On this date in 1983 The A Team premièred on US TV. 10 A Team facts:
This show was created by Stephen J. Cannell and Frank Lupo, and is about a squad of former U.S. Army Special Forces commandos who, after being falsely accused of the murder of their commanding officer, escape military prison and become soldiers of fortune. The members of the A Team are Colonel John "Hannibal" Smith, Lieutenant Templeton "Faceman" Peck, Sergeant B.A. “Bad Attitude” (real name Bosco Albert) Baracus, and Captain H.M. “Howling Mad” Murdock (real first name never revealed).
A Team is an actual term used in military operations. The A Team, or Alpha Team, will advance first, supported by a Beta, or B team. Alpha Team can also refer to a small special forces unit.
The part of Face was written by Frank Lupo and Stephen J. Cannell with Dirk Benedict in mind, but NBC had other ideas. They wanted Tim Dunigan for the role. Dunigan appeared in a pilot episode, after which it was conceded that Dunigan was "too tall and too young", so Benedict got the gig after all.
The opening credits have a nod to one of Benedict’s previous roles, as Lieutenant Starbuck in Battlestar Galactica. He is shown reacting to a Cylon walking past.
The show had plenty of shooting and things crashing and getting blown up, but nobody ever died. There was always a shot of the bad guys climbing out of their mangled, burning vehicle and running away. No injuries shown on screen were worse than an arm in a sling or a limp. According to Stephen J. Cannell, the writers had a running gag about this, and did it to test the limits of realism.
George Peppard (Hannibal) might never have got the part had he not been fired after one week on Dynasty, because producers didn’t think he made a convincing patriarch. He was allegedly quite difficult to work with and famously didn’t get along with Mr T. Peppard resented the fact that Mr T was more popular with audiences, was being paid more and got more fan mail. According to Dirk Benedict, George Peppard refused to talk to Mr. T and would use Benedict as a messenger; and would never refer to Mr T by name, only as "the man with the Gold."
Talking of which, Mr. T's gold weighed 35-40 lb (16-18 kg). Mr T was a member of the Military Police in real life, and it has been suggested that the uniform he wears in some episodes is his actual real life uniform. The role of B.A. Baracus was written especially for Mr. T.
The original main theme was composed by Mike Post and Pete Carpenter. Post admitted that he included a Guitar riff from the Cream song Sunshine of Your Love.
Murdock may not be as mad as he’s painted, but rather an example of the fine line between genius and insanity. He's fluent in Chinese (Mandarin), German, Japanese, Spanish, Vietnamese and basic Russian. He can communicate in Morse Code, has a photographic memory and a vast knowledge of many subjects.
The final episode was supposed to be one called “The Grey Team”. In it, Murdock is shown wearing a shirt that reads “fini” (French for “end”). However, a previously unseen episode called “Without Reservations” was shown in March 1987. In this episode, Murdock wears a shirt which reads “almost fini.”
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