MovieChat Forums > The A-Team (1983) Discussion > A rumour I read somewhere ! (can anyone ...

A rumour I read somewhere ! (can anyone confirm this)

posted 12 years ago by d_henderson1810
9 replies | jump to latest

I don't know whether I read this story in a newspaper or magazine, or whether I just dreamt it.

But it goes like this:-

The story goes that, after the fifth season of "The A-Team" had wrapped up, there was a post-series wrap party at a restaurant. Apparently, Mr T made a nuisance of himself, insulting the waiter and he even overturned a table. He was kicked out of the restaurant.

George Peppard went out to the car-park to tell Mr T off for his behaviour, and he got decked by Mr T! As a result of this, and numerous incidents, Mr T was fired from the show.

Now, there were plans for the sixth season, and they now had to work around Mr T not being there. The story went further and said that the plan was for B.A. to have been written out by either leaving the team for some reason, or being killed off. Also, the show was going to add a new character, played by Tia Carrere, (who was going to join in season 5, but couldn't because of contract commitments). Now free from her "General Hospital" contract, she could join the show as the show's kick-ass new mechanic. She was also going to be a martial arts expert, and actually have fight scene.

However, because Mr T was one of the main reasons for the shows' success, and because of awful ratings for season 5, the show was axed instead.

My question is, has anyone else heard this. Before people say that I am telling lies, I am wondering if anyone else has ever heard this story? Or did I just imagine it? And what do you think if it was true?

[–] tenement-funster 12 years ago

It's nonsense.

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[–] d_henderson1810 12 years ago

It probably is, but which part especially makes you think that it is not true?

I'm not saying it is, but I know for sure that the Tia Carrere part had some validity. She was in the final episode of Season 4 (she played Fulbright's daughter), and she wanted to join the show as a regular the next season. However, she had one year left on her contract for the soap "General Hospital", which the show wouldn't renege on, but her contract was up the next year, and if a sixth season had been done, she could have been on it. I don't know that she would have played the character I described, but I definitely heard that there was talk of her being on the show.

I wouldn't be surprised if Mr T did eventually get sacked from the show. It could have just been a reason the producers gave for axing the show, rather than admitting that the fifth season tanked, and T could have been made a scapegoat. However, many posts I have read here have described his petulant behaviour, and I would imagine that George Peppard, for one, would have been glad to see the back of him. Now, again, I don't know if the actual facts are true, or an old wives' tale, but it wouldn't be the most unrealistic of rumours if Mr T had finally pushed the producers of the show too far.

[–] tenement-funster 12 years ago

Tia Carrere was originally intended as a character for season five, yes. That's as far as your story goes in truth. There was never going to be any season six of the A-Team, much less planned after a season five wrap party, because season five was cut short. It was a half season, because the show had been axed. Mr T wasn't sacked, except in the sense that they all were. The show was over.

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[–] Melissa-32 9 years ago

It probably is, but which part especially makes you think that it is not true?

The A-team was cancelled before the end of the 5 season was even taped. So the fight and Mr T being fired couldn't have happened.

Remember the T-shirts that Murdock always wore? Well Dwight Schultz picked them out himself and even designed a couple of them (this is on his website by the way.) The last two eps Murdock is wearing a t-shirt that says "Almost Fini" and then "Fini" referring to the next to the last episode and the last episode of the show. (Which were aired out of order.)

[–] cjh8504 9 years ago

That is true about the shirts.

RIP Roger Rees. Movies in theater: Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade 10/10. Vacation 8/10

[–] kickinitwiththekliq 12 years ago

Dwight Schultz has said multiple times there was never a wrap party for the A Team, it was cancelled, they filmed the last episode and the trailers etc were taken away. No wrap party, nothing. Very sad way to treat a show and its cast.

"Of course I'm crazy, you got me outta the psychiatric ward of a VA Hospital, STUPID!"

[–] tenement-funster 12 years ago

And actually, since you mention Dwight, Murdock's T-shirts certainly prove that there was never any plan for a sixth season.

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[–] jbsptfn 8 years ago

Yeah, I agree that there probably wasn't going to be a season six, but if there was, you would have had Tia Carrere's character, Murdock, Face, and Hannibal. If you also add Frankie to that, it could have been interesting in the hands of the right script writer.

And, if Mr. T wasn't involved, he wasn't as popular by 1987, anyway. He was at his biggest around 1982-84.

[–] cjh8504 8 years ago

Well, he was at the first two Wrestlemania's. She might've been big until about '86.

RIP Gene Wilder. RIP Robert Vaughn. RIP Carrie Fisher. RIP William Christopher. 2016 is the worst!