Mission: Impossible

When NBC president Brandon Tartikoff pitched The A-Team to Stephen J. Cannell, he described the proposed series as a combination of The Dirty Dozen, Mission: Impossible, The Magnificent Seven, Mad Max, and Hill Street Blues. Both use a specialized team whose members have distinct skills, brought together to execute a difficult operation. The A-Team also inherited the idea of solving missions through coordinated planning and the use of each member's particular specialty.

Adaptation/revival of the original TV property, with Tom Cruise's Ethan Hunt replacing the original ensemble structure as the central focus.

Bruce Geller, the series' creator, took inspiration from Topkapi's elaborate, carefully planned heist structure and adapted it into an espionage setting: a team of specialists, minimal dialogue, precise execution, and suspense built around timing.