Shaun
Host
00:00
This is Off To Off Topic, a show where two men with the attention spans of a squirrel try and fail to stay on topic with today's subject. Where will their oral meanderings take us? Well, stick around and listen, because today's Off To Off Topic topic is…. Today, we will be talking about Bouncer, bodyguard, actor and Rapper, mr T. He's a subject I picked because he is one of the most iconic stars to us Gen Xers, a man who appeared in nearly every form of media available in the 1980s. Nate, how much do you know about Mr T? Anything you want to go over before we talk about him today?
Nate
Host
00:34
Basically, I know him from, of course, a-team and I know him from Rocky 3. And then, of course, the first thing I think about Mr T was just totally stupid. I think about that cartoon he was in and the cereal, yep, we're actually going to touch on? Those too. Okay, outside of that, mr T, as a cultural face, Yep, that's what he was.
Shaun
Host
00:58
He was just basically the face of the 80s for us, and we will actually get into both the cereal and that cartoon because they have some interesting facts behind them. Yay, yay, indeed. Alright, let's get back into Mr T. Birth name Lawrence Tarot. He was born in the projects on the south side of Chicago, may 21st 1952, and was the youngest son in a family of 12 with 4 sisters and 7 brothers. Right, not having any money to speak of, they lived in a 3 room apartment and often slept 3 to 2 bed due to the cramped living conditions they had. Now, when Lawrence was 5, his father said see ya, and headed out for the proverbial pack of smokes that never came back or made any further contact with him. This left more bed space, but also left his mother to raise all 12 kids by herself with a paltry $87 a month welfare check.
Nate
Host
01:47
That's just messed up. I mean both welfare check and him just taking off like that.
Shaun
Host
01:51
but I don't know, I don't know where I was going with that. You could be the bright side. I mean, he might have been a raging alcoholic who went on to beat every person he encountered the rest of his life.
Nate
Host
02:01
So maybe he left people. Mr T could have been, or.
Shaun
Host
02:05
Oh no, Mr T's dad.
Nate
Host
02:06
Yeah, I mean, I guess there's always like, well, he could have been a murderer.
Shaun
Host
02:10
He could have been, because, I mean, mr T's dad never shows up and he's never talked about by Mr T after this. So even after he made it big the guy never connected the dots like oh hey, you know that Nope never came back in, and I don't even know his dad's name. I mean Mr T literally never talks about him, outside of the fact he just took a hike when he was 5.
Nate
Host
02:28
Yeah, it could have been like Coco. You remember that movie Coco? I never saw the movie Coco explain. Oh, just the same thing where, like, the husband left for music and was never seen again and so the continuing generations hated music because, you know, music is stolen away. But come to find out it was murdered.
02:50
And so, yeah, I'm just basically a long way of saying he could be dead because, again, I assumed so, purely based on the fact that he didn't. You know, I'm assuming a piece of shit like that would not pass up their opportunity to try to take advantage of a son. You know, that's where my assumptions come in. Something bad must have happened to him. Now he was still a piece of shit. I'm not saying, oh, what if he was actually legitimately would have smoked Yo-Kil. I'm not saying that I think he was a piece of shit. He took off. I would just say, like it surprises me that that same guy would I've realized I'm saying piece of shit a lot that same guy would just like, oh, look, that guy I left a long time ago is now super rich and famous. I'm not going to get mine. I have too much pride to try to lower myself after abandoning my family.
Shaun
Host
03:37
It's funny to bring this up because there might actually be a pretty decent reason. He never got in touch with Mr T again, and it might have been because of something Mr T did. We'll go into that in just a few. Actually, I'm glad you brought this up.
Nate
Host
03:49
Yes, so that carries the implication of Mr T's got blood in his hands.
Shaun
Host
03:56
Actually there is a quote by him somewhere along the way that's kind of along those lines, but it has nothing to do with his father. Okay, so $87 a month of welfare check to raise 12 people, that's not much money going around. Probably a lot of cheese, sandwiches and other pancakes for breakfast and this and that Really cheap food. You know how that kind of stuff goes. Totally Okay.
04:21
His mother's dedication and working herself to the bone for her family did not go unnoticed by Lawrence, who did odd jobs as a child to help out, washing windows and doing chores for the neighbors and basically doing as much as he could, bringing in some extra money here and there to help out. Because, seeing his mom work herself ragged for the family, lawrence, as a young man, made a promise to himself Soon as he made a big and got somebody, she was going to live on easy street and he was going to make sure that he's going to buy everything she needed and basically like hey, mom, you took care of me, now's my time to take care of you, and this was a promise that you know a lot of people in this position I'm sure made. But young Lawrence, he would actually achieve this goal, unlike many of these people. Boy howdy, excuse me, boy howdy.
05:02
Boy, howdy Boy howdy Boy, howdy he did. He had always been very close to his mother. He called her every day on the phone, even when he is in his most famous days, all the way through his life, called her every day, talked about her every chance he couldn't interviews for movies, it doesn't matter the movie or the cartoon or the show. Whatever he's doing, he'd always try to drop his mom how much he loved her little blurb. And even in his WWE Hall of Fame acceptance speech he brought up his mom and how much he loved her and how big of an influence it was. And he's totally unashamed of his love for his mother and he's quoted as saying he's absolutely a mama's boy, but he's not a wimp. Can't really argue that topic. I was laughing.
Nate
Host
05:38
At the very end of coitus he's like, stands up and like oh my mother.
Shaun
Host
05:43
It wasn't just a tagline, he was really into his mom. It sounds weird when I say it that way.
Nate
Host
05:49
Yeah, it sounds like it was a joke.
Shaun
Host
05:54
And as a side note, this is probably smart of Mr T as much as he talked about her, never brought up her name, because I cannot find her name anywhere or anything about her other than just you know she was Mr T's mom, it's kind of sus oh yeah, I had a mom, not you know a tube, you know signs lab.
Nate
Host
06:14
I'm not a plant here, from plants, you know.
Shaun
Host
06:19
Okay, back in the day, mr T actually escaped from a lab where there's just an entire like a warehouse just full of tubes filled with various Mr T's and various sizes. We got giant T, mini T, middle T and here's Mr T. So it would be actually kind of cool have just a whole army of Mr T's wandering around. I don't know what you do with them, but yeah.
Nate
Host
06:40
What would you do with them? To what end?
Shaun
Host
06:42
Yeah, I mean you could have an interesting choir, I guess. I mean I guess you could hunt fools.
06:51
Yeah yeah, you could have a lot of pity for fools, the big old fool pity party. Also because his mother, he grew up very devout Christian and stayed that way entire life. As entire life. He's done a lot of cherry work for churches and he also crudges religion to keeping him away from drugs and alcohol his whole life as well, which, far as I can tell, I don't think he really was ever into drugs or alcohol. I saw a couple pictures of him holding like a booze bottle in his hand, but it was more like he was posing for pictures in a bar and whatnot. So, hmm, maybe he does actually have a sober life.
