“What could possibly go wrong for a ragtag group of mercenaries selling their skills to the highest bidder while doing their best to not get caught by the law which wrongfully put them in a prison they broke out of?” In almost 100 episodes aired over five years from 1983 to 1987, NBC’sThe A-Teamattempted to answer that very question. Episodically covering cartoonishly violent adventures, the show follows four abrasive men who fought in the Vietnam War together, can make a weapon out of anything, and can rain down a storm of bullets without killing anyone.
Apart from getting rebooted as a movie in 2010,The A-Team’s greatest surviving legacy is undoubtedly its iconic theme song.If it had come out today, sound bytes would be in every YouTube short, Instagram reel, and TikTok. Of course, the show also deserves credit for making T-Pain a household name in the 1980s before his rap career began in the late 2000s. His rough and gruff persona steeped brings out the Bad Attitude behind the B.A. in B. A. Baracus, who he plays on the show. However,The A-Teamstill saw high and low points in terms of quality.
5The A-Team Season 5
Highest IMDb Rated Episode: E13 - 7.2
As fun as the show was,The A-Teamdid feel like it had overstayed its welcome by the time the final season began airing.With ratings going down during season 4, the creators thought it best to switch up the episodic format for a more dramatic narrative-based storytelling approach. The major change of having the A-Team working for the CIA cost the show one of its more fun and signature elements — the characters' constant escapades and scams to avoid being caught by authorities.
As expected, the fall of ratings continued throughout the fifth season as well
The show’s vibe also feels off with a fifth member, resulting in forced new dynamics that disrupt the simultaneously chaotic and well-synchronized teamwork of the A-Team. The new character is unnecessary altogether, and the season’s episodes don’t have as interesting storylines as the ones from the better seasons. The ongoing plot takes over instead, meaning thatthe fun adventures are no longer a priority forThe A-Team.To make things worse, they modified the theme song, downgrading it from the original.
As expected, the decline in ratings continued during the fifth season, although the final episode was the highest rated of the last chapter. Unfortunately, the writers couldn’t save the show from its rushed ending when a sixth season wasn’t deemed feasible by NBC due to the lack of interest from viewers; they then had to contrive a seemingly conclusive final episode. In fact, season 5, episode 13, “Without Reservations” is arguablynot the intended finale ofThe A-Team, with the previous episode offering more closure for the show than the official finale.
4The A-Team Season 3
Highest IMDb Rated Episode: E22 - 7.5
The longest season ofThe A-Teamsuffers from being too long. It’s the most popular season because, after season 2 when their work underwent some changes, the A-Team seems to be going back to their usual way of doing things from season 1. However, simply because it has 25 episodes, there are enough mediocre episodes for it to not be an amazing season as a whole. Season 3 is also responsible for the eventual drop in ratings during the next season, because the episodes are too straightforward and predictable, meaning one develops fatigue with the formula.
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However, the highs of season 3 make it worthwhile; this includes episodes like “The Big Squeeze” (season 3, episode 15), where the action occurs almost entirely in one location: a restaurant opened by the A-team.Setting the episode in a relatively crowded and closed location guarantees a showcase of the A-team’s elite fighting skills and comical abilityto shoot everything in sight without hurting any of the people that are in the firing zone — even when they’re the intended target.
Additionally, the highest-rated episode on IMDb from season 3, “Bounty”(episode 22), is a perfect mix of comedy, suspense, and action, involving the law, bounty hunters, and, of course, the A-team fighting for their safety. The humor comes from the unbelievable nature of a random romance arc that’s somehow not misplaced in all the chaos, buoyed by Dwight Schultz’s charisma as Murdock.If not for the episodes that lack action and are too predictable to be exciting,The A-Teamseason 3 would have been the best seasonof the show.
3The A-Team Season 4
Highest IMDb Rated Episodes: E4 & E23 - 7.6
It’s a shame the network deemed the ratings too low to continue the formulaic, episodic format after season 4 becauseThe A-Teamfinds its groove in this season.Season 4 establishes a comforting familiarity that’s still exciting to watch because the adventures are compelling, and the A-team is at its peak functionality as a group. Celebrity cameos are often considered a symptom of a failing TV show, where their presence is used for maintaining relevance, but for Hulk Hogan or Country George, it seems like they are excited to make an appearance on such a popular show.
