I Love It When A Plan Comes Together

I've just learned that John Singleton, the man who brought us Boyz N The Hood and Four Brothers has been named to direct the upcoming A-Team film.

This kinda blew the wind from my sails as I was just about to write about bringing the A-Team back. We’ve seen a lot of 70’s and 80’s re-imaginings from the stellar (no pun intended) Battlestar Galactica to the somewhat lackluster Bionic Woman (which needs another reboot). We’ve seen films based on The Dukes of Hazzard, Miami Vice and Charlies Angels, and Knight Rider is coming back to TV and Hasselhoff is still Michael Knight. Fortunately that series will focus on his son and an all new Kitt, but my hopes are not high. While all these series, or films face inherent problems from the original source material, The A-Team has a certain timelessness that will translate well to any time. Certain things will have to change. Mental illness is no longer funny so Howling Mad Murdock needs an upgrade, and in all fairness there needs to be a woman on the team. I had only thought of revamping for TV and hadn’t even thought of bringing it to the theaters so here I go.

First off, if you’re unfamiliar with the A-Team the premise was four soldiers break out of maximum security prison where they were held for a crime they didn’t commit. They go underground and hire out as mercenaries. Lot’s of bullets flew, there was a shit load of collateral damage, and no one really got hurt. Singleton wants to make a darker grittier A-Team and that’ll be his first mistake. The A-Team should be light hearted, but not a comedy and action packed with comic book violence. Anyone can make a mercenary film with limbs flying and consequences of violence, but it wouldn’t be the A-Team.

Here is my TV pick for The A-Team

John “Hannibal” Smith/James Caan: Originally portrayed by George Peppard, this cigar smoking, cocky team leader who loved it when a plan came together had a knack for picking fights with the main bad guy, usually while smiling. In today’s politically correct landscape the cigar would have to go, but he can be a reformed smoker chewing nicotine gum. He’s been the hardest for me to cast but I think I would go with Jimmy Caan since he’s an accomplished actor who’s not afraid to do TV.

Bosco “B.A.” Baracus/Erik King: How do you step into Mr.Ts shoes? You can’t. The man is an icon. Erik King may not be able to match the image, (please no mohawk) but you can’t get much more “Bad Attitude” than this guy can portray. If you haven’t caught his portrayal of Sergeant Doakes on the Showtime series Dexter then shame on you. Too bad he couldn’t say “I pity the fool”.

“Howlin’ Mad” Murdock/Seth Green: Dwight Schultz dominated every scene he was in as Mad Dog Murdock, and his break outs from the mental hospital were a mainstay of the show. Since making light of mental illness probably wouldn’t fly today. My Howlin Mad (that’s his Gamertag) Murdock was recruited as an award winning game designer to program flight and driving simulators for the military. He can operate any vehicle, though he’s incredibly reckless, treating everything as if it was a game.

Templeton “Face” Peck/Katee Sackhoff: Dirk Benedicts Face was the conman of the group which worked well when there were women to play, but he got beaten up…a lot. Katee Sackhoff has already played one Dirk Benedict character bringing Starbuck to life as a woman, and she seems to be the go to girl for revival shows. Her Face would probably be a bit tougher than the original, and what evil dictator could refuse her? If only I was an evil dictator so I could try.

Since we couldn’t have The A-Team without Mr.T, I would cast him in a recurring role as the teams Vietnam vet weapons smith and mechanic. Someone’s got to buff the dents out of the van after it barrel rolls over traffic.