|
|
Macguyver TV Show Overview
 MacGyver is an
American action/adventure television series created by Lee
David Zlotoff and executively produced by Henry Winkler and
John Rich. Seven seasons of the MacGyver television show
were produced, all of which were broadcast by American
Broadcasting Company Network (ABC) in the United States and
various other networks abroad. The MacGyver tv series was
filmed in Los Angeles during Seasons 1,2 and 7, and in
Vancouver, Canada from Seasons 3-6. ABC broadcast all seven
seasons of the MacGyver TV show beginning in 1985 and ending
in 1992. The show's final episode aired on April 25, 1992 on
ABC.
The story of MacGyver follows the laid-back, extremely
resourceful secret agent Angus MacGyver, played by Richard
Dean Anderson. He prefers non-violent conflict resolution
wherever possible and refuses to carry or use a gun.
MacGyver works as a problem solver for the fictional Phoenix
Foundation in Los Angeles. Educated as a scientist and with
a background from a fictional United States government
agency, the Department of External Services (DXS), he is
used as a resourceful agent able to solve a range of
problems along with his ever-present Swiss Army Knife.
The MacGyver television series was a ratings success for ABC, and was
particularly popular in the United States, Europe and
Australia. The tv series received a great deal of critical
response, and MacGyver was honored with numerous awards and
award nominations in its seven-season run. Two television
movies, entitled MacGyver: Lost Treasure of Atlantis and
MacGyver: Trail to Doomsday, aired on ABC in 1994. While
never released, a spin off entitled Young MacGyver was
planned in 2003. A live-action feature film is planned to be
released, with the release date yet to be announced.
Merchandise for the MacGyver franchise includes games and
toys, print media and an original audio series.
|
|
|
|
MacGyver - The Complete First
Season on DVD (1985)
Amazon.com DVD Review - Like James Bond--but without
the high-tech gadgets--Angus MacGyver (Richard Dean
Anderson) is one of those rare beings who can avert
any crisis without mussing a hair. (The rest of us
should be so lucky.) In the pilot alone, the secret
agent dismantles a missile using a paper clip and
fashions a rocket thruster out of a pistol. Is there
anything MacGyver can't do? As the first season of
ABC's long-running adventure series proves, the
answer is a resounding no. MacGyver's secret: the
everyday items he "finds along the way," like
matches or gum wrappers, and the ingenuity to put
them to a myriad of uses (a background in physics
and chemistry doesn't hurt). Unlike Alias' Sidney
Bristow, he isn't a multi-linguist, a martial
artist, or a master of disguises. Wits are
MacGyver's weapon of choice.
Produced by Henry Winkler (Arrested Development),
The Complete First Season includes all 22 episodes
from 1985-1986 (alas, there are no extras). MacGyver
is joined by Phoenix Foundation director of
operations Pete Thornton (Dana Elcar), who is
introduced in "Nightmares." Also, his grandfather,
Harry Jackson (John Anderson), makes his first
appearance in "Target MacGyver," while friend Penny
Parker (Teri Hatcher of Desperate Housewives) makes
hers in "Every Time She Smiles" (they will appear
more frequently in future seasons). Other notable
guest stars include Joan Chen (The Last Emperor) in
"The Golden Triangle," Nana Visitor (Star Trek: Deep
Space Nine) in "Hellfire," and John De Lancie (Star
Trek: The Next Generation) in "The Escape."
MacGyver ran for seven seasons and was followed by
two made-for-TV movies in 1994, Lost Treasure of
Atlantis and Trail to Doomsday. In 1997, after a
short-lived series for UPN (1995's Legend), Anderson
landed the lead in an even longer-running series,
Stargate SG-1, based on the sci-fi extravaganza with
Kurt Russell. --Kathleen C. Fennessy |
|
|
|
MacGyver - The Complete Second
Season on DVD
Amazon.com DVD Review - MacGyver's second season
begins by following the same blueprint as the first
(although the opening gambit is gone). Richard Dean
Anderson is back as the eponymous secret agent. So
is Pete Thornton (Dana Elcar), operations director
of the Phoenix Foundation. In addition, Mac's ditzy
pal, Penny (Teri Hatcher), and beloved grandfather,
Harry (John Anderson), return for a few episodes. In
the season premiere ("The Human Factor"), a
skeptical military man says to Thornton, "So this is
your main guy. He doesn't even have any gear."
