MacGyver

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MacGyver

The MacGyver Title Screen
Genre Adventure
Running time Approx. 45 minutes
Creator(s) Lee David Zlotoff
Starring Richard Dean Anderson
Dana Elcar
Country of origin Flag of United States United States
Original channel ABC
Original run September 29, 1985–May 21, 1992
No. of episodes 139 and two TV movies
IMDb profile

MacGyver was an American adventure television series about a laid-back, extremely resourceful ex-secret agent, played by Richard Dean Anderson. The series was created by Lee David Zlotoff and executive produced by Henry Winkler and John Rich. It ran for seven seasons from September 29, 1985 to May 21, 1992 on the ABC network and filmed primarily in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Of the 139 one-hour episodes, three had two parts. Additionally, two made-for-TV movies were produced in 1994.

MacGyver's main asset is his practical application of scientific knowledge and inventive use of common items—along with his ever-present Swiss Army knife and duct tape (who is commonly known as MacGyver-tape in Norway), and the usual coincidence of being locked up in a room full of useful materials. The clever solutions MacGyver implemented to seemingly intractable problems—often in life-or-death situations requiring him to improvise complex devices in a matter of minutes—were a major attraction of the show, which was praised for generating interest in basic science as well as providing entertaining storylines.[citation needed] All of MacGyver's exploits on the show were ostensibly vetted to be based on real scientific principles (even though, the creators acknowledged, in real life one would have to be extraordinarily lucky for most of MacGyver's ideas to succeed). In the few cases where MacGyver used household chemicals to create poisons or explosives or other things deemed dangerous to describe accurately on television, details were intentionally altered or vague.

The use of ordinary household items to jury rig devices shows an influence from The A-Team (though MacGyver eschewed firearms). The idea has entered U.S. popular culture; such constructions are referred to as "MacGyverisms".

Contents

[edit] Characters

Richard Dean Anderson as MacGyver
Enlarge
Richard Dean Anderson as MacGyver

[edit] MacGyver

Angus MacGyver is a highly intelligent, optimistic action hero who prefers non-violent conflict resolution wherever possible. He refuses to carry or use a gun due to a childhood accident with a revolver that resulted in the death of a friend.[1] The character is portrayed as an outspoken gun control advocate as well as being politically liberal in other respects (environmental conservation, racial equality, assisting the poor). Even in cases where his improvised devices are used to attack hostile opponents, he is always doing so in self-defense and, if possible, subduing or disabling rather than killing. He is often suspicious of militaristic attitudes within the government; he sees his Phoenix Foundation employer as an alternative to the more conventional (and violent) means of law enforcement.

He was born and raised in Minnesota on either January 23, 1951 (per his passport in "Everytime She Smiles") or March 23, 1951 (by working back from dates given in the episodes "Thin Ice", Passages, Friends, Runners, and "Phoenix Under Siege"). His Minnesota heritage explains why he speaks with a Minnesota accent. (Richard Dean Anderson himself was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota.) MacGyver lived his childhood in Mission City. Like Anderson, MacGyver was an avid hockey player as a child, and competed in his local hockey league, continuing to play the game as an adult. He graduated from Alexander Ramsey High School in Roseville, Minnesota. His character is a graduate of the fictitious Western Tech where he earned a degree in physics.

MacGyver's first name remained a mystery until the final season; whenever he's asked about it, he says he dislikes his first name and changes the subject. Consequently, most of his friends and colleagues call him by his last name or simply "Mac." The script for the series pilot gave MacGyver's first name as "Stace", but this information did not appear in the finished episode, although it was mentioned in promotional material for the series. His first name was finally officially revealed in "Good Knight, MacGyver", in which he learns of a 7th century Scottish ancestor, Angus M'Iver, and admits that they share their first name; and repeated in the series finale, which introduces MacGyver's son, whose middle name is Angus.

During seasons 4–7, the show revolved more around social issues such as guns and runaway teens than did the episodes in seasons 1–3, which were mostly about MacGyver's adventures working for the United States government, and then later the Phoenix Foundation.

