MacGyver

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MacGyver
MacGyver title card
Genre	Adventure Action
Created by	Lee David Zlotoff
Starring	Richard Dean Anderson Dana Elcar Bruce McGill
Narrated by	Richard Dean Anderson
Theme music composer	Randy Edelman
Country of origin	United States
Language(s)	English
No. of seasons	7
No. of episodes	139 2 TV Movies (List of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s)	Henry Winkler John Rich
Producer(s)	Henry Winkler/John Rich Productions Paramount Television
Location(s)	California British Columbia Alberta
Running time	45 minutes (excluding commercials)
Broadcast
Original channel	ABC
Audio format	Mono (Seasons 1-3), Stereo (Season 4-7)
Original run	September 29, 1985 – May 21, 1992
External links
Official website
IMDb profile
TV.com summary

MacGyver is an American adventure television series, produced in the United States and Canada, about the laid-back, extremely resourceful secret agent MacGyver, played by Richard Dean Anderson. The series was created by Lee David Zlotoff and executive produced by Henry Winkler and John Rich. Film locations included Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada and Southern California, California, United States of America.

It ran for seven seasons from September 29, 1985 to May 20, 1992 on the ABC network. 139 fifty-minute-long episodes were produced, including three with two parts. Additionally, two made-for-television movies were produced in 1994.

Contents 1 Premise 2 Cast and characters 2.1 Recurring cast 2.2 Organizations in MacGyver 3 Influence on culture 3.1 MacGyverisms 3.2 In the media 3.2.1 Mythbusters 4 MacGyver's gear 5 Vehicles 6 DVD releases 6.1 Television movies 7 Book releases 8 International 9 References 10 External links

[edit] Premise

The series revolved around Angus MacGyver (known to his friends as MacGyver or "Mac") who favors brain over brawn in order to solve desperate problems. 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. 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 the applied sciences, and particularly engineering^[1] as well as providing entertaining story lines. 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, explosives or other things deemed too dangerous to be accurately described for public consumption, details were intentionally altered or left 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 United States popular culture; such constructions are referred to as "MacGyverisms" (a term first used in episode 3 of season 2, "Twice Stung").

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.

In an August 2007 survey commissioned by the McCormick Tribune Foundation, Americans polled voted MacGyver as the favorite fictional hero they would want to have if they were ever caught in an emergency.^[2]

In 2003, the WB had a pilot for a possible new "Young MacGyver" series starring Jared Padalecki, but opted to pick up a new Tarzan series instead.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Cast and characters

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.^[3] The character is portrayed as an outspoken advocate of gun control, and is also politically liberal in other respects, such as environmental preservation and 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 Mission City, Minnesota on March 23, 1951.^[4] His heritage explains why he speaks with a Minnesota accent. (Richard Dean Anderson himself was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota on January 23, 1950). When he was ten years old he got his first chemistry set ^[5]. 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. MacGyver studied physics at the fictitious Western Tech where in 1973 a mustached MacGyver had studied under Julian Ryman.^[6] MacGyver's interests include mountain climbing (despite suffering from acrophobia) and ice hockey, and he is a supporter of the Calgary Flames.^[7] In the The Wish Child episode he admitted that he loved museums as a kid.

The most appealing aspect of MacGyver is that, when being challenged to, say, protect himself or a person who needs protection, he will never give up; when plan A doesn't succeed, he will move on to plan B, which hasn't been developed much (if at all) beforehand. He has an uncanny ability to remain adaptable and agile so that he can deal with situations that can't be foreseen. There are only a few episodes in which he was forced to think about a "plan B". All his plans start as a basic framework, the details being added as the scene progresses, making them open to change and improvement as new things become available; This also makes it more difficult to plan against, as his enemy Murdoc pointed out, because not even MacGyver himself knows what he's going to do next. He was also unlike the stereotypical "macho" or stoic action hero; not only did he dislike violence, but he often exhibited open fear in perilous situations (though it did not hamper his efforts to escape or resolve such situations) and showed pain after a fight (he would routinely gasp in pain and shake out his hand after punching an opponent). These reactions helped humanize the character, giving him an accessible "everyman" quality.

[edit] Recurring cast

Dana Elcar as Pete Thornton: MacGyver's boss and best friend, Pete is an operative at the Department of External Services (DXS) which is where he is impressed by Mac's ingenuity while tracking down Murdoc, an international assassin. When Pete takes the position of Director of Operations at the Phoenix Foundation several years later, he brings MacGyver into the program. Dana Elcar first appeared as the director of the damaged bunker in episode 1.1 under a different character name. Pete first becomes a recurring character in episode 1.11, "Nightmare" In addition to sending Mac out on various task for the Foundation, Pete is many times forced to bail MacGyver out of the trouble he gets into. Pete has a son named Michael. During the show's run, Elcar began going blind as a result of glaucoma. This condition was eventually written into the Thornton character, as well.^[8]

Bruce McGill as Jack Dalton: An aviator and old friend of MacGyver's with a weakness for get-rich-quick schemes that invariably get both of them into trouble. He always wears a peaked cap and twitches his left eye when lying.

