Though perfect in his breakout role in 'District 9,' it seems Sharlto Copley was born to play "Howling Mad Murdock" in the new 'The A-Team.'

As the South African explained on 'Lopez Tonight' (weeknights, 11PM ET on TBS), the actor established an 'A-Team' gang when he was 11 years old. When a rival A-Team band of kids started up, the two gangs had "war on the field" after school.

"We had a fight, and my gang won," said Copley, who fought the other team's Murdock with a stick. Copley even had a birthday cake that proved his fandom -- and confirmed the political and cultural importance of Mr. T. "That [was] a black iconic character in apartheid-era South Africa. That was the power of Mr. T to cross cultural, racial barriers."

This week is probably the best date week to see a movie. If you're gearing up to take your hot date to see 'The A-Team' this week, why not impress him/her by imparting some crazy relevant pop culture history?

As of today, you'll be able to brush up on what I like to call, "Everything you need to know about the 'A-Team' beyond Mr. T" by watching the entire original series on DVD.

As for other great titles coming out today include 'iCarly' and 'Ice Road Truckers' Season 3 -- which technically wasn't really on an ice road.

You've been waiting for this your whole life, and it has finally happened: someone has mashed together the opening narration and music from The A-Team with scenes from the Star Wars movies. I love stuff like this. I want someone to put the theme to The Simpsons on to scenes from The Wire.

[via Boing Boing]

The upcoming A-Team movie has released its first cast photo (a larger version can be seen here), and I'll give credit where credit is due. Not only has Fox cast the movie perfectly, but they've gone out of their way to make the cast look like their 80's television equivalents. Okay, Rampage Jackson isn't wearing gold chains, but that's about it.

They even made Liam Neeson look like George Peppard. How cool is that? And of course that's the classic van in the background. Even if this movie ends up being a mindless action flick, then it's still following in the footsteps of its originator and will likely make $100 million that weekend.

I just wonder if anybody is actually going to be shot and killed in the movie. It never seemed to happen during the television show. More importantly, will any of the original cast members make a cameo?

The "Cash For Clunkers" program ends tonight at 8PM, which is probably a good thing because we won't have to hear the term "Cash For Clunkers" anymore. But what about TV cars? Which famous television autos are in such bad shape they should be traded in? TV Tango has a fun list that includes the Beverly Hillbillies car and Columbo's old Peugeot.

It's a clever list, and includes the new vanity plates each car would have.

-- Are you itching to find out what happens on the season finales of 'The Hills,' 'Gossip Girl' and other hot shows? (Spoiler alert: Blair Waldorf Graduates!) Get the cheat sheet [NY Times]

-- Ryan Seacrest is teaming up with chef Jamie Oliver for a new ABC series -- and no, it's not a remake of 'The Odd Couple' [Hollywood Reporter]

-- Spencer Pratt can now call himself a rapper -- or "The Great White," as he prefers. Hear his new single [RyanSeacrest.com]

If you're really into watching classic TV on the web, like AOL's fare at In2TV, you're going to be thrilled to hear that NBC today unfurled a line-up of oldies-but-goodies to stream on their entertainment sites -- NBC.com, SCIFI.com, ChillerTV.com and SleuthChannel.com. NBC is providing full episodes, people, streaming and waiting to be viewed, beginning this month. It's quite a variety of shows too (including some crossovers from one site to the other). "These are the kinds of titles we get requests for all the time at the network, and now we're able to give our viewers a new way to watch their favorite classic shows and share them with their friends," said Craig Engler, Senior Vice President, SCIFI.com.

The following post is for those out there who believe that the United States is home to a wasteful population.

This April, Migbiz Entertainment will be releasing a new comic book based on former A-Team and Rocky III star Mr. T. This, ladies and gentlemen, goes to show you that here in the good ol' U.S. of A. we recycle EVERYTHING!

This is not the Mr. T you remember from the cartoon series where he trained a group of gymnasts who helped solve crimes (You remember that, don't you?). No, this is the Mr. T who captures the bad guys and beats the snot out of them (can you really beat snot out of people? Gosh, that would sure beat blowing your nose all of the time!). In the first issue of the series we find 'T' chasing an escaped convict who is freed after the destruction of Hurricane Katrina. I am sure that throughout the issue we will here him say 'I pity the fool' or 'Sucka' or any one of his other gramatically incorrect statements.

Good luck, Mr. T, and a 'Hey, Fool!' to all of us.

 

Every Tuesday here on TV Squad , we will highlight the week's TV-on-DVD releases. Some noteworthy releases today, January 31, 2006:

• All-American Girl - Complete Series
• Archie Bunker's Place - The Complete 1st Season
• The A-Team - Season 3
• The Benny Hill Show - Benny Hill, Complete And Unadulterated: The Hill's Angels Years - Set 4
• Dark Shadows - DVD Collection 22
• Diff'rent Strokes - The Complete 2nd Season
• Gastineau Girls - The Complete 1st Season
• Here Comes the Grump - Here Comes The Grump
• Hetty Wainthropp Investigates - The Complete 3rd Series
• Hill Street Blues - The Complete 1st Season
• Inked - The Best of Season 1
• Knight Rider - Season 3
• Magnum, P.I. - The Complete 3rd Season
• MI-5 - Volume 3
• The Pink Panther Show - Classic Cartoon Collection
• The Rat Patrol - The Complete 1st Season
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - Volume 20: Turtles Against H.A.T.E.
• Two's Company - Series 4
• The X-Files - Season 1 (New); Season 2 (New); Season 3 (New)

A British television series, called Bring Back The..., has managed to reunite one of the greatest teams of 80's supersleuths: The A-Team. The reunion special will air on Channel 4 in Britain sometime next year, and reunite Mr. T (B.A. Baracus), Dirk Benedict (Faceman) and Dwight Schultz (Howling Mad Murdoch). Unfortunately, the great George Peppard passed away in 1994, so obviously Hannibal will only be shown in clips. I can only hope this special somehow makes it over to the newly announced Sleuth cable channel from NBC. Dun dadun dun. Dun dun, dun. I'm too excited to even describe, let me know what you think.

[Thanks Dave!]