We’re just wrapping up mid-year school holidays here and I took most of it off to stay home with the kids. But winter means most of your activities are indoor ones and let’s face it, in an age where kids aren’t all that fond of board and card games, your choices are bickering, DVDs or video games. I lean toward the middle one.
So if we’re going to watch DVDs and heaps of them, which ones?
What to watch what to watch? … I’m cruising the local Video Store aisles trying to find an armload of titles that will appeal to both me and the boys. And then I see it: the unlikely pairing of George Peppard and Mr T on the cover. A blast from my past:
The A-team!
I remember it fondly. (I remember blacking-up to don a BA Barracus constume and turning up at a gathering of friends at McDonalds with my toy gun shouting “Freeze suckas!” - yes, I was a wierd teenager).
So. Now I’m back home, nervously loading the DVD after convincing one of the boys to watch it with me. Will it be as good as I remember? Or will it be like that time I got all excited about watching the 70s version of King Kong and could barely finish watching it myself?
…and I am pleasantly surprised. Youngest Son (8) loves it. There’s fist fights, machine guns, helicopters and spectacular car crashes (in fact the exact same car crash in literally every single episode - I kid you not).
And no blood (hey, when your kids’ video games are awash with it, that’s a great thing).
And no deaths.
And no swearing (the harshest words said are fool, crud and sucker).
And those great larger-than-life characterisations I remember fondly. Especially good ol’ Baracus, a role tailor-made for Mr T who must have relished lines like:
“You better be givin’ us that first aid kit, fool, else you be usin’ it on ya-self!”
And Peppard as Hannibal Smith with cornball one-liners that still work like:
“It’s always darkest just before it goes completely black.”
The verdict on The A-Team?
Loads of action. Funny lines. I’m enjoying it, the kids are enjoying it … I love it when a plan comes together!
And just for MichMolk, here’s the 4th member of the team… 
6 responses so far ↓
Karen // Jul 13, 2008 at 5:25 pm
Oh Pete, this is Scary!!! I have tried to talk my kids into watching the A-team, or some other of those shows from my (very early:) childhood and they just wont be in it. I guess you have to be 8 years old to appreciate your parent’s choice of show.
And yet, I still remember lovin’ it when a plan comes together… hmmm.
Pete // Jul 13, 2008 at 6:44 pm
Yeah, some stuff they won’t watch.
But Oldest Son and I are enjoying horror/scifi flicks from the early 80s while Youngest Son is at rehearsals on Sundays too. And no one was more surprised that they’d like it that I was.
michmolk // Jul 15, 2008 at 9:33 pm
I used to lurve that show *haha* But, what’s with the pic? Where’s Face??? You left out the cute one???
Pete // Jul 15, 2008 at 10:22 pm
Good pickup. You’re a true fan. Ok, just for you, I’ve added Face into the post.
I was so annoyed watching the pilot that they didn’t have Dirk Benedict as Face. I hate it when they change actors for a character like that. He was way better than … the other guy…
themolk // Jul 16, 2008 at 6:54 am
I feel so “not Face”… my wife’s true feelings for TV heroes are coming out…
I *LOVED* the A team when I was growing up. From the minute the first words of the monologue in the opening theme starts, I’m hooked - and who doesn’t like Crazy Murdoch always getting under BA’s skin (and the fact they had to knock him out almost every episode because he couldn’t fly - weren’t these guys special ops?!?!).
Ahhhh, The A Team… eases the pain…
Pete // Jul 16, 2008 at 8:39 pm
I just loved the fact that Hannibal could stick a honkin’ great needle into BA’s neck muscles and he wouldn’t feel a thing. It was the “he’s too tough for his own good” joke.
And don’t feel bad over “Face”, mate. You have heaps more personality than him …
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