Nate
Host
07:23
I mean, yeah sure, I mean I definitely know he turned to a preacher at some point.
Shaun
Host
07:27
Yep, pretty much all he does nowadays too is just do preaching and charity work for churches. Well, his mother was incredibly supportive and loving of him and his siblings. Kind of the family home. Not much positivity. Growing up you remember him and his family always being talked down to and disrespected, being told the usual things you can imagine. The pores of the ghettos, hearing You're never going to amount to anything. You're poor because you deserve it. You're all just lazy. You know the usual things. We're kind of just talking about that in the pre-show talk a little bit Indeed. And the poor ghettos. Though, of all the insults, one thing really stuck in his crown he hated more than the others. He really, really disliked being called boy, as was the insult of the time. Remember when you did a little typically stereotypical Southern white dude boy. You don't know what you're talking about boy.
Nate
Host
08:13
Come over here, boy, let me learn you, boy, I'm likely flashed in my high school where I told just about the scout, for he was a was a civ teacher and he looked like Foghorn and Lakehorn and even spoke like him and he just I straight up was like I say I say boy like dude, really do you have to be just like him?
Shaun
Host
08:33
He's like boy. You got to understand me. I don't sound like Foghorn Lakehorn. Foghorn Lakehorn sounds like me. I imagine that's how the whole exchange would go there. Oh yeah. I mean there are people that legitimately talk like that. I'm Foghorn. Lakehorn was based off of somebody. Yeah, it wasn't born in a vacuum. Kentucky kernels and the such, but Kentucky kernels, Yep.
Nate
Host
08:57
Which, as before, my mother-in-law actually ran into the kernel before he died. She said he was a dick.
Shaun
Host
09:02
Yeah, I've heard shows and read interviews and stuff. He was not a good man. He tried to kill somebody with a shotgun on one point over a rival chicken place sign or something like that.
Nate
Host
09:13
Oh, wow. And then, of course, his wife had his restaurant, who I actually live. I live very close to. It's, just within a mile, within a mile of the city border, the city I live in. So it's like right there, I can get there in like 15 minutes. And I'm talking about Claudia Sanders and I've gone there before and it was pretty nice. It was like this wooden, large wooden house and you go in.
Shaun
Host
09:36
It was set up very much like Almost kind of like a bed and breakfast sort of thing. Yeah.
Nate
Host
09:41
It almost like a cracker barrel, but not quite. Maybe a little bit lower rent and cracker barrel, but it's still nice. And then it happened to burn down. I'm doing a little bit of Mr Evil, oh, dr Evil. Sorry, he didn't go to seven years of evil medical schools. He called Mr oh, but yeah, he mysteriously burned down and there was just universal raised eyebrow like Ha Burned down.
Shaun
Host
10:08
Just happened to burn down.
Nate
Host
10:10
Especially since like what they built in its place oh yeah, your eyebrows are a little bit higher up. They did not replace it to how it just happened to look. They made mass improvements to that place. It doesn't look anything like it did in the original.
Shaun
Host
10:26
So yeah, it was just to where the fire. The fire starts at like three am on a day. They're not even open, so nobody's been in the restaurant forever.
Nate
Host
10:33
Yeah, it is. It is definitely one of those, so where?
Shaun
Host
10:38
some hobos eating really well for a few nights after the fire. He started Like. I have no proof, but look, allegedly this is how it went down, yeah.
Nate
Host
10:46
Yeah, I have zero proof. But hey, hobo, you want a big old bucket of fried chicken.
Shaun
Host
10:52
I got to ask you to do is go set fire to this place.
Nate
Host
10:55
It was kind of a. It was almost a greed. Your bro's love is kind of looking at each other. It's like the silent nod Like you're okay, we know what happens.
Shaun
Host
11:03
News is kind of like giving you that nod like wait for the new restaurant Right and it'll be nicer. We have it on good authority.
Nate
Host
11:10
I went there once, it was fine. You know, I don't know, I don't expect.
Shaun
Host
11:13
Yeah, we I went there I learned over the years fried chicken can only get so good. Usually tell us just you know kind of fried chicken.
Nate
Host
11:21
But you know, at that point it's a restaurant. You know, because having the thing about having homemade fried chicken, if you know what you're doing, it's like it's unique and like every every time you do it, it takes generally similar but there's little differences, right? But at a restaurant they didn't lovingly put that thing. They got a truckload of chicken and they fried it on. They threw it out there with barely literally.
Shaun
Host
11:44
person is like reading a sheeping, like dump chicken and fire and push button to but this guy, he used to go into fried chicken.
Nate
Host
11:55
I'm sure you've heard the story too. He used to go into a chicken fried chicken, like jump the counter and go back there and tell them how they're doing it wrong. Because, well, because they, you know it's once he sold the name he can tell the Colonel was doing this.
Shaun
Host
12:10
The Colonel was doing Okay, I'm just random dude.
Nate
Host
12:13
I don't know why you're still alive. The Colonel still do this, because what he did was he sold the franchise, but they're, like their recipes, too expensive Like we would. We'd be losing money if we just kept on making chicken with these.
Shaun
Host
12:28
Gilded saffron that you want, yeah.
Nate
Host
12:30
And so they're like we're going to do, you know, with closest but we're going to do his cheapest. And so he he very loudly said that could took it fried chickens. Chick was awful, and to the point where they sued him to shut him up and he they basically because they're like he's talking, he's the Colonel, we need to stop them. And the judge is like but he's the Colonel, like you can't. You can't make. It's a free country, you can't make him shut up.
Shaun
Host
12:56
Yeah Right, as long as he's not, you know, advertising himself as still the spokesman. Really, I mean, people are still going to assume he's the spokesman, but he can't go around being like I'm talking on behalf of.
Nate
Host
13:06
Yeah, so yeah, the beat is all old stuff. I mean, obviously it used to be dead for a while.
Shaun
Host
13:10
Okay, young Lawrence really disliked being called boy, and people did it a lot to him. No matter how we acted, no matter how responsible or immature he acted, people just kept calling him boy. They tried to make himself a little bit better. Get cut down with another boy comment. You get how these things happen. But Lawrence did have a pretty unique idea of how to combat this, though. He had an idea. He determined that if he changed his first name to Mr, then that's what they'd have to call him. From now on, no one could call him boy anymore, because the name was Mr. It's just people like hey, what's your name? Mr, mr T, then, I mean, he can't really call me anything else other than Mr from then on, really, unless you want to be a total dick and start a fight, okay, so he was big enough guy, like I don't know who.
Nate
Host
13:50
One star was a guy.
