I should have known the A-Team would triumph. They always did on TV.

My son and his friends' group costume won the 7th grade top prize. Considering many of the judges were students born a decade after the A-Team debuted, recognition was an accomplishment. At least for Stephen Cannell.

They did not win the all-school costume award. Another son observed that honor is generally reserved for boys dressing as women.

Costume cross-dressing has deep roots in cultural humor. The Greeks and Romans took it seriously in their plays, apparently just excluding women from the theatrical. I suspect the British converted the practice to tee-hee level, just like they did with toilets. The balloon-breasts-for-laughs roster includes: Charlie Chaplin, Eric Idle, Milton Berle, Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis, Dustin Hoffman, Robin Williams and, of course, Tom Hanks in the '80s sitcom launching his distinguished career, "Bosom Buddies." Oddly, women dressed as men rarely elicits laughter.

In the early '70s, my parents' bowling partners, Carmen and Wally, attended their league's Halloween party dressed as each other, even wearing their spouse's clothes. While not terribly original, I found them hilarious, mainly because of the foot height differential. Luckily, Carmen did not exclusively wear mini-dresses or Wally faced arrest for indecent exposure. Wally won the costume contest, although several judges later revealed they believed he was dressed as Little Richard.

While YourHub.com's Joey Kirchmer reported this year's costumes would reflect movie themes, we stuck with archaic television. Rumors of an A-Team movie continue to surface, however.

My son in college attended Halloween revelries as Number 6, 1967's "The Prisoner" played by Patrick McGoohan.No party-goers recognized his costume, but it served as a good ice-breaker.

So, like Jared Keller, my family does our part (at least on Halloween) keeping once-popular culture from slipping into total obscurity. Without wearing a dress.