A-TEAM, THE: MEXICAN SLAYRIDE {SERIES PREMIERE} (TV)

Summary

The pilot of this action/adventure series about a quartet of soldiers of fortune on the run from the law who fight to help the weak and oppressed.

Newspaper reporter Al Massey is captured while on foreign assignment in the small village of San Rio Blanco, Mexico. His captors are a gang of bandits led by the criminal Malavida Valdez, who hopes to prevent Massey from returning to the United States and writing an article about him. Al's fellow reporter and friend Amy Allen urges her editor, Grant Eldridge, to investigate Al's disappearance, but he refuses, tired of Al's tendency to disappear for months at a time without accomplishing any work. When she presses the issue, he suspends her for two weeks. Another reporter, Zack, confers with Amy about Al's disappearance, he was able only to find limited information, consisting of the name of San Rio Blanco, a telephone number, and the name "Manny Cortez."

Amy becomes curious about one of Al's earlier stories concerning a cadre of soldiers of fortune known as "the A-Team." Zack fills her in on the little that is known about them: according to rumor, they were an elite operations group in the Vietnam War who were ordered to rob the First National Bank of Hanoi near the end of the war, and succeeded. However, the colonel who issued their orders was killed when their base was shelled, leaving no evidence that the order had been given. Thus they were all charged with major war crimes, but escaped prison before their trial, and have been on the run from the law ever since. Colonel Lynch, the officer who ran the prison, is particularly dedicated to hunting them down and bringing them to justice. Zack elaborates about the members of the A-Team, including their leader John "Hannibal" Smith, nicknamed after the Carthaginian general and noted for his "unorthodox style," Bosco "B.A." Baracus, a mechanical genius noted for his often-violent behavior, and Templeton "Face" Peck, a skilled con artist.

Meanwhile, Hannibal, Face, and B.A. are located by Colonel Lynch while Hannibal is shooting scenes for a monster movie, playing the part of the monster. Lynch chases them through the studio lot until Hannibal tricks Lynch into plunging his car into a river. They get away and Hannibal informs the fourth member of the A-Team, H.M. "Howling Mad" Murdock, about Lynch's pursuit. Murdock, a highly eccentric yet skilled pilot, is committed to a mental institution, where he may or may not be feigning his mental instability. Amy finds Murdock and inquires about hiring the A-Team to rescue Al; at Hannibal's instruction he asks her to meet the team at a particular rendezvous point. Colonel Lynch finds Murdock and tries to get him to give him information about the A-Team, but Murdock deflects his questions and scares the colonel off when he implies that he is about to suffer a violent mood swing.

Amy arrives at the rendezvous point, only to encounter an old homeless man and an abrasive Chinese laundry operator, the latter of which gives her information about the A-Team and their exorbitant fee. Unbeknownst to her, both of these individuals are actually Hannibal in disguise, "testing" to see if Amy is a worthwhile client. Face visits one of the men who operated the orphanage he grew up in, and laments that his status as a wanted man makes it impossible for him to settle down and raise a family. Hannibal delivers information to Face via posing as a caller on a radio psychology show. Face then uses a false order from the Surgeon General's office to get Murdock out of his mental institution so that he can fly the A-Team down to Mexico. B.A. and an undisguised Hannibal meet with Amy to discuss their terms; she agrees to accompany them to Mexico immediately. Face adopts another false identity to give Murdock the chance to obtain a passenger jet. B.A., realizing that he is nearing the airport, adamantly refuses to get on a plane, as he is deathly afraid of flying. Murdock knocks him unconscious with drugs and carries him aboard the plane. Amy and the A-Team manage to take off just as Colonel Lynch arrives moments too late to stop them.

During the flight, Hannibal explains to Amy some of the reasons why the A-Team operates the way that they do. Amy reveals that she was unable to obtain the entire fee that they requested, frustrating the A-Team. They land at a Mexican airport under the pretense of having a medical emergency and drive off into Acapulco. Next, Face pretends to be a location scout for a major motion picture in order to secure a place for them to stay. Hannibal, B.A., and Amy arrive at a local cantina as indicated by the phone number in Al's notes. The patrons don't take kindly to their arrival and warn him to leave. B.A. squares off with the gigantic bouncer Quintana and a bar fight breaks out, ending when B.A. and Hannibal are knocked unconscious. They are then interrogated by a man who turns out to be Manny Cortez, who explains how Al was captured and that he may still be alive.

