After the Vietnam war a ream of commandos are framed for a crime they didn't commit. While on the run from the military police they act as hired hands to help put right wrongs where the police etc have proved powerless.
Many TV shows from the 80's are looked fondly upon by those of us who were in our childhood at the time, even if they were really pretty poor e.g. Manimal, Street Hawk etc. However many deserve their place in our hearts and I think the A Team is one such show. The basic plot is always the same the group get involved in a mission and it always ends in some sort of gunfight and the group construct a machine out of odds and sods they find in a shed!
It contains the same elements every week, whether it be Hannibal's disguises, Murdock's bickering or the usual trickery to get BA to get on a plane. However it's all delivered with a certain amount of tongue in cheek. Why even the title music is tongue in cheek, witness `Face" (Benedict) pause when a Cylon from Battlestar Galactica walks past him! How many other shows put the in-jokes so far to the front (Benedict having starred in that show!). This gave it a bit more freedom to be silly as it wasn't even taking itself too seriously.
Add to this a bunch of great catchphrases, running themes and of course a great title theme and you've got a hit my friends. It's hard to imagine anyone else playing their roles. Peppard will always be Hannibal to me ,no matter how many times I see earlier films. Likewise with Benedict and Schultz. Mr T is famous in his own right but I'll always mistakenly call him BA to me that's who he is! The basic 4 always had good interaction and worked very well together. The support cast throws up the odd name LQ Jones, Tia Carrera, Divoff, Hulk hogan, David McCallum, Boy George but really the supporting cast didn't matter when the leads were on form.
Overall this may have been silly but it was great fun. All these years later and I'm approaching my thirties and I still enjoy it when I find it on a rerun somewhere. Somethings are just fun no matter what!