[edit] Supporting characters

Other notable recurring characters include:

Pete Thornton (Dana Elcar)
MacGyver's boss and best friend. Pete was an operative at the Department of External Services (DXS), also referred to mistakenly as DSX in several episodes, which is where he was impressed by Mac's ingenuity while tracking down Murdoc, an international assassin. When Pete took the position of Director of Operations at the Phoenix Foundation seven years later, he brought MacGyver into the program.
Pete has a son named Michael.
In the pilot episode, actor Dana Elcar played a completely different character named "Andy Colson". The Pete Thornton character didn't appear until episode 1.11, "Nightmares".
Elcar appeared in the dream sequence/time travel episode "Good Knight, MacGyver" as King Arthur; whether this is because Pete is one of Arthur's distant descendants or because Mac subconsciously based his hallucination of Arthur on him is uncertain.
In 1991, actor Dana Elcar began to develop glaucoma, a degenerative condition of the eyes that causes blindness. This condition was written into the show, and Elcar's character also developed the disease. A number of public service announcements were composed and shown at the end of many of the later episodes, encouraging viewers to get checked early and often for the condition.
Dana Elcar died on June 6, 2005 in Ventura, CA due to complications from pneumonia. He was 78.
Jack Dalton (Bruce McGill)
An aviator and old friend of MacGyver's with a weakness for get-rich-quick schemes that invariably got him (and usually Mac) into trouble. He always wore a peaked cap and twitched an eye when lying.
A 1986 episode of the sitcom Cheers, "Fear is My Co-Pilot," featured an unrelated one-shot character also named Jack Dalton.
Murdoc (Michael Des Barres)
MacGyver's most commonly recurring opponent, a master assassin who never failed—except when MacGyver got involved. Murdoc is a master of disguise, as well as highly skilled and creative in the use of booby-traps. He is also very fond of heavy weapons, including flamethrowers, bazookas, and dynamite. Murdoc's professional signature for each hit is to take photographs of his victims at the moment of their deaths. His first appearance in the series was presented as his second run-in with MacGyver. Murdoc returned for revenge for their first encounter—to the surprise of MacGyver, as Murdoc had apparently been killed while escaping on that occasion. Murdoc's revenge scheme not only failed, but resulted in him being apparently killed again. This became a recurring theme: each of Murdoc's subsequent appearances ended in another "death", which we learn in a later episode that he had incredibly survived.
Murdoc always screams "MACGYVER!" at the moment of his "death", except in the episode "Halloween Knights", where he and MacGyver act as allies.
Murdoc is scared of snakes (as revealed in Halloween Knights).
Murdoc was associated with the Homicide International Trust (HIT), an organization of assassins, until being excommunicated for his failures at MacGyver's hands.
Penny Parker (Teri Hatcher)
Penny Parker and MacGyver met in line in an airport in Bulgaria ("Every Time She Smiles") when she tried to smuggle some jewels out of the country in his pocket. Of little talent but with big dreams, her pursuit of a show business career got her into trouble more than once; she was sometimes used by Murdoc as the unwitting pawn in his plans to eliminate MacGyver.
The Coltons (Della Reese, Cleavon Little, Richard Lawson, Cuba Gooding Jr.)
A family of bounty hunters (Mama Colton, Frank, Jesse & Billy), introduced one at a time—the only episode in which more than one appeared was their collective final appearance in the final season, on which occasion they took over the episode entirely, relegating MacGyver to a cameo appearance. This episode, called "The Coltons", was actually intended as a pilot for a spin-off which would star the Coltons, but nothing ever came of it.
Harry Jackson (John Anderson)
Harry Jackson, MacGyver's grandfather, became MacGyver's "father" after his grandmother and real father were killed in a car accident. Seven years later, he left MacGyver. After another eighteen years (stated by MacGyver as "it's been six..seven...eighteen years"), Harry and MacGyver met again in the season one episode, "Target MacGyver", in which MacGyver and his grandfather worked together to defeat an assassin named Axminster (played by D'Mitch Davis). Harry died of a heart attack in the fifth season episode "Passages".
Nikki Carpenter (Elyssa Davalos)
Nikki Carpenter joined the Phoenix Foundation in the third season. She often had differences of opinion with MacGyver, although the two eventually came to respect each other as professionals.
Mei Jan (Michele Chan)
Initially calling herself Sue Ling, the name of MacGyver's foster daughter, Mei Jan enlisted MacGyver's help in completing her mission for the Chinese student movement.
Wilt and Milt Bozer (Robin Mossley, Robert Donner)
Milt Bozer's brother, Wilt, was MacGyver's neighbor at the marina.
Sean Angus Malloy (Dalton James)
Sean, known as Sam was introduced in the series finale as MacGyver's son from a past love named Kate Malloy. Sean was given Angus as his middle name from his mother as a dedication to MacGyver.
Cynthia Wilson (Roxanne Reese)
Introduced with her husband Booker (Michael D. Roberts) in "The Challenge" (which also had Cuba Gooding, Jr. as a guest star), Cynthia ran the Challenger's Club, a program for troubled inner-city teens. In episodes where Mac tries to help runaways or other youths, he invariably sends them to the Challenger's Club as a safe haven.
Lisa Woodman (Mayim Bialik)
A young girl that MacGyver originally meets at a Swiss boarding school, where she accidentally loses his trusty Swiss Army knife. She later returns and Mac helps her overcome a substance abuse problem.