The A-Team brings Amy and Cortez to the private villa of the hotel owner, who has given it to them as a courtesy for the "movie shoot." They discuss their plans and Face agrees to use the fake script and props list for their fictional movie to obtain the equipment needed for their rescue effort, including a bus, armor plating, and a crop duster. They drive into San Rio Blanco and begin by inciting the villagers to fight back against Valdez and his bandit raids. The A-Team prepares their defenses for the coming fight against Valdez. Murdock and Face fly the crop duster over Valdez's marijuana fields and dusts them with ammonia in order to get his attention. B.A. mounts a machine gun onto the crop duster as Valdez and his men drive into town. They encounter Hannibal, who fires at them from atop a bell tower. Murdock and Face provide aerial support, and B.A. emerges with his bus, now armor-plated and sporting a large cannon.

The A-Team chases Valdez and his remaining bandits out of town and seem to have won the day, but the tide turns when a guerilla army arrives as reinforcements for Valdez's side. B.A., Hannibal, Amy, and Cortez are captured, while Face and Murdock go missing. Valdez takes them back to the guerilla base and imprisons them, revealing that Al is alive but in poor condition. Hannibal figures out that Valdez is growing marijuana, selling it overseas, and using it to help fund the guerilla army. Meanwhile, Face and Murdock make it back to Acapulco and try to use their movie ruse to get military support against the guerillas. Hannibal escapes his cage and gets his fellow prisoners out of there. B.A. drives him away as Hannibal uses grenades to slow down his pursuers. Face and Murdock arrive in a helicopter to offer support; they were unable to get the military, but have secured the help of the villagers of San Rio Blanco, who quickly overwhelm the guerilla forces. The A-Team chases down Valdez and the guerilla leader in their helicopter and Hannibal manages to subdue both of them. They are turned over to San Rio Blanco for punishment, and the A-Team prepares to return home. Amy reveals that she intends to write a story about them, and wishes to offer her help in their endeavors to assist those in need. The episode ends as they bluff their way back into their plane, knocking out Colonel Lynch in the process. Commercials deleted.

Details

• NETWORK: NBC
• DATE: January 23, 1983 9:00 PM
• RUNNING TIME: 1:36:00
• COLOR/B&W: Color
• CATALOG ID: B:54038
• GENRE: Drama, action/adventure
• SUBJECT HEADING: Drama, action/adventure; Crime and criminals
• SERIES RUN: NBC - TV series, 1983-1987
• COMMERCIALS: N/A

CREDITS

• Stephen J. Cannell … Executive Producer, Created by, Writer
• Frank Lupo … Co-Executive Producer, Created by, Writer
• Jo Swerling Jr. … Supervising Producer
• John Ashley … Producer
• Patrick Hasburgh … Producer
• Gary Winter … Associate Producer
• Rod Holcomb … Director
• Mike Post … Music by
• Pete Carpenter … Music by
• George Peppard … Cast, John "Hannibal" Smith
• Tim Dunigan … Cast, Templeton "Face" Peck
• Dwight Schultz … Cast, H.M. "Howling Mad" Murdock
• Mr. T … Cast, B.A. Baracus
• Melinda Culea … Cast, Amy Amanda Allen
• William Lucking … Cast, Colonel Lynch
• Philip Sterling … Cast, Grant Eldridge
• Sergio Calderon … Cast, Malavida Valdez
• Ron Palillo … Cast, Zack
• Melody Anderson … Cast, Avon
• William Windom … Cast, Al Massey
• Enrique Lucero … Cast, Colonel Flores
• Felix Gonzales … Cast, Miguel Perez
• William Marquez … Cast, Sanchez
• Jorge Zepeda … Cast, Manny Cortez
• Peter Brocco … Cast, Father David Magill
• Marianne Muellerleile … Cast, Nurse Schneider
• J. Patrick McNamara … Cast, Director Jerry
• James Beach … Cast, Aide
• Keland Love … Cast, Floyd
• Brandon Williams … Cast, Kid
• Arnold Turner … Cast, Assistant Director
• Humberto Elizondo … Cast, Carlos
• Miguel Angel Fuentes … Cast, Quintana