Copy Link
Add to Bookmark
Report
On the Jazz - Vol 03 Issue 11
___ ____ ___ ___ _ ___ ___
/ / / \ / / /__ / /__ / /__\ / /
/__/ / \/ / / / /___ /__/ / \ /___ /___
The totally unofficial A-Team electronic mail newsletter
***** Now in it's THIRD year of publication !! *****
Reflector submission address: onthejazz
Administrivia: Nicole Pellegrini
PLEASE use the following address for subscribe/unsubscribe
and back issue requests (do NOT send them to onthejazz!!):
*** pellegri ***
Also use that address if you wish to change your subscription status
to receive the newsletters only (or go from newsletter to news + reflector).
The A-Team Homepage: http://www.seas.upenn.edu/~pellegri/ateam.html
*The A-Team On the Web: http://www.xs4all.nl/~jmm/a-team/
*The A-Team Hawaii Page: http://www.poi.net/~dcover
*Homes of the On the Jazz Newsletter Archives
---------------------------------------------------------------
DATE: March 2, 1997
ISSUE: 11
VOLUME: 3
Current newsletter + mailing list subscribership: 160
Current newsletter-only subscribership: 234
---------------------------------------------------------------
Hi all, some interesting things this week, so let's get to it...!
NEWS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Cannell and Hawaii 5-0?
Dwight Schultz on Diagnosis Murder, Backchat
Spring Philly Party?
Happy Birthday!
TRIVIA TIME
UNAIRED SCRIPT REVIEW: "New in Town, Sailor?"
VCR WATCH
---------------------------------------------------------------
NEWS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS:
CANNELL AND HAWAII 5-0: Got the following off the 'net, after a
tip from Michele Lellouche:
February 25, 1997
HONOLULU (AP) -- Book 'em, Dano!
Production is to start next month on an hourlong pilot for a new version
of "Hawaii Five-O,'' TV's longest-running crime show.
CBS spokesman Teri Corigliano said the cast will be a mix of Hollywood
and local actors. Hawaii Film Office manager Georgette Deemer said
producers are considering using some of the main actors from the
original show if they are interested.
The actor who will play Steve McGarrett, head of a fictitious state
crime busting agency, has not been disclosed. Jack Lord, the star of the
1968-80 series, still lives in Hawaii, but is retired.
Corigliano said the pilot, being produced by Stephen J. Cannell
Productions and CBS Television, could lead to a 13- or 22-episode
series.
Michele reports that Cannell actually wrote the script for the pilot as
well, though I wasn't able to find a confirmation of that anywhere...
---
DWIGHT SCHULTZ ON DIAGNOSIS MURDER, BACKCHAT: This week was a good one for
DS fans as we got a double-dose of on-air sightings. Dwight guest starred
on "Diagnosis Murder" (for the second time, actually, those this time in a
much more prominently featured part) as the bad guy of the week. Debate
rages in certain circles on the pros and cons of the beard. Dwight was
also featured albeit briefly in a phone interview on Backchat, the
transcript of which is included below:
(Sunday February 23, 1997)
Would a Backchat bio (on Dwight) be to much to ask.
JP: Not at all Mike, in fact we'll do you one better. Here is Howling Mad
Murdock, Dwight Schultz, himself on the phone with us. Dwight, how are you?
DS: I'm doing fine, out here is sunny California.
JP: Well good, we're in blistering cold New York, we're envious already. We
had Dirk Benedict on the show just a few weeks ago. He talked a lot about
the show, one thing he was mentioning to me, was that you acctually had a
tough time getting this gig.
DS: Oh, more than a tough time getting this gig. (laughs) I was fired
basically in the middle of the pilot. Yeah I'm not very good at the
auditioning process, and so I was playing Lord Byron in Philadelphia, and I
flew out on a Monday, and when you audition for shows, you walk into an
empty, I mean into a room with 15-16 people that you have never met before,
and I went in and auditioned and I bombed. There wasn't a laugh, a titter,
a look, and they sent me out to work with the director for about an hour,
Rob Holcomb, and then I came back in and all, and it was fun and lite. They
loved it. And so I was hired.
