Initially one of NBC network's most successful series, The A-Team ran for 90 one-hour episodes (with a few feature-length specials thrown in) from 1983 to 1987. The premise of the series was certainly different. A group of US operatives is sent to rob the Bank of Hanoi during the Vietnam War in an attempt to destabilise the country's economy, but the bigwig who organises the raid is killed, leaving no indication that the mission was officially sanctioned. Returning home, Smith (George Peppard), BA (it stood for "Bad Attitude") Baracus (Mr T), Face (Dirk Benedict) and that "crazy foo" Murdoch (Dwight Schultz) suddenly find themselves accused of criminal activity, obliging them to set up as benevolent mercenaries. They tear around the country in what looks like a delivery van, generally do-gooding while keeping one step ahead of the inept military police. Snappy, witty and fast paced, the series began as a spoof of the action-thriller genre. It wasn't until the later episodes that an element of seriousness crept in, which may have caused the decline in audience figures eventually resulting in the show's cancellation. On video and DVD though, it remains a feast for fans of classic cult TV.--Roger Thomas
In the rough-and-tumble, wildly entertaining world of Starsky & Hutch, impatient cops--anxious to join a foot race in pursuit of a villain--throw themselves out of moving vehicles and roll to a bruising stop. Undercover detectives Dave Starsky (Paul Michael Glaser) and Ken "Hutch" Hutchinson (David Soul), hardly imbued with the powers of Spider-Man, routinely scale walls, hop from rooftop to rooftop, and fling themselves down steep hillsides to stop bad guys from doing what bad guys do. Years later Hill Street Blues would redefine the cop genre as a mesh of overlapping storylines and workaday frustrations, but Aaron Spelling's iconic 70s show portrays LA's finest as madly heroic creatures of reckless determination and physicality. This first season is also startlingly brutal for a primetime US showit was later significantly toned down, much to the regret of fanswhile maintaining a delightful, often incongruous, self-deprecating humour. From the series pilot on, partners and best pals Starsky and Hutch work a fine line between predator and prey, relentlessly pursuing suspects while also snared by crime chieftains or short-sighted superiors. In "The Fix", Hutch's secret romance with the former girlfriend of a mafia boss (Robert Loggia) results in the lawman's kidnapping and forced addiction to heroin. Similarly, in "A Coffin for Starsky", a mad chemist injects the wisecracking cop with a slow-acting but lethal poison. "Jo-Jo", written by Michael Mann, finds our guys at loggerheads with federal officers over a dumb deal the G-Men make with a serial rapist. The 23 episodes in this set are all fun, if sometimes shocking, viewing. Expect each character to take as much abuse as he dishes out. Still, the comic sight of Starsky and Hutch (in "Death Notice") trying to conduct business amid busy strippers is well worth the surrounding violence. --Tom Keogh
Based on the best-selling book which had sold millions of copies by the time the film was made The Happy Hooker tells the funny and feisty tale of Xaviera Hollander - a girl on the verge of discovering her sexuality her financial freedom and the lusty lucrative connection between the two. Now on DVD for the first time along with its equally outrageous sequels the sexy sultry and seriously seductive movie aims to please! Oscar nominee Lynn Redgrave stars as Xaviera Hollander a Dutch girl who comes to America and discovers not only a new lifestyle but a new way to make a living - getting paid for doing something she enjoys!
Please wait. Loading...
This site uses cookies.
More details in our privacy policy