The Checklist: T and T (S2 Ep6) “A Secret No More”
When you think of Mr. T you think of The A-Team, the series that cemented Mr. T as an 80s icon. Every week millions of people invited the man who pitied no fools into their home via the magic of television and watched T as B.A. Baracus crack skulls, fear flying, build via montage and not actually shoot anyone alongside the rest of The A-Team.
But last year thanks to a Checklist written by my Bulletproof Action colleague Todd Gaines, I was introduced to another Mr. T television vehicle, the Canadian television series T and T.
I knew as I was reading Todd’s post that I was going to need to watch an episode of T and T for myself one day and put it to my own personal Checklist test. Nearly a year later that day has come. I decided to randomly select an episode from the show’s second season (it ran a total of three seasons) and landed on Episode 6…
Synopsis: T.S. Turner (Mr. T) and Amanda Taler (Alexandra Amini) team up with a reporter to investigate the assassination of a Senator.
#1. Does the show have a quality open?
T and T does in fact have a quality open… we learn the entire backstory of the show and how T.S. Turner was a kid from the streets who went on to boxing glory, only to be framed for a crime he did not commit. Then how crusading lawyer Amanda Taler was able to appeal Turner’s case and now the two work together as private detectives. All this with an upbeat theme with some R& B influence and some of the series’ big action moments spliced in… this is what a show open should be. 1/1
#2. Were there any notable guest stars?
You don’t get much more notable than Vanity in this reviewer’s eyes. Over the years, I have managed to cover Vanity in a number of movies like Action Jackson and Never Too Young to Die and even some of her television guest appearances on shows like Miami Vice and Tropical Heat. So you can imagine my joy when I managed to stumble upon another of her TV guest appearances.
Vanity plays intrepid reporter K.C. Morgan. K.C. has gone undercover, posing as Suzy the mud wrestler at a club owned by a pair of notorious brothers and a club that is frequented by Senator Sam Smales. When K.C. is not digging for dirt at the club, she’s rolling around in the mud with Ruthless Rita (Marcia Levine, The Pink Chiquitas). The story K.C. is chasing involving Smales connections to the Granger brothers takes an unexpected and dramatic turn when the Senator is blown up! 2/2
#3. Did anyone get KO’d?
This is where T.S. Turner and Amanda Taler get involved, since the insurance company that will have to pay out Smales’ widow 3 million dollars wants to do their due diligence first. T.S.’s first stop in his investigation is the club that is owned by Charlie and Red Granger… it is there he first meets Suzy/K.C. before basically being thrown out by the Granger brothers, who claim to have nothing to do with the death of Senator Smales… but I got the feeling that wasn’t going to be the last time T.S. and the Grangers would cross paths, but now onto my question…
Is it possible to have a private detective that was former professional boxer like T.S. Turner, and not have him use some of his boxing skills in the course of his investigation?! It might be, but “A Secret No More” was not the episode that was going to dare not to use T.S. Turner’s boxing skills… especially when there was a pool of mud for the recipient of the T.S. knockout punch to fall in. 3/3
#4. Did the show contain licensed music?
In past editions of The Checklist, I have talked about how big network shows in the 80s, like Miami Vice and Knight Rider would incorporate popular music into their episodes. And I suppose it isn’t surprising that a network like NBC that was riding high in the 80s to be willing to invest the money necessary to license music, but I was surprised that a show like T and T produced well outside the Hollywood system licensed music. But my ears did not deceive me and the Martha Reeves and the Vandellas classic “Nowhere to Run” is featured in a scene where T.S. follows Suzy the mud wrestler on her motorcycle and finds out she is really K.C. Morgan the reporter for the Daily Star. 4/4
#5. Did the show end on a light hearted note?
Things wrap up at Decker’s Gym, with T.S. telling his best bud and gym proprietor Decker how the prim and proper professional Amy ended up in the mud… Amy comes in and catches T.S. telling the story he promised not to share. Uh-oh! K.C. shows up with Amy but she is there to take Decker, who was completely bumfuzzled earlier in the episode when he met her, out on date… K.C. even calls him by his proper name, Danforth. I sure hope they had a nice time… because I sure as hell had a nice time watching this episode of T and T. 5/5
- Final Score = 5/5 (100%) T and T jammed quite a bit into its 23 minute runtime… I felt like I could watch at least two more when it was all said and done with “A Secret No More” and when you are leaving the audience wanting more, you are doing something right.
