Editing The A-Team (section)

==On-screen violence==
The violence presented in ''The A-Team'' is highly sanitized. People do not have visible wounds and blood though they might have a limp and sling, nor does the A-Team kill people. The results of violence are only ever presented when required for the script. After almost every car crash, there is a brief shot showing the occupants of the vehicle climbing out of the mangled or burning wreck, even in helicopter crashes. However, more of these types of takes were dropped near the end of the fourth season. According to co-creator Stephen J. Cannell, this part of the show became a running joke for the writing staff and they would at times test the limits of believability on purpose.<ref>''[[Bring Back...]] The A-Team'' (UK), Stephen J. Cannell. Broadcast on May 18, 2006.</ref>

The show has been described as cartoonish and likened to ''[[Tom and Jerry]]''.  Dean P. of the ''[[The Advertiser (Australia)|Courier-Mail]]'' described the violence in the show as "hypocritical" and that "the morality of giving the impression that a hail of bullets does no-one any harm is ignored. After all, Tom and Jerry survived all sorts of mayhem for years with no ill-effects."<ref>{{Citation |title= No Mercy To Villains: But Do We Want More? |newspaper= [[The Courier-Mail]]/[[The Advertiser (Adelaide)|The Sunday Mail]] |place= AUS |date= January 8, 1985 |last= Dean |first= P}}</ref> Television reviewer [[Ric Meyers]] joked that the A-Team used "[[neutron bomb|antineutron]] bullets—they destroy property for miles around, but never harm a human being".<ref>[[William L. DeAndrea|DeAndrea, William L.]] (editor). ''Encyclopedia Mysteriosa'', p. 1. MacMillan, 1994, {{ISBN|0-02-861678-2}}.</ref> According to certain estimates, an episode of ''The A-Team'' held up to 46 violent acts. Cannell responded: "They were determined to make a point, and we were too big a target to resist. Cartoon violence is a scapegoat issue."<ref name="EW" /> Originally, ''The A-Team's'' status as a hit show remained strong, but it ultimately lost out to more family-oriented shows such as ''[[The Cosby Show]]'', ''[[Who's the Boss?]]'' and ''[[Growing Pains]]''.<ref name="EW" /> John J. O'Connor of ''[[The New York Times]]'' wrote in a 1986 article that "...a substantial number of viewers, if the ratings in recent months are to be believed, are clearly fed up with mindless violence of the car-chasing, fist-slugging variety".<ref>{{cite news |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A0DEFDD143BF935A25751C0A960948260 |title=TV View; It's Fun And It's Not Violent |work= The New York Times |first= John J |last= O'Connor |date= February 16, 1986 |access-date=August 17, 2007}}</ref>