Shaun
Host
13:51
Yeah, he didn't actually start bulking up a whole lot until late teens actually, because for his 18th birthday Lawrence got the gift of a new attitude. He started talking the talk, walking the walk, building muscles and gaining wit and legally changed his name to Mr T. First name Mr, last name T. Once he became Mr T, he quickly scrubbed Lawrence tarot from existence Almost immediately. His driver's license, bank accounts, mailing address and everything said Mr T on it legally. If the world was going to give him respect he was going to take it by. It's just Mr T himself into respect. And this might actually go into why his dad could never find him. Because I mean, if your kid doesn't look anything like he did when you left him when he was five, and all of a sudden there's just some dude Mr T going around, Well, in the always true, like you, you don't look the same.
14:38
Yeah, I show you similar characteristics, but no, but also I mean that Well, I mean, okay, if all of a sudden, 30 or 25 years later you're looking around and be like hey, that dude kind of looks like my kid but his name is Mr T Weird, yeah, true, yeah, I mean, I guess, if you're really motivated and just assume that everybody you see on TV that kind of looks like your kid might be your kid, you want to go researching it.
Nate
Host
15:00
But Do you?
Shaun
Host
15:01
really think that be dads just sitting. Well, maybe he is actually, yeah, just sitting at home just scribbling down all the names of African American actors under hey, maybe the kid that said Dino might is my kid and I can get some money out of them.
Nate
Host
15:15
What's his real name?
Shaun
Host
15:18
The Dino might kid.
Nate
Host
15:21
What was his name? You know, I'm never. You know I'm not going to look.
Shaun
Host
15:24
You know, this is one of those names that if I'm we're not thinking about it, it'll literally just pop into my head just randomly, because he is one of those guys who is super bitter about his fame and the fact he was based off of a catchphrase.
Nate
Host
15:35
Yeah, I mean that would. That's the thing. It's like everyone wants their 15 minutes and that could be. He had more than 15 minutes and, of course, everyone's money. But, like when you're known for that one thing, I would definitely get sick of it.
Shaun
Host
15:48
Yeah, I think it might also have to do with how earlier young you get famous in life because, like I've also known for a catchphrase at 18, I might get kind of paced because I'm like, well, I don't want to get shoehorned into this at the age of 43. I might be like, screw it, I'll give them what they want.
Nate
Host
16:02
Well, but love it up.
Shaun
Host
16:03
Don't, over and, over and over again, until I die Give me money. Yeah, because I believe the Dino Mike kid his whole thing was he didn't want to be like a serious actor. He was like, hey, I could go do Broadway's and movies in this, nephew, I could just get out of this. Dino wanted to. What?
Nate
Host
16:18
was that you sound like you didn't want to. No, he didn't want to. Yeah.
Shaun
Host
16:22
Or at least that's what I was led to believe.
Nate
Host
16:25
I mean it's possible. I mean look, I mean look at the guy from Cranston. He went from Malcolm the middle who was a total like net job or crazy funny dad, and then he went to Breaking Bad.
Shaun
Host
16:40
So what did he do before all that? Just kind of bit parts, didn't he before? Yeah, he did cycle.
Nate
Host
16:47
He did a really popular role of cycle. He was just like a one off, but he was like the dentist, yeah.
Shaun
Host
16:53
And I'm sure he has another little bit things here and there.
Nate
Host
16:55
Oh yeah, and actually it's funny how he's heard that story, because the Seinfeld bit apparently whoever the Seinfeld show, whoever whoever's in the Seinfeld show, and he did that one of the people like the show runners, one of the main people, but like someone had grown up, he's the one of the lead guys from Breaking Bad and because you worked with them at one time, that's how he got the Breaking Bad role, not the Malcolm middle. It was between there, like once the Malcolm middle ended, they were looking for a guy from Breaking Bad and then they reached up to him, based on a role that he did before Malcolm middle. Yeah, so anyway, it's called the happy coincidence. It is, of course. It's all who you know.
Shaun
Host
17:36
This is very true especially in Hollywood.
Nate
Host
17:38
It feels like yeah, and once again I'm gonna say out loud where's my nepotism? Yeah.
Shaun
Host
17:45
About a year after adopting the Mr T moniker, he had his first child with his high school girlfriend. So Mr T did what in good father would do and went out hunting for a career to support them. Well, he was a pretty strong and athletic guy. So he first tried out for the Green Bay Packers football team. Apparently he was a pretty good talent, a pretty talented football player. But he blew out his knee and that was the end of that.
Nate
Host
18:06
That was a catch on Sure Well, nevermind Sorry.
Shaun
Host
18:09
Yep, pretty much. They're like hey, you kind of got some talent, you're doing all right. Show up for some more practices. Oh, and now you got a limp for the rest of your life Probably. I don't know if he has a limp, but probably when it rains.
Nate
Host
18:20
Right. Well, now he's older, he might mean he's probably. I think he was all good during those 18 days, but those 18 days was a while ago.
Shaun
Host
18:28
Yeah, yep. Next up he got a job with the city of Chicago working to gym for underprivileged kids. He loved this job and it also laid the foundation for his future love of kids and charity as well. But sadly it didn't last more than a few years as funding dried up in the gym closed down. In the mid 70s he decided to try to use his physicality again for his next job as he enlisted into a basic training with the army and was assigned military police training. Now this job didn't tickle as fancy as he moved on pretty quick, but not before.
18:54
One interesting side note I read, and one that I think plays into our story. Just a little bit later, the year is 1976 and well, on training exercise in Fort McCoy, wisconsin, he committed a minor infraction as platoon sergeant decided to teach him a lesson by ordering him to cut down trees with an axe. Just a couple of hours later, mr T had felt about 70 trees with that axe and was ordered to stop because they were running out of trees for him to cut down his punishment. I bring this up because he has another incident with trees in the future. Yeah, maybe he's got a thing against trees.
Nate
Host
19:25
He's got a back for a long, long time.
Shaun
Host
19:27
He might, he might. Very well Again, we'll touch on this later.
Nate
Host
19:32
He's inappropriately touched by an int.
Shaun
Host
19:34
Father int, what are you doing? Come here, child.
Nate
Host
19:37
No. Come to me in the rectory Come in my rectory yeah.
Shaun
Host
19:45
Yeah, whoever came with the term rectory way back in the day needs to be like teleported into the future and be like look what they've done to your word Deciding. The uptight and clinical nature of the military wasn't his style. He went the other direction and started working as a bouncer at the famous Chicago nightclub Dingbats. And here's where it all starts for the man. He cranks up the look in the attitude to an 11, and this is also where he begins his famous gold chain necklace. Remember that giant gold chain necklace he wore?
Nate
Host
20:11
Oh yeah, I mean that was kind of his thing. It's kind of iconic.
