With a new movie adaptation arriving in theaters this week, more attention is being paid to the classic 1980s TV series The A-Team than ever; there's even a new DVD set coming out in the shape of the show's famous van. But while the A-Team itself was widely regarded as being the best of the best, was the show the best it could be? We took a look at the resumés of the cast and creators of the show to suss out if The A-Team represented their "A" game, or if there were bigger and better things in their work histories that made The A-Team look more like the "B" list.
Stephen J. Cannell (co-creator)
Sure, Cannell co-created and co-wrote The A-Team, which lasted for five seasons and 98 episodes, but it wasn't his first hit, and it wasn't his last. The man created or co-created over 40 different shows, and before there was an A-Team, there was The Rockford Files, which ran for six seasons and 122 episodes, plus a couple of TV-movies. He then followed up on A-Team with 21 Jump Street (102 episodes), The Commish (94) and Silk Stalkings (a whopping 176). But while that eight-season Silk Stalkings run is impressive, you have to give Cannell props for creating Renegade. Sure, he only wrote 59 of the show's 110 episodes, but Cannell himself played bad guy "Dutch" Dixon in 19 of them. Creating a show, writing it, and framing Lorenzo Lamas for murder? That's living the dream, my friend.
Frank Lupo (co-creator)
Although not as prolific as Cannell, Lupo co-created several series with his frequent partner, including The Greatest American Hero, Riptide and Hunter, and he co-wrote 74 episodes of Wiseguy. But on his own, he was executive producer on the first season of Walker: Texas Ranger, which ultimately ran for eight seasons and 203 episodes, and he wrote two episodes of the show himself. Don't laugh -- even tangential involvement in the colossal success of Walker Texas Ranger is nothing to sneeze at. After all, Chuck Norris doesn't read scripts -- he ingests them, so Lupo's must have been pretty tasty.
George Peppard (John "Hannibal" Smith)
Believe it or not, the role of Hannibal was a somewhat redemptive one for Peppard. Although he had been in two high-profile films in the early 1960s -- he was the romantic lead in Breakfast at Tiffany's opposite Audrey Hepburn, and he was part of the all-star cowboy cast of How the West Was Won -- a drinking problem led him to smaller movies and TV roles. He held the title role in 1972's short-lived Banacek and briefly accepted the role of Blake Carrington in Dynasty before being fired and replaced by John Forsythe. Luckily, he was drafted into The A-Team soon after, and now nobody can picture him without a cigar in his mouth.
Dirk Benedict (Templeton "Faceman" Peck)
While we love Body Slam, Benedict's other big role is undeniably that of Lt. Starbuck in the original Battlestar Galactica TV series; they even reference the sci-fi classic by showing Faceman with a Cylon in the opening credits of The A-Team. But when Benedict appeared on the U.K. edition of Celebrity Big Brother, he didn't pull up to the house in a Colonial Viper -- he pulled up in the A-Team's van, with the theme song playing. Game, set and match: A-Team.
Dwight Schulz ("Howling Mad" Murdock)
The A-Team was Schulz's first major starring role, but since then he's appeared in blockbusters like Spider-Man, Pirates of the Caribbean and Terminator Salvation... kind of. Schulz has become a prolific voice-over actor, and has done voices for plenty of major video game releases, including numerous movie tie-ins. And while he hasn't recorded any Howling Mad video game dialogue, Schulz has done it for what has arguably become his most famous live-action character, Star Trek's neurotic Lt. Reginald Barclay. Sure, H.M. has nostalgia going for him, but two TV series, two video games and one movie's worth of passionate Trekker love has made Barclay the role Schulz will be the most remembered for. After all, when was the last time you went to an A-Team convention?
Mr. T (B.A. Baracus)
While it's hard to differentiate between Mr. T and B.A. -- both are tough, both wear chains -- Mr. T's greatest character may actually be himself. Mr. T had his own cartoon, his own comic book, his own record, his own reality show, his own high-speed oven, and his own video game character in World of Warcraft. It's hard for B.A. Baracus, who only lasted five seasons (or T.S. Turner, who lasted three on T. and T.), to even compare to the character T has been playing for most of his life.
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Even when I was watching A team I would see George Peppard walk in and it seemed like he didn't care, didn't rehearse and din't want to be in this show. His acting was poor and he was just collecting a paycheck. I didn't see this in the first season but afterwards he seemed to not really care and just walked out of bed and into the show and then went home... I wonder if he ever rehearsed...
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