Teamwork

This week we're going to take a look at TV shows of bygone eras that gained the dubious honor of being ripped off -- pardon me, "rebooted" -- into  feature films.

The quality of -- and intentions behind -- these reboots is variable. Some are intentional spoofs. Some are sincere homages.  But even the most ridiculous show can always serve as a bad example. 

The latest "reboot" is the new A Team flick.  I hear it is a hit among 12-year-old boys, and I see it is a washout among reviewers. The original show probably hit the same demographic, though it did stay on for five seasons.

In short, the show features a group of ex-United States Army Special Forces turned soldiers of fortune while running from the military after being branded as war criminals for a "crime they didn't commit". Their leader is Colonel John "Hannibal" Smith, whose plans generally involve some form of theft, lots of guns and more explosions. Yet nobody ever seems to die, or wind up maimed. Gotta love that. Lieutenant Templeton "Faceman" Peck is a smooth-talking con man, the pilot is Captain H.M. "Howling Mad" Murdock and the strong man and mechanic is Sergeant Bosco Albert B.A. "Bad Attitude" Baracus.

Watching how the guys work as a team is not as interesting as watching the car chases, fistfights and explosions, but it is a different take on the usual management relationship. While there is a leader, all the players are there voluntarily and operate on an equal footing.

Even the crazy guy gets a full and fair hearing. Of course, his crazy has some logic behind it, which helps.  Hannibal shows a good managerial trick here -- finding something useful where nobody else would bother to look. It's a different coping technique from Baracus:

There is a debate to be had whether indulging such behavior is a good idea. But as long as it works for the team, Hannibal is obviously going to let it go. Then again, one might question whether Hannibal is all there, especially when he assumes false identities. The sane members of his team get abused far more, in situations where they can't possibly retaliate.

But as Hannibal demonstrates, when there is mutual respect, a little ribbing and one-upmanship is simply high good humor. Hannibal also realizes that leading a group of volunteers is not the same as running a military operation, and he treats his folks democratically. Everyone gets a vote before they take a case.

And most important, he knows that even when caught offguard, one should keep one's game face on -- and not give anything away.

All in all, The A Team was more a goodhearted romp than a serious examination of interpersonal relationships, but everyone knows that even the best group of friends needs a ringleader, and that the ringleader needs to keep the support of his mates to get anywhere.  Be a good ringleader. Choose good mates.