JP: So you got the job, and then the pilot was shot and the executives
looked at it and again said?
DS: It was NBC, the NBC exec. didn't like what I was doing. I shot, I had
shot the hospital scenes from the pilot in Los Angeles, and we then went to
Mexico to shoot, to finish shooting the pilot. And we were, the actors, the
regulars, were all together in one unit, that was called the truck, it was
a 2 level dressing room situation. And they moved me out.
JP: That was the first sign.
DS: That was the first sign. They said "Dwight, we're moving you out of
here, and we're putting you way down the end." And I went down to this
little tiny room and I'm sitting there and the director came in and said,
"Dwight, we have to reshoot everything you've done, they don't like it."
JP: But then
DS: And that basically, things didn't look good for the future.
JP: But then what happened, they put the show to the testing groups and
boom, Dwight Schultz, turns out to be one of the most popular characters
DS: Well yeah, Brandon Tarticoff called my agent, and I got a call from my
agent saying that my dials were great.
JP: That which means, that's how they used to test, right!
DS: Absolutely, I hadn't a clue what it meant, but that's exactly what it
was. They tested the part I had shot, and when they like you, they turn the
dial to the right, and when they don't like you they turn the dial to the
left.
JP: We are about out of time, but Susanne had a very quick question, about
the T-shirts.
SW: Yeah, wht's the deal with the T-shirts, with the sayings on them?
DS: Well they were, that was a great little idea wasn't it? I used to say
"I wonder if sometime in the future, if this show is successful, if people
would wonder what they were." Yes, that was my weekly contribution to the
show.
JP: You know what's funny is, we still get mail, people say do you know
why, or what's the meaning behind these. Dwight, we couldn't, uh thank you
more
Thanx to Kiwi for the transcript!
---
SPRING PHILLY PARTY: To date, I've only received 2 responses to the idea
for doing an A-Team Philly Party this spring. So, if I don't hear from
anyone else about it before the next newsletter, I'll postpone any plans
for a party till the summer. So if you want to come hang out sometime
either late next month or in April, let me know asap!
---
HAPPY BIRTHDAY: To Dirk Benedict yesterday, March 1. (His 52nd I believe.)
---------------------------------------------------------------
TRIVIA TIME: Last issue's question was -
>Name an episode that BA climbs aboard to fly without saying a word about
>doing it ?
Various answers were acceptable, including:
MIND GAMES
LEASE WITH AN OPTION TO DIE
QUARTBACK SNEAK
SOUND OF THUNDER
---------------------------------------------------------------
UNAIRED SCRIPT REVIEW: "New in Town, Sailor?"
Okay, finally getting around to summarizing this script. First off, it was
written by Babs Greyhosky, and First Revision date is listed as January 23,
1986, putting it solidly in the 4th season. EPI-LOG Magazine did a good
job writing an outline of this script, so I'm basically following their
outline here, from Issue #18, but paraphrasing it.
SUMMARY: Trudy's Beauty Salon is preparing for its grand opening. Trudy
supervises three younger girls, Wanda, J.J. and Rosie, who are practicing
on some dummies. Of course, in typical A-Team fashion, a black Cadillac
pulls up outside, two thugs enter and threaten the girls. Their former
employer, one pimp named Mr. Jade, wants them back. The thugs bust up the
shop and leave, teling the girls to be back on their street corners by that
evening or else.
Later, Hannibal enters the shop dressed as an old woman, asking for
a haircut. Trudy gets annoyed because the woman won't leave, but he tells
her who he is eventually. The rest of the Team arrives and Trudy tells
them her story - she's wanted to work "legit" for 20 years, saving up her
money, but now she thinks all her hope is lost. She knows other girls who
want to quit but they are afraid of Jade also. Of course, Hannibal has a
plan that involves getting all the girls off the street first.