Shaun
Host
20:15
Well, that and his mo-cock Yep, we're about to get into the origin story of those. So the giant necklace basically started out as a lost and found for the club. Drunk or forgetful patrons would lose their jewelry and Mr T would collect the items and wear them while he was working the door. From then on out, If someone returned and noticed they're missing jewelry, T was more than happy to give it back to him. He'd be like oh yeah, you left this behind, man, Do better next time.
20:37
However, some of the jewelry was taken as battled mementos during his skirmishes as a bouncer and in this case he would actually keep wearing that jewelry as a challenge to the former owner why don't you jewelry back? Well, come and try to take it from me. No one ever tried to take their jewelry back. Apparently, as the story goes it just he just kept the jewelry and it helped build his image in no variety as the necklace got bigger and bigger and well, okay, if this isn't medieval, like, okay, fight for honor or whatever, but like this is still a place by laws.
Nate
Host
21:10
I mean, I'm pretty sure even though he was a drunk asshole, he dies as be. He can't be like, oh, your honor, you know. I know he wants his very expensive necklace back, but we, he lost it in combat, so it's mine now.
Shaun
Host
21:24
Eh do you really want to go to all the trouble of going to court and admitting you got your ass beaten from God in the world for over $100 necklace?
Nate
Host
21:32
I mean, it depends on the situation. You go home, your wife's like where's that necklace? I was gonna give it, it was my grandfather's necklace and he, you know, died. He smuggled it home in his butt. It's not. We need it back.
Shaun
Host
21:44
Well, I'm gonna say, if you're in a nightclub called Ding Bats from Chicago and you come home missing your jeweler and your wife talks back to you, you probably just hit her, nate. I hate it. We're not talking about this, the fucking Rich Carlton. There's a club called Ding Bats in the south side of Chicago. I guess you're right. In fact, we're gonna go into what kind of stuff happened at Ding Bats here, because how tough of a bouncer was Mr T? Well, the former owner of Ding Bats, ron Brisbane, remembers multiple times people would point a gun straight at Mr T's face. Mr T wouldn't even flinch. With a serious tone he'd just say you don't wanna do this. And those intimidation checks worked every time. Never got shot. And then way up the F round and find out scale. A former manager of Ding Bats also tells a story where he personally was stabbed during a scuffle. Mr T, not like seeing his manager stabbed, picked up the stabber and body, slammed him right on top of a fire hydrant, shattering his ribs and ending the fight right then and there.
Nate
Host
22:40
I couldn't imagine getting up from that. I mean, the fire hydrant is exactly like a breakable and if you just want to spy, it's like oh no, yeah, I didn't kill him, but he'll never walk again, yep.
Shaun
Host
22:50
Well, don't go around stabbing people. Don't go around stabbing Mr T's boss, I guess is the actual name of the story there, was it? The more you know the rainbow coming up, yep, ding, ding, ding, ding. Oh, we need an animation of Mr T just picking up some of your body, slamming and all of a sudden that little star comes over the top. The more you know, yep, mr T, point cap, more you know fool. Don't fuck with Mr T. Yep, but can't you imagine that just getting picked up and dropped on her body slammed onto a fire hydrant, that would be awful.
23:19
Yeah that yeah, nothing good comes from that. Yep, by his and others recollection, as Javi got into about 200 fights being it's a South Chicago nightclub named Ding Bags I can kind of believe that number. Siddy got sued a lot but never lost a lawsuit over it. People tend to notice that sort of bad assery and thus began his next gig professional bodyguard. His client list was said to include Steve McQueen, michael Jackson, diana Ross, Mohamed Ali, joe Frazier and Leon Spinks, the last three being boxers.
Nate
Host
23:49
I was gonna say I'm just gonna pretend like I know the last few.
Shaun
Host
23:51
Yeah, mohamed Ali. Boxer Joe Frazier. Boxer Leon Spinks. Boxer Leon Spinks was actually the big one that kind of got him into the limelight, Cause I believe it was a Madison Square Garden show with you know 80,000 people or something like that that he attended. He was like, ooh, look at that guy.
Nate
Host
24:08
But you best believe in him. Mohamed Ali's the boxer. That's like he's huge on here. He's from Louisville, so Is he? Oh yeah, he's from Louisville so.
Shaun
Host
24:17
Do most people call him Cash's Clay down there?
Nate
Host
24:20
No, they come on, mohamed Ali. They have a whole like museum dedicated to him and, like you drove downtown, there's like a side of one of the buildings that's him painting on it and it's yeah, he's a big deal over here. Still, I mean, I think he's dead too. I saw him once from a distance. He like came to movie theater once, but that was like when he was, he was Mohamed Ali. More he was Mohamed Ali, but he wasn't. You know, he wasn't talking about butterflies and stinging, he was shaky Jones. Yeah, he was more like where am I? What's my?
Shaun
Host
24:51
Where am I? I used to be a big, strong man.
Nate
Host
24:54
Yeah, I took a punch to hit a lot, I mean he was great, we don't get it wrong. Mohamed Ali, yeah, Mohamed Ali, but you got punched that many times. It's it, does it, does something to you.
Shaun
Host
25:03
Yeah, yeah, one would think that I mean repeated brain damage Around this time working as a bodyguard. His report is he's making $3,000 to $10,000 a day, depending on the client. He was all about commanding respect and honing his image at this point. At first he didn't have his signature Mohawk. He actually had his hair in the shape of a T as a bouncer. When people would ask his name, he'd just bend over at the waist to show him big T on his hand. Be like T, mr T, which sounds kind of corny away. But whatever worked for him. Yeah, a little bit.
Nate
Host
25:32
Yeah T, mr T. He's like okay, you fucking. Yeah, all right, james Bond, like you like your things shaking, that stirred, or.
Shaun
Host
25:41
Yeah, and they got to make sure your head's like perfectly shaved all the time over. People are gonna be like you're Mr Fuzzhead, yeah, fuzzy T, yeah fuzzy T. Then one day he saw a man, deakin warrior, sporting Mohawk, in a national geographic and said to his friends bye, golly, that's a look for me, my good chaps. That's exactly how he said it, nate, trust me, I'm sure he, that was exactly his. He put down his monocle and said will you come over here and look at this? Bye Chrome, this, this should be my new look. Fetch me my spats. I'm going to the barber.
Nate
Host
26:18
Why, Senor T?
Shaun
Host
26:22
At this point he even adopted the slogan Mr T is the best bodyguard to have next to God. Remember he's religious, so can't be above God.
Nate
Host
26:31
But here's the thing, like let me submit this to you I would think my cat would be a better bodyguard than God. I mean, look at I don't know the world. Oh, look, he died. Oh, how'd he die? Well, his bodyguard was God. Well, there you go.
