# What's the deal with Hannibal Smith's gloves?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-hannibal-smiths-gloves/582927
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Tags:** actor-characters
**Created:** [May 23, 2011, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-hannibal-smiths-gloves/582927 "2011-05-23T18:18:30Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@zamboniracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zamboniracer)
#### Post date: [May 23, 2011, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-hannibal-smiths-gloves/582927/1 "2011-05-23T18:18:30Z")
On the original TV version of the A-Team, George Peppard’s character John “Hannibal” Smith was frequently seen in black gloves. Why? What was the deal with them?
[Linkl](http://www.myateamvan.com/team.html)
I noticed this upon watching the show on cable in the middle of the night last week.
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### Author:  [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)
#### Post date: [May 23, 2011, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-hannibal-smiths-gloves/582927/2 "2011-05-23T18:24:54Z")
I wondered about that as well, but also George Peppard wore gloves quite a bit as Banacek
[http://www.coverdude.com/covers/banacek-season-1-fs-r1-front-cover-54954.jpg](http://www.coverdude.com/covers/banacek-season-1-fs-r1-front-cover-54954.jpg)
Maybe it was his “thing.”
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### Author:  [@Staggerlee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Staggerlee)
#### Post date: [May 24, 2011, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-hannibal-smiths-gloves/582927/3 "2011-05-24T11:47:25Z")
I know this may sound stupid, but who drove the van in the A-Team\*? Presumably it was BA, but if not, maybe these were driving gloves. If not, then how about golfing gloves? Signifier for ‘man-of-leisure’ a bit like the cigar?
\*in my defence, I haven’t watched it since the Eighties…
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### Author:  [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)
#### Post date: [May 24, 2011, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-hannibal-smiths-gloves/582927/4 "2011-05-24T13:02:57Z")
> [@Staggerlee](#):
>
> I know this may sound stupid, but who drove the van in the A-Team\*? Presumably it was BA, but if not, maybe these were driving gloves. If not, then how about golfing gloves? Signifier for ‘man-of-leisure’ a bit like the cigar?
>
> \*in my defence, I haven’t watched it since the Eighties…
BA drove the van. Always, unless he’d been shot. Then that crazy fool Murdock drove.
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### Author:  [@Silent\_Kal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silent_Kal)
#### Post date: [May 24, 2011, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-hannibal-smiths-gloves/582927/5 "2011-05-24T15:37:16Z")
He didn’t want to leave fingerprints?
Or perhaps Peppard was concealing some sort of hand injury or defect, like Gary Burghoff or James Doohan.
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### Author:  [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)
#### Post date: [May 25, 2011, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-hannibal-smiths-gloves/582927/6 "2011-05-25T04:42:06Z")
> [@Silent\_Kal](#):
>
> He didn’t want to leave fingerprints?
>
> Or perhaps Peppard was concealing some sort of hand injury or defect, like Gary Burghoff or James Doohan.
That was my first thought, but IMDB doesn’t mention it. His ex-wife Elizabeth Ashley wrote a scathing tell-all book in 1978, so if hay was to be made about a physical deformity, I sure think she would have mentioned it…
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### Author:  [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)
#### Post date: [May 25, 2011, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-hannibal-smiths-gloves/582927/7 "2011-05-25T14:59:57Z")
Peppard suffered from impetigo, mostly localized to his fingers, presenting with skin lesions that occasionally discharged an unpleasant ooze. The gloves’ lining absorbed this, prevented it from becoming a problem, kept his fingers from sticking.
Basically, he hated it when his hands scum together.
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### Author:  [@Apocalypso](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apocalypso)
#### Post date: [May 26, 2011, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-hannibal-smiths-gloves/582927/8 "2011-05-26T20:11:58Z")
> [@muldoonthief](#):
>
> BA drove the van. Always, unless he’d been shot. Then that crazy fool Murdock drove.
