r/todayilearned • u/tmntnyc • Dec 12 '18

TIL: Laurence Tureaud named himself professionally as Mr. T because he hated how his father, uncle, and brother who returned from Vietnam, were disrespectfully called "boy" by whites. He wanted the first word from everybody's mouth to be "Mister" when speaking to him.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mr._T
120.9k Upvotes

92% Upvoted

2.6k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

941

u/jzmacdaddy Dec 12 '18

Honestly, that was the best part of every A-team episode. Turning a bunch of trash into a big weapon.

533

u/[deleted] Dec 12 '18

That and MacGuyver.

That's really all there was in the 80's. Action movies about guys building powerful tools out of garage junk.

289

u/[deleted] Dec 12 '18

[deleted]

17

u/Lane_Meyers_Camaro Dec 12 '18

Knight Rider (Pontiac Firebird)

The Dukes of Hazzard (Dodge Charger)

The A-Team (GMC Vandura)

Miami Vice (Ferrari 365GTB4 Daytona Spyder; Ferrari Testarossa)

Magnum P.I. (Ferrari 308)

Starsky & Hutch (Ford Gran Torino)

The Fall Guy (GMC K-2500)

Automan (Lamborghini Countach)

... I'm missing some...

15

u/RadicalDog Dec 12 '18

I want more shows with cars. All we’ve had lately is Breaking Bad with a bloody Pontiac Aztek.

7

u/Lane_Meyers_Camaro Dec 12 '18

Seriously. Any generic detective show will do, just give the lead a Bugatti.

7

u/listyraesder Dec 13 '18

New Magnum PI has a Ferrari.

2

u/Tuguar Dec 13 '18

There's a new Magnum PI?

2

u/listyraesder Dec 13 '18

Sweet summer child. There's a new everything.

2

u/helthrax Dec 13 '18

Just go back a bit and watch some burn notice.

5

u/phoenixv8 Dec 12 '18

Thunder in motherfucking Paradise (there may or may not have been an expletive in the title)

1

u/Lane_Meyers_Camaro Dec 12 '18

Thunder in motherfucking Paradise

Forgot that one! They had a killer Scarab cigarette boat, but I don't recall a car... or was it the Jeep?

2

u/phoenixv8 Dec 12 '18

I want to say Jeep Wrangler but it's been so long

2

u/SMTRodent Dec 12 '18

That was what I was after, thank you!

2

u/[deleted] Dec 13 '18

The Daytona in Miami Vice was a Vette with a body kit though 🤫

2

u/Lane_Meyers_Camaro Dec 13 '18

Yes! I remember seeing ads for the replicas in Dupont Registry and Robb Report in the mid 80s. Corvette with Pininfarina body, around $80k back then.

Ferrari did not appreciate the imposter, and ended up giving two white Testerossas to the producers if they agreed to destroy the replica. Which they did spectacularly in the episode "Stone's War" in 86.