Michael Des Barres as Murdoc: MacGyver's most frequent opponent, a master assassin who never fails—except when MacGyver gets involved. Murdoc is a master of disguise, as well as highly skilled and creative in the use of booby traps. Murdoc's signature for each hit is to take photographs of his victims at the moment of their deaths. His first appearance in the series is presented as his second run-in with MacGyver. Murdoc returns for revenge for their first encounter—to the surprise of MacGyver, as Murdoc had apparently been killed. Murdoc's revenge scheme not only fails, but results in him apparently being killed again. This became a recurring theme: each of Murdoc's subsequent appearances ends in another "death", which he incredibly survives, to return in a later episode.

Teri Hatcher as Penny Parker: Penny Parker and MacGyver meet in line at an airport in Bulgaria ("Every Time She Smiles") when she tries to smuggle some jewels out of the country in his pocket. With little talent, but big dreams, her pursuit of a show business career gets her into trouble more than once; she was once used by Murdoc as an unwitting pawn in an attempt to eliminate MacGyver. She was also the spitting image of her late aunt Betty Parker, who was murdered in 1958 by her boyfriend, and was suffering from lead poisoning ("The Secret of the Parker House").

Della Reese, Cleavon Little, Richard Lawson, and Cuba Gooding Jr. as The Coltons: A family of bounty hunters (Mama Colton, Frank, Jesse and Billy), introduced one at a time—the only episode in which more than one appears is 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 starring the Coltons, but nothing ever came of it.

John Anderson as Harry Jackson: Harry Jackson, MacGyver's grandfather, became MacGyver's "father" after his grandmother and real father were killed in a car accident. A few years later, he left MacGyver. After another eighteen years, Harry and MacGyver meet again in the season one episode, "Target MacGyver", in which MacGyver and his grandfather work together to defeat an assassin named Axminster (D'Mitch Davis). Harry dies of a heart attack in the fifth season finale episode "Passages".

Elyssa Davalos as Nikki Carpenter: Nikki Carpenter joins the Phoenix Foundation in the third season. She often has differences of opinion with MacGyver, although the two eventually come to respect each other as professionals.

Michele Chan as Mei Jan: Initially calling herself Sue Ling, the name of MacGyver's foster daughter, Mei Jan enlists MacGyver's help in completing her mission for the Chinese student movement.

Robin Mossley and Robert Donner as Wilt and Milt Bozer: Wilt Bozer is MacGyver's neighbor at the marina. (Note: Wilt Bozer also appears in MacGyver's two Western dreams in "Serenity" and "MacGyver's Women", where he has a brother named Milt. Milt only appears in the Western dream sequences and is not mentioned in the show's regular continuity.)

Dalton James as Sean Angus Malloy: Sean, known as Sam, is introduced in the series finale as MacGyver's son with a past love named Kate Malloy. Sean's middle name is a dedication by his mother to his father.

Roxanne Reese as Cynthia Wilson: Introduced with her husband Booker (Michael D. Roberts) in "The Challenge" (which also had Cuba Gooding, Jr. as a guest star), Cynthia runs 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.

Mayim Bialik as Lisa Woodman: She is a young girl who 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.

Kimberly Scott as Mama Lorraine: She appears in only the final season of MacGyver. Mama Lorraine is a voodoo priestess. She appears in episodes "The 'Hood", "The Prometheus Syndrome" and "Walking Dead".

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.
• Gary Chalk aka Garry Chalk and Gary Chaulk, appears in season 3 episode "Thin Ice" as Tony Ellis, season 4 episode "Deadly Dreams" as Detective Sweeney, season 5 "The Ten Percent Solution" as Sgt. Harold Gray, and again as an uncredited season 6 "Lesson In Evil" again as Det. Sweeney.

[edit] Organizations in MacGyver

Department of External Services: the DXS is a U.S. intelligence agency where MacGyver and Peter Thornton are employed during the first season. The season 2 episode "Partners" reveals that Mac has been working there since 1979, when he was recruited by Pete. At the beginning of Season 2, both of them leave for the Phoenix Foundation, but DXS agents still reappear throughout the series, sometimes as allies and sometimes as antagonists. While in their employ, MacGyver was usually sent overseas to rescue Americans in danger, locate or destroy sensitive equipment, or ordinary intelligence-gathering operations. However, other sections of the DXS are much more susceptible to corruption and have been seen trying to kidnap foreign heads of state^[9] or interfering with democratic elections^[10], among other things.