That night, the two thugs see all the girls working the street and
think everything is back to normal. They see Face arriving to pick up
Wanda, thinking she is leaving with a customer. Instead they're going to a
motel, where Murdock, dressed up as a pimp, helps Wanda escape out the back
window.
MURDOCK
Pimp-poppers are on the move!
FACE
Murdock --
MURDOCK
Flap-Jack
FACE
Flap-Jack, would you just help
me get Wanda out the window before
people start knocking on the door?
MURDOCK
Take it easy Face. You've got the
room for the whole night.
FACE
Right. And that in itself has
aroused enough suspicion. These
things usually rent by the hour.
She runs to B.A.'s van while Face leaves for another pickup. After a few
hours, eight girls are rescued and delivered to a nearby warehouse where
Hanibal and Trudy are giving them a meal. Face is busy picking up Rosie,
but this is the third time the thugs have seen Face. They leave to see if
J.J. is still at work, and she happens to be the last girl Face was to pick
up. He soon arrives and grabs the girl before another customer can pick
her up. Unfortunately, it turns out it isn't J.J. but a vice cop, who
arrests Face.
J.J. was already grabbed by the thugs and taken to Jade. He
demands to know what's up, but even with his threats she claims to know
nothing. Jade turns her over to the thugs. Meanwhile, Face is at the
police station trying to get off the hook. He gets dragged off to a cell.
The rest of the Team and the girls go to J.J.'s apartment, and find
her alive but badly beaten. She didn't talk. Face calls, and as they are
talking one of the cops realizes they have a member of the A-Team. Face
hears this and warns the Team to work fast to get him out.
Hannibal goes in disguise as Winston T. Shoemaker, a government
official. Meanwhile, Fulbright has been alerted and is on his way to the
police station. Hannibal gets there first, and runs a scam - he claims to
be from DC, ordered to pick up Face. To prove it, he shows the police
captain the rest of the Team handcuffed in his car - B.A., and "Colonel
Smith" - actually Murdock in disguise. Face is turned over immediately,
and Fulbright arrives just in time to cause a scene and chase after the
guys. Hannibal's driving isn't up to par with B.A.'s, but they manage to
outsmart their pursuers and return tot he warehouse.
J.J. phones Jade, telling him she knows who the guy was who was
picking up all the girls. A new pimp by the name "Flap-Jack" Murdock.
He's got a bigger operation and wants to meet with Jade to discuss
business. Jade agrees. It's all a set-up so that Murdock can get into
Jade's place, set-up some monitoring mikes to find out if Jade is really
planning on setting up a big drug deal, as J.J. had told them she'd heard
about.
When Murdock gets to Jade's place, he does a thorough job confusing
Jade, going off about Pimp conventions, health and pension plans for their
employees, etc. We see BA and the others listening in on the conversation
at the warehouse. They're waiting to hear the details of the drug deal,
which it turns out will happen at night in a deserted dock area.
At the dock, a sedan pulls up, but they wait until Murdock
identifies Jade's car to head in for the bust. The Team watches the deal
go down, Hannibal trying to reach the police captain on the phone to tell
him what's going on. But the Captain is already on the scene, in fact, it
turns out he is in on the deal. The Team go for an attack anyway, using
stink bombs to disrupt the deal.
Afterwards, heading back to the warehouse, Trudy is upset they
didn't get Jade but Hannibal is already thinking about a new plan. But
Fulbright is waiting at the warehouse. Murdock, fortunately, is still well
disguise in his pimp outfit and therefore not recognized. Fulbright is
triumphant and gloating but it turns out Trudy may have a secret weapon to
use against the General - the fact that Fulbright was one of her "better
customers" in Baton Rouge....
TRUDY
Yes, but I'm out of that business
now, Harlan. Me and the girls
here are in another business.
