The A-Team premiered on NBC on 23 January 1983. It followed a group of former U.S. Army Special Forces — Hannibal, Face, B.A. Baracus (Mr. T) and Murdock — framed for a crime they didn't commit. Known for elaborate plans, improvised gadgets and remarkably bloodless shootouts, it became a defining action show of the decade.
The formula rarely changed: a desperate client, a seemingly impossible job, and a plan that always came together — usually involving a welded-together contraption and Hannibal's trademark cigar.