L'agence tous risques

Weren't 80's shows the greatest? There are some great shows out there today but nothing like The Dukes of Hazard, The Incredible Hulk and The A-Team. What an absolutely fantastic idea to have four Vietnam Vets on the run from the law and along the way solving crimes and puzzles for people that can afford them. How many of us can remember the bickering of B.A and Murdock? Remember how funny it was to watch Hannibal and Murdock trick B.A into drinking his milk? All of this was done to knock him out so they could fly somewhere (B.A. was afraid of flying). Hannibal smoking his cigars and then spewing out cool lines like " I love it when a plan comes together. " Faceman could infiltrate any establishment, not through brute force but with his wit and ability to disguise himself. And Murdock was just plain crazy, or was he? Many people have alluded to the fact no one ever got hurt either. How many times did Hannibal shoot out someone's tires and the car would flip over 500 times and then the occupants would get out of the car just rubbing their neck and grimacing a bit? Classic stuff. I also think the A-Team was a distant cousin of MacGyver because they could build anything out of anything. They would be locked in a warehouse by the bad guys and that warehouse would just happen to have a blow-torch and a bunch of steel in it. Low and behold, they would build themselves a tank. Sure this is all incredibly silly but so entertaining.

Some 90's shows are great. Friends and Cheers and Frasier and I'm sure a bunch of others are awesome, but they can not match the sheer innocence and brilliance of shows like the A-Team. Maybe I am biased because I grew up in the 80's but I truly feel that way. The A-Team is one show that I wish would show up in syndication here in Toronto. It was fun, imaginative and damn entertaining. Just like most other entertainment that was born in the 80's.

A true staple of the 80's

10 out of 10

I think "The A-Team" is still a great show from the 80's, it has a lot of humor and great acting. Stephen J. Cannell and Frank Lupo have a great imagination when they thought up this idea.

The series is about former soldiers, who were Vietnam veterans,are on the run from the law. They are sought after by the U.S. Army for crimes they didn't commit. The A-Team are wanted for robbing the bank of Hanoi.

The A-Team is led by Col. John "Hannibal" Smith, played so awesome by the late George Peppard (Breakfast At Tiffany's, Battle Beyond The Stars, and Treasure Of The Yankee Zepher). Hannibal is a master of disguise, does stunts for movies on his free time. Hannibal is so fond of quoting whenever his plans go great, Hannibal quotes "I love it when a plan comes together."

Sgt. Bosco "B.A." Baracus, played superbly by Mr. T (Rocky III and D.C. Cab). B.A.'s initials are known by the other members of the team as "Bad Attitude". B.A. has a fear of flying, that is why when the team need to fly somewhere, Hannibal always has to drug him to get him on the plane cause B.A. refuses to fly, no matter what situation they are in. B.A. may seem mean, but he really is a nice person, he gets along with kids really well.

Capt H.M. "Howling Mad" Murdock is a member of the team who is not all there.Murdock resided at the V.A. Hospital for the first 4 seasons. Murdock is crazy, likes to talk about his invisible dog named "Billy", a dog that does not exist, he may be nuts but he is a great pilot. Murdock tends to get on B.A. Baracus's nerves from time to time. Murdock is played so well by actor Dwight Schultz (Star Trek:The Next Generation and The Temp).

Lt. Templeton Peck a.k.a. "Face"or "Faceman", played awesome by Dirk Benedict (Battlestar Galactica, Ruckus, and Alaska) is a great con man for the team, he gets the team things they need for anything, he even gets Murdock out of the V.A. Hospital when the team needs him. Face drives a real nice Corvette.

Amy Allen, played by the beautiful Melinda Culea, is a reporter who works with The A-Team from time to time, gets them information. The A-Team met her when Amy hired them to help find her friend being held in Mexico by Guerillas.

Tawnia Baker, played by Marla Heasley, is Amy Allen's replacement on the show for 1 year.

Frankie "Dishpan" Santana, played by Eddie Velez (Repo Man, Rooftops, and Traffic), joined the team in the final season of the show.

The A-Team help people in need, they don't always do it for money, they help people even if the people don't have to money to pay them. The A-Team is always being chased after by the U.S. Army., the Colonels that have tried to catch them are Col. Lynch, played by William Lucking (The River Wild, The Trigger Effect, and Erin Brockovich), Col. Roderick Decker, played by Lance LeGault (Iron Eagle, Mortal Combat:Annihilation), Col. Briggs, played by Charles Napier (Rambo:First Blood Part II, The Grifters, and Austin Powers:The Spy Who Shagged me),Gen. Fullbright, played by Jack Ging(Riptide). The A-Team always outwits them.

The A-Team have gotten away from them but later got captured and tried and sentenced to execution, but is saved by a government agency.Gen. Hunt Stockwell, played by Robert Vaughn (The Man From U.N.C.L.E., Superman III, and Black Moon Rising)is in charge of the agency.

I think "The A-Team" is a well done show, it may seem violent, but the focus is what it is all about, soldiers who help people out, they only shoot when they have to. No one has ever got killed except Gen. Fullbright by Vietnamese soldiers in one episode,and a Mob boss who gets killed, but not by the A-Team in the episode in the first season.

Special guest appearances on the A-Team are Hulk Hogan of WWF fame, Boy George of the 1980's pop group "Culture Club". The late Rick James,who is a R&B singer, well known for is hit single "Superfreak". I give this TV series 2 thumbs up and 10/10 stars.

I remember watching this when it first was aired in the UK, it was on a Friday night and I was about 12 years old.

After watching it I knew it was a show that I would watch every week, this was certainly different from any other action show I had seen before.

Here were 4 guys who were on the run from the government but helped people out with problems they had, they were different types of guys but put them together and they made The A Team.

Hannibal who always had a plan, they didn't always come out the way he planned but they worked.

Face was the guy who could get anything from anywhere and always scammed hotels, planes etc for the team.

B.A was the muscle and the mechanic in the team who could build and fix anything, Murdock was the insane pilot who was always broken out of the V A hospital when the team needed him.

There was also Amy and Tania who were reporters who separately attached themselves to the team for a while, although rumours were that George Peppard who played Hannibal was not happy with the female involvement in the show.

Also there was the MP Colonel's who tried to catch the A team , first there was Lynch and then Decker who was played by Lancs Le Gault and the character of Decker was the one who pursued the team the most.

People do pick holes in the show like why did the team never shoot anyone and they always got locked up in a garage or warehouse where they would be able to build something to make their escape.

But you can pick holes in any fictional show, this was action packed family entertainment.

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!

This is one of those shows where I can truly say that I have seen every single episode. Thanks to the reruns, off course, which made me watch it over and over again when I was just a young, little boy. Not seeing (or perhaps not wanting to see) how bad the action, how boring and slow the story was. And how every episode was almost the same as the previous one. The fact that people only shot at other peoples legs (not in the head or chest) didn't bother me either in those days. Now it does bother me and I'm always wondering why I was such a fan in my youth. Luckily I found out after some thinking.

When I was a fan of Hannibal, Murdoch, Face and B.A. (and Amy) I saw a group of friends, very good friends helping out good people who were oppressed by the bad people. They always won, every episode ended as a feel-good-one, there were a lot of laughs, justice was served and my friends Hannibal, Murdoch, Face and B.A. (and Amy) took me home where I was waiting for them to pick me up for another adventure. And I thank them for that joy and adventure they gave me.