A legitimate one. That is, if you
let my friends go.
FULBRIGHT
Let 'em go?! Honey, this is the
A-Team. There's nothing that can
make me let these men go.
TRUDY
(pointedly)
Easter Sunday.
Fulbright stares at Trudy. Obviously these words have a
tremendous impact on him.
FACE
(to Hannibal)
Not the rabbit suit...?
FULBRIGHT
(defensively)
That was along time ago.
TRUDY
But I still remember it. Vividly.
Hannibal makes a deal to let Fulbright "move them" to Trudy's shop until
the bust goes down - the MP's can bust Jade, his men, and the crooked
Police Captain. After that, the Team will surrender. They go to the
Beauty Shop, and Fulbright hears Jade arranging the deal with the Captain
on the mike that is still set-up at Jade's place.
So, intercut we get scenes of Fulbright moving in on Jade's place,
while the Team are busy in the beauty shop making weapons out of the blow
dryers, curling irons, heat lamps, etc. In typical fashion, all the MPs
are OUTSIDE the shop, oblivious as to what is going on inside. Fulbright
makes it back to the shop just in time to see the Team break loose in a
shower of shampoo and curlers gone crazy.
MY COMMENTS: I generally really liked Babs' scripts for AT (such as "In
Place Sight" and "West Coast Turnaround") but this one seemed a bit weak to
me overall. Or at least, considering this was supposedly a 4th season
script, it felt like too much of a retread of the earlier season's standard
plots. Bad guys terrorizing the defenseless women, the military right
behind the Team, the escape at the end due to the incredible stupidity of
the MPs. With all the disguises, perhaps it would have been more amusing
on screen than it reads, but I can see why this one might have been passed
over. Also, I have to wonder whether they really could have gotten away
with a "lighthearted" episode about pimps and former prostitutes on the
A-Team in the mid-80's, in that 8 pm "family-hour" time slot especially.
It also seems that perhaps this script was written much earlier and just
revised from an earlier incarnation - there is a Lieutenant Crane with
Fulbright for some reason, and it seems suspiciously like it was supposed
to be Captain Crane and Decker instead of this Lieutenant and Fulbright
originally.
In any case, if you want to try to find this script, you can contact SCRIPT
CITY at 1-213-871-0707 or write to them at 8033 Sunset Blvd. #1500-SL,
Hollywood CA 90046 USA.
---------------------------------------------------------------
VCR WATCH: All times are Eastern Standard
DWIGHT SCHULTZ:
04:00pm Thu Mar-06
FAM .... HART TO HART: TILL DEATH DO US HART (1 4-6pm ...... Movi/Crim
Jet-setting sleuths on a mission of mercy head to Germany, where
mistaken identity gets a dead-ringer for Jennifer kidnapped. With:
Robert Wagner, Stefanie Powers, George Hamilton, Dwight Schultz, Katja
Riemann, Gotz Otto, Nellis Du Biel, Angela Roy, Paul Majer. NR
------------------------------------------------------------------------
GEORGE PEPPARD:
01:00pm Mon Mar-03
TCM .... HOW THE WEST WAS WON (1963) *** (G) .. 1:10-4pm ... Movi/West
Three generations of a family go west through a buffalo stampede, the
Civil War and a train robbery. With: Spencer Tracy, Carroll Baker, Lee
J. Cobb, Henry Fonda, Carolyn Jones, Karl Malden, Gregory Peck, George
Peppard, Robert Preston, Debbie Reynolds. G
------------------------------------------------------------------------
04:00pm Thu Mar-06
ENC+ ... NIGHT OF THE FOX (1990) ** (R) ....... 4:10-7:15pm. Movi/Mini
Two Allied spies pose as Nazi and mistress to save D-Day, on a mission
confused by a fake Rommel. With: George Peppard, Deborah Raffin, Michael
York, David Birney, John Mills, John Standing, Gottfried John, Andrea
Ferreol, Vincent Grass, Dieter Steinbrink. Stereo. R: Violence
------------------------------------------------------------------------
09:30am Tue Mar-04
03:30pm Tue Mar-04
A+E .... BANACEK .............................. 9:30-11am .. Ser/Crim
"If Max Is So Smart, Why Doesn't He Tell Us Where He Is?". A
hypochondriac's (Anne Baxter) $2.5 million computer and medical software
are stolen; with Paul Richards.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
THE A-TEAM:
04:00pm Sun Mar-02
FX ..... A-TEAM ............................... 4-5pm ...... Ser/Dram
"Judgment Day". The team finds the mission continues when mobsters board
the ocean liner during a masquerade party. Part 2 of 2.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
04:00pm Mon Mar-03
FX ..... A-TEAM ............................... 4-5pm ...... Ser/Dram
"Lease With an Option to Die". A land developer's takeover of a Chicago
neighborhood results in an attack on B.A.'s mother (Della Reese).
