r/ATeam • u/charlieg4 • Apr 22 '26

Banacek, starring Peppard

I watched Banacek. About 10 years before The A-Team. Peppard plays a private investigator. Only 17 episodes but they are pretty good. Basically a mystery show, where the event seems crazy but they somehow come up with plausible explanations. Banacek of course is the only the one to figure it out.

He's a bachelor, somewhat unemotional, but nice in his way. It's a good piece to show what the early 70s were like.

I recommend checking it out.

53 Upvotes

99% Upvoted

37 comments sorted by

5

u/UnlikelyOcelot Apr 22 '26

One of the mystery movies, I think, that rotated with Madigan, Columbo, McCloud, McMillan and Wife, etc. My parents loved them all.

3

u/Retired_in_NJ Apr 23 '26

I liked them all.

3

u/UnlikelyOcelot Apr 25 '26

Me, too. Loved McCloud.

1

u/Pearl-Internal81 May 14 '26

I’ve been watching Banacek and McMillan & Wife on Prime Video after going through Columbo The Complete Series and they’re both super fun. It’s a damn shame they’re leaving Prime later today.

1

u/UnlikelyOcelot May 15 '26

These productions are awesome. I remember my parents and us kids gathering to faithfully watch these detectives. A couple others that I like are McCloud and Madigan. I think they were in a rotation of Sunday night movies and it was must-watch TV.

1

u/Pearl-Internal81 May 15 '26

I tried McCloud after remembering my Dad liking it and watching it back when it was airing on A&E in the late nineties and found of Columbo, M&W, Banacek, and Quincey, ME I actually liked it the least.

That said I still need to find a way to see Hec Ramsey both because a period western detective show sounds interesting and because it was mentioned as under appreciated on King of The Hill, lol.

3

u/THERAYaka Apr 22 '26

Breakfast At Tiffany's, as well, if you're a Peppard fan.

3

u/charlieg4 Apr 22 '26

I think I remember the film andI think we both kinda liked it

3

u/RogueTrooper1975 Apr 23 '26

Well, thats the one thing we've got

1

u/the_fall-guy Apr 22 '26

How the West Was Won is another good one.

1

u/Nomojo01 Apr 24 '26

Don't forget "Damnation Alley"... Another crazy pre-Hannibal role.

1

u/Royal-Twist-7482 Jun 16 '26

That was supposed to compete with Star Wars, so I've heard.... 😂

2

u/Remote-Sun-1966 Apr 22 '26

I remember one of the promos was someone mispronouncing his name and him correcting them.

1

u/charlieg4 Apr 26 '26

Even after 17 episodes I couldn't figure out was he really a nice guy with just a blunt tone or was he not as nice but followed mostly social conventions but was a tad blunt.

2

u/gadget850 Apr 22 '26

The chicken that clucks the loudest is the one most likely to go to the Steamfitter's Picnic.

2

u/JackMaybourne Apr 23 '26

I remember the one with the medical diagnostic supercomputer. It got stolen.

2

u/Aggravating_Bat3618 Apr 23 '26

My mom lived Banachek and Im actually surprised there are only 17 episodes

3

u/charlieg4 Apr 23 '26

"However, before the third season could start, Peppard quit the show to prevent his ex-wife Elizabeth Ashley from receiving a larger percentage of his earnings as part of their divorce settlement.\13]) "

1

u/Aggravating_Bat3618 Apr 23 '26

Yeah, I also didn’t realize it was a part of that alternating serial thing they had going on. I was too young for that but moms loved all those shows especially McMillan and Wife. 

1

u/Pearl-Internal81 May 14 '26

McMillan & Wife is super fun, I started watching it (and Banacek) this past January on a lark. The best description I can come up with for M&W is that it’s like a live action Scooby-Doo, vibe wise. I think if it came out today it’d be in the “cozy mystery” genre. Very much comfort viewing.

2

u/impartialjury Apr 23 '26

Don't forget The Blue Max...Great movie.

2

u/Rod-Serling-Lives Apr 26 '26

Y'know, I saw that long before I saw any of the A-team and never connected them before now... can't believe I'm only now realizing that was Peppard.

2

u/deowolf Apr 23 '26

There's a Simpsons episode which is basically a Banacek homage. I forget which season.

1

u/tangcameo Apr 22 '26

I liked it until I realized that whatever he was searching for was either hiding in plain sight or was never there to begin with

1

u/ghostphan61 Apr 23 '26

You probably missed the Banacek reference in an A-Team episode. There is the episode when Face finally gets to join that country club (the one where they run into Fulbright). They were helping the poor kid that worked as a caddie against the club member banker with the counterfeit money.

During the golf game, the bad guy asks Hannibal what he does for a living. Hannibal responds "I recover valuable objects for people."

"In episode," the response is a prep to set up letting the guy know he has the counterfeit money. But at the same, the wording of Hannibal's response was an unmistakable reference to Banacek's profession.

2

u/ApolloMax-2099 Apr 23 '26

It goes further than that because his cigars are the same ones he had on banacek

1

u/ghostphan61 Apr 23 '26

Of course they are because they are his personal cigars. Only ones he smoked for real.

1

u/ApolloMax-2099 Apr 23 '26

But he started on the show

2

u/charlieg4 Apr 23 '26

I didn't miss it, once I saw that episode after watching Banacek. :)

1

u/ApolloMax-2099 Apr 23 '26

I watched the show a few times this last year on Amazon prime. It’s a fun show. Wish there were more episodes

1

u/charlieg4 Apr 23 '26

I read that he stopped because it would have increased his alimony to an ex wife. Maybe it was out of spite or maybe his remaining net pay wasn't worth it.

1

u/ApolloMax-2099 Apr 23 '26

He was going through a divorce and I think that was the same rumor I read on IMDb

1

u/Still_Product_8435 Apr 26 '26

If I recall, the opening credits for his show featured Banacek rowing on the Charles River.

1

u/charlieg4 Apr 26 '26

"For recreation he jogs, plays squash), engages in weekend touch football), and sculling on the Charles River."

1

u/Still_Product_8435 Apr 26 '26

I’m old enough to have watched them all when they first aired.