Responds Thornton, "That's what makes him so
special." As before, Mac doesn't drink, smoke, or
carry a firearm. He puts it plainly in the fourth
episode ("The Wish Child"): "I hate guns." Mac would
rather use non-violent means, i.e. "MacGyverisms,"
to fight crime. Midway through the 22-episode year,
however, creator Lee David Zlotoff (Remington
Steele) decided to shake up the formula by
introducing two new characters. First there's Mac's
college buddy, Jack Dalton (busy character actor
Bruce McGill from Animal House, The Cinderella Man,
etc.), who makes his first appearance in the sixth
episode ("Jack of Lies"). Then there's Mac's
arch-nemesis Murdoc (actor/musician Michael Des
Barres from Melrose Place), who makes his in the
eighteenth ("Partners").
Other notable second season guest stars include Fast
Times At Ridgemont High's Vincent Schiavelli ("Soft
Touch"), Murphy Brown's Robert Pastorelli ("Out in
the Cold"), and Star Trek's George Takei and Wayne's
World's Tia Carrere ("The Wish Child"). MacGyver
also had a tendency to bring back actors from
previous seasons for different roles. Second year
returnees include Mean Streets' Richard Romanus
("Twice Stung"), Barney Miller's Gregory Sierra
("Jack of Lies"), and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine's
Nana Visitor ("D.O.A. MacGyver"). As with the first
season, there are no extras. --Kathleen C. Fennessy |
|
|
|
|
MacGyver - The Complete Third
Season on DVD (1985)
Amazon.com Review - In "Ghost Ship," MacGyver's
boss, Pete (Dana Elcar), is asked to define what
makes Mac (Richard Dean Anderson) so special. He
replies, "You know, I've known him for eight years
now, and I've never quite been able to put my finger
on it. He just always comes through, no matter
what." And that he does. MacGyver's third season
begins with a blast from the past when Mac runs into
Lisa (Elyssa Davalos), a woman he thought he had
killed (unintentionally, of course). Turns out
Lisa's just fine, but she did do a little time in a
Russian gulag, proceeding to marry the ex-KGB
operative who set her free. The two-part season
opener ("Lost Love") allows Mac to make it up to his
former flame with a little help from pal Jack (Bruce
"D-Day" McGill), AKA "The Great Sheldrake," whose
latest career move is magician.
The producers must have felt that Anderson and
Davalos had chemistry as she returns a few episodes
later ("Fire and Ice")--sans Russian accent--as
Nikki, a different, recurring character (oddly
enough, Mac fails to note the resemblance). Like
Teri Hatcher's Penny, who doesn't appear in the
third season, Nikki isn't a love interest, but a
friend (and Phoenix Foundation colleague). While
Penny will return the following year, Nikki will
not. Fortunately, Michael Des Barres' maniacal
Murdoc does reappear ("The Widowmaker"), but only
once before Mac neatly dispatches him yet again--or
does he? Other guest stars include three Kung Fu
vets: The Sopranos Joe Santos ("Back From the
Dead"), Blade Runner's James Hong ("Lost Love"), and
Keye "Master Po" Luke ("Murderer's Sky," the season
finale). The latter two appeared in previous years,
but--like Davalos--as different characters (whereas
Santos's Jimmy "The Eraser" Kendall was first
introduced in the second season). --Kathleen C.
Fennessy |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Macgyver - The Complete Fourth
Season on DVD (1985)
The fourth
season of the popular tv show, MacGyver available on
DVD. |
|
|
|
MacGyver - The Complete Fifth
Season on DVD (1985)
Amazon.com DVD Review - Desperate times call
for desperate measures--and the desperate will stop
at nothing to get MacGyver's attention. In the fifth
season premiere ("Legend of the Holy Rose"), an old
friend releases his houseboat from its
moorings--while he's in it. Four episodes later
("Halloween Knights"), an old enemy relieves his
boat of its belongings. It works, of course. Mac
lives to help people in need, even if those people
include obnoxious archeology professor Zoë (Lise
Cutter), who enlists his aid in tracking down an
ancient artifact, and the mysterious Murdoc (Michael
Des Barres), who does the same to rescue his
kidnapped sister. Joining forces with arch-enemy
Murdoc marks a break with previous seasons.