BA was only shot once IIRC. During the pilot episode he was shot in the leg off camera, and the episode started with him shot. No other member of the A-Team, or the innocent ranchers/shopkeepers/townspeople who hired them have ever been injured. Come to think of it, none of the bad guys were ever injured either, despite each episode expending more ammunition than the entire Vietnam war.
I was under the impression George Preppard had eczema or some other skin condition and wore the gloves on camera to hide it. I could be wrong though.
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### Author:  [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)
#### Post date: [May 26, 2011, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-hannibal-smiths-gloves/582927/9 "2011-05-26T20:48:41Z")
> [@Apocalypso](#):
>
> BA was only shot once IIRC. During the pilot episode he was shot in the leg off camera, and the episode started with him shot. No other member of the A-Team, or the innocent ranchers/shopkeepers/townspeople who hired them have ever been injured. Come to think of it, none of the bad guys were ever injured either, despite each episode expending more ammunition than the entire Vietnam war.
>
> I was under the impression George Preppard had eczema or some other skin condition and wore the gloves on camera to hide it. I could be wrong though.
I think the episode we’re both thinking of is “Bad Day at Black Rock” - Season 1 episode 5. Face accidently shoots B.A. in the leg (before the episode starts) - and Face, Hannibal (with gloves), Amy and Murdock all drive the the van during the episode. Also, Murdock gives B.A. a blood transfusion, which B.A. is unhappy about - “I don’t want that crazy fool’s blood in my body!”
And an aside - the first 5 seasons of A-Team are up on [hulu.com](http://hulu.com). There goes my summer.
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### Author:  [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)
#### Post date: [May 26, 2011, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-hannibal-smiths-gloves/582927/10 "2011-05-26T20:59:50Z")
> [@Apocalypso](#):
>
> BA was only shot once IIRC. During the pilot episode he was shot in the leg off camera, and the episode started with him shot.
This wasn’t the pilot, but the sixth episode, “Black Day at Bad Rock”.
> [@](#):
>
> No other member of the A-Team, or the innocent ranchers/shopkeepers/townspeople who hired them have ever been injured.
Murdoch once took a bullet meant for Hannibal, spent most of the episode (“Curtain Call”) being carried around on a stretcher. Less serious injuries have occurred at various times.
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### Author:  [@Bakhesh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bakhesh)
#### Post date: [May 27, 2011, 10:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-hannibal-smiths-gloves/582927/11 "2011-05-27T10:24:43Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#):
>
> Peppard suffered from impetigo, mostly localized to his fingers, presenting with skin lesions that occasionally discharged an unpleasant ooze. The gloves’ lining absorbed this, prevented it from becoming a problem, kept his fingers from sticking.
>
> Basically, he hated it when his hands scum together.
:D:D
Mr T was the worst person at drive acting I have ever seen. He would constantly turn the wheel left, then right, giving the impression he was slaloming down the road
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### Author:  [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)
#### Post date: [May 27, 2011, 11:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-hannibal-smiths-gloves/582927/12 "2011-05-27T11:07:03Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#):
>
> > [@](#):
> >
> > No other member of the A-Team, or the innocent ranchers/shopkeepers/townspeople who hired them have ever been injured.
>
> Murdoch once took a bullet meant for Hannibal, spent most of the episode (“Curtain Call”) being carried around on a stretcher. Less serious injuries have occurred at various times.
And don’t forget “Without Reservations”, when Face and Murdock are at a restaurant and decide to neutralize a couple of potential troublemakers without Hannibal’s planning. A couple of quick diversions later, both marks have been disarmed – and are being held at gunpoint – by our heroes; neither Face nor Murdock spotted the accomplice loitering over at another table, who promptly shoots Face in the belly.
