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The totally unofficial A-Team electronic mail newsletter
Submission address: [email protected]
Administrivia: Nicole Pellegrini
Please use the following addresses for subscribe/unsubscribe
and back issue requests:
[email protected], [email protected]
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DATE: June 18, 1995
ISSUE: 21
VOLUME: 1
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Hi everybody,
*LOTS* of things to mention in this issue, let's hope I can remember them all...
First off, I'd like to invite everyone to take a look at my new web page, located at
http://www.seas.upenn.edu/~pellegri/home.html
In the A-Team section, right now you can find:
The updated-and-revised version of the Episode Guide, with complete title/writer/director information and links to the Actor's database
A link to Jasper's Home Page, where you can retreive old issues of this newsletter
A preview flyer for my A-Team 'zine "Plans Scams & Vans." All of the submissions are in (or on their way...), and it WILL be ready to print at the end of this month. I've very pleased with how it has "come together" and think you'd really enjoy it. I'll be posting the flyer here in the next issue when I have final price information, but if you want to get an early look, it's on my page.
Some materials posted over from the A-Team folders on America On-Line which aren't available through the regular internet.
Anyway, if you'd like a copy of the episode guide but can't reach the web, email me and I can send it directly to you. The same with anything else I've mentioned above.
Doing some web searching this week I came upon some info on a couple more Sci-Fi Conventions that Dwight Schultz will be appearing at this summer:
June 30-July 2, 1995
Rox Con 95
Civic Center and Holiday Inn, Fort Smith, AR
Guests: Dwight Schultz, Robert O'Reilly, Jonathan Del Arco, Phil Farrand
Call: 800-556-8529 (8am-5pm ET) or 501-648-3738 (8am-10pm CT)
June 23-25, 1995
Atlanta Fantasy Fair
Castlegate Hotel and Conference Center, Atlanta, GA
Guest: Dwight Schultz
Write: ACFF, 482 Gardener Rd., Stockbridge, GA. 30281
Call: (404) 507-7000
I'll be at the Shore Leave 17 Con in Maryland in 3 weeks along with HM (HM from AOL, that is, though I suppose that means there will be two HMs there...this could get confusing... :-/) Also found out that we can expect to see Dwight reprise his role as Barclay from ST:TNG on Gilligan's Spaceship--er, I mean ST:Voyager, in an upcoming episode called:
"Projections"
Plot: The Doctor is infected by a computer virus, and begins to hallucinate. Barclay (Dwight Schultz) from the Enterprise-D is one of the technicians who put The Doctor's holographic system together, and appears as another handwritten (holographic) person as part of the interface.
This episode was supposed to air this summer, but the powers that be at UPN decided in their "infinite wisdom" to pull the same nasty trick that PTEN pulled on Babylon5 and not show the final four episodes of the season until October (...sigh...anyone here in England that could *possibly* tape those B5 episodes for me when they air as normal this summer? Just thought I'd ask...)
Also found this really cute article on a newsgroup, thought you'd all get a kick out of it. Kind of a nice parody of the typical asinine Enterprise vs. Death Star vs. Cylons posts:
> rec.arts.startrek.current #164240 (860 more)
> From: [email protected] (Jason McDonald)
> Subject: ENTERPRISE VS. THE A-TEAM
> Date: Thu Jun 15 14:48:47 EDT 1995
> CAST COMPOSITION
> ENT: Patriarchal leader (Picard), brutish warrior (Worf), clever
> handsome devil-may-care type (Riker), eccentric Dwight Schulz
> character, mostly pointless female character.
>
> A-T: Patriarchal leader (George Peppard), brutish warrior (Mr
> T), clever handsome devil-may-care type ("Face"), eccentric
> Dwight Schulz character, mostly pointless female character (the
> reporter).
>
> PERSONALITY QUIRKS
> ENT: Worf always at odds with Klingon heritage, Data wants to be
> human
> A-T: Mr. T. needs to be drugged to fly, Dwight has to be broken
> out of institution at beginning of each episode.
>
> CRITICAL SITUATION
> ENT: Stranded on planet or caught in time-space anomaly
> A-T: Locked in barn or warehouse
>
> SOLUTION
> ENT: Data and Geordi modify shields/phasers/tractor beam/Data's
> brain
> A-T: Mr. T. builds something out of PVC piping and duct tape.