Shaun
Host
26:53
Well, that just means God had a bigger plan for him. Yeah, he's dead, he cannot possibly fathom Right.
Nate
Host
27:01
It's too bad that nerve gas was released and everyone's dead. Oh, fortunately he was walking around in a container's pocket full of this virus. He just painted on God to help for anything happening.
Shaun
Host
27:17
Mr T's next big break would come in 1980, when NBC came to Chicago to fill America's toughest bouncer. Events included throwing around 150-pound, stuntmen breaking through doors, weightlifting and, of course, the dwarf toss I mean how low of ideas.
Nate
Host
27:32
Okay, what are we going to do? I don't know, world's strongest bouncer Okay, sure that's great.
Shaun
Host
27:38
I mean, this is like part of their wide world of sports things. But I mean, how could they be tapped out with ideas? Right now there's only three networks. Back then they had plenty of ideas to go around.
Nate
Host
27:49
I mean dude your competitions like two other people. Just don't suck. That's all you got to do, or suck less than the next guy.
Shaun
Host
27:59
Yeah, man, that's kind of all competitions, though. You don't have to be the best, you just have to be the least suckiest.
Nate
Host
28:05
I suppose I think that's not true, because we've both seen some pretty sucky stuff take off like crazy.
Shaun
Host
28:12
This is true.
Nate
Host
28:13
Like quality television, just canceled after several episodes. Meanwhile you've got I don't know I'm blanking on a name the Bloody Splish Blast show. Right or Love Is Blind, or what was that?
Shaun
Host
28:25
I don't know. Melf Island I heard about. Oh my God.
Nate
Host
28:33
I saw a trailer for that. I showed Jenny. She's like, oh my God, because she definitely watched Love Is Blind. She was all about some Love Is Blind, I mean and I saw some of it too, and they're just the worst. I mean, yeah, they're just all the worst.
Shaun
Host
28:47
Yeah, is it just a bunch of just like generic people and whatnot?
Nate
Host
28:52
No, they're not. I mean, they're all. A lot of them are just bad people, gotcha. And plus they're like oh, the girls are always totally made up and if you look at them you kind of see behind the makeup and they're not as pretty as they're presenting themselves. Oh yeah.
Shaun
Host
29:06
And their names is probably not really saffron either.
Nate
Host
29:09
I mean they go in this room. The idea is, you know, they each go in the room and they talk to each other for a while and they get to know each other. Oh, beneath the skin they know the real selves. But it's like two weeks maybe, and so then they're like OK, they'll get married. That's like I don't know six weeks, look it, go wrong. Yeah, I mean it's ridiculous. I mean it is all just ridiculous.
Shaun
Host
29:30
It's people looking for their 15 minutes of fame. It's exactly what it is.
Nate
Host
29:33
And if you're not?
Shaun
Host
29:34
talented. You might as well just use the fact you're single and get married.
Nate
Host
29:37
Yeah, I'm not saying, I am by no means breaking Like, oh my God, you know he's speaking the truth, let's follow him. I'm not saying, I'm not saying anything. A thousand of you, I haven't said it, but still it really is. But I would say this I must say all that and then follow it with. It's entertaining. You know I'll be, I don't just like to watch it. I'm not going to turn it on, watch it for myself. However, if I'm in the room and Jenny's watching it, yeah, I'll keep. I'll kind of poke at it and see what's up.
Shaun
Host
30:04
Speaking of poking at things and seeing what's up, all finalists of the toughest bouncer would meet in a boxing match to determine the winner, but no holds barred.
Nate
Host
30:14
You know WWF style where there's. You know punching at the same time, or what.
Shaun
Host
30:20
No, an actual, like, real, like legitimate boxing match in actual. Hey, we're going to go forth and fist to cuffs at noon.
Nate
Host
30:26
OK, so one on one with a tiered system going Yep, exactly.
Shaun
Host
30:30
In a pre and a boxing pre match interview, mr T to the camera said I just feel sorry for the guy I have to box, I just feel real sorry for him. He went on to win the event but most importantly, a certain Sylvester Stallone, who just happened to be looking for the antagonist for Rocky III, was watching this and he loved Mr T's look and he loved that interview that he gave interview where he said I just feel sorry for the guy who I have to box, I just feel real sorry for him. That line is actually was still on.
Nate
Host
31:00
Hmm, did he pity the fool? Does he pity the fool yet? Do you say the thing?
Shaun
Host
31:05
This is in fact that line I just said. That is what Stallone based the Rocky III line. I don't hate him, but I pity the fool off of Mr. T did not write that line Stallone did, and he based that off of a Mr T interview from that toughest bouncer bit show. So yes, you were correct, nate. This is where it came up with. I pity the fool.
Nate
Host
31:25
I'm not lying. He did not put, he did not come up with this. Sylvester Stallone came up with it. What?
Shaun
Host
31:32
Well, there is a little bit of some debate. Some people are kind of iffy, but literally Sylvester Stallone has the only screenwriting credit for the movie and that's where the line came from was that movie. So it's pretty. Most people believe that it is a combination of Mr T doing that one interview and Stallone just twisting that around to sound better for them. And again, the full line is not just I pay the full, it's I don't hate him, but I pity the fool. Now, mr T did actually eventually trademark this line I pity the fool in 2015 because it was so iconically tied to him. Yeah, fair enough.
32:06
I mean yeah, yeah, I cannot blame him either on that. May as well. I mean, if anybody else uses that line, they kind of just look stupid, or you're immediately going to think Mr T, so you might as well lock it in.
Nate
Host
32:19
I can't think of anybody like you would try to argue like. No, Sylvester Stallone should get the credit for that.
Shaun
Host
32:25
Yeah right. So also Mr T kind of has his own idea of what that phrase means. I pity the fool, See, most people when they see it they think of it as an insult. Mr T is calling somebody an idiot and he just feels bad for them being either a fool. But Mr T, he personally his spin on it. He associates it with the biblical version of pity, which means showing mercy or forgiveness, and in his mind it's the line is more of him being like hey man, I know you're a fool, but I forgive you in this situation. Boo, I know it's. It's more of a loving phrase in his mind than a condemnation phrase. I mean I again it's.
33:01
This also goes back to him being very religious and, you know, not wanting to be a bad role model, kind of thing.
Nate
Host
33:07
Again, I guess it's not my. You know, it's his phrase. If he can't, you know, I can whom. I dictate what he considers to that, saying to me you know your Nathan Townsend boom, all you want.
Shaun
Host
33:20
You just did yeah.
Nate
Host
33:22
I did Boo Boo. I stand by that booing. However, it doesn't mean anything to him.
Shaun
Host
33:28
Yeah, oh yeah, no I. So where Mr T is sitting at home he just shudders Somebody trash talked my phrase, so now you know what he actually thinks of that phrase. It's not quite most people think it is.
