August 10, 2023 – The A-Team

Happy Throwback Thursday! Today our throwback year is 1983, the year The A-Team premiered on NBC! It ran from January 1983 to March 1987. The show centered on a fictitious U.S. Army Special Forces Unit. The 4 members of the team were tried by court martial for a crim they didn’t commit. They were sentenced to military prison, but escaped to Los Angeles where they began working as vigilantes, while trying to clear their names and avoid capture y law enforcement and military authorities.
The role of B.A. Baracus was written specifically for Mr. T. He quickly became a fan-favorite and de facto star of the show. This apparently caused tension with veteran actor George Peppard, though Mr. T has maintained that those rumors are false. Mr. T and Peppard were the only actual veterans on the show.
The show premiered right after the Super Bowl in 1983, reaching 26.4% of the television audience. It continued to do well in the ratings through the 3rd season, but the 4th season saw a dramatic decline in viewership. Even guest stars like Hulk Hogan, Boy George, and Rick James couldn’t save the show from cancellation. NBC ended the show in September 1986.
The show has since achieved cult status thanks to heavy syndication in the U.S. and internationally. Its huge popularity spawned an array of merchandise, from trading cards and video games to comic books and action figures. A feature film based on the show and starring Liam Nissan and Bradley Cooper came out in 2010. A reboot was announced by Fox in 2015, but there have been no updates since. Learn more here.