>
> BEATING THE BAD GUYS
> ENT: Phasers on stun.... Baddies locked in brig.
> A-T: Tires of vehicle shot out, car rolls. Bad guys emerge
> unhurt, but with broken spirits. Police/grateful townsfolk mop
> up.
>
> RUN AWAY!
> A-T: Military Police
> ENT: Military Police -- we don't ever see them, but given that
> the Prime Directive has been trampled underfoot so often,
> they're probably on the way. Why else do they always peel out
> at Warp 9 at episode's end?
>
> My God! It's the same show!
Well, I thought it was really funny.
Ok, now for the final part of the Schultz interview from UFO magazine. I was glad to hear from a number of people that they really enjoyed seeing this, so hopefully I can keep digging up interesting articles from here & there...someone asked me for some info on Melinda Culea so I'll see what I can find for next time.
-------------(part 3)--------------
'We are recreating ourselves'
Schultz also points to significant earthbound developments, such as the rapid rise of computers and the successful implantation of computer chips into living tissue, as possible evidence of extraterrestrials. "We are recreating ourselves," he says. "We're unlocking the code of DNA so that that we can manipulate and change ourselves. And that's us this stupid, little, dinky civilization. Why is it so outrageous, then, that in the vast age and expanse of the universe some seafaring civilization of far greater intelligence than us has done it before--and we are the result of it? I find that easier to accept than this all happened out of nothing."
Schultz pauses to table another idea. "If extraterrestrials travel in a way which manipulates space/time, it becomes very difficult for us to accept that they're not on our time frame. If they're traveling at the speed of light, their month is perhaps the equivalent of twenty of our years. So they're just buzzing around having a good old time, continuously looking. Yet the time between appearances for us is so great that we lose track of it. It would be like watching "Ben Hur" at one frame a second. There would be long periods of time where absolutely nothing was going on."
Film Comments
Having worked in the film industry for years, Schultz has mixed feelings about how the medium has treated the subject. While chuckling over the Japanese-made "The Mysterians" and that execrable Ed Wood cheapie "Plan 9 From Outer Space," both released in 1959, he greatly admires "The Day the Earth Stood Still" (1951). "Being closer to the genesis of this whole period," he says, "it captured the importance of the concept of making contact and accurately depicted the paranoia of the time. It's an excellent film."
The actor had direct involvement in the sci-fi genre playing Lt. Barclay in the just-cancelled "Star Trek: The Next Generation."
"Barclay spent most of his time out on the holodeck, which is where things you imagine become three-dimensional and real. I remember being very excited when I was invited to do the show because I thought I was going to have a large, bulbous prosthetic head with pulsating veins. I ended up being the first nerd on the Starship Enterprise!" He laughs, adding fondly, "It turned out to be a neat character."
Schultz feels that what science fiction--whether in film, TV, or book form--has done is to get people interested in science and it represents the core belief of what we are and where we're headed.
"This kind of speculation is healthy," he says. "It's like H.G. Wells--if you go back and look at his work, he is remarkably accurate in everything he predicted. And I don't think it's too late for 'The War of the Worlds' to come true. I'm talking about it from the standpoint that which you need to have and own things to breed, to think, to create--is going on everywhere, not just on this planet or in the space around it. With science fiction I think we are preparing ourselves for contact with them, whoever they may be."
The moment of contact
That eternally anticipated moment, Schultz believes, will strengthen society--not fracture it. "People will be fascinated," he predicts. "We will think of each other in a far more homogeneous way, because we will know that there is something that is different from us. And when we say 'us,' (it will mean) as a species."
Until then, Schultz is confident that his friends, colleagues and family will continue to support his pursuit. "My mother gets a little frightened for my safety, since some who have spoken out claim to have received threats," he admits. "But they don't really care about it. They usually roll their eyes and refer to me on "The A-Team" by saying, 'Gee, you really are wacko, right?' Yet, as I've told my wife, this is easy for me to deal with because I've been ridiculed for twenty-five years by every major critic in this country. It rolls off my back. Ridicule doesn't mean anything--even from people you're supposed to wear knee pads around, like the scientific community."