Nate
Host
33:42
And you know, it's no telling whether he's like, oh no, I this phrase taken off his mom says something he's like okay, I'll change it. He's like, oh no, it's biblical, panicking, like everyone's kind of looking like really biblical. He's like, yes, biblical. He's kind of like give them the, give them the look and like razor fist, like that's exactly what it means. Oh yeah, mr T, yeah, that's it, yes, back to Stallone.
Shaun
Host
34:05
He knew he found his villain for Rocky 3 and Mr T, as Mr T had the looks and the voice and even the boxing ability needed, so the job went to him. There was one story about right before Mr T. They thought they had the absolute perfect boxer. He was just this massive mountain of a man and, you know, had all the boxing skills and intimidation that he needed. Unfortunately, he had like an even more effeminate voice and Mike Tyson more of a Lisbon whatnot. Apparently it was like bad and the dude could not act like you look perfect. He was like hello, I would like to be a boxer for you. This is massive dude with like this cracky, warbly voice, and apparently it was a very shocking thing for them to say to see Hi guys, yeah, that's basically what it was. Hi guys, I would like to be the boxer in this movie.
Nate
Host
34:52
I pity the fool, I'm gonna kick your ass yeah.
Shaun
Host
34:58
Apparently, that's pretty much what the dude sounded like Did not have that problem with Mr T. However, oh God, no, yeah, I'm gonna kick your ass. Okay, rocky three was Mr T's first acting role and the credits even say introducing Mr T. And with the help of some acting coaches and some good, solid work ethic, mr T killed his first acting gig and that movie is what put him in the Hollywood spotlight for everyone to see, until dark secret is revealed His name isn't really Mr T. Well, I guess technically it is. Well, yeah, it is.
Nate
Host
35:30
Yeah, 100% is.
Shaun
Host
35:31
Yep. Right after Rocky three, he appeared in another boxing film called penitentiary to performing in a role specifically written for him, and he also at the same time appeared on an episode of the Canadian sketches comedy series bizarre, where he fights and eats a one. Super Dave Osborne member. Super David, I do remember Super Dave. However, next was going to be Mr T's most iconic role to date and most iconic role of all time Cut to LA 1983 and producer Stephen J Cannell hot off the Rockford files and the greatest American hero gets called in the office of the president of NBC. Do you remember Stephen J Cannell and all his production productions? He had the little blurb at the end where he would be on the typewriter and you throw the piece of paper and go like, oh right, Make a big C?
Nate
Host
36:19
Yep yeah.
Shaun
Host
36:22
If you ever saw that after before a show, wherever it was, that was a Stephen J Cannell production. I assume the C is for Cannell.
Nate
Host
36:29
No, what's the C for?
Shaun
Host
36:37
Damn. I was going to try to think of something clever, but nothing came to mind.
Nate
Host
36:40
I say again boo, have something on the spot. Yep I should have.
Shaun
Host
36:48
I should have had something written down, but I did not predict your iron trap of a wick there, good sir. So Stephen J Cannell is called in the office of president of NBC. And here's Stephen J Cannell's personal recount of how the meeting went down. This is his words, and as close as he can remember it. President of NBC. Stephen, I have a show I want you to do. It's kind of like Mad Max, but it's not Mad Max. You remember the dirty dozen? Well, it's something kind of like that. And you know this guy, mr T, in the new Rocky movie that just came out. Well, he's going to drive the car. That was the idea. Stephen J Cannell was floated and that half baked and presumably cocaine fueled idea became the A team. How is it mad Max? I have no clue, dude, maybe the original plan was slightly better.
Nate
Host
37:37
I mean he's referring to the fact there's a car wreck every episode. Okay, fine, yeah, I guess, but that's a stretch.
Shaun
Host
37:44
Yeah, honestly, I have no idea, and I don't even think Stephen J Cannell knew, because, remember, this was the president of NBC. This doesn't mean he was good at his job. He actually lost his job shortly after this. He doesn't even remember the meeting, probably not. But again, that's what Stephen said. His own words is he went in the meeting and he just got blabbed at the end and he was just like oh so I guess this is what we're doing. That what? How much do you remember about the 18?
Nate
Host
38:09
Anyways, like I said. I mean there's a car wreck every episode. There was true hundreds around spent and no one ever died.
Shaun
Host
38:19
No, there's occasional explosions of people like leaping away from them, being like.
Nate
Host
38:24
I mean, after a while you think the bad guys be like they're not going to kill me.
Shaun
Host
38:29
They're right at some point. They could just like literally walk right up to one of the 18 members and they'd just be shooting all around. They just like, pop, I shot you from six feet away.
Nate
Host
38:39
And I mean look, I know, I know this is America and you know it's fairly especially American in the 80s getting a bunch of ammunition. You'll be like, ok, sure, whatever you know, like, do you want 12 boxes or 50? You know, that's fine. Well, I did it up for you.
Shaun
Host
38:53
Oh, all the guns in your job. No, I'm not America.
Nate
Host
38:56
No question, but you'd still think that's a lot of ammunition. They always fired with random ass guns like almost a guy bring yeah, yeah. And they would outmigar MacGyver.
Shaun
Host
39:08
And also the thing too is they have all these guns and weapons, yet they are on the run from the law, from the military, and some others still got all these like underground connections to buy everything they need and not get detected. That's what I'm saying, like they look.
Nate
Host
39:22
I understand they were elite group of soldiers from Vietnam. Vietnam, I don't know why I like that, but Vietnam. I don't remember the train to Vietnam. How did you like urban warfare? And not just urban warfare, but like spy shit, and for some reason you know they're every mission, like, oh, I've got a plan and this. They bust out the stuff where it's like who, who trained you in that and why? Because I mean, were they CIA? I mean, if they have CIA, that made more sense. But I don't believe they were CIA. They were just some like group in Vietnam. They got framed and yeah, I do not believe there's a.
Shaun
Host
40:02
I think they were just like military special forces was the term that was used, because, yeah, you did have like who was it? Face man, who or which one was it that is constantly in disguises? He was like the master of disguising just show up and we're like that guy Monkey suit, right.
Nate
Host
40:18
It's like how often was that rubber monkey suit you useful in the jungles of Vietnam, right? How? How often are you like using your super secret spy tech to break into some kind of fucking hut in the middle of the jungle? I don't. I would like to see once one time get to use that ability.
Shaun
Host
40:39
It's just one thing like hey, for this mission we're going to need a gorilla costume, like we had back in NAMM. I'm going to go rent one and they say, well, we need a driver's license and a deposit. So People in costume shop, they go back hey, wait a minute, this is the person I saw in the news who is wanted for war crimes, and not. On top of that, too, they were so good at avoiding the government. Yet any man, pa, who owned a bodega, could be like hey, we know where to find the A team and hire them.
