• Self-assured Mr. T (real name Laurence Tureaud) is back in business with TV Land's I Pity the Fool, an advice show coming this October. He told critics all about it Thursday – boy did he ever – in immensely entertaining, rapid-fire fashion. He's lately a fashion plate, too, shucking his trademark gold jewelry and sleeveless muscleman attire for a natty-looking charcoal-gray suit, white shirt and striped tie.
"Mr. T, why do you pity the fool?" a critic ventured.
"You pity the fool because you don't want to beat up a fool. Pity is between sorry and mercy. ... You've got to give them another chance because they don't know no better. That's why I pity them."
His show will follow Mr. T, 54, to wherever pitiable fools might be, including a car dealership in New York to mend a fractious working relationship between a father and son-in-law.
"My show ain't no Dr. Phil where people sit around crying, 'What's wrong with me, Dr. Phil?' You are a fool. That's what's wrong with you. My show is Dr. Phil on wheels."
The former A-Team star, who also played boxer Clubber Lang in Rocky III, said he's really "nothing but a big, overgrown, tough mama's boy. Why? Because I love and respect my mother. Everything I do is with respect for my mother."
Mom is almost 90 now, and "I have not forgotten her teachings," he said. It boils down to being polite, positive and "lifting everybody's spirits," he said.
Any future A-Team remakes are all right by Mr. T, whether or not he's included.
"I liked the fact that we didn't kill nobody," he said. "I liked the fact that we shot off a thousand bullets, but we never hit anybody."