MeTV has been showing A-Team reruns lately and the show is a cheesy as I remember. Watching them now, I don't know how Mr. T's B.A. Baracus put up with the rest of the team - they are all insufferable! I especially roll my eyes at Hannibal, he considers himself to be a master of disguise but I would beg to differ. The other three were always drugging B.A. to get him on planes when he repeatedly told them he didn't want to fly. I'd like to see them try a stunt like that on Clubber Lang!
Wildcat and Mr. T first met in STF #1998...
That was the running gag of the show. How to outwit an incurable aviophobe--each week--when time was crucial to getting to the latest hot-spot they had been hired to resolve a crisis at. As for John "Hannibal" Smith? He was already established as being a narcissistic adrenaline junkie on the show (a la Gen. Patton). What BA called being "on The Jazz."
ReplyDeleteThe A Team was a crazy show. They're supposed to be fugitives from military justice but one of their members has a distinctive look, and they drive around in a unique looking van!
ReplyDeleteI want to see Mr T joining a new team... the Letter People!
ReplyDeleteX, D-Man, Mr. A, Coach Z, Q...
Why not call it "The Initials"?
DeleteMuch more catchy.
@Big Mike: that has my OK.
ReplyDelete;-)
At least they gave everyone a chance to reconnect with their favorite U.N.C.L.E.s in one episode.
ReplyDeleteHow B.A. put up with the others is simple. They were his unit, and he loved them just for that. He always had their backs, and they always had his. And, deep down, I think he knew that slipping him a Mickey for a plane ride was actually their way of taking care of him.
ReplyDelete@Big Mike: I'd be happy with just Mr. T and Mr. E. Reverse the order there, and they could be investigating a certain extraterrestrial in trouble.
But, which Mr. E? The time-walking paranoid mystic who tried to kill Tim Hunter? Or the Marvel Golden Ager whose ensemble almost made him indistinguishable from the Phantom Reporter?
ReplyDeletenot sure i ever saw a Mr. T comic, but it’s a Funky art style, & wildcat looks quite strange…
ReplyDeletein the A-Team how did he do that work on machines with those huge chunky rings on - that was truly Fantasy…
@Cary: I was thinking of the former (a DC character, I believe).
ReplyDeleteThen, Mr. T might be needed all the more. To safeguard the little guy from that homicidal xenophobe!
ReplyDelete@Carycomic: There was a third Mr. E (the first, actually), who appeared in Dynamic Comics #9-20 (1944-46). A red-suited hero who commanded an army of tiny gnomes.
ReplyDeleteVery nice! And it works well as a sequel to #1998, in which Mr T was helping Wildcat himself stay in shape, tooo. Now they just need to meet Chuck Norris & his Karate Kommandos...
ReplyDelete@Bob Buethe: actually, the Timely version debuted in Feb. 1940. The Chesler version debuted on Dec. 7 of the following year! Ironic, eh?
ReplyDeleteBut, Anon246 makes an interesting suggestion. Have the Intitials' first meeting involve an argument between the three Messrs. E over which one was the one the rest of the neophyte super-group wanted to invite!
As for where that meeting would be held? I still think it would be cool for a superheroic headquarters to be called "The Public Domain."
@Carycomic: don't you mean their "Initial" meeting? ;-D
ReplyDeleteP.S.---for anybody else who might be interested? The name of Mr. T's cartoon dog (apparently, a Chinese crestie/Neapolitan mastiff mix) was named Bulldozer.
ReplyDelete@Anonymous: Two thumbs' up on the trivia. Two thumbs' down on the pun.
ReplyDelete@Ross: are you watching the "Rocky Balboa" marathon on AMC, tonight? They just got through with ROCKY III!
Just Basic Cable for me, Cary - but I have seen all the Rocky movies multiple times.
ReplyDeleteDear Ross: why's Wildcat glowering so angrily? Could he dislike the billowy sleeves of the kids' sweatshirts? I can just picture him telling Mr. T: "I pity the fool who wears 'em...and winds up dead like the original Manhunter!"
ReplyDeleteRegarding BA Baracus and his fear of flying, he was willing to overcome his fear when they had to go to Chicago to help his Mom (in the episode "Lease with an Option to Die"). They drugged him anyway!
ReplyDeleteWhat about Mr. Terrific and Mr. T?
ReplyDeleteMr. T. could show Mr. Terrific the move the original Mr. Terrific (Terry Sloane) shown him.
@Daniel Frank: he tried his best. But, he wound up having a panic attack, anyway. So, it was back to the Mickey Finns!
ReplyDeleteThen, there was the episode where Murdock and BA stowed away aboard a skyjacked jetliner. When the skyjackers unexpectedly took off after refueling, BA went into a state of shock! As Murdock so aptly sang it:
ReplyDelete"Pardon me, bro. Is this the Catatonic Choo-choo?"
Did this gymnastics team ever have a canonical name in the series? Like the T-birds, maybe?
ReplyDelete