Nate
Host
41:05
Right, my dog's missing. Let's call the A team.
Shaun
Host
41:07
Yeah, right, and the government sure is going to find him. You think the government just set up like a little you know shop or something like help, help, we're in need of the A team and sure enough they would come out.
Nate
Host
41:20
My nine year old grandma's having trouble with her social security. Let's call the A team. Yeah, first of all, I know who the A team is and, second of all, here's their number. I found it written on the bathroom wall, huh, yeah.
Shaun
Host
41:33
And also this is before cell phones too. So I mean, what did you just hang out outside of a pay phone with their van? Right? It, exactly, it's the 80s?
Nate
Host
41:40
Who did they call what landline, where? Where is their numbers being routed to? And then, where are those numbers going and how did they establish that? Just so many questions, so very many questions.
Shaun
Host
41:51
Just left unanswered, and also every episode too. They would, or at least almost every episode. It felt like they would modify their van, just weld a bunch of stuff to and turn into like a tank, and then next week it was all done. All the welding would fall off.
Nate
Host
42:04
And then you had the crazy guy who I guess was the pilot, but he was Mad Murdoch, I think it was.
Shaun
Host
42:09
Yeah, how did I remember that? Oh yeah, that's another thing that bugged me about the A team too. A lot of times they'd be like held up in a barn somewhere surrounded by the bad guys, and also there just happened to be like a welder and a giant pile of scrap steel and like an old military cannon Civil War cannon for them to make.
Nate
Host
42:27
Well, some comedies like look, I made a bomb with this tape and a stick of dynamite I have to find later in.
Shaun
Host
42:36
I made this bomb out of thin air. Oh yeah, what did you use? A thin air and a bomb.
Nate
Host
42:43
I found it over here, behind this, this manure, yeah, this manure. I wonder what we'll do with this.
Shaun
Host
42:52
All right and their first meeting. Stephen J Cannell asked Mr T about his iconic gold chains and Mr T told him that all those gold chains by this point weighed 50 pounds and took him over an hour to take off or put back on. So he basically never took them off, he slept in them, he wore them all around and he showered in them. Mike, can you imagine how much that was stinking stink Right? That was my thought too, because so many dead skin cells got to get in there and whatnot.
Nate
Host
43:20
I mean, surely it'll take off from time to time. When that happened, just and also just, you mentioned the bruising that would constantly hitting your chest. You would just like casually walk you through the room.
Shaun
Host
43:32
Yes, because after reading this I have like six necklaces or something like that I've collected over the years. I only wear a couple of them, but I took like all six of those through them on and that was kind of heavy and uncomfortable and that's like a whole whopping half ounce or so you know.
Nate
Host
43:44
I mean, I'll give you this. He's, you know, practicing like a, saying you know. So If you was working out with that stuff on and like to take on my geno next, okay, let me take these off. And he picks them up and drops it Like all the gold shatters the ground, yeah, absolutely.
Shaun
Host
43:59
The gold is fine, but it just makes this giant dent into the cave. It was like now I'm at my full power Right, you've hit the seam in my final form Yep. And then, after he takes off, you merely just flat foot jumps to the top of the nearest building. Don't worry.
44:13
Don't worry, mr T will take care of it, I gotta say that would be a pretty good intimidation check too, if all of a sudden you're in the middle of fighting a guy barely when he's like hold up, pulls off 50 pounds of necklaces, like thunker.
Nate
Host
44:25
Or worse, he takes it off and then, like, wraps it on his fist like a fucking, like, like, okay, no, I'll put the shit out of you with this. I am power fist.
Shaun
Host
44:36
So an hour to take on and off jewelry was not going to work for a TV show when you know he's going to have to costume changes and this and that. So they had the costume designers take a quick, long look at his necklace quick, long look and they decided to recreate the look of the necklaces and just add a whole quick connect, though something that would take him an hour before now just took a matter of seconds. He just walk up, throw those necklaces on them and just quick connect them on and off. Mr T loved the newfound convenience and started wearing the fake jewelry all the time and take all his good stuff and just stuck it in the bank Because he liked being able to like not have 50 pounds away throughout his neck at any moment. I can understand that. Yeah, totally so.
45:17
On the A team, mr T played one B a Barakas. Do you want to guess what BA stands for? Badass. Honestly, that was my first thought too. But no, it is not. This is something more family friendly. Take a couple more guesses. I don't think you'll ever guess it Jesus saves. B is for Jesus saves, yes.
Nate
Host
45:38
It's like I don't know what to say that's, that's what they mean to me.
Shaun
Host
45:43
BA stands for Jesus saves. Mr T, are you illiterate? That's not the point. You're fucking joking. I never learned how to read.
Nate
Host
45:55
Big ass.
Shaun
Host
45:58
BA stands for Bosco Albert Yep, that's right. Bosco Albert Barakas.
Nate
Host
46:04
So it was a random name. It wasn't like standing for anything.
Shaun
Host
46:08
No, yeah, I always assumed it like stood for something, like bad ass, or you know, ba was just something or his rank or whatever. But no, ba is Bosco Albert. What was his last name? I thought it was Barabas with a B, barakas with a C, like kind of like Baraka from World of Combat. Yeah, so just think nowadays Bosco Albert, baraka from World of Combat. That would be funny if Baraka's real name was Bosco Albert. His real name was Bosco. Right, I'm a demon from hell. My name is Bosco Albert, with swords in my arms, for whatever reason, yep Makes it pain in the butt to wipe my ass. Well, they're retractable. Were they retractable, ok.
Nate
Host
46:47
I didn't remember that. I don't know how retractable they were in the game, but I know like in the other stuff they were.
Shaun
Host
46:52
I was wondering too if you had like retractable blades like that and if you know you're like not feeling good and you just sneeze really hard, Do those blades come out kind of like a sharp sort of thing or cough, he thinks so Then of course that'd be really awkward sometimes.
47:05
The show was an instantaneous hit, premiering at number one and staying there, taking NBC out of third place among the big three and putting them at number one, Because back then all we had was ABC, NBC and CBS and we did have basic cable, but you know that was for rich people, yeah.
Nate
Host
47:21
I remember people can say like cable wasn't much, they were especially stuff.
Shaun
Host
47:27
But as you said, it was just, and then back then even satellite was totally different than it is now because you just have that giant, huge satellite dish in your front yard. You didn't really have a satellite package. You just are a company. You just pick up whatever satellite you could out of the sky and be like there it is. You could just literally look in this book and be like, hey, here's where the Denver new satellite is pointed out there and you get Denver TV, yeah, and punching this specs and just watch the satellite dish Like whoa. And then those things were in lawn ornaments for the longest time of our youth, especially the big, giant ones, yeah that's what I'm talking about those giant black ones that were just 20 feet across.
