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DVD The A-Team - Season Two
If ridiculous banter, goofball plots, and many, many, many explosions sounds like the recipe for a perfect TV show to you--you must already be a fan of The A-Team. Each of these Vietnam vets on the lam had his specialty: Hannibal (cigar-chomping George Peppard, a long way from Breakfast at Tiffany's) is the cocksure master planner; Faceman (Dirk Benedict of the original Battlestar Galactica) is the smooth-talking con artist; the pilot with a screw loose is Murdock (Dwight Schultz, later to appear on Star Trek: Voyager); and B.A. Baracus (the charismatic and gold-encrusted Mr. T, Rocky III) is both mechanic and muscle. During the series' five year run, each of these eccentrics cultivated their own rabid fan-base as they threw punches, fired thousand of bullets, tossed hand grenades to and fro, and flipped speeding cars--all without killing or even really hurting anyone, which only adds to the show's willful silliness. (A warning for fans of reporter/sidekick Amy Allen, played by Melinda Culea: After being given nothing to do for a dozen or so testosterone-heavy episodes of the second season, Culea either quit or was fired.)
Only during the 1980s could this peculiar blend of lefty politics and military fetishism have thrived. Though supposedly mercenaries-for-hire, the A-Team usually finds itself defending the downtrodden and helpless out of sheer cussedness. In the second season they helped abused migrant workers form a union--which, naturally, required transmogrifying farm equipment into a cabbage-shooting cannon. Other underdogs included the disenfranchised heir to an African diamond mine; an independent cab company being squeezed by big business; and a pacifist commune harassed by bigots. The last of these prompted Hannibal to muse ponderously on the unappreciated role of the soldier, who fights so others don't have to--after which Murdock and B.A. began punching each other over a bag of pecans. Self-aware and self-mocking, The A-Team pushed the TV action/adventure genre to laughable extremes. --Bret Fetzer
The A-Team--Season Two Trivia •In this season, Amy is no longer part of the A-Team. There's no explanation as to why. •One episode this season sees the title sequence featuring the Cylon from Battlestar Galatica (as well being in this episode) for the first time. This is an in-joke, as Dirk Benedict played Starbuck in that series.
With season one behind them, this team made up of diverse backgrounds and talents shines in their sophomore season. The action is more intense, the plot lines more twisted, and the emotions more heartfelt. The writers of the series really knew how to attract the male audience through action and gun battles while drawing in the female audience through heart wrenching tales of heroism and heraldry. This is a must buy for any person wanting an experience of a lifetime. Hannibal is more cunning, Face is more of a philanderer, Murdoch is crazier, and Mr. T. is tougher. It's all around an Emmy winning performance from the entire cast.
Where the show really takes off.
I'll admit the first season of The A-Team (that's Alpha Team for the uninitiated) was a bit dodgy and had a rough quality to it. But season 2 is where the show really found it's groove and began to develop the characters and plots more. And you just gotta love all those silly inventions. But hey, it gets the job done. Season 2 also sees more guest appearances from more well-known actors such as Dennis Franz, Michael Ironside, Ken Foree, John Amos and the supercool Lance Henrickson.
People often complain about the same things when moaning about The A-Team. They say that every show had the same plot. Well, this can be said about a lot of TV shows if you go into technicalities. But the A-Team diversified enough for this statement to be simply not true (a 2-hour episode is included in this season, for example). They also complain that no one ever got shot or died. Also not true. People do die. People are shot. Just not very often and certainly not by one of the team. I mean if they are on the run for a crime they didn't commit then it would be stupid of them to shoot people. And Amy just doesn't disappear without a reason halfway through this season as so many people complain. Her character is made a foreign correspondent in Jakarta and is frequently referenced in her abesence. People just love to hate this show because it's easy to pick apart but I doubt something like Lost will be so fondly remembered in 20 years time. However I was kinda let down when the last episode turned out to be cheap clip-show.
With rumors of an A-Team movie abound I have to express my disapproval, at the moment at least. Currently there are FAR TOO MANY old shows being made into heartless movies. Some of them were already worth nothing (Charlie's Angels, Honeymooners) but the A-Team was something special and there is NO WAY you can replace the original cast with Hollywood actors.
The late, great George Peppard is the only Hannibal. I miss him. It's sad that he passed away at the too young age of 66 but you can really see what caused his illness when watching this show. He is always chomping on a cigar. George Peppard was a heavy smoker (and drinker) and although he quit both of them soon after the show it had already taken it's toll on him. It's a real shame and no one can replace him. And despite this coming in over 20 years after Breakfast at Tiffany's, there is still enough youthful handsomeness in him to prove the drink didn't really cripple his career.
Dirk Benedict is the only Templeton 'Face' Peck. A man who lies and cons like there was no tomorrow. A man who wouldn't tell you the truth even if you held a gun to his grandmother's head. Only Dirk pulled this off perfectly and the role will always be his.
Dwight Schultz often displays Jim Carrey-esque levels of zany humor as Murdock and there's no doubt the man is a terrific actor. Carrey could pull this off I guess but he's much older than Schultz was at the time and he did make Murdock into the wild, 'is he crazy or just faking it' character we all know and love.
And finally there's Mr T. If I absolutely HAD to choose my fave Team member, if you really made me. I would be him. He's the one that gave the A-Team something special. And although his acting is a little amateur (he gradually got better) he's just hilarious.
Of course you could bring back the original cast but Benedict, Schultz and T are all 60, 57 and 53 now and can you really imagine them taking orders from a new Hannibal? I don't think so!