Phoenix Foundation: a non-profit think tank and government contractor which employs Peter Thornton (as Director of Operations) and MacGyver (as field agent and "troubleshooter") in Seasons 2 through 7. It often cooperates with government agencies, particularly the police or intelligence community (since as MacGyver puts it, "we don't have to cut through as much red tape").^[11] However it also does a great deal of work on its own; environmental surveys and clean-up operations, anti-drug intitiatives, social programs, etc. The Phoenix Foundation is described as a "corporate white knight,"^[12] an entity which is trusted and respected by the general public for its integrity. One of the organisation's main aims during the 1980's and early 1990's was the expansion and furthering of new technologies within the United States, particularly Personal Computers, applied biosciences, and other socially responsible uses of technology.

The Phoenix Foundation was an early proponent of responsible genetic engineering, going so far as to shut down programs of a number of different scientists in their employ where research and development work had resulted or could potentially result in harm outside of the laboratory. Also, the Foundation had equal scruples when dealing with other new high technology projects in which they had a hand, always erring on the side of caution with regard to harm that could be created either in the fields of international politics, or elses domestic threats to National Security. In most cases field operatives were instrumental, and in the period of his employ, Angus MacGyver was perhaps the greatest.

Homicide International Trust: appropriately shorthanded to "HIT," they are an international fraternity of assassins, employing killers from around the world to carry out their contracts. Murdoc was employed by them until he tried to retire; the organization reacted by putting a hit on him, forcing him to ask for Mac's help in order to save himself and his sister. He later tries to rejoin their ranks, and is rejected when he tries and fails to kill MacGyver (again).

Challengers' Club: a club that provides shelter for inner-city kids in need of help (recovering drug addicts, former prostitutes, orphans). It was founded by Booker and Cynthia Wilson, and is now run solely by Cynthia (after her husband was killed by a neighborhood racist). MacGyver is often involved with them and will sometimes use his connections in the Phoenix Foundation to secure funding or other forms of help.

[edit] Influence on culture

[edit] MacGyverisms

For a list of MacGyverisms, see List of problems solved by MacGyver

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 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. Anderson's character, Colonel Jack O'Neill, is seen to inwardly groan and roll his eyes, in the manner of one who is not being allowed to forget something. In a blooper later in the first season, while trapped under Antarctica with a seemingly broken dialing device (episode 18 "Solitudes"), Tapping complains that he can't "get the DHD working with duct tape and his army knife":

You spend seven years on MacGyver and you can't figure this one out? We, we've got belt buckles, and shoelaces and a piece of gum; build a nuclear reactor, for crying out loud. You used to be MacGyver, MacGadget, MacGimmick. Now you're Mister MacUseless. (crew & RDA start to laugh) Dear god, I'm stuck on a glacier with MacGyver!

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. MacGyverism is also an example of bricolage, and MacGyver himself is the paradigm of a bricoleur ("a person who creates things from existing materials, is creative and resourceful"). It was first 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.)

A Swiss Army knife is commonly called Macgybar Chakku in Bangladesh, Maekgaibeo Kal in South Korea, and Pisau MacGyver/Pisau Lipat MacGyver' in Indonesia and Malaysia. (Chakku, Kal and Pisau mean knife in Bengali, Korean and Malay, respectively.) In Malaysia, the term "MacGyver knife" (English) is also commonly used. In Poland it's known as the "Scyzoryk MacGyver'a", which means just "Macgyver's knife". In Norway and in certain areas of Finland, duct tape is commonly known, to some degree, as "MacGyver-tape", though it is more used in a joking manner. In Mozambique, fixing something by adapting locally-available parts is sometimes referred to as doing a "Macgyver". In Taiwan, a person who is knowledgable or skilled at a technical subject X is termed an "X magaixian" ("X MacGyver").

College theater programs have started an unofficial "MacGyver Society" to honor those students that are excellent problem solvers, or those that are good at thinking creatively. Members are commonly inducted at end of year award ceremonies within the programs, and are given a keyring sized Swiss Army Knife. They also recite a pledge about thinking creatively and staying calm, and pledging to continue "Making Something Out of Nothing."

[edit] In the media

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). 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." In another episode, "A Star is Burns," Homer tricks Jay Sherman into insulting MacGyver in front of Patty and Selma; Sherman ends up being hung from the rain gutter by his underpants, and Bart asks "You badmouthed MacGyver, didn't you?". The episode featured a fictional scene of MacGyver where he downplays his role in saving a village ("Don't thank me. Thank the moon's gravitational pull") ^[13] 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 had a running gag called "McIvor" in which the MacGyver theme is played, and a prank involving Sky TV sports presenter Steven McIvor is played out. This gag, instead, now targets TV3 sports news presenter Hamish McKay (dubbed "McKay-ver"). The pranks usually involve the office area (a mobile phone taped to the under side of a desk) or something happening to the car of the victim (placing a goat in the back seat).

