Why "A-Team" Could Save Society -- The Lost Manuscript

EDITOR'S NOTE: I thought I had lost this post, but somehow I figured out what the heck I'm doing with this blog thing and found the draft. I haven't re-read, I'm just posting it (making two posts in the last 24 hours, athankya!).

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So for those who don't know where the title of my blog comes from, first of all shame on you. Actually, it's likely not your fault because you're either too young to remember "The A Team" or you were raised in a home so devoid of love and affection that the charitable antics of a band of renegades was not allowed to be shown.

At any rate, Hannibal Smith (played by the late George Peppard), at the end of an episode of successful underdog-saving, would often smile and say as he clenched his cigar between his teeth, "I love it when a plan comes together." Given that Hannibal was pretty much the coolest gray-haired character ever on television, it became a goal to be able to say that at the end of any exploit. For instance:

• TPing a house



• Tightly pegging one's pants (hey, it was the 80's)



• Getting an A on a test you basically didn't study for



• Making up a book to do a book report on (I am not proud of this, but whatareyagonnado?)

Aaanyway, back to my point. A few years ago a friend of mind gifted me a DVD of "A Team" episodes for Christmas, and during my break from school I decided to watch some of these first-season gems. Meanwhile, my nieces and nephews wandered into the room (when there are about 15 people in one house during a rainy Oregon holiday there aren't a lot of places to hide) and started watching with me. At first, I'm thinking, "There's guns and explosions and cars tipping over in this show... should I let them watch this? Will I, on some future Nancy Grace or The View show, be castigated for my early indoctrination of violence into the little growing minds of my nieces and nephews?" I figured I had already ruined Andrew when he was about 4 and came downstairs to find me playing "Quake" on his mom's computer, but the REST of them... how dare I poison their little lollipop-loving minds with such killing and mayhem?

It was then that I realized how good the show really was. Although I deemed it violent in my day, I began to notice that:

• Nobody gets killed. When machine guns are used, they blow things up next to people, followed by some tremendous stuntman leaps filmed from below.



• When cars explode or flip over in the air, they always show the passengers alive and getting out of the car safely.



• There is a lot of smashing of plate glass windows, but no blood or death or really much in terms of injury. When the A Team vanquishes its opponent (remember, in the name of good), their enemies just seem really tired and they get tied up and ostensibly taken to the authorities.



• The A Team, while mercenaries, are hired to help "the little guy" in their fights against wealthy landowners, mafia members, drug dealers, gangs, and the occasional just plain jerk.

Suddenly, I was quite proud of the programming I was allowing the kids to watch. What a great uncle I was! They loved the show and wanted to see more episodes. The lesson is (I suppose) that TV programming can send a good message and still kick some butt. I think we need more of that on today's shows. In fact, why isn't any channel showing "A Team" reruns during the writers' strike? I see great Nielsen ratings in the future...