
The A-Team attempts to bring order to a South American town populated by workers from a power plant where fatal accidents have been occurring.
Episode 11 – The Bells of St. Mary’s
The A-Team must bring back harmony to a singing group being threatened by their former record label.
Episode 12 – Hot Styles
Face’s latest love interest is in trouble and The A-Team must rescue her.
Episode 13 – Breakout!
B.A. and Murdock find themselves behind prison bars when they are named accomplices in a bank robbery.
Side B:
Episode 14 – Cup A’ Joe
A restaurateur tries to force an owner of a small coffee shop to sell out to him. The A-Team doesn’t like that.
Episode 15 – The Big Squeeze
The A-Team opens a restaurant in order to catch a ruthless loan shark.
Episode 16 – Champ!
B.A. goes undercover as a boxer, which also involves a drug-trafficking ring.
Episode 17 – Skins
The A-Team takes a trip to Kenya to hunt for game poachers who have been killing more than animals.
Disc Three:
Side A:
Episode 18 – Road Games
Face must eliminate a man’s gambling debts in order to save a foster home.
Episode 19 – Moving Targets
The A-Team faces a royal mess when a Middle Eastern ruler hires them to protect his daughter.
Episode 20 – Knights of the Road
A mechanic can’t fix his dire situation, so he asks The A-Team for help with a brutal competitor.
Episode 21 – Waste ‘Em!
The A-Team protect a man and his blind sister. They discover a dirty plot to dump toxic waste.
Side B:
Episode 22 – Bounty
Bounty hunters kidnap Murdock in a ploy to get the rest of the team.
Episode 23 – Beverly Hills Assault
The A-Team gets down with an uptown bad guy who is replacing original paintings with counterfeits.
Episode 24 – Trouble Brewing
Two women are pressured to convert their soda-bottling plant into a brewery, and The A-Team comes to save them.
Episode 25 – Incident at Crystal Lake
A fishing vacation for The A-Team ends up bad when Col. Decker and his goons appear at the team’s lakeside retreat.
Score: 9/10
The Video:
The video is given in fullscreen color with an aspect ratio of 1.33:1. Transfer is decent with minimal distortion. Probably the same quality you saw on the original TV versions. Could have been a little better, in my opinion.
The Audio:
The audio included is in English Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono sound. No problems here. No need to turn up the volume or anything like that. The theme song blares through the speakers like it should and everything else sounds like the 80’s should!
The Extras:
NOTHING! Not a single thing! This is definitely a bad thing for a great TV show. I know “Hannibal” is not alive now, but the others could have gotten together to do something or even the creators. Maybe they couldn’t work a deal with them. It’s all about money..after all.
Score: 0/10