------------------------------------------------------------------------
08:00pm Mon Mar-03
FX ..... A-TEAM ............................... 8-9pm ...... Ser/Dram
"A Little Town With an Accent". A crafty mobster (Mark Lawrence) fakes
his own death to avoid prison and plots to take over a town.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
04:00pm Tue Mar-04
FX ..... A-TEAM ............................... 4-5pm ...... Ser/Dram
"The Road to Hope". Murdock zealously recruits derelicts to rescue his
compatriots from paramilitary captors. Guest: Elisha Cook.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
08:00pm Tue Mar-04
FX ..... A-TEAM ............................... 8-9pm ...... Ser/Dram
"The Sound of Thunder". The search for the half-Vietnamese daughter (Tia
Carrere) of Gen. Fulbright leads the team to a resourceful teen-ager
bent on vengeance.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
04:00pm Wed Mar-05
FX ..... A-TEAM ............................... 4-5pm ...... Ser/Dram
"Body Slam". Wrestler Hulk Hogan calls on old Vietnam buddy B.A. when
mobsters threaten to close a friend's youth center.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
08:00pm Wed Mar-05
FX ..... A-TEAM ............................... 8-9pm ...... Ser/Dram
"Dishpan Man". Gen. Stockwell (Robert Vaughn) blackmails the team into
rescuing hostages held on board a Mexican airliner by terrorists. Part 1
of 3.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
04:00pm Thu Mar-06
FX ..... A-TEAM ............................... 4-5pm ...... Ser/Dram
"Blood, Sweat and Cheers". B.A. drives in a stock car race to prevent
Hannibal's nephew (Ken Olandt) being run off the track by thugs. Guest:
Stuart Whitman.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
08:00pm Thu Mar-06
FX ..... A-TEAM ............................... 8-9pm ...... Ser/Dram
"Trial by Fire". The team faces court-martial in the murder of a colonel
who was cooperating with the enemy. Guest: David Ackroyd. Part 2 of 3.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
04:00pm Fri Mar-07
FX ..... A-TEAM ............................... 4-5pm ...... Ser/Dram
"Mind Games". Pardoned Face's book-promotion TV tour hits a snag when a
Viet Cong general seeks revenge for his jilted daughter.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
08:00pm Fri Mar-07
FX ..... A-TEAM ............................... 8-9pm ...... Ser/Dram
"Firing Line". Murdock and Frankie Santana ask Gen. Stockwell to help
them rescue B.A., Hannibal and Face from a military firing squad. Part 3
of 3.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
That's all for this time, everyone!
Until next time, stay on the jazz!
nicole (http://www.seas.upenn.edu/~pellegri/)
---------------------------------------------------------------------
"The main motive for going beyond the rim...there's a heck of a
big Taco Bell out there...." jms
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Proud member of the Narn Bat Squad <<Whack!>> and the C.o.M.