[edit] MacGyver's vehicles

Throughout the series, MacGyver drove a number of vehicles; most frequently a brown Jeep Wrangler (YJ). Among the other vehicles he drove in the series were a Jeep Grand Wagoneer, a Jeep Cherokee Chief, a 1942 Chevrolet pick-up truck, a number of Ford Taurus (including a Silver 1989, a Twilight-Blue 1989, and a Brown 1991) and a 1957 Chevrolet Nomad willed to him by his grandfather Harry in the episode "Harry's Will".

[edit] Influence on culture

[edit] MacGyverisms

The spontaneous inventions have come to be nicknamed MacGyverisms and even led to the verb, 'to MacGyver' or 'to MacGyver-ize'. This word was used in Richard Dean Anderson's project Stargate SG-1, in a postmodern moment in the first episode, when the character Samantha Carter (portrayed by Amanda Tapping) comments on the time and effort that had been required "to MacGyver" a replacement for the Stargate's long-lost control system. However, "MacGyverism" was used long before that, in a MacGyver episode. It was used by Joanne Remmings (played by Pamela Bowen) in the second-season episode #3 "Twice Stung", in which MacGyver must con a con man. (The episode title is a reference to The Sting, with Paul Newman, Robert Redford, and Dana Elcar.)

MacGyverism is a derivative of the "robinsonade" genre, named after Robinson Crusoe (1719). In this genre, the protagonist is suddenly isolated from the comforts of civilization and must improvise the means of his survival from the limited resources at hand.

In July 2005, the American International Press released a book of MacGyverisms from the television show, called 'The Unofficial MacGyver How-to Handbook' by Bret Terrill and Greg Dierkers.

In South Korea, a Swiss Army knife is commonly called "Maekgaibeo kal" ("MacGyver knife"), and in Malaysia, Swiss Army knives are commonly called "Pisau MacGyver/Pisau Lipat MacGyver" (Pisau is Malayasian for knife).

[edit] In the media

As of 2005, MacGyver is the subject of a hoax Presidential campaign, as a spin-off of a similar and popular hoax concerning actor Christopher Walken. The campaign started at the website MacGyver 2008.

In 2006, Anderson appeared in a MasterCard television commercial for Super Bowl XL. The spot poked fun at the character's inherent ability of using everyday objects to perform extraordinary feats: In it, he manages to cut the ropes binding him to a chair using a pine tree air freshener, uses an ordinary tube sock as the pulley for a zipline, and somehow repairs and hotwires a nonfunctional truck using a paper clip, ballpoint pen, rubber band, tweezers, nasal spray and a turkey baster. In contrast to previous MasterCard commercials showing people making somewhat extravagant purchases to accomplish some mundane task, MacGyver is here portrayed as escaping from some sort of deathtrap using less than $20 worth of common household items. The commercial ends by showing him purposefully buying an assortment of such things at a department store with his credit card (as a tongue-in-cheek explanation for how Mac seems to always have items he needs on hand no matter where he goes). It should be noted that although the commercial clearly indicates Anderson is portraying the role of MacGyver he is never explicitly identified as such, possibly due to licensing issues related to the character.