(And for what it’s worth, Hannibal gets badly injured working on his own in “Point Of No Return”: the episode opens with him wrapping up a neat bit of electronic surveillance before using smoke grenades to make his getaway from the gunmen – which unfortunately does nothing to stop the guy driving a forklift, who promptly buries ol’ John Smith under a lot of cargo for the win, complete with plenty of blood spilling out from under the fallen crates. And so the mission proper kicks off with him missing in action…)
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### Author:  [@butler1850](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/butler1850)
#### Post date: [May 27, 2011, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-hannibal-smiths-gloves/582927/13 "2011-05-27T16:26:34Z")
> [@Bakhesh](#):
>
> :D:D
>
> Mr T was the worst person at drive acting I have ever seen. He would constantly turn the wheel left, then right, giving the impression he was slaloming down the road
You apparently never drove a '80s vintage American made vehicle. You could turn the wheel that much, and still have the car go in a straight line. I had that experience in a few of my parent’s 80s vintage cars.
Then I started buying foreign made vehicles, which actually had some feel to the wheel.
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### Author:  [@parchot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/parchot)
#### Post date: [January 18, 2013, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-hannibal-smiths-gloves/582927/14 "2013-01-18T15:03:04Z")
Hi - during his time in the Marines he trapped his middle finger in a machine gun and it had to be sewn back on so I suspect it looks pretty nasty. Thats why he wore gloves. He also wore sunglasses lots as he had sensitive eyes and needed shades - he wasn’t vain despite what it looked like! Hope this helps…🙂
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### Author:  [@Emmonsj173](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Emmonsj173)
#### Post date: [August 31, 2022, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-hannibal-smiths-gloves/582927/15 "2022-08-31T22:49:44Z")
BA was shot in the shoulder on S4 E17
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### Author:  [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)
#### Post date: [August 31, 2022, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-hannibal-smiths-gloves/582927/16 "2022-08-31T23:00:13Z")
MEtv has the A-team on every night at 6 pm
> **[Watch The A-Team on MeTV](https://www.metv.com/shows/the_a_team)**
>
> MeTV
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### Author:  [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)
#### Post date: [August 31, 2022, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-hannibal-smiths-gloves/582927/17 "2022-08-31T23:49:29Z")
> [@](#):
>
> What’s the deal with Hannibal Smith’s gloves?
They’re cool, man!
_Yes, I know this is an old thread._
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### Author:  [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)
#### Post date: [September 1, 2022, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-hannibal-smiths-gloves/582927/18 "2022-09-01T13:26:29Z")
> [@Apocalypso](#):
>
> No other member of the A-Team, or the innocent ranchers/shopkeepers/townspeople who hired them have ever been injured. Come to think of it, none of the bad guys were ever injured either, despite each episode expending more ammunition than the entire Vietnam war.
Showing the real consequences of autofire would have spoiled the fantasy and made the show unsuitable for the Family-Friendly time slot. A whole cohort of American kids were given the idea you can empty the magazines of assault rifles without ever killing people.
The most egregious example of the show’s cartoon-level violence I saw before I quit watching it was when the bad guys’ helicopter flew straight into a cliff face at full speed and then dropped 100 feet to the beach below. Before moving on to the next scene, they inserted a quick shot of the bad guys crawling out of the wreckage unharmed, just to reassure youngsters that everything was okay.
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### Author:  [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)
#### Post date: [September 1, 2022, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-hannibal-smiths-gloves/582927/19 "2022-09-01T14:30:00Z")
The (duh duntdunt DAH!) A-Team was also an early adopter of the “crash with half-twist” where a car would rear-end another, and instead of just making a crumpled mess like in real life, the impacting car would (hidden ramp) jump in the air and execute a half-twist, landing on the roof.
They often did this with Jeeps, so if you saw a Jeep with a suspiciously-robust roll cage, you’d know it would be on its roof before the chase was over. And of course, the henchmen would be seen crawling away from the wreckage with nary a scratch, and definitely without internal injuries, concussions or severed hands.
eta: The A-Team was particularly bad when the camera angle would be looking down the barrel of the Mini-14 and you could see it was pointed _right at_ the pursuing car, and no bullets were impacting at all.
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### Author:  [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)
#### Post date: [September 1, 2022, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-hannibal-smiths-gloves/582927/20 "2022-09-01T14:39:09Z")
Or Harold Lloyd.
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