The A-Team on DVD

[Tycho]

I just bought seasons 2 & 3, and 4 is out as well. I'll get it after I watch what I own now.

Actually, I just started season 1 again with the pilot. They did a really good show. In the pilot, a different guy played Faceman. Dirk Benedict hadn't signed on at the time they filmed that to sell it to the studios. The guy standing in for him did a really good job though.

The story in the pilot centers around Amy Allen hiring the team to rescue a friend-reporter of hers from Mexican drug lords who were funding guerilla revolutionaries. The battle takes place just outside of Alcapocco, Mexico. Pretty cool settings I must say. It's amazing how Face manages to get all their gear through his charm. Hannibal's disguises are great. Murdoch in the insane asylum is too funny (don't say "amonia.")

Did you guys love this show or what?

[El Chuxter]

The Amy Allen? Wouldn't she have been a toddler? Okay, realistically, a young teenager?

[JimJamBonds]

Amy Allen is the character name, the actor was Melinda Culea.

[Tycho]

Amy Allen is the character name, the actor was Melinda Culea.

Right. The character's name was Amy Amanda Allen.

Hannibal mused "Triple-A, huh? Sounds like someone who needs to be on The A-Team."

That totally slipped by me that the character's name paralleled Star Wars' girl behind Aayla Secura. Too funny.

I don't know the real Amy's middle name, but I'll have to ask her about this as I do know her.

[Tycho]

I love the episode where they take down the SWAT team made up of dirty cops. It was like the A-Team vs. the boys from The Shield.

The scene where Face and Amy bugged their uniforms in the locker room while posing as exterminators was hilarious!

So was Hannibal calling the captain at his girlfriend's home and saying "You should tell her you love her every couple of days. It helps out a lot." Too funny.

[Tycho]

One of the best episodes yet was when the Team took on a biker gang to help a small town sherrif who was going to almost be standing alone against nearly 60 "Hell's Angels" types.

To tick them off, Hannibal ran a cable through their bike wheels while they were all in a cafe diner. Then he told them he had to move their bikes because they were violating a parking ordinance. Of course they laugh at him. Then Hannibal has Murdoch use a crane to pull like nearly 30 bikes off the ground by the cable they ran through their tires. The Team destroys the controls to the crane as they bail out of there, succeeding in luring the gang into the town and bent on revenge. Too funny.

Hannibal once said "I love it when a mark is angry: they don't think straight."

[Tycho]

Melinda Culea who played Amy Allen is cute! I'm surprised Faceman didn't try his charm on her.

[Tycho]

I just watched the best 1st Season episode: the A-Team gets on board a hijacked airplane and retakes control!

There's explosive decompression as gun blasts go off.

Star Trek Deep Space Nine fans will recognize a young Andrew Robinson (Garack) as the leader of the hijackers! He's one of the first A-Team "bad guys" to actually get killed (presumably) in an episode.

Amy takes over air traffic control as LAX officials try to reroute the plane into the ocean because Hannibal is going to try landing it in a truly scary, edge-of-your-seat-scene. Murdoch is blinded by gun powder as a shot went off too close to him. And B.A. does his best to deal with his fear of flying in order to help his unit. It was a really well written episode.

You wished the A-Team was around on September 11th!

[Tycho]

I opened my 2nd Season A-Team DVDs and found them to be severely lacking:

there are 3 discs and they are double-printed with 3-4 episodes on both sides of each disc (there's 22 episodes for Season 2). Season 3 is similarly structured, but there's 26 episodes for Season 3. I haven't bought season 4 yet, but a coupon for $5 off S4 came with S2.

Meanwhile, my S2 discs 1 & 2 are not printed on the front sides, so I'm missing at least 8 episodes! I am taking them back to Frey's in a few minutes to exchange them for a different set of S2 discs. I'm so disappointed and this is not in the least bit convenient.

"I hate it when the plan doesn't come together."

My episodes are as invisible as Murdoch's dog, Billy!

[Tycho]

I've since replaced my defective Season 2 DVDs and have been watching the show.

There's a lot to mention so far.

Face gets his famous white Corvette in Season 2! Nice decaling.

I think Melinda Culea left the show - as she is not in the opening credits on 1 episode I've watched so far, and they added images of Face and Murdoch to keep up with the music tempo. I don't remember what the deal was with that - as there is no "behind the scenes" additions to these DVD sets, nor commentary.

There was a great 2-hour Western style story that introduced Colonel Decker to the show, and he catches the A-Team now (but they manage to escape of course). Lynch had been portrayed as bumbling, but Decker is ruthless and it ups the stakes for the A-Team a bit to know he's after them with his trusted sidekick, Crane.

A great episode was when the Team helped a mom & pop run fishing business survive a protection racket and the guys left the bad dudes behind for Decker to arrest - as he also arrested the guys who were rounding up wild horses to sell to dog food companies.

Speaking of dogs - it is perhaps one of his best performances when Murdoch thinks he is a dog and Face has to keep a pocket full of animal crackers to placate him! Dwight Schulz plays a pretty good puppy!

Disc 2 contains the infamous construction site demolition when the A-Team takes on the mob, trying to prevent the demolition of the building where the bodies are burried. The future opening credit shots for the show with the team using heavy equipment and Face (Dirk Benedict) and the Cylon (BattleStar Galactica) come from this episode.

Universal Pictures produced the A-Team and don't hesitate to market Universal Studios Tours amusement park to a great extent with this show. Lucky for me, I like the park, else I might find this sort of annoying. But it's all going with the A-Team's style.

Anyway, did I mention I like Faceman's Corvette?