The series is referenced in many episodes of The Simpsons, primarily detailing Marge Simpson's sisters Patty and Selma's obsession with the show and their crush on the MacGyver character. The sisters' regular viewing of the show is an unalterable element of their daily schedule to the point of death as demonstrated in the episode Black Widower. Anderson himself is an avid fan of The Simpsons, and even provided his voice for an episode of the show titled "Kiss Kiss, Bang Bangalore", which first aired April 6, 2006.

In the season one episode titled "Brian: Portrait of a Dog" from Family Guy, Peter writes a letter to Richard Dean Anderson asking him to save his dog using the enclosed items from the envelope: a rubber band, a paper clip and a straw. Anderson puts these together and hits himself in the eye with the rubber band.

The New Zealand Sporting skit show 'Pulp Sport' has a running gag called 'Mc Kay-Ver' in which the MacGyver theme is played, and a prank involving sports presenter Hamish McKay is played out. This usually involves his office area, or something happening to his car.

[edit] Opening gambits

At the beginning of many first-season episodes, there is a short vignette unrelated to the main episode. For example, in "Thief of Budapest" (October 13, 1985), he completes a mission in some hostile foreign land, rescues a horse and, while galloping on a seaside beach pursued by a gang of mounted gunmen, a helicopter hoists him and the horse to safety.

[edit] Trivia

  • The first episode was directed by Alan Smithee, the pseudonym used when a director does not want to be credited.
  • Christopher Judge appeared as a high-school student in season five's "Live and Learn", and would go on to co-star with Richard Dean Anderson in Stargate: SG-1 as the alien team-member Teal'c.
  • MacGyver's producers had a tendency to use the same actor in multiple roles through the series. Some examples:
    • Kai Wulff played "Stepan Frolov" in season one's "Every Time She Smiles", "Hans Visser" in season four's "Collision Course", "Ladysmith" in season five's "Black Rhino", and "Nicolas Von Leer" in season six's episode "Eye of Osiris".
    • Gregory Sierra appeared in the season one episode "The Gauntlet", playing "General Antonio Vasquez", the season two episode "Jack of Lies", playing "Colonel Antunnez", and the season five episode "The Treasure of Manco", playing "Captain Diaz".
    • Nana Visitor of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine fame appeared in the season one episode "Hellfire" as "Laura Farren", and in the season two episode "DOA: MacGyver" she appears again as "Carol Varnay".
    • David Ackroyd appears in the season one episode "Trumbo's World" as "Mr. Trumbo", and in the season three episode "The Negotiator" as "Mr. Knapp".
    • Elyssa Davalos played "Lisa Kohler/Kosov" in "Lost Love: Part 1 & 2" (Season 3), then just a few episodes later (in the same season) reappeared as Nikki Carpenter, a role which she reprised in several more episodes.
  • MacGyver's Swiss Army Knife went through a few changes over the early episodes. His first and most often used knife was a "Spartan" model from Victorinox. In "Thief of Budapest" he gives it away; in the next episode he is using a "Traveler" model from Wenger. He is soon back to his "Spartan." At one point he uses an Orange Peeler blade; probably from a Victorinox "Executive." He may have used an older model "Explorer" from Victorinox later in the series. He also used the Sportsman "Lost Love pt. 1 and 2", the Recruit "GX-1", and the Climber "Three for the Road." In "Tough Boys" he uses a Tinker (with the key ring removed) to unlock a large padlock. He also had a couple of non-production models that were obviously modified for the series. In "Serenity," he has a knife with wood handles on it, to flow with the time setting of the episode. In "Strictly Business" he used a knife with the Victorinox shield on the back handle of the knife instead of the front. He seems to have used all of the slimmer models available at that time. The Tinker was (and still is) available in a slightly smaller model, which he may have used. The Sportsman, Tourist, and Spartan are virtually indistinguishable with the blades closed, so he may have used any one of these three, or only one. The knife seen in the opening of each episode was a Wenger, as noted by its long keychain.
  • A cliffhanger ALF episode ends with a voiceover by ALF saying "Next week on ALF" followed by sequences of black and white stock footage of early 20th century automobiles crashing while performing various stunts. Suddenly the image freezes and ALF says "Whoops! Wrong tape! This is next week's MacGyver!" (this is obviously a spoof, since ALF was on a rival network).
  • In 2003, the WB had a pilot for a possible new MacGyver series staring Jared Padalecki, but opted to pick up a new Tarzan series instead.

