The A-Team Series Info

This information was compiled originally by Tony Friedman with special help from Cannell Films (Los Angeles CA) and Russell Perry. Revisions and additional material added by Sockii, Sibyl, and Hunter. Please do NOT use this or the episode guide on your webpage without permission--it took a long time and a lot of work to put together!

Interesting facts about The A-Team

Created by Stephen J. Cannell and Frank Lupo (also the executive producers)
Music by Mike Post and Pete Carpenter

BA's van provided by GMC
License plates on the van: 2L83000  2E14859
License plate on Face's Corvette: IHJG851
The Team's cell phone number: 555-6162

Total number of seasons the series aired: 5
Total number of episodes that aired: 94
Total number of 2 part episodes: 4
Total number of 3 part episodes: 1
Frequent Guest Stars: Red West, Hulk Hogan, Clifton James, Jack Ging, Ted Markland, Ed Lauter, Tricia O'Neal, John Saxon, Dennis Franz, Richard Romanus, Gary Grubbs, Markie Post

Synopsis

"In 1972, a crack commando unit was sent to prison by a military court for a crime they didn't commit. These men promptly escaped from a maximum-security stockade to the Los Angeles underground. Today, still wanted by the government, they survive as soldiers of fortune. If you have a problem, if no one else can help, and if you can find them, maybe you can hire...THE A-TEAM."

The four members of the A-Team met during the Vietnam War, when they were (as the theme song's intro might indicate) members of a "crack," or elite, Special Forces unit. Col. John "Hannibal" Smith, Lt. Templeton "Face" Peck, and Sgt. B. A. Baracus worked together on a variety of missions in Vietnam, with Capt. H. M. "Howling Mad" Murdock sometimes acting as their pilot. During the Tet Offensive (1967), the Team was given orders by their commanding officer, Col. Morrison, to rob the Bank of Hanoi in order to help put an end to the war. Murdock was their pilot for this mission, and the Team was able to get into the bank and obtain the money successfully. But upon returning, they learned that Morrison's headquarters had been destroyed during an artillery barrage. The Colonel had been inside at the time and was presumed dead. With Morrison gone, there was no one to confirm that the Team was under orders when they robbed the bank, and they, along with Murdock, were court martialed. Murdock was found not guilty by reason of insanity and was committed to the Los Angeles Veterans' Administration Hospital. The rest of the Team, however, were found guilty and sent to prison at Fort Bragg. As we all know, they "promptly escaped," setting up operations in Los Angeles, California, as "soldiers of fortune."

Anyone with a problem could contact the Team through Mr. Lee (Hannibal in disguise), ostensibly the owner of a laundry service, who would put them in contact with other seemingly random people. Eventually, if a person passed all the tests of character that Hannibal put them through, they would actually meet the Team to discuss their problem...and the fee. The A-Team often did work for free or on an expenses-only basis. Except for Murdock, everyone on the Team had another job to supplement this income, for obvious reasons. They were joined by Amy Amanda Allen ("Triple A"), a reporter who conned them into making her a part of the Team after they helped her rescue a colleague in El Rio Blanco, Mexico. After Amy left for an overseas assignment, her spot on the Team was taken by Tawnia Baker, who talked the Team into letting her join on the basis that she was Amy's friend and that she had helped them save an Arab oil shiek from being assassinated. She left the Team in "The Bend in the River," after they rescued her fiancé from the pirate El Cajón.

In the show's fifth and final season, the A-Team met Gen. Hunt Stockwell, who supposedly held a low-profile but very powerful position in the federal government. He essentially blackmailed them into working for him, with the promise that after a certain, undisclosed number of missions, he would arrange a full presidential pardon for the Team. They were also joined at this point by Frankie "Dishpan" Santana, a special-effects engineer. Near the series's end, Murdock was finally discharged from the VA. It is not clear why this happened. His release may have been orchestrated by Stockwell, or Murdock may have been faking his insanity all along, giving up the charade once the Team was under Stockwell's protection and therefore immune from further prosecution.

The rest of the Team presumably received their pardons, although this is never actually shown in the series. At the end of "The Grey Team" (the last episode), they discuss what they will do with their lives now that they no longer have to run from the government. The implication is that they will continue doing what they're best at: protecting the innocent and busting heads.