Someone should remake The A-Team for Cable TV

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Crazy Idea #5150

A-Team_logo

Cue the background military music and authoritative announcer:

Ten years ago / 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.

Apparently I'm not the only one who's thought of this, according to Wikipedia's A-Team entry - "In 2003, in research conducted by web-portal Yahoo! amongst 1,000 television viewers, "The A-Team" was voted as the one "oldie" television programme viewers would most like to see revived, beating out other popular televisions series from the 80s such as The Dukes of Hazzard and Knight Rider."

The A-Team had a huge following and still has a cult status among many of the fans who watched the show while growing up. There's no doubt in my mind that this show would be a hit if it's written well.

My advice would be to do it, but instead consider a deeper, darker, modern version, and keep it on cable (Spike, HBO, Showtime, A&E).

Modernize the story

  • Surround the story around Green Beret or Army Ranger veterans from Afghanistan, maybe have the back-story be how the A-Team stopped atrocities by Blackwater mercenaries and thus were ousted by commanders who had a financial interest in ensuring that Blackwater "runs" Afghanistan.
  • Go Darker - People actually die, everyone wears flack jackets, real military techniques are used, and go global instead of being primarily in the US.

My Dream Team of Characters

180px-Ateam

BA Baracus aka Mr. T
In some ways, this is the easiest to cast. Mr. T should be played by none other then backyard brawler turned Internet legend Kimbo Slice. If you're not familiar with Kimbo, watch him crush opponents in his YouTube videos

Mr. T BA Kimbo Slice kimbo_slice_02

Face
There's a couple of different ways I think Face could go.

Face Option #1 - Owen Wilson - One way would be to be the trip-over-himself adorableness of Owen Wilson. It's a different take on Face who was Mr suave, but I think it could work, especially if you see the option for Murdock from below. Oh and women are crazy about him and he could play the whole "Hollywood" thing.

Face  Face Owen Wilson  wilson_owen_320x240

Face Option #2 - This may seem like an odd casting, but if you imagine a deeper/darker version of the A-Team, Skeet has the troubled pretty-boy thing going on and you could easily see him as a darker, tougher, seducer. Plus, no one really believes Face as in the army :)

Face  Face Skeet Ulrich  skeet

Murdock

Murdock Option #1 - Will Ferrall - Perhaps this is too easy a casting, but I could certainly imagine Will Ferrall as a mental patient, plus his chemistry with Owen Wilson as Face would be, as has been proven in Old School, Wedding Crashers, etc, be hilarious.

Murdock  Murdock Will Ferrall  WillFerrell_150x207

Murdock Option #2 Nick Swardson - Another great option would be Nick Swardson of Benchwarmers, and Reno 911 fame. Nick's Reno 911 character shows he can play a compulsive liar which isn't a stretch to play a mental patient, plus, if you modernize the A-Team, perhaps Murdock would be homosexual which may be a more believable reason for Mr. T to not like him, but homophobia by the most masculine character may feel a bit too formulaic.

Murdock  Murdock Nick Swardson nick_swardson

Murdock Honorable Mention - Mitch Hedberg - While Mitch passed away due to a drug overdose, he would have been a perfect Murdock, you can't understand what he's saying half the time, he's burst funny, and he looks like he could have served as a helicopter pilot and gone crazy as a result.  If you're not familiar with Mitch Hedberg, do yourself a favor and buy his CDs, you'll thank me later.

Murdock  Murdock Mitch Hedberg  mitchhedberg

Hannibal

Hannibal Option #1 - William Hannibal Macy - Okay, his middle name isn't Hannibal, but he could certainly play the part.

Hannibal  Hannibal William H. Macy  William_H_Macy

Hannibal Option #2 - Lawrence Fishburne - He can certainly play the part of a lead of ex-Military-gone mercenaries, he's got that older charisma, and he's got that bit-of-cool that Hannibal exuded, I could see him laughing with sunglasses whilst smoking a cigar.

Hannibal  Hannibal Lawrence Fishburne  morpheus_large

Who would be in your A-Team Dream Team?