And then there's the A-Team theme music. THE best TV theme ever. There are, as of yet, undiscovered tribes in the heart of the amazon jungle that know and love the A-Team theme. Immediatly starting on a high and not letting up for 60 seconds of one of the most heroic fanfares ever...could there be a better theme tune than this? Never!
The DVD presentation is just a little bit better than last time. The picture is still in desperate need of a digital remastering. Sometimes it can come across as very clear and colorful but too often the colors are washed out, bland and have a 'sun-bleached' look.
The sound is okay. Nothing to write home about. But certainly no complaints.
Extras this time consist of a bonus Knight Rider episode and trailers of A-Team Season 1, Miami Vice, Airwolf and Knight Rider.
Excellent tv show in the 80's
I'm very glad to have a chance to watch this show when I was a kid.
I've enjoyed a lot season 1.
A-Team serie is my favourite tv show of all time and I'm very exciting to watch season 2.
Universal should put some extras like A-Team behind the scenes and some interviews with the main actors it would be very nice.
Murdock is a very funny character played by incomparable Dwight Schultz.
So where are those guys nowadays ?!?
Guilty pleasures don't come more guilty than The A-Team, television's only tongue-in-cheek drama about the exploits of renegade Vietnam vets. The primetime series' 1983 debut season, gathered here on The A-Team: Season One, was intentionally ludicrous, encouraging viewers to enjoy sundry talents of a colorful cast and laugh off storylines perhaps sillier than those on Charlie's Angels. Co-created by Stephen J. Cannell (Wiseguy) and Frank Lupo (Hunter), The A-Team introduced Lt. Col. John "Hannibal" Smith (George Peppard), the cocksure leader of a band of fugitive American soldiers framed for a crime in Vietnam and now thriving in Los Angeles. Hiring themselves out as soldiers of fortune, Hannibal's crew--including Lt. Templeton "Face" Peck... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): George Peppard DVD Release Date: Released the 08 June 2004 Usually ships in 24 hours
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No one in the 1980s had his finger on the pulse of gizmo-crazy adolescent boys like producer Glen Larson, creator of Battlestar Galactica and Manimal. But the peak of Larson's particular genius has to be Knight Rider, the love story of an absurdly handsome man and his absurdly indestructible car. Former detective Michael Knight (David Hasselhoff, later to achieve worldwide media dominance with Baywatch) zooms across the U.S. in K.I.T.T., a supercharged talking Trans Am with an impenetrable shell and the catty voice of William Daniels (St. Elsewhere). From the Las Vegas desert to the Louisiana bayou, Michael and K.I.T.T. solve crimes and help the downtrodden with the aid of a multi-million-dollar corporation run by dapper Devon Myles (Edward Mulhare) and... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): David Hasselhoff DVD Release Date: Released the 12 April 2005 Usually ships in 24 hours
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Like James Bond--but without the high-tech gadgets--Angus MacGyver (Richard Dean Anderson) is one of those rare beings who can avert any crisis without mussing a hair. (The rest of us should be so lucky.) In the pilot alone, the secret agent dismantles a missile using a paper clip and fashions a rocket thruster out of a pistol. Is there anything MacGyver can't do? As the first season of ABC's long-running adventure series proves, the answer is a resounding no. MacGyver's secret: the everyday items he "finds along the way," like matches or gum wrappers, and the ingenuity to put them to a myriad of uses (a background in physics and chemistry doesn't hurt). Unlike Alias' Sidney Bristow, he isn't a multi-linguist, a martial artist, or a master of disguises. Wits are MacGyver's weapon... More Info about this DVD Director(s): Richard Dean Anderson - Michael Vejar - Michael Caffey - Lee David Zlotoff - James L. Conway DVD Release Date: Released the 25 January 2005 Usually ships in 24 hours
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MacGyver's second season begins by following the same blueprint as the first (although the opening gambit is gone). Richard Dean Anderson is back as the eponymous secret agent. So is Pete Thornton (Dana Elcar), operations director of the Phoenix Foundation. In addition, Mac's ditzy pal, Penny (Teri Hatcher), and beloved grandfather, Harry (John Anderson), return for a few episodes. In the season premiere ("The Human Factor"), a skeptical military man says to Thornton, "So this is your main guy. He doesn't even have any gear." Responds Thornton, "That's what makes him so special." As before, Mac doesn't drink, smoke, or carry a firearm. He puts it plainly in the fourth episode ("The Wish Child"): "I hate guns." Mac would rather use non-violent means, i.e. "MacGyverisms," to fight... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Richard Dean Anderson DVD Release Date: Released the 07 June 2005 Usually ships in 24 hours
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Hip spy shows with covert agencies within agencies--like Alias and 24--are missing only one thing: A super-duper armor-plated helicopter with "nuclear-tipped shrike missiles." In the action series Airwolf, a mysterious national security agency called the Firm constructs a "Mach-one-plus chopper that can kick butt," only to have it stolen by the nefarious scientist who designed it (David Hemmings, Blowup, Barbarella). Desperate, the Firm turns to Stringfellow Hawke (Jan Michael Vincent), a soulful, cello-playing, art-loving, eagle-watching, guilt-ridden master pilot. Hawke refuses to help unless the Firm searches for his brother, who went MIA in 'Nam. Of course, he succeeds in his mission, but until the Firm fulfills its side of the bargain, he keeps the... More Info about this DVD Director(s): Leslie H. Martinson - Sutton Roley - Gerald Mayer - Don Medford - Bruce Seth Green DVD Release Date: Released the 24 May 2005 Usually ships in 24 hours
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