__ ____ ___ ___ _ ___ ___
/ / / \ / / /__ / /__ / /__\ / /
/__/ / \/ / / / /___ /__/ / \ /___ /___
The totally unofficial A-Team electronic mail newsletter
Submission address: [email protected] (note the change!!)
Administrivia: Nicole Pellegrini
Please use the following addresses for subscribe/unsubscribe
and back issue requests:
[email protected], [email protected]
---------------------------------------------------------
DATE: July 2, 1995
ISSUE: 22
VOLUME: 1
----------------------------------------------------------
Well, once again it's a packed newsletter this week!
BIG ANNOUNCEMENT #1:
As you should hopefully be aware by now, this group now has a real-time mailer address at [email protected]. You should have received several messages this week addressed from that site. If you did not, please e-mail Robin at [email protected] to make sure your address is on the official list. So now when you have a message you'd like to post for the rest of the mailing list to see send it to the umich address and it will be forwarded automatically. Please remember, though, that no one is going to be screening those messages first, so if you have a personal message for me or Robin or whoever, make sure to send it to the proper place! I'll still be here at [email protected], as well as [email protected], and sending out newsletters on a regular basis. But this new arrangement should be much more condusive towards getting some real discussions going.
BIG ANNOUNCEMENT #2:
The first isssue of my new A-Team fanzine "Plans Scams and Vans" is printed and ready to be distributed! This project has been in the works since January and everyone here is getting first shot at buying a copy before I put announcements in any adzines. Here's the final flyer for it:
---------------------------------------------------------
PLANS, SCAMS, & VANS Issue #1
----------------------------------------------------------
An all-new, all A-TEAM fanzine! 80 pages of stories and information on our favorite fugitives...
ORIGINAL FICTION
"Bad Day for A Space-Time Anomaly"
by N. N. Pellegrini
U.S.S. Enterprise, here comes The A-Team! When the team crash (literally) into the 24th century, Captain Picard is sure to have a *very* bad day. And what's that Vorlon doing hanging around in Ten-Forward anyway? Don't ask Murdock, he's having too much fun with Barclay on the holodecks:
"Man, I don't like none of this," BA grumbled. "One minute we're in the Bahamas. Next thing I know we're on some crazy planet near 400 years in the future. Then we get zapped onto this spaceship, and bein' on a spaceship ain't much different from bein' on a big airplane. And I HATE airplanes!"
"Cheer up BA," Amy said, patting him on the shoulder. "At least Murdock's not flying it."
"Grrrr...."
"Is he always like that?" Geordi whispered to Hannibal.
"Unfortunately. But, he grows on you after a while."
"Yeah," Murdock added. "Sorta like mold."
----------------------
"Invasion of Air-Space"
by Laura Michaels
Lieutenant Templeton Peck was handcuffed to a wooden support beam in a barn with an activated bomb. "How do I always get myself into these messes?" he thought out loud. He was trying to figure a way out of his troubles when he heard someone outside. "Help!" he yelled.
Just who is the mysterious Leia who comes to Face's rescue? A harmless if slightly eccentric electronics expert...or a visitor from outer space? Find out in this fast-paced adventure.
----------------------
"Rockin' Down the House"
by Laura Michaels
That's what the team will be doing when they brandish electric guitars instead of machine guns to save a youth center.
"You're not supposed to paint a piano like that. What are you doing, trying to make it look like my 'vette?" Murdock was painting a silver stripe over the red piano. B.A. had taken some time off from rewiring earlier to put a sheet of metal on the back side of the instrument. It was supposed to stop bullets. "I'm trying to make it look racey. When I'm finished, this piano is going to fly at 2000 miles per hour, and play better than it maneuvers," Murdock informed him.
----------------------
"101 Ways to Break Out of the V.A. Hospital" by H.M. Murdock
It had to happen sometime. In case you ever find yourself in such a confining predicament, just employ one of Murdock's tried-and-true solutions:
#73 Run around your room, accelerating until you are going near light speed. Time will pass slower for you, so you won't have to wait as long for someone to come open the door to check out what's going on. Then zip right past them. Be careful not to run into any walls.
----------------------
"Special Assignment"
by N. N. Pellegrini
What's a good 'zine without a little romance? When Amy departs for her new position as foreign correspondent, she leaves behind more than her sense of adventure.
Amy felt it like a jolt of electricity, a sudden realization of just how close the two of them had become in the past few months. She caught his startled reaction to her unexpected touch; she saw it in his eyes and in the slight flush that came to his cheeks, and then in his quick attempt to try to cover it up. She realized that somewhere along the way he must have started to fall for her, and she felt foolish that she hadn't noticed it before or hadn't expected it, what with all the time they'd been spending together. But what was surprising her even more was that she wasn't sure that she hadn't started to feel the same way herself...
----------------------
ARTICLES...
