The A-team (original series)

[FayetheAspie]

Who thinks that H. M. Murdock on the original 1980s The A-team series had autism, adhd, and ptsd. I think he pretended to have schizophrenia as needed during missions and to stay at the mental facility, but I think he really was AuDHD and was also using his overactive imagination as a coping method to avoid facing the trauma from when they had been in the POW camp.

 

[Jumpinbare]

I was aware of the series but never watched it. My last name starts with T, and prior to the series, several people called me Mr T. That series ruined that for me. (I don't like hearing my first name said aloud.) Nevertheless, never saw the show. Only heard about it.

 

[Outdated]

I saw it a few times when I was a kid, didn't think a great deal of it but watched it because there was nothing much else on. Anything was better than more Elvis movies, I think all our TV stations bought them cheap on special or something.

My favourite TV hero was Professor Julius Sumner Miller, I was a bit of a nerd. This guy was such a stereotypical mad scientist to look at and listen to but he was really good too.

 

[Judge]

When I think of such a thing regarding actor Dwight Schultz, it's not "Howling Mad" Murdock from "The A Team", but rather Reginald Barkley from Star Trek: TNG.

"The authors reviewed each episode that involved Barclay within the Star Trek universe. The analysis revealed several impairments that are consistent with what the American Psychological Association (2013) Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (5th ed: DSM-5) considers to be part of an autism spectrum disorder (ASD). According to the DSM-5, ASD is a combination of deficits, including a “reduced sharing of interests [. . .] maintaining and understanding relationships” (APA, 2013, p. 50). Further these “Symptoms cause clinically significant impairment in social occupational or other important areas of current functioning” (APA, 2013, p. 50). The analyses of Barclay’s development revealed that he has elements of social phobia, hypochondria, transporter phobia, holodeck addiction, and anxiety disorder. Some of these characteristics can be seen as a 24th-century version of ASD."

Cognitive differences in Star Trek: the case and evolution of Reginald Barclay

 

[Jumpinbare]

I was a bit of a nerd. This guy was such a stereotypical mad scientist to look at and listen to but he was really good too.

Let's be politically correct - he was an angry researcher, not mad scientist.

I was an ubernerd. I would probably loved that guy

 

[Outdated]

Let's be politically correct - he was an angry researcher, not mad scientist.

I was an ubernerd. I would probably loved that guy

He was a Californian but he spent the majority of his later life living and working in Australia.

 

[NB79]

I liked this series, i loved when they were cornered in some garage and invented some stuff to escape lol.

 

[FayetheAspie]

@NB79 Who was your favorite character? Also favorite episode?

 

[Judge]

When I think of "mad scientists" all I can do is grin and think of Dr. Emmett Brown.

Inventor of the renown "flux capacitor".

 

[NB79]

@NB79 Who was your favorite character? Also favorite episode?

I don't remember the episodes much, except that cars were always flipping lol, and maybe some helicopter, i remember Mr T had fear of flying, and the bad guys seemed to always survive getting shot at,
I liked Hannibal and Mr T the most. And the black van.
Murdock was the pilot right?
The main music theme is good too.

 

[FayetheAspie]

I liked H.M. Murdock. He seemed oddly relatable in some ways even if sometimes a little too over the top at other times. One of the more relatable episodes was the two part When You Comin' Back Range Rider? I should perhaps specify that pretending to have a horse before he did and then talking to the one he got to ride later are what I find so relatable.

 

[FayetheAspie]

I saw it a few times when I was a kid, didn't think a great deal of it but watched it because there was nothing much else on. Anything was better than more Elvis movies, I think all our TV stations bought them cheap on special or something.

My favourite TV hero was Professor Julius Sumner Miller, I was a bit of a nerd. This guy was such a stereotypical mad scientist to look at and listen to but he was really good too.

Is that a series? Looks interesting. I remember making scientific discoveries as a child during summer break or something only to learn the next school year or so that someone else had already made the discovery years and years ago.

 

[Angular Chap]

I loved the A-team. I have the ultimate collection box set, the one in the wooden ammo box.

I found Hannibal the most relatable character, the sense of humor, the wisecracks, the unorthodox way of thinking and the outrageous plans he would come up with. I used to say "I love it when a plan comes together" a lot.

As for my favorite episode? Too many to name!

 

[Forest Cat]

 

[FayetheAspie]

 

[Judge]

I liked H.M. Murdock. He seemed oddly relatable in some ways even if sometimes a little too over the top at other times. One of the more relatable episodes was the two part When You Comin' Back Range Rider? I should perhaps specify that pretending to have a horse before he did and then talking to the one he got to ride later are what I find so relatable.

Stands to reason considering another entirely different production "coopted" not only the actor, but the character he did so well.

On a sidenote it also amused me that he was cast as Manhattan Project scientist and leader, Robert Oppenheimer. A much less "tongue-in-cheek" real life character, yet he still manage to preserve something different about him in different ways.

I see Dwight Schulz as an underrated actor.

 

[FayetheAspie]

@Judge What are you referring to about another production coopting the actor and the character?

 

[Judge]

@Judge What are you referring to about another production coopting the actor and the character?

Star Trek TNG. Which began the same year The A team ended.

You're not familiar with Reg Barclay?

Reginald Barclay

 

[FayetheAspie]

I never watched many outer space type shows. I heard that Dwight was on one of them, but did not know that the character was anything like his role on the A-team.

 

[Judge]

I never watched many outer space type shows. I heard that Dwight was on one of them, but did not know that the character was anything like his role on the A-team.

Love him or hate him, you just might be surprised watching Dwight play a somewhat similar character on a very different type of show. There's a lot out there when it comes to connecting autism to Reg Barclay...whether one agrees or disagrees with it.