The A-Team
Without Reservations
TV Flash files “Without Reservations” as a desk essential hour — The A-Team (1983–1987) on NBC, season 5, episode 13, aired 1987-03-08, 60 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S05E13: listed hour 98 of 98 in the The A-Team guide, last listed hour of season 5. It aired 1987-03-08 (60 min). The listed hour before it is “The Grey Team” (S05E12). No later hour is listed in this guide.
Essential hour: “Without Reservations”. Without Reservations is the closer's shrug: five seasons of bloodless mayhem, no prestige pretension, pity the fool who skipped the theme.
Catalog log
Broadcast listing — not a TV Flash recap.
Just back from a mission, The A-Team insists Stockwell gives them two weeks off. Murdock invites the guys to the restaurant he waits tables at, Villa Cucina in Washington D.C. Face and Frankie accept, but Hannibal and B.A. would rather watch Monday Night Football. The guys notice a trio of mobsters carrying guns. When they try to disarm them, Faceman gets shot. The crooks decide to take everyone hostage and wait until their real target, attorney general Liebster, arrives.
Viewer FAQ
Where does Without Reservations sit in the The A-Team guide?
S05E13 is listed hour 98 of 98 — last listed hour of season 5, season 5 episode 13.
When did The A-Team S05E13 air?
Without Reservations aired 1987-03-08 and is listed at 60 minutes.
Is the violence actually violent?
Mostly cartoon. Scrap-built vehicles, explosions, and bad guys who go down without much blood — action as toy commercial, which is the Cannell joke and the appeal.
In the series
Why this series still plays
Peak 1980s action cheese with immortal casting — Mr. T alone is a cultural weather event. Peppard's Hannibal, Benedict's Faceman, Schultz's Murdock: wrongfully accused commandos, scrap-built tanks, bloodless mayhem. I love it when a plan comes together. Formulaic in the best popcorn way; pity the fool who missed the theme.
I love it when a plan comes together — still managerial cosplay language, still a group-chat greeting. (I said spoiler-free. The plan is the formula; the formula is the point.) NBC's The A-Team (1983–1987) sent a crack commando unit into Friday-night cheese: George Peppard's Hannibal, Mr. T's B.A. Baracus, Dirk Benedict's Faceman, Dwight Schultz's Howling Mad Murdock. Wrongfully accused, on the run, building tanks out of scrap, never quite killing the bad guys on camera. Lana can keep the gown. This carpet is…
Filed against
- George Peppard as John "Hannibal" Smith
George Peppard's John "Hannibal" Smith made The A-Team's plan come together — 1980s action cheese with immortal casting, wrongfully accused commandos, scrap-built tanks, bloodless mayhem. Mr. T as a weather event; Peppard as the cigar…
- Mr. T as B.A. Baracus
Mr. T’s B.A. Baracus made The A-Team a cultural weather event in gold chains — peak 1980s action cheese, Peppard’s Hannibal, Benedict’s Faceman, Schultz’s Murdock, wrongfully accused commandos, scrap-built tanks, bloodless mayhem. I love…
- Dirk Benedict as Templeton "Faceman" Peck
Dirk Benedict’s Lt. Starbuck put a gambler’s grin on Battlestar Galactica, then The A-Team recast the charm as Faceman — 1980s action cheese with a con man’s polish. Two decades of handsome problem-solving, cigars optional. TV Flash files…
- Dwight Schultz as H.M. "Howling Mad" Murdock
Dwight Schultz made H.M. "Howling Mad" Murdock the wild card on The A-Team — scrap-built tanks, bloodless mayhem, and 1980s action cheese with immortal casting. Hannibal loved it when a plan came together; Schultz made the plan sound…