"Adventures on Prime Time"
Book Review by Michele Lellouche
Review of a book discussing the work of Stephen J. Cannell.
"A Selected Bibliography on The A-Team"
by Michele Lellouche
Updated and revised from the guide that appeared in the 1990 'zine "Distasis," this bibliography is a great reference source for A-Team fans. Lists books & articles about the Team, NBC & Cannell in the 80's, and critical evaluations of the show.
----------------------
Current prices are as follows:
$9.00 US Mail, 1st class
$10.50 US 2-day Priority Mail
$9.25 Canada
Overseas air/surface: to be determined. E-mail for exact rate.
Make checks payable to: Nicole Pellegrini
Address:
2429 Locust St., Apt #315
Philadelphia, PA 19103
---------------------------------------------------------
Anyway, now that the first issue is done with I'll be accepting submissions for the second one, hopefully to be ready by the end of this year. There's already some material in the pipeline for it, but I'm always looking for new people to get involved in the project. And for added incentive, note that contributors get either a reduced cost or free copy depending on the amount of material accepted.
Ok, moving on to other matters...
I got a request a short while back for some info on Melinda Culea. Here's a short bio that appeared in the 'zine The A-Team File #1, which I've copied a few other bio pieces from...
Melinda didn't set out to be an actress - in fact, her life story reads a little like a fantasy novel! She was born in a little town in Illinois and, having three brothers, was something of a tomboy. She spent most of her hours on skateboards and in playgrounds competing with the boys, although she remembers putting on puppet shows and appearing in school plays. On leaving school, she worked in her father's sewing-machine business. She married at 19 and settled down outside Chicago - she couldn't settle on a career, though, and dabbled in such things as quilt making and fashion styling. Then one day a friend asked her to give her a lift into Chicago for an interview with a modeling agency, and fate took a hand. The agent noticed Melinda waiting in the reception area and asked her name, saying she was just what he was looking for. She agreed to try modelling on a part-time basis, and this led to an invitation to join the exclusive Wilhemina modelling agency in New York. Unfortunately, her husband didn't want to move to New York, but Melinda decided to take the job and this was the parting of ways for her and her husband.
After four years modelling in New York, Melinda broke into commercials and moved to California to try her luck in the movie/TV industry, although she kept - and still has - her Manhattan apartment. She did some guest spots, and a few unsold pilots, such as one created especially for her in whick she played a teacher at an infants' school, and endless screen tests, before being lucky enough to land the role in The A-Team. She is now (in 1983) 28 years old.
These days Melinda finds she has little time for her hobbies, quilt making and paper mache (she's building a miniature city), or for socializing. "You have to learn to adjust your priorities," she says, "when you have 5:30 calls!"
Melinda is concerned with giving Amy a less decorative role in the series, and a more liberated one - but is finding it hard going to convince the studio executives of the wisdom of that. "I like being the only woman," she admits. "You get a lot of attention." It's just that some days it's the wrong SORT of attention, we assume!
In the 2nd issue of TAT File (from 1984), there was some updated information, mainly on her departure from the show...
...The split was, to say the least, acrimonious: Melinda claimed that Peppard had never liked her from Day One and that eventually all four men ganged up against her and got the producers to dump her, whilst the studio claims that she was never intended to be a full-time member of the A-Team. Quotes made in the Press by Peppard and Mr. T, however, rather tend to support Melinda's story, and we can only sympathize with the lady for what must have been a pretty shattering experience...
Melinda was born in Indian Head Park, Illinois, and was a cheerleader in high school. She was as a child (and still appears to be) interested in mysticism. She attended high school in Western Springs, a suburb of Chicago. Her height has been confirmed at 5'8" and her weight at 125 lb. She's recently purchased a brand-new, three-bedroom Spanish-style house in the Hollywood Hills. People she admire include film-makers Steven Speilberg and Akira Kurosawa ('Sevem Samurai,' 'Throne of Blood,' 'Kagemusha') for their 'understanding of magic' - and she was once quoted as saying that if she could travel back in time she'd love to go to Camelot and work with Merlin.
---------------------------------------------------------
Hope that's enough info to satisfy your curiosity. The final thing I wanted to mention this issue is that the 1982 movie "Alone in the Dark" which featured Dwight Schultz in one of the main roles has just this past month been re-released on video after being out of print for a number of years. I was finally able to see it recently and can recommend it as a rather effective and only occaisionally overly-cheesy horror flick. If you're a big Schultz fan it's probably worth your while to pick up for the current price of $15, or at least rent it if your local video store has it. It also stars Donald Pleasance, Martin Landau, and Jack Palance, and it's the cast that really makes it stand out and work quite well.
I'm also reposting the following notice from Frank because there were apparently some problems with the umich mailer this week when he originally tried to send it, and everyone may not have gotten it:
---------------------------------------------------------
From: Frank Cortez <"HOBBES::CORTEZ"@gumby.tfn.com>
To: [email protected]
Subject: Comix for sale!