48:05
But boy howdy those were fancy back in the day. Oh yeah, I mean oh wow, look what I got.
Nate
Host
48:10
Look what dad got the other day. He's got $50,000.
Shaun
Host
48:14
Yeah, exactly, he works in this place called Microsoft that just opened up and made it big. The A team was an instantaneous hit, premiering at number one and staying there, taking NBC out of third place of the big three networks. The general public, especially kids, loved the show. However, watchdog groups hated the show, claiming it as a hyperviolent show that damages children. They even touted the number of up to 39 acts of violence in one hour, making it the most violent TV show ever, they said. But, as we talked about earlier, what they don't mention, this is all cartoon violence. You know, they just stand there shooting at nothing. In particular, nobody gets hurt, nobody gets shot, nobody dies. Explosions happen. People just leap slowly out of the way and they just get shot and they're fine two seconds later and they run away being all scared.
Nate
Host
48:58
They'll empty the entire clip towards someone who's like 10 feet away and they show going oh, I'm scared, yeah.
Shaun
Host
49:06
Well, they'll empty that entire clip like right at the ground, at their feet, making them do the little dance before they run off, because you know bullets are going to like break a shape, potentially off the dirt and hit them in the leg or anything like that. Dance for me Pew, pew, pew pew. Oh God, it hit a rock.
Nate
Host
49:19
Oh, yes, I remember the, the stories of the special forces that went to Vietnam and shot at their feet and scared them, ha with with their gorilla costumes on.
Shaun
Host
49:28
Yeah, with the gorilla costumes on those big psychological warfare of the Vietnam War is just a bunch of soldiers running around gorilla costume, shooting at the ground in front of people. We're both frightened and confused.
Nate
Host
49:42
Well, you're here, go away.
Shaun
Host
49:44
Yeah, we wanted none of this. Go fire bomb Cambodia somewhere.
Nate
Host
49:52
Fire bomb someone. Else.
Shaun
Host
49:53
Yeah right, ba Barrack is supposed to be a side character in the show but quickly become a fan favorite, and even soon he was having whole episodes based around him, and the people loved him. His popularity kept growing as the show went on. However, one person who wasn't too big a fan of this was George Pappard, who played Hannibal on the show. You see, pappard was a seasoned vet in the acting world and he didn't like the fact that Mr T wasn't an actor who paid his dues and only got on the show because of his looks and popularity. No altercations or anything happened on the set, just some grumbling and some bitter interviews going back and forth.
50:28
Hannibal was the leader of the group.
Nate
Host
50:31
Yeah, Okay, I love the way we were playing together.
Shaun
Host
50:34
Yeah, that was George Pappard and he was actually like a pretty up there actor. You know, did stuff on Broadway, oscar winning movies, this and that. So he was an actor's actor, some people would say.
Nate
Host
50:45
I guess I mean sure, do you want some up and comer coming out of nowhere?
Shaun
Host
50:50
But you know, same time that's how Hollywood is, baby yeah.
Nate
Host
50:53
I mean that just happens sometimes Some douchebag is in the right place at the right time, and then I mean again, I grunt about that stuff all the time. I sure wish I was the right place at the right time, Right, but unfortunately I haven't been.
Shaun
Host
51:06
George Pappard is alive today. He probably hates the YouTube crowd.
Nate
Host
51:09
Oh my God.
Shaun
Host
51:11
He became famous for nothing.
Nate
Host
51:14
So I mean, plus, he also became famous at the time when it was, you know, Mr T couldn't yeah. And you know, even in the 80s it was our hell of the 90s I was here in about like family matters. They told her called, the guy played her call. You're never going to win in a war because you're black Basically. And so this was the 80s. So, dude, let let him have it, yeah.
Shaun
Host
51:37
Right, let me have this. I mean, he made it man. Be happy for him, it's such a fear.
Nate
Host
51:42
It's such a hoity toy to the actor. Surely that you'll get more work after this. I'm sure Mr T is good because he got hired for his looks and he's solidified with that role. You're probably going to have a better time getting other roles. That's not angry black man.
Shaun
Host
51:57
Right, yeah, because he had range of stuff, mr T. I mean love him or hate him. He was kind of a one trick pony. He was just a tough, hot pit of the fool dude.
Nate
Host
52:04
Yeah, and he rode that pony till it dropped and did it.
Shaun
Host
52:07
Oh yeah, I would totally do the same thing.
Nate
Host
52:09
I would say don't have a cow man all day.
Shaun
Host
52:12
Like if I got over it again.
Nate
Host
52:14
They got $50. Every time I said don't have a cow man, I'd be like that's all I'd say.
Shaun
Host
52:17
Yep, I would just be walking around like the don't have a cow man on loop Right. I didn't do it, yep, pay me for it. I will say it as much as you want. Here's another fun fact about the show. Mr T never said I pity the fool on the show that was strictly a Rocky three thing at that time. Yep, seems like that'd be something he would have said and it wasn't trademarked at the time either. But you know, maybe as a studio thing.
Nate
Host
52:41
Or maybe he's just like no, I my, uh, I have too much respect for the line I will not say it.
Shaun
Host
52:48
That line must remain pure in my mind until someone pays me, though.
52:52
Yep. So being popular with the kids on the show, the Children's Hospital Network got in touch with Mr T about charity and he jumped at the chance to help the kids. He did, after all, love working with kids in the Chicago projects and now that he had money and fame to really help out, he was all about helping out the kids. He was constantly taking kids on the set of the A team or visiting them, visiting them in the hospital, hanging out with them all day, just being a cool dude, kind of like how John Cena does nowadays. You know he doesn't just show up for a few things and be like, hey, what's up and then takes off. You know, hangs out, talks with the kids, plays with them, all sorts of fun stuff.
53:24
I mean it's far better having him or John Cena there and somebody like I don't know Frank Sinatra showing up and be like, hey, kid, sorry about the cancer, where's your mom at? I'm going to give her the old Bada Bing tonight. You know, the Bada Bing, the Bada Bing. Yeah, that's the poor kid just dying. What are you going to do to my mother?
Nate
Host
53:41
My mother no.
Shaun
Host
53:46
That's just kind of how I picture that happening.
Nate
Host
53:48
Yeah, you basically your interaction with. Like you know that Frank Sinatra is going to be a fucking hentai.
Shaun
Host
54:01
He did all sorts of things with that hat and cigar. This has been the first half of the off off topic show on Mr T. Stay tuned for our next episode, where we discuss the most violent TV show of the eighties, two of Mr T's coworkers who really didn't like him and how the umbrella corporations T virus may be responsible for his entire career. This is where the ending jingle goes. This is where the ending jingle goes. I don't know if we need one. I don't know if we'll get one, but if we do, then here is where it goes.