The A Team....Stunt Team

[efiste2]

Heres a face you will all recognise (on the left), he has been in a few episodes of The A Team.....here he is as a bad guy in "Members Only" other times he has performed the stunts on the show....(im afraid i dont know which ones at the moment)

This guy is Charles Picerni, and he has appeared on all the Universal action shows either as a stunt double or as an extra, shows such as Airwolf,Hulk,Knight Rider,Riptide,Charlies angels,Hunter and he was the Stunt Co-Ordinator on the original STARSKY and HUTCH series....and was Paul Micheal Glaser's Stunt Double for the show.....If any of you guys have the shows on DVD you will see him in most episodes....especially sliding the Torino around........

[efiste2]

Some more caps.......to demonstrate the forces and rough ride the stunt team get when doing the fantastic stunts on the show.......I dont know who it is, and maybe you guys could tell me, but this chap gets really thrown about , as they all do in these stunning jeep turnovers....., I bet this guy was real sore for a few days after this one!!!

[sidney]

Oh my gosh! That looks SO dangerous!

[efiste2]

Heres Charles Picerni again in "There Goes the Neighbourhood".........

[amyk]

You are a wealth of information...This is so cool! And I just assumed it was always dummies or nobody in those jeeps when they are going through that severe of action. I did not know a real person would actually be in there!

[efiste2]

No dummies in most of the jeep rolls they are real stuntmen, apart from a passenger dummy, I dont know exactly, but the stuntman seems to have some sort of back brace/metal plate fixed to the cage/jeep or even the seat, that his harness is fastned too, He also wears a Hutchens device thats similar to what racecar drivers use called a HANS device (head and neck restraint), this limits the drivers head/neck movements to the same as the body (more or less as you still see them sway from side to side!!) and reduces the chance of serious neck injuries.......he will also have a mouthpiece to protect his teeth gums and tounge, obviousley a helmet and definatley shin and knee guards......even with all these they stuntmen get really thrown about and even though (in most cases) walk or limp away, they will have whiplash and be very stiff in the morning....Im sure you have worked out that only the fully roll caged Jeeps get rolled.

........please dont think im in any way im an expert I only know this stuff from what i picked from the guys on the Dukes stunt team......I just like to share what I know with other stunt fans....because thats the way I learnt it.....

[amyk]

Well....no, I actually had never worked it out that only the fully caged jeeps get rolled, and I don't even know that I could have told you there were different kinds of jeeps in the show. So comparatively speaking (compared to me), you are a stunt and stuntman genius! I wish we could get one of the stuntment to come on here and give us some info or something. I really would also just like to appreciate all their hard work. I really did not know that real live human beings would be in these cars so much. I guess I thought somehow it was all set up with remote controls or something. (Don't ask me how I would think that would work, but I can hardly believe that people actually do these kinds of stunts and survive or at least don't have severe injuries every time, even with the protective gear.)

[efiste2]

A lot of big CAR JUMPS now are driverless, they are catapulted of a ramp...sorry to keep mentioning the DUKES but the in the MOVIE the bigger jumps are all catapulted and driverless......there is actually a catapulted car jump in the A team, I cant remember the episode but its a car that jumps into the water, and the bonnet comeas off, the undershield comes off so you can see clearly ther is NO engine in it.....

[amyk]

So are you saying that in the LABOR PAINS jump (Topeko Pass), there was really a driver in that van? Did they really jump what it looks like they jumped in the show, or was it not really such a jump that looks so dangerous? (if you know)

[efiste2]

Camera angles make it hard to appreciate how long the jumps are, they often cut to a further back camera so it makes the jump look way longer than it was........im 99% sure that there was a driver in Labor pains, and I have heard Henry Kingi was the driver....... also you can see the van during its run-up. Catapulted cars are mounted on a rail and have a very short run up because its powered by highly compressed air (i think) in the BODYSLAM Van jump you can see the driver........

[thatkliqkid]

Thought you might appreciate this scan I did today:

i1171.photobucket.com/albums/r554/DSchultzgallery/Magazine%20scans/A%20Team%20scrapbook%20pages/TVtimesarticle-1.jpg

[efiste2]

Great info thanks, never heard of seats being sprung before, you learn something every day dont you!!!......The Early DUKES stunt men sat on rubber rings to absorb some of the impact, but it really did knowck them about. Later on in the Dukes seasons they developed what is used industry wide these days called a JUMP VEST, where the driver doesnt actually sit on a seat, he is suspended by bungee chord from the rollbar......which stops the spine compressing as much. hence the younger members of the stunt team, have much less metal in their bodies.......Allan Wyatt Jnr who drove the General Lee most during the series was held together with metal plates in his knees and back......Sadly he passed away earlier this year :-(.............

[sidney]

efiste2, Dwight Schultz references the stunt team in his answer to me for the Virtual Q&A. The answer begins more than half-way through (my first questions was about Melinda Culea).

[efiste2]

Its great to know that they regarded Craig as one of the best........which he was. Thats a great clip thanks so much for sharing, sounds like Melinda Culea was a pain!!!

[sidney]

To be fair though, George and T sounded like pains quite often too.