Howdy folks!
Yes, Nicole, I do believe this is the best place to make my announcement:
[ahem.]
Due to the lack of momentum for my last offer, I'm raising the stakes! I have a limited number (10-15?) of A-team comic books. They are all the same copy, about 20 pages, full-color and on good quality white paper (vs. newsprint). Total of three stories, all *very* well done. While I've seen better illustrations, the dialog is superb! Nicole can vouch for me on 'em, as I sent her one when I first got 'em. These are no doubt collector's items, but I don't really want to collect stuff, at least not *all* of them. So *you* can have them!
I'm asking $3 bucks each, plus shipping, first come, first served, _no_max_. If you wanna pay me for all of 'em, they're yours! Here's the conditions: Send me e-mail letting me know how many you want, and where you want 'em sent. I'll reply with postage info, depending on where you live, and then we can work out the rest. Questions? E-mail me!
I only ask that you *don't* reply to this message; create a new one, otherwise everyone else may get it as well, and, well, that wouldn't be too happy, 'cause that would tie up mailers.
That's all folks! My thanks (and compliments) to Nicole and Robin for this-here fine forum.
Best,
-Frank
([email protected])
---------------------------------------------------------
On to this week's messages:
----------------------------------------------------------
Subj: "Bear Claw" Jones
Date: Sun, Jun 18, 1995 5:45 PM EST
From: [email protected]
X-From: [email protected] (James Andrew Noll)
To: [email protected]
Nicole,
Does anyone know why they say Lou's Delivery? Where did it come from? As far a Bear Claw Jones goes, I think it's Face from the episode "Curtain Call" He scams two hunters out of their cabin by telling them about a giant bear and a big reward for it. By the by, one of the hunters was the guy who played Irwin Fletcher from Hill Street Blues, one of a couple of guys from that show who showed up on the A-Team.
Peace,
James
---------------------------------------------------------
You're right about Bear Claw Jones being from "Curtain Call." I think the reason they answer the van phone with "Lou's Delivery" is just because it's a convenient cover in case someone who shouldn't have their number happens to call. I mean, what should they say: "Hello, A-Team speaking. How can we help you today?" :-)
--nicole
---------------------------------------------------------
Subj: New team
Date: Mon, Jun 26, 1995 8:15 AM EST
From: [email protected]
X-From: [email protected]
Sender: [email protected]
Reply-to: [email protected]
To: [email protected]
I N T E R O F F I C E M E M O R A N D U M
|
|
|
Date: 1995-Jun-26 14:55 CDT
From: Jasper Molenmaker
IPCJMM
Dept: Inf. Systems & Process
Tel No: +31-3402 75744
( _INET"""[email protected]""" ) | | |
Subject: New team
Hi A-fans,
A few months ago the last episode of the A-team was shown in the Netherlands, so unfortunally I can't see my favorit stars anymore. Only the last episode I haven't seen yet, I do have it on tape but I am saving it for a rainy afternoon so I can get really depressed.
A few things about the last season (that was not shown before in Holland). I liked the new stories. The ones from the previous season really became all alike. But I could not get used to that new guy Stockwell and I really missed
the great escapes from Murdock out of the hospital and ofcourse the big chases by the MP's (especially Decker).
And than the new title song. I hate it, what was wrong with the old one?
Greetings Jasper
---------------------------------------------------------
I can never make up my mind about the final season myself. At the time it first aired I remember really liking it, but my opinion's changed a bit now that I've had the chance to re-watch them all again. I still think about half of them are very good: the three-parter, "Say Uncle Affair," "Point of No Return," and especially "The Spy Who Mugged Me" because it's such a great Bond parody. But the others...I don't know. Some good moments, but too much of the humour is missing. It seems that T's role is much diminished as well, there's not nearly enough of the old bickering between him and Murdock.
Just my 2 cents--Your Mileage May Vary. I actually know a few people who don't like the older episodes, only the 5th season ones :-/
--nicole
---------------------------------------------------------
Trivial info
SECTION REMOVED TO LARGE FOR SITE PAGE LAYOUT PLEASE
DONLOWND THIS ISSUE IF YOU WISH TO READ MORE. - SORRY
----------------------------------------------------------
Thanks for sending in the article. Yeah, I heard Dirk tell that same story back on the Merv Griffin show way, way back when (talk about an early-eighties flashback...)
Whew! I think that's it for this issue. Until next time...
nicole
---------------------------------------------------------
Quote of the Week:
BA: "I'm gettin' tired of this crazy rap, Murdock!"
Murdock: "You're tired of it? How do you think I feel,
I have to listen to it all day."
--from "Pros and Cons"
-------------------------* End *-------------------------- |
