We learn to be high achievers from Mr. T’s Be Somebody… or Be Somebody’s Fool!
Mr. T pities the kids. He’ll teach them to be better. His sketches, music, song, and dance help the children of the world advance. He’s building a kid army for reasons he’s not saying. They’ll be bold, hip, creative and respectful, running in the sand. The kids in this grew up to be cool. You’re gonna Be Somebody, Or Be Somebody’s Fool!
TOPICS
Open 0:00
– Get Involved 3:14
What The Hell is Be Somebody? 4:37
– Dramaturgy 4:47
– Inspirations 6:35
– How It Was Received 8:41
How Well Was It Done? 9:46
– Can Everybody Be A Leader? 10:08
– Try by Valerie Landsburg 12:01
– Visualization Exercises 14:42
– The Fashion Show 18:19
– The Typical Fat Kid 20:38
– Everybody’s Got A Rap! 23:09
Was It Worth Doing? 25:17
Bits and Baubles 27:03
– ARBITRARY SCALE 28:48
Listener Feedback 29:45
LINKS
Mr. T’s Be Somebody or Be Somebody’s Fool
Key and Peele Parody
Mr. T Theme Song
Agony Booth Summary
Topper Carew
Jeff Margolis
Mr. T on Bloomberg
Coffee Achievers Commerical (1984)
NEXT WEEK – Cop Rock
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Transcript
Introduction
Welcome to Weird TV, the only podcast talking about tv that helps you become a better person. I’m Bill Meeks, coming to you from the self-help capital of the world, Los Angeles, CA. Today, we’re discussing Be Somebody… Or Be Somebody’s Fool!, A MOTIVATIONAL VIDEO FROM 1984 HOSTED BY PEE-WEE’S BREAKFAST BUDDY, AND FRIEND OF PAT ROBERTSON, MR. T.).
What The Hell Is It?
DRAMATURGY/SOCIAL CONTEXT
Be Somebody (Or Be Somebody’s Fool!) is a motivational special hosted by Mr. T himself, with a simple message.
The message? Be who you are, in the biggest way possible. So 80s, right?
This special was produced by Topper Carew, who went on to direct and produce hit TV shows like Martin Lawrence’s Martin.
As well as a Nickelodeon show we’re sure to cover at some point, The Journey of Allen Strange.
This direct-to-VHS program was directed by celebrated Awards Show producer Jeff Margolis, who I reached out to, but he said he couldn’t remember enough about the project to matter. Jeff’s directed a lot of TV, so I’m sure we’ll find a good excuse to talk to him soon.
Anyway, this special has a major self-help vibe. Mr. T, along with a handful of emerging music artists like Mario Lopez, Ice-T, New Edition, and Fergie from Black Eyed Peas, help kids build self-confidence by teaching them the importance of personal branding.
INSPIRATIONS
The video’s main inspiration is Mr. T’s personality and personal message.
After school and==– military service, Mr. T became a bouncer at Dingbats Disco in Chicago, where he created his own personal brand as Mr. T, featuring his signature gold chains.
According to his book, Mr. T: The Man With The Gold, he started collecting gold jewelry from rowdy patrons at Dingbats Disco. From there, he became a bodyguard for celebs like Steve McQueen and Lavar Burton, and even ran a side hustle helping the authorities track down troubled teens. After winning two tough-man competitions and getting cast as Rocky antagonist Clubber Lang and Bosco “B.A.” Barracus on The A-Team, Mr. T decided to parley his fame into something that could make a difference.
It’s not surprising that one of the most distinctive characters of the 1980s would create an hour-long musical special with an emphasis on personal branding.
INTENDED AUDIENCE
My instincts say he made this for the kids, but my instincts don’t do as much research as I do.
VHS specials like this one were marketed mainly to libraries and schools, and the primary audience were the kids tormenting the substitute teacher who decided to show it. If you were a fan of the Mr. T cartoon like I was, and saw this tape on the wall of the video store, it was an easy pick if you couldn’t find anything else.
