According to the remaining cast members, Mr. T and George Peppard did not get along. Peppard was a "proper movie actor," but Mr. T became the real star of the show. Things got even worse when Peppard learned Mr. T was being paid more than he was.
Despite his insanity and quirky personality, Murdock has an almost genius-level aptitude. He has a vast knowledge of many subjects and keeps up on current events. He's also fluent in Chinese (Mandarin), German, Japanese, Spanish, Vietnamese and basic Russian. He can communicate in Morse Code and has a photographic memory. In fact, dialogue in season 1 suggests that he may not even be as "mentally unstable" as some characters may think he is.
Most of the episodes were filmed five weeks before they aired.
Before being cast as Lieutenant-Colonel John "Hannibal" Smith, George Peppard was informed that if he was fired from the show, it would mean the end of his career. His reputation for being difficult to work with had preceded him; by the early 1980s Hollywood producers had grown weary of him.
In the opening credits, Dirk Benedict reacts to a passing metallic "Cylon warrior." Cylons were the nemesis in Benedict's earlier series, "Battlestar Galactica (1978)", in which he played Lieutenant Starbuck.