___ ____ ___ ___ _ ___ ___ / / / \ / / /__ / /__ / /__\ / / /__/ / \/ / / / /___ /__/ / \ /___ /___ The totally unofficial A-Team electronic mail newsletter ***** Now in it's second year of publication !! ***** Reflector submission address: onthejazz Administrivia: Nicole Pellegrini Please use the following address for subscribe/unsubscribe and back issue requests: pellegri *NOTE* It is now possible to subscribe JUST to the newsletter and not receive messages sent out through the reflector. If you wish to change your subscription type, just email address above. The A-Team Homepage: http://www.seas.upenn.edu/~pellegri/ateam.html **Recently ranked in the Top 5% Of All Web Pages by Point Communications!** The A-Team On the Web: http://www.xs4all.nl/~jmm/a-team/ --------------------------------------------------------------- DATE: January 28, 1996 ISSUE: 9 VOLUME: 2 --------------------------------------------------------------- Hey all, Well, looks like this issue is going out on time this week (for once!) Let's see if I can remember everything that needs mentioning. ADMINISTRIVIA & ANNOUNCEMENTS: As mentioned earlier this week on the reflector, the two sets of A-Team trading cards have been sold and the Mr. T flyer has been claimed. So, no more offers for either, please! I'm temporarily putting a halt to doing anymore A-Team tape dubbing from my collection - except, of course, people who I have already made agreements with recently to tape stuff. I'm just too flooded with requests at the moment to keep up, folks, and I know there are other people here who have stated they will do dubbing as well. So, if you need tapes, ask the mailing list, not me! No further news on Dirk's movie yet, but while cruising the net I did find for sale an exercise video(!) on sale featuring Dirk which I'd never seen mention of before. You can check out the URL http://netcenter.com/netcentr/mall/videos/fitness.html for more information on it, including how to order it. PLANS SCAMS & VANS 2: FINAL ABSOLUTE SUBMISSION DEADLINE IS SET If you've been thinking/planning on contributing something to the 2nd issue of this fanzine, take note that the absolute last day I will accept new submissions is hereby announced as February 27th. Why that date? Long explaination, suffice to say that I've made arrangements for the 'zine to premiere and be on sale at MediaWest Con this year and will need enough time to get it edited, printed, etc. before then! Remember, just about anything goes: while the zine is mostly fiction it would be nice to have an info-article or two, some poetry, artwork, whatever. So long as it's about the A-Team. And in response to a number of inquiries this past week, yes, there are still copies of Issue 1 available and I may be preparing for a 2nd printing soon, so you can still get a copy from me if you wish. THE GOSSIP & SPECULATION DEPARTMENT Heard something interesting this weekend at the Star Trek Creation (aka "Cremation") Con in Valley Forge. Andrew Robinson, who plays Garak on ST:DS9 (and who also played the bad-guy in the very first "Dirty Harry" movie) was on stage giving a talk, mainly about his experiences in the industry before Trek. At one point he mentioned having an "absolutely terrible" experience in the 80s regarding a certain TV show that so turned him off the industry that he didn't do anything but theater work for 4 or 5 years afterwards. Why am I mentioning this? Because the show was "The A-Team"! Now, I've been racking my brain since then and can't remember him ever guest-starring on the show...however, I *did* remember even if rather vaguely something Dwight said at ShoreLeave last year, about how there was "another actor" who almost got the part of Murdock instead of him. Putting one and one together...well, it seems like the two things might be linked, though mind you this is just speculation on my part. I was sorely tempted to ask Andrew to elaborate a bit but it seemed like such a sore spot with him still that I thought better of it... --------------------------------------------------------------- Finally this issue, the conclusion of the article "Secret Master of the Holodeck" from Starlog, Jan 1996, by Stuart Banks STARLOG: If you ever directed, what would you like to do? DS: Well, I *have* directed, but only in the theater. I love directing. But I'm not a director in the sense that most people would assume. I have a passion for doing *one* thing. Or two things, you know. Some people want to direct all the time. They want to go from project to project. I don't. I just have ideas about doing certain things. And I want to do that. For instance, right now, I want to write a play. That's what I want to do. I've been thinking, I've had an idea for a three-character play, for about 10 years. In terms of directing, I have an idea for a film. It's a futuristic science-fiction piece, but more of a sociological drama. If I write that, that's the type of thing I would like to direct. I don't want to direct television, althoug I admire people who do it. STARLOG: Several 'Star Trek' actors have directed episodes. DS: Yes, and they love it. It's a great training ground. But it's not my forte. You have to have an awful lot of patience. STARLOG: What other projects are you currently involved in? DS: I'm not doing anything right now. I do a regular Saturday night radio program on UFOs with the man who actually started the show, Don Ecker. Don's wife, Vicky Cooper, is the editor of 'UFO Magazine.' STARLOG: Do you find that SF literature has become too dogmatic in its approach, in going for issues such as personal conflicts and emotionaly stories as opposed to purely action-related stories, such as 'Star Wars'? DS: Well, that's what *real* science fiction is about. Our predicament. In fact, I *don't* consider 'Star Wars' science fiction. It's more in line with fairy tales. I consider 'Invasion of the Body Snatchers' science fiction/horror. There has to be a very important element as to how this technological change affects the human being. 