HOW IT WAS RECEIVED
At the time, the program, including the companion book and vinyl record, sold well enough at the time, but the special found a new life when fans uploaded it to early video sites like Funny or Die and YouTube back in 2008. After being meme’ed to death, Be Somebody was even parodied by Key and Pelle on their sketch show.
How Well Was It Done?
Visualization Exercises
One thing Be Somebody nails is the importance of visualization in mental health. I use them to help with intrusive self-criticizing thoughts. You know, you start nitpicking your looks or your work or your life, then you get caught in a loop, beating yourself up over every little flaw.
When my brain gets caught in a negative feedback loop, I imagine I’m walking down a road next to a brick wall. On the wall, I’ll see my intrusive thoughts as graffiti.
Just because somebody spray painted it on the wall, doesn’t mean it’s true. So, I acknowledge that fact, then keep on walking. Eventually, I make it to the end of the wall and leave all the negative stuff behind me.
So what about Mr. T’s take? In the segment on anger, Mr. T tells kids to visualize their anger away.
It’s interesting Mr. T still killed the fly, just not out of anger. That’s still a net negative, right? Murder?
Anger can be a great motivator, especially in creative work, but this strikes me as a little too military. Personally? I diffuse anger by taking a mind walk down a brick wall.
Mr. T suggests visualization again in the DAYDREAMING segment, with a girl imagining she’s playing in the World Series during a little league game.
Spoilers: We’re still waiting on a woman to make it to the World Series.
But, yeah, visualization exercises and daydreaming work. I find creating elaborate scenes in my head when I’m in the moment makes me lose focus on the task at hand. I prefer to daydream success stories for myself when I’m out for a walk. A real one, not one of my mind walks down the ol’ insult wall.
Can Everybody Be A Leader?
Mr. T’s message aims to push my generation to be the best and brightest, but the messaging is a little too absolute for my tastes.
It’s not necessarily Mr. T’s fault. This message was everywhere in the 80s.
It cuts both ways. Sure, it’s great to motivate kids to be the best version of themselves, but not everybody is a “high achiever.” Some people like a simple life. Others prefer to serve other people. Money and power isn’t a factor for them… You know, like volunteer firemen and teachers.
For kids like that, and I’ve known a few of them in my life, when you tell them they MUST be an overachiever, or a leader, you’re setting them up for either failure or disappointment. Sure, stepping in as a leader is always helpful, but not everybody can be the leader. Besides, if you have a room full of leaders, who are you leading, you know?
Try by Valerie Landsburg
I haven’t talked about the music yet. A lot of it is cheesy “hello fellow kids” stuff
But there are a very solid bops, even if they’re a little weird.
The voice you hear is Valerie Landsburg, who hadn’t done much before this special, like a lot of the kids. She eventually went on to appear in the Fame TV series as Doris Schwartz.
It’s a solid tune, right? Sort of a lonely-heart, motivational love song about pushing past your nerves to make a move. Only problem is, this track for the Friendship segment. It’s a little lusty for friendship, right? Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad, but it’s basically her walking down a beach for the whole segment! Well, minus the weird little sketch about big toes.
Typical Fat Kid
One of the segments, “WORK OUT…” Who picked these segment names anyway? It’s like they had three good ideas and were told by the producers to expand it to fourteen. Anyway, the workout segment is a little dated. This totally wouldn’t play in 2021.
There’s a little boy in this segment with high socks and a bag of popcorn. First of all, this kid isn’t even fat by today’s standards. I was a lot fatter than him, weighing in at nearly 350lbs by the time I was 13. Anyway, the entire segment tries to shame him into working out.
This is a bell they hit over and over for comedy. In one clip, everybody else goes down the slide and hops off. The fat kid falls on his butt. All the other kids jump off their swings gracefully, but he lands on his knees. He tries to climb a pole, and can’t, so Mr. T gives him a boost.
By the end, the “fat kid” is part of the team. A positive outcome, but as a former fat kid, it felt kind of degrading. I know this segment wouldn’t have motivated me back then. If anything, I would have gone and ate a burrito about it.
Oh, I have to mention the song they play here. It’s straight up a sex anthem.