[edit] DVD releases

# US DVD release date DVD cover Tagline
1 January 25, 2005 Always prepared for adventure
2 June 7, 2005 His mind is the ultimate weapon
3 September 6, 2005 Saving the day is all in a day's work
4 December 6, 2005 He acts fast and thinks faster
5 March 14, 2006 The right man when things go wrong
(originally He has a mind for adventure)
6 June 13, 2006 Braver than most—smarter than the rest
7 October 24, 2006 Back in action—ready for danger

[edit] Book Releases

# US Book publication date Book cover Title and Author
1 July 9, 1987 MacGyver on Ice by Mark Daniel

[edit] See also

[edit] International

  • In Argentina, the show was shown on Canal 13.
  • In Australia, the show was shown on the Seven Network.
  • In Austria, the show was shown on ORF1.
  • In Bangladesh, the show was shown on Bangladesh Television.
  • In Belgium, the show was shown on Kanaal2 (Dutch-subtitled) and RTL TVI (French-dubbed)
  • In Brazil, the show was shown on TV Globo with the title "Profissão: Perigo!" (in English, "Occupation: Danger!"). The original closing theme was replaced by Rush's song "Tom Sawyer".
  • In Colombia, the show was shown on Telecaribe.
  • In Costa Rica, the show was shown on Channel 6 and now appears on channel 11 at 7:00 p.m.
  • In the Czech Republic, the show was shown on TV Nova and TV Prima.
  • In Dominican Republic, the show was shown on Canal 11 (Telesistema)
  • In Egypt, the show was shown several times on the program "Ekhtarna Lek" (What we chose for you) on Egyptian Channel 1 as the show received a huge fanbase in Egypt. The show also aired on Channel 2.
  • In El Salvador, the show was shown in TV2. On the final season presentation (a year later than in the USA, due to Spanish dubbing), erroneously the operators showed the last episode almost at the start. This caused lack of interest from the public in the remaining episodes and seriously affected the rating from a series that was, to that date, very popular. The programming director was fired.
  • In Finland, the show was shown on MTV3 and is currently being rerun on SubTV.
  • In France, the show was shown on TF1 and later on TV Breizh.
  • In Denmark the show was shown on TV Danmark.
  • In Germany, the show was shown on Pro7, Sat.1, Kabel1 and Premiere Series.
  • In Greece, the show was shown on ERT and ANT1.
  • In India, the show was shown on Star World.
  • In Indonesia, the show was shown on RCTI.
  • In Ireland, the show was shown on RTE Network 2.
  • In Italy, the show was shown on Italia1 and Rete4.
  • In Japan, the show was shown on JCTV.
  • In Malaysia, the show was shown on TV3.
  • In New Zealand, the show was shown on TV2, and is now repeated on Prime.
  • In Norway, the show has been shown in several reruns on TV 2, the latest being aired in 2006.
  • In the Philippines, the show was shown on RPN 9.
  • In Poland, the show was shown on TVP 1, Polonia 1 and Polsat.
  • In Portugal, the show was shown on RTP 1 and SIC Radical.
  • In Saudi Arabia, the show was shown on Saudi TV Channel 2.
  • In Singapore, the show was shown on then TCS' Channel 5.
  • In Slovakia, the show was shown on STV, Markiza, JOJ. Currently it is running on JOJ.
  • In Slovenia, the show was shown on Kanal A.
  • In South Africa, the show was shown on SABC
  • In South Korea, the show was shown on MBC.
  • In Spain, the show was shown on TVE, Antena 3 and Calle 13.
  • In Sweden, the show was shown first run on SVT and is currently syndicated on Kanal 5.
  • In Switzerland, the show was shown on TSR, in French
  • In Taiwan, the show was shown on TTV.
  • In Trinidad & Tobago, the show was shown on TTT, Friday nights at 8:00 pm.
  • In Turkey, the show was shown on Star TV.
  • In Uruguay, the show was shown on Canal 12 (La Tele).

[edit] Footnotes

  1. ^ In the early episode "Pilot," MacGyver fires an AK-47 at some Russian soldiers. This episode was before his dislike of firearms was established.

[edit] External links

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