SECTION V. TODAY AND THE FUTURE

      

        

      1. 
WHERE ARE THE SHOW'S STARS TODAY?
George Peppard passed away on May 8, 1994 from pneumonia, at 
the age 65.  He had been a "two-pack-a-day" smoker who gave up cigarettes in
1992 after having a non-cancerous tumor removed from his right lung. ["GEORGE 
PEPPARD, 65, DIES OF PNEUMONIA," USA TODAY, FINAL EDITION, Tuesday  May 10,
1994  Sec: D  p: 2.]  Some of the last things he was involved in were theater
productions of "The Lion in Winter" and "Papa," a one-man play on Ernest
Hemingway.  He also had appeared in several TV movies after TAT, and his last
television appearance was in an episode of "Matlock."

Dirk Benedict has done several TV-movies and made guest appearances in
TV shows including "Baywatch," "The Commish" and "Walker, Texas Ranger."  He
has appeared at a number of sci-fi/media conventions, primarily in association
with his role on Battlestar Galactica.  He appeared in the summer 1996 Disney
feature, "Alaska," and in the TV-moive "Abduction of Innocence" on NBC.  He
only takes limited assignments from Hollywood these days, and last I'd heard
was working on a play for Broadway. 
     
Dwight Schultz has kept busy with guest appearances in many TV 
shows (most recently on such programs as "Diagnosis Murder" and "Touched by
an Angel") and roles in TV movies and several feature films (Fat Man and
Little Boy, The Long Walk Home, The Temp.) He had a popular recurring role
(5 episodes: "Hollow Pursuits," "The Nth Degree," "The Realm of Fear," "Ship
in a Bottle," and "Genesis") on STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION as the shy,
awkward Lieutenant Reginald  Barclay.  Barclay also made an appearance on
Star Trek: Voyager (in the episode "Projections") and appeared in the film
"Star Trek: First Contact". Dwight has made appearances at several
science-fiction/media conventions in Europe and the US the past year or two
as well.  He was a frequent guest co-host on Don Ecker's UFO's Tonite! radio
program in 1994-1996 and  has been involved in several "Alien Voices" radio-
dramas with Leonard Nimoy and John Delancie.

Mr. T had a short-lived syndicated program after TAT called "T and T."
He was also making public appearances and hosting events for the WCW wrestling 
circuits.  Recently, T was scheduled to appear in a pantomime production in
England of "Aladdin" as the Genie.  However, it was revealed in late '95 that
he was suffering from skin cancer (? This was the predominant rumor but never
confirmed to my knowledge anywhere) and had to cancel his appearance to return
to the States for treatment.  Little information has come since then as to
what his health condition is; however, he has been spotted making appearance 
on "The Jay Leno Show" and "The Dana Carvey Show" recently and looking in good
health.  He also made a cameo appearance in the movie "Spy Hard."

Melinda Culea's most recent large role was that of "Claire" on the
TV-show "Brotherly Love."  This aired for one season on NBC, and was picked
up by the WB network for one season.  She also appeared for a while on
"Knots Landing" (interestingly enough at the same time as Dwight's
wife, Wendy Fulton.) Occaisionally you can spot her in guest spots on TV
series and in telemovies.

Eddie Velez had recurring roles on several short-lived TV shows,
including NBC's "True Blue" and UPN's "Live Shot."  He's also appeared in
guest-starring roles in many different series and several TV movies as well,
including a recent appearance the series "Nightman".

Marla Heasley now works in the jewelry business in California.  She
appeared in a few other projects after "The A-Team" but is no longer actively
involved in acting.

Robert Vaughn is still fairly active in the industry and continues to
make many appearances in various television programs and movies.

Detailed listings of all of the stars' credits before and since the A-Team
can be found on the web at http://homepage.seas.upenn.edu/~pellegri/credits.html

        

DO YOU HAVE AN ADDRESS WHERE I CAN WRITE TO DIRK/DWIGHT/T?
These are addresses I have; I cannot garuntee their accuracy or that you will
get a reply, though I know at least a few people have received responses from
writing to Dirk's address.

Dirk Benedict
P.O.Box 634
Bigfork, MT 59911
USA

Dwight Schultz
c/o Paul Kohner
9300 Wilshire Blvd., Ste. 555
Beverly Hills, CA 90212

        

      2. 
ARE THERE ANY PLANS FOR AN A-TEAM REUNION MOVIE OR FEATURE FILM?
As of June '96, there are.  The following comes from Variety magazine:

    HOLLYWOOD (Variety) - ``The A-Team'' is set to become the latest
    television series to get a new life on the big screen. 

    Universal Pictures plans a big-budget version of the action-comedy
    show which starred Mr. T and the late George Peppard for summer 
    1998. 

    The series was about a group of outcast Vietnam veterans who 
    secretly banded together to fight injustices around the country, 
    using the skills they learned in the war, while evading capture by
    government officials. 

    Dirk Benedict and Dwight Schultz rounded out the case of the NBC 
    hit, which ran from 1983-87 and is still in syndication with 100 
    episodes. 

    Producer Stephen J. Cannell said the movie would pit the A-Team
    against a group that is trying to take over the U.S. and that would 
    adopt a more serious tone than the TV series. 

    He said he would look to give cameos to the three survivors but 
    would recast the lead roles with feature stars. 

    ``We will probably try to find parts for members of our series to 
    pay homage to them,'' he said. ``But basically we're going to be 
    recasting this with other people -- doing an updated version of the 
    A-Team, circa today.'' 

    Universal has hired Richard Hatem, who co-wrote ``Under Siege 2: 
    Dark Territory,'' to pen a version of the picture for an initial 
    $250,000. 

    As for the budget, Cannell said it will be on a par with any of the
    major action vehicles over the last few years. 

    ``'The A-Team' had the biggest action elements of any TV series in 
    the '80s,'' he said. ``I think that certainly the action elements in
    this piece have to be the equivalent to what you've been seeing.'' 

Some fans are upset with the plans to recast the Team and there is a letter
writing campaign to deter this.  Information can be found at http://www.seas.upenn.edu/~pellegri/movie.html

In the past year, further information on this project has been spotty. The
first draft of the script by Richard Hatem was, in this fan's opinion, truly
horrid (and no, I will not reveal how I got a copy of it). Word was that the
script was sent back for major rewrites, and the production/release date pushed
back what seems to be indefinitely. Casting rumors persist, with Mel Gibson
still the favorite for the Hannibal role, Ving Rhames for B.A., and Jim Carrey
for Murdock, but there is nothing substantial to back up these rumors. And
since there isn't even a script yet, I doubt we will see this movie come to
light anytime soon.

        

      3. 
WILL THERE EVER BE AN A-TEAM CONVENTION?
Hopefully. Originally some of us had planned on at least a small con in
conjunction with the movie release, but nothing has come of either the movie
or the con yet. But we are still looking to plan some sort of convention,
within the next 2-3 years. Of course, in the meantime there is an annual small
get-together/party for A-Team fans held in the Philadelphia, so if you would
be interested in information on this, contact sockii@earthlink.net.

      

      
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