There is a time and a place for a song like this, and a self-help video for kids is NOT it.
The Fashion Show
Everybody talks about the Rapping segment, but the Styling segment was pure joy for me.
Mr. T does color commentary on kid’s fashion choices from behind the camera. It’s wonderfully bizarre.
I assure you, Jeff is not, and was not, the hippest kid in town. He does an awkward dance in suspenders and a flannel shirt. I mean, it was the 80s, but even for the 80s, Jeff’s a dweeb.
Mr. T makes an interesting point about branding in this segment. He instructs kids twice to rip off their designer labels and make their own custom labels. I love this so much. The 80s was when labels like Calvin Klein became a huge deal for teens. It was as much about who you were wearing as what you were wearing.
I love that Mr. T teaches kids you don’t need a ton of money to have your own unique style. As somebody whose parents took him back-to-school clothes shopping at the discount store, this is still a great message for kids. Hell yeah. Make your own damn label!
Mr. T’s Tale
Okay. This is the weirdest segment. First, a white kid assumes Mr. T is in a gang for reasons…
Anyway, Mr. T goes on to tell a story about two of his “friends from the street,” Ricky and Jackie.
Yep, he adapted Romeo and Juliet for a modern audience, years before Clair Daines and Leonardo DiCaprio.
I feel like this might have been the original “CREATING” segment, which in the final version became a breakdancing tutorial. Really.
Speaking of, let’s talk about the rap.
Everybody’s Got A Rap!
Back in 1984, everybody was rapping. Actors, dishwashers, even grandmas.
The oddest thing about this segment is after Mr. T tells the kids why they should express themselves with rap, he never gives them the chance to do it! Instead, he ruminates on the toxic effects of news media.
Then, he wraps it all up with a “Children are the future” rip-off.
Now, I can’t really throw stones here, since I open every episode of Weird TV with a rap, but at the very least he should have let the kids rap! Let them rap, Mr. T! They’ve got to be better than you.
Pier Pressure
The segment on Peer Pressure takes place, you guessed it, on a pier. Like, an elevated wooden sidewalk over water kind of pier. Clever, right?
The older kids are all trying to get the younger kids to smoke and drink stuff they found in the FREAKING TRASH, all while New Edition performs and Mr. T stands their observing like some guardian angel.
Luckily, by the time New Edition finishes up, the younger kids have rejected the cigs and booze, and the older kids feel ashamed. Mr. T, on the other hand, just stood there like a jackass the whole time like The Watcher.
Was It Worth Doing?
At The Time It Was Made
Sure. These kinds of videos did really well back then because libraries and schools would buy them. In fact, these things are so essential I have several of them on my WeirdTV list!
Now
I don’t know if something this “on-the-nose” would work with the YouTube generation, and a lot of the points Mr. T makes are outdated at best and insensitive at worst. It feels pretty cynical to use a self-help video to promote your record label and rising young stars.
Let’s Reboot It!
Okay. This is a crazy idea, but bear with me: Mr. T’s Army.
Mr. T’s an ex-marine who takes a ragtag group of teens under his wing to turn them into an elite fighting force: Mr. T’s Army. He’ll teach them to be physical fit hard-ass overachieving child soldiers, and together they’ll take down Pizzagate or something. I’m still workshopping it.
BITS AND BAUBLES
- In the RECOUPING segment, Mr. T strips down and does lunges. I was not expecting that on a kid’s show.
- Mario Lopez makes an appearance as a breakdancing kid
- T is all about embracing your roots, but I’ve always been more of a “running away from his roots” kinda guy, mainly due to a pretty toxic upbringing, so this and the Mother rap song both ring hollow for me, personally.
- I did try to dig into my roots for today’s discussion in honor of Mr. T. Did you notice?
- I always thought it was weird that Mr. T showed up on The 700 Club, but with the amount of religious content in this made me realize I just wasn’t paying attention since I was like, six.
- Finally, I wrote down “potato salad as a metaphor.” It wasn’t a great point, but I wanted to put that phrase out into the universe because it made me giggle.
ARBITRARY SCALE: 983 out of 1200 flies in the potato salad