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Guilty pleasures don't come more guilty than The
A-Team, television's only tongue-in-cheek drama about the exploits of
renegade Vietnam vets. The primetime series' 1983 debut season, gathered here on
The A-Team: Season One, was intentionally ludicrous, encouraging viewers
to enjoy sundry talents of a colorful cast and laugh off storylines perhaps
sillier than those on Charlie's Angels. Co-created by Stephen J. Cannell
(Wiseguy) and Frank Lupo (Hunter), The A-Team introduced
Lt. Col. John "Hannibal" Smith (George Peppard), the cocksure leader of a band
of fugitive American soldiers framed for a crime in Vietnam and now thriving in
Los Angeles. Hiring themselves out as soldiers of fortune, Hannibal's
crew--including Lt. Templeton "Face" Peck (baby-faced Tim Dunigan in the pilot,
Dirk Benedict thereafter), Sgt. Bosco Albert "B.A. (for 'Bad Attitude')" Baracus
(Mr. T, outfitted with his trademark gold), and, most comically, Capt. H.M.
"Howling Mad" Murdock (Dwight Schultz)--assist (mostly) ordinary people having a
problem with bad guys. The A-Team ostensibly charges large fees, but much of the
time the guys seem to be doing pro bono work for the helpless.
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