In the MMORPG World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade, a Grand Master Engineer named "Mack Diver" can be found in Zabra'Jin, a Horde outpost in Zangarmarsh. Mack Diver wears a diving helmet and wields a utility knife, a homage to MacGyver.

In 2007, the NBC sketch show Saturday Night Live featured a parody of MacGyver called "MacGruber" with Will Forte as the title character. There were three installments of the pretaped, three-part sketch; one set in January ([1] [2] [3]) in an episode hosted by Jeremy Piven and another in May[4], hosted by former castmember Molly Shannon. The sketch returned [5] for the October 7, 2007 show, with host Seth Rogen, and again on March 15, 2008 - [6] and [7].

G4 aired a small series of MacGyver parodies about a young corporate cubicle worker known as MacGunner. He would construct ridiculous items out of cubicle materials, such as several dozen markers hooked end to end in order to reach over to his arch-enemy's cubicle and type a scathing email to the boss.

[edit] Mythbusters

In February 2008, the popular science show Mythbusters featured a MacGyver special which tested several of MacGyver's tactics. The first test examined MacGyver's famous cold capsule bomb, which utilized the explosive reaction of alkaline metals with water. Supposedly, dropping 1 gram of sodium metal into water will cause an explosive reaction powerful enough to blow a hole through a cinderblock wall. However, despite using 100 grams of sodium metal, the wall remained completely intact. It was "busted," along with MacGyvers's ultralight aircraft built from bamboo, garbage bags, duct tape and a cement mixer engine which failed to sustain flight and immediately crashed after travelling off a cliff.

However, some of MacGyver's tactics were confirmed. The Mythbusters were able to pick a lock using the filament of an incandescent lightbulb. Another "confirmed" MacGyver tactic was building an electromagnet using ordinary household batteries, tape and insulated wire (the insulated rubber surrounding the wire was removed with a cheese grater.) They then successfully used this device to magnetize an unfolded paper clip (by passing it repeatedly over the magnet) and then, by embedding the paperclip in a piece of cork and placing it in a small bowl of water, the paperclip acted as a compass (because it was magnetized, it pointed to the North Magnetic Pole.)

It was also implied, although it was not successfully tested, that it is possible to develop a roll of film using orange juice as an acid and ammonia as an alkaline fixer while holding a garbage bag over the setup to create a darkroom.

Another implied, but not successfully tested, tactic was creating a potato cannon using hairspray as a fuel, a camp stove as the ignition, and PVC pipe as the mortar. It was most likely not necessary as there are commercially available (and in fact free plans from various internet resources) allowing an interested builder to construct similar potato guns and even potato cannon.

[edit] MacGyver's gear

MacGyver's Swiss Army Knife was constantly changing throughout the series. His first and most often used knife was a "Tinker-Small" model from Victorinox. In "Thief of Budapest" he gives it away; in the next episode he is using a "Handyman" model from Wenger, as noted by its long keychain. He is soon back to his "Tinker-Small." A few times he uses an Orange Peeler blade found on the Victorinox "Executive." It was used in "The Heist," "Hellfire," "Countdown," "Ugly Duckling," and "Slow Death." In "Slow Death" it appears he is using a Huntsman to create a whistle, which would also mean he took two knives with him as he boarded the train. He also used the Sportsman "Lost Love pt. 1 and 2", the Recruit "GX-1", "Widowmaker," and "Jack in the Box", and the Climber "Three for the Road." Kill Zone sees the sole appearance of a Super Tinker. It is probable that he used the now-retired Standard model in "Cleo Rocks," a model featuring no toothpick, tweezers, or keyring. It also appears in Hellweek. In "Tough Boys" he uses a Tinker (with the key ring removed) to unlock a large padlock. In the final episode he uses a metal saw, probably a Champion or Ranger model. 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 Climber model 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 the standard size, which he may also 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. In "Good Knight MacGyver Pt. 2" he carried a Compact model. In the final episode, he uses a metal saw to cut through a flare gun shell. This is probably a Victorinox Ranger, however, it is only shown briefly making it difficult to determine. Essentially, he almost always used a 2 or 3-layer Victorinox knife, and all of the implements he used could be covered with one knife, the Victorinox Mountaineer. He used the scissors very infrequently, and the file/saw but once, so really a Victorinox Sportsman encompasses virtually all of the uses MacGyver had for his Swiss Army Knife.

In addition to his Swiss Army Knife, MacGyver often carried a roll of duct tape in his back pocket, flattened out to make it fit. Other items he often seemed to have on hand were: a watch, strike-anywhere matches, a hankerchief, a paper clip, wire, fishing line, a flashlight, and lock picks. It could be argued