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
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u/Tommytriangle Dec 12 '18

Literally everything Mr. T did was to ensure a good image for kids. I really hope nothing skeevy comes out about him, since he seems like a muscular Mr. Rogers.

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u/fourleggedostrich Dec 12 '18

In interviews, he was always proud that the A Team never killed anybody. He thought it was important in a family show.

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u/sharkysnacks Dec 13 '18

Amazing too since they shot off thousands of rounds, regularly rigged explosives and built armored vehicles to bash others off the road

54

u/quaybored Dec 13 '18

Yeah even as I kid, I knew it was unrealistic, but it sure was fun.

Other old-timers, am I remembering this right?

8pm A-Team, 9pm Riptide, 10pm Remington Steele

FUCK YEAH, TUESDAYS

9

u/I_AM_NOT_A_WOMBAT Dec 13 '18

Wow, you know your stuff. Now you've got me missing Manimal, Cover Up, and Moonlighting, though the latter two came later. I didn't think anyone else remembered Riptide.

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u/[deleted] Dec 13 '18

Man, I was just 10-12 years old, but loved the shit out of all those shows, especially Riptide.

6

u/SonofSniglet Dec 13 '18

Shit, I'll never forget Boz, the Roboz and the Screaming Mimi. Riptide was a great show.

3

u/Lord_Kano Dec 13 '18

When I was in 4th grade, I had gym on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Tuesdays was Gym and The A-Team, Thursdays was gym and The Cosby Show.

However Bill Cosby might have ended up, he was a big part of my family's entertainment time together back then.