Otherwise, the fifth features the same resourceful
secret agent as the first four (though he’s relying
on those inventive "MacGyverisms" less often as the
series continues). MacGyver (Richard Dean Anderson)
still travels the world on behalf of the Phoenix
Foundation, while reporting to supportive superior
Pete Thornton (Dana Elcar). As before, he goes it
alone: no gun, no back-up, no wisecracking
sidekick--not counting reckless rogue Jack Dalton
(Bruce McGill), who drops by on occasion to shake up
MacGyver's well-ordered world.
Aside from
a greater interest in socially conscious causes,
like the protection of endangered species, the
1989-1990 season also breaks with the past by an
episode set in the Old West ("Serenity") and another
set in the afterlife ("Passages"). In the former,
Jack and Penny (Teri Hatcher in her final
appearance) return as prototypes for their present
day characters. Murdoc returns, as well--this time
wearing a black hat. In the latter, Grandpa Harry
(John Anderson) bids adieu. Other fifth year guests
include Blossom’s Mayim Bialik ("Cease Fire,"
"Hearts of Steel"), The Exorcist’s Linda Blair
("Jenny's Chance"), and Jerry Maguire’s Cuba Gooding
Jr. ("Black Rhino," "Serenity"). --Kathleen C.
Fennessy |
|
|
|
MacGyver - The Complete Sixth
Season on DVD (1985)
Richard Dean
Anderson stars as MacGyver, an agent for the Phoenix
Foundation, a progressive agency devoted to righting
the wrongs of the world. Even more progressive is
the near-genius MacGyver who never carries a gun and
always thwarts the enemy with his vast scientific
knowledge, sometimes with little more than a paper
clip and the duct tape in his pocket. |
|
|
|
MacGyver -
The Complete Final Season on DVD (1985)
The
houseboat is history. In the final season, MacGyver
(Richard Dean Anderson) moves to a loft in an
eccentric inner-city neighborhood. The point seems
to be to paint the secret agent as less of a loner,
but living away from the rest of the world seemed to
suit MacGyver better. Fortunately for fans, Mac's
ever-enthusiastic buddy, Jack (Bruce McGill), and
surprisingly lively nemesis, Murdoc (Michael Des
Barres), who faked his death in year six, come back
to add a little zest to proceedings that were
starting to grow stale (see "Obsessed" and "The
Mountain of Youth"). Aside from Pete Thornton (Dana
Elcar, now wearing dark glasses due to glaucoma),
MacGyver's boss, other recurring characters include
Mama Lorraine (Kimberly Scott), a voodoo priestess,
and the Colton brothers (Cleavon Little, Richard
Lawson, and Cuba Gooding Jr.), who return in "The
Coltons," pilot for a series that never materialized
(Della Reese, who plays their mother, would have
better luck with Touched by and Angel). In addition,
Mac's son, Sam (Dalton James), is introduced in "The
Stringer," the series' fitting finale. Sadly, Elcar,
who also starred in
Barretta and Black Sheep
Squadron, would pass away in 2005.
Instead of a full season, only 14 episodes were
produced for the seventh, including the silly two-part
"Good Knight MacGyver," in which a bump on the
noggin transports Mac to Camelot. As he spends more
time with the Challengers Club than the Phoenix
Foundation, other stories revolve around domestic
matters rather than the international crises of
yore. Guest stars include Shelley Berman ("Honest
Abe"), Wendy Malick ("Obsessed"), Henry Gibson
("Deadly Silents"), and Dick Butkus ("Split
Decision"). The final season was followed by two tele-films, an appearance on The Simpsons, and a
Super Bowl 2006 MasterCard commercial in which
Anderson revived his most famous character.
Priceless, indeed. --Kathleen C. Fennessy |
|
|
|