'Demon Seed' is another - living with the computer and being inseminated by a computer. When we are the center focus, then it becomes interesting to me. STARLOG: Do you think that the media portrays you in a good light considering how some of those in public view are portrayed? DS: Well, yes. Because the media *doesn't* portray me very much. I don't have a publicist. I don't seek publicity. I like to do the roles, but I don't want to be on magazine covers. I don't necessarily want to be recognized. STARLOG: Do you think that playing the same role for any length of time can be restrictive to an actor? DS: Here's where I'm a little crafty. When I did 'The A-Team,' I did it, knowing each week I would be something different, even though I was always Murdock. When we talked about Barclay, you know, the whole concept of him on the Holodeck, was that he could be four different characters, in one room. He could be something different every time. It doesn't stay that same. It's *not* a continuation. So, in a sense, you see, there isn't a typing. I didn't identify myself with Murdock or Barclay. The future lies in your ability to do *other* things. So many actors tie themselves to *one* thing, and it seems right at the moment. But ultimately speaking, you have to let go. I'm almost getting too old to do Barclay, because he's a character who has to change in a different way, or go back, or revert to what he was. You can't look back. I don't. I don't have any pictures upon the wall. If you walk into my house, you would never know I was in show business, except for one letter from Laurence Olivier up on my wall. You see, I have been in the homes of people who were very famous. It's incredibly sad that they've lived their lives on the wall. Actors have ups and downs. Always. There have been a number of actors who have put full page ads in 'Variety,' saying, "Please, somebody hire me." I'm not kidding. John Ireland, a wonderful actor who was in 'Spartacus,' couldn't work for five or six years. I was unemployed for a year back in the 70's. I know how difficult it is. I know other famous actors who've been unemployed for three or four years. Dean Jones. And Dean Stockwell. He hadn't worked for three years, and I remember he was desperate. He was on 'The A-Team' and I couldn't believe he had not worked. And of course, things change, he did 'Blue Velvet,' then his career took off again. That's an actor's career. Very few actors - some, but very few, only the mega-stars - go from role to role, and they have their three or four years soaked up. You can see the actors in Hollywood saying, "I'll never do TV, ever." Take Charleton Heston. He said the same thing. But when he wasn't getting any roles, what did he do? Television. It's a failure to recognize reality, in a sense, because you're fortunate, so fortunate. There's so much good luck. The right role at the right time and you can work for 10 years. I know an actress who was at Yale one year behind Meryl Streep. She won every award that Meryl won at Yale. She left Yale, went to New York, won an Obie for the first thing she did, and then *never* worked again. Her career died. She's living in New York as a secretary, working once in a while doing a show here or there. She is a remarkable talent, and yet she's dying. For some reason, fortune and she didn't come together. I mean, that's it. STARLOG: Because you've worked within SF-TV, are you looked down on by those within the acting profession? DS: Well, you know, people look down on me because I was in 'The A-Team.' But then, there are people who loveme because I was in 'The A-Team.' Whatever you do, whether it's burlesque, George Bernard Shaw or Shakespeare, you do it the best you can. People are going to look down at you whatever you do. I was absolutely thrilled to do 'Star Trek.' Look at what has happened to Patrick Stewart's career since 'The Next Generation.' He can do anything he wants. Now, people may say they look down on him. Do you think they really look down on him? And do you know how many actors would like to *be* Patrick Stewart? Give them a break, and you'll hear a lot of people knocking him, because they're jealous. Me? Doing 'Star Trek' was one of the happiest moments of my life. --------------------------------------------------------------- Well, that pretty much wraps things up for this issue. Next time, the return of some more original A-Team fiction. Michele Lellouche has given me the OK to reprint her absolutely wonderful story, "Shadows in the Rain." Until then! nicole --------------------------------------------------------------- Quote of the week: FACE:Why is it I'm always the one who has to stick his head in the lion's mouth? HANNIBAL:It's your personality. --------------------------------------------------------------- This waste of bandwidth has been brought to you by Sockii http://www.seas.upenn.edu/~pellegri/home.html -------------------------------------------------------------- The \/ "After talking with Agent Mulder here I suddenly /\ Files feel slightly constipated."