Hope you had terrific Thanksgiving full of food, friends, family, flicks, football and whatever else one does to celebrate a holiday that generally requires no gifts. During a pre-dinner workout, I put on The A-Team’s “Family Reunion”, the Thanksgiving set eighth episode from the fifth and final season of the hit action show that ran from 1983-1987. ‘Hannibal’ Smith (George Peppard), B.A. Baracus (Mr. T.), ‘Howling Mad’ Murdock (Dwight Schultz) and ‘Faceman’ Peck (Dirk Benedict) continue as the “wrongfully accused Vietnam veterans turned soldiers of fortune working in the Los Angeles underground”. By season 5 the catchy theme song is updated with an 80’s synth vibe and along with new regular cast members Eddie Velez as young gun with a ponytail Frankie Santana and screen legend Robert Vaughn (The Magnificent Seven, Bullitt) as General Hunt Stockwell.
Directed by James Darren and written by Steven L. Sears, “Family Reunion” finds The A-Team enjoying some downtime, preparing for “Hannibal’s famous four-day turkey eating experience” when Stockwell tasks them with reuniting dying political insider Jeff Corey (A.J. Bancroft) with his estranged daughter within 24 hours in exchange for a lifetime of blackmail diaries. Corey may or may not also be Peck’s long lost father. Some shady government types who don’t want Corey exposing their shadiness send a decoy daughter and various goons to shut him up, forever. But of course, The A-Team handles the threat and car flips, car explosions, fisticuffs, lots of people flying through windows and a bear in the house(?!) action ensues courtesy of the awesome Craig R. Baxley (Predator, Action Jackson, I Come In Peace) and crew.
Between the mayhem there’s a surprising amount of drama and conflict between characters as Murdock learns Corey is Peck’s father but is asked not to say anything leading to a few heated exchanges between Murdock and Face. Two endings were written and filmed, one where Corey is revealed to be Peck’s father and one where he is not. Viewers could apparently call NBC via a 900 hotline and vote with “Corey as Peck’s father” winning since that’s the ending that was aired. Thanks to The A-Team Fan Forum and writer Steven L. Sears for shedding light with the actual script pages for the two endings which also alludes to an A-Team Thanksgiving dinner that didn’t make the episode.
As a longtime Los Angeles resident, it was funny that the episode is set in Florida but looked like my neighborhood in Marina Del Rey. In a random coincidence, we watched Buffy the Vampire Slayer’s Thanksgiving episode “Pangs” next which dives into the atrocities of Native American/settler history but also includes a bear in the house action scene!