What about the entertainment community? What would he say to others in Hollywood who share his beliefs but are afraid to come forward? "This is simply a *belief*--it's speculation. There's no reason to be afraid of it. Governments are moved by numbers, and the greater the number of people who admit that they believe, the greater the likelihood that the secret--if there is one being kept--will be revealed."
Dwight Schultz pauses, then chuckles and shrugs. "All I would say to others in show business is: Think of your last bad review. What could possibly be worse than that?"
--------------------------
I actually had a couple more things to mention in this issue, but as it's already getting kind of long I'll wait and save them for the next one.
On to this week's messages...
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Date: Sun, Jun 4, 1995 5:12 PM EST
From: DanaLeigh
Subj: A-Team Trivia
To: Onthejazz
Isn't "Lou's Delivery" the way the guys always answer the phone in the van?
-Dana
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Yup, congrats on being the first one to get in the correct answer! Now, can anyone remember the actual phone number of the van phone? :-)
--nicole
---------------------------------------------------------
Subj: Hi there
Date: Tue, Jun 13, 1995 5:56 PM EST
From: [email protected]
X-From: [email protected] (Kate Orman)
To: [email protected]
Hiya!
In response to your quiz last issue - "Lou's Delivery" was the phrase with which Hannibal answered the van's phone (in a growly comedy voice). Here's a trivia question in return: who was "Bear Claw" Jones?
Thanks to everyone for sharing their favourite quotes - some of them are hysterical. My brothers and I used to have a tape onto which we'd recorded favourite lines from our video collection - lots of "A-Team", "Knight Rider", "Miami Vice", "The Transformers"... I think it was in "Bells of St Mary's" where Hannibal et al are fleeing a building, running back to the van, and Murdock is laying down cover fire.
Hannibal: Whaddya say, Murdock?
Murdock: I say a lot of things I don't mean!
We still sometimes quote that... can anyone remember which episode had the line, "What we need is a little diversion. You got an atomic bomb?"
Bye for now,
Kate Orman
"Mulder, toads just fell from the sky!" - Scully
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Umm...I'm stumped at the moment on where that quote's from, I do remember it though. Anyone else?
As far as "Bear Claw" Jones, it took me a couple days pondering but I think I figured it out. I'll let everyone else stew on it as this issue's trivia question.
--nicole
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Date: Wed, Jun 14, 1995 10:17 AM EST
From: ATEAM Guy
Subj: Re: A-Team Newsletter Volume ...
To: Onthejazz
Dear everyone the correct spelling is PHASE not FACE just wanted to let you know
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O k.....
---------------------------------------------------------
Subj: Re: A-Team Newsletter Volume 1 Issue 20
Date: Fri, Jun 16, 1995 4:53 PM EST
From: [email protected]
X-From: [email protected] (C)
To: [email protected]
Nicole-
Hi! Good job on the newsletter! I have a question. One of my favorite episodes is when in order for Hannibal to get B.A. to travel, he promises him his choice of revenge on each member. What is the title? I like the part when Murdock gets really nervous because B.A. keeps smiling at him. I never saw the ending, so what happened in the end and do you or anyone out there have a copy of this one. Thanks...
Jeannine
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That episode is "Moving Targets." I like it a lot too. B.A. is really great in it and the "Pasadena" Murdock gag is a trip. (Didn't "Tiny Toons" do a Indiana Jones parody with a "Pasadena" Duck once, or something like that? Just a totally unrelated question...)
At the end, B.A. announces how he originally planned on taking revenge one by one on the guys--making Hannibal eat his "smelly cigars," knocking out Murdock's teeth to stop all his "crazy talk", and punching out Face cause he's sick of his always conning people. Instead, he decides to enact a group revenge--they'll all travel back to the U.S. on a freighter ship. The catch is they have to work off their passage, and he's going to be the work supervisor. The work will entail, among other things, painting the entire ship (with prompts Hannibal's great closing line: "Paint the entire ship? I'd rather eat my cigar!")
That's all fols, see you next time.
--nicole
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Quote of the Week:
"Since when did something have to make sense to be
logical?"
--Murdock in "Waste 'Em"
-------------------------* End *-------------------------- |