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Part of the fourth season’s charm is watching the actors come into their own as the characters they have been playing for over 60 episodes. The characterizations, especially the idiosyncrasies, now go beyond just B. A. Baracus being afraid to fly, for example. There’s a comfort level that the performers have finally found, and they pay significant attention to the minor details that make the characters who they are. The episodes spend time with the main cast outside the missions, and it feels like the long wait to get to know them even better is paying off.
In many ways,The A-Teampeaked with season 4,although that feeling is possibly more a consequence of season 3 having so many more average episodes in comparison, coupled with the decided fall in quality in season 5. The best part is perhaps the development of the overarching concepts for the characters as they discuss their future prospects, including the difficulties of always having to break “Howling Mad” Murdock out of the psychiatric hospital for every mission. It accidentally prepares people for the radical switch in format of the next season.
2The A-Team Season 1
Highest IMDb Rated Episodes: E5 - 7.7
Meet the A-team: the adventure-seeking John “Hannibal” Smith (George Peppard), who’s the brains behind the operation and genuinely enjoys every situation the A-team gets into; the smooth-talking Templeton “Faceman” Peck (Dirk Benedict), who’s a master of creating scams; the erratic H. M. Murdock (Dwight Schultz), who can commandeer almost any flying vehicle; and the short-tempered B. A. Baracus (Mr. T), who is an expert mechanic and the brawn of the operation. With an iconic opening introducing these characters to viewers for the first time,The A-Teamgets off to a fantastic start.
The flagship season ofThe A-Teamdoesn’t have a single bad episode. At just 13 episodes, that’s probably not as big a feat as it sounds. It is impressive, nonetheless, to open a show with a perfect season, and the perfection can almost entirely be attributed to the chaotic, over-the-top nature of the characterizations and the action.Things blow up, cars go flying, no one on the team ever gets hurt, and they always successfully slip past the police. The mythos of this group is itself the strongest selling point ofThe A-Team.
Mr. T Will NOT Cameo In The New A-Team
As is the case with most episodic shows,The A-Teamseason 1 is largely responsible for setting the tone of the show.From being family-friendly to emphasizing action over story, everything characteristic ofThe A-Teamis present in the first season. It sets up mercenaries who, while working for hire, always somehow fight on the side of good. The 13 episodes do a commendable job of establishing just how much disbelief one needs to suspend to enjoy the show.
1The A-Team Season 2
Highest IMDb Rated Episodes: E21 - 7.7
When a short season of television is followed by a season almost twice as long, that’s just as good as the first season, that’s a stamp of quality. With quality fluctuating over time after season 2, it’s the most consistently well-made season ofThe A-Team. It picks up where season 1 left, jumping headfirst into the wacky action that characterizes the show.
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Season 2 is more of the same as season 1, but with some refreshing differences. For example, it focuses more on the backstories of these characters, providing context to the premise of the show. By the end of the second season, viewers know what happened in Vietnam, which adds more flavor to the eclectic group. Their backstory is just as wacky as their adventures, founded on a scenario that they couldn’t have predicted or prevented. The storytelling is chaotic and entertaining, adding to the characters' mythos by highlighting their unbelievable competence and even less believable bad luck.
If one watched Season 1 and wished for more, that’s exactly what Season 2 is.
The A-team helping out community members without asking for pay is a highlight of season 2, as it goes to show they care beyond their livelihood,and believe security is a basic need everyone should have. The character dynamics further take shape in season 2 as well, making for an even more entertaining viewing experience as previously hidden personal differences and preferences start impacting their lives, although they never falter as a team. Season 2 is the best season ofThe A-Teambecause if one watched season 1 and wished for more, that’s exactly what season 2 is.
The A-Team
Cast
The A-Team is an action-packed television series that aired in 1983 which follows a fictitious group of ex-United States Army Special Forces who work as mercenaries. The team uses their military skills to fight injustice while running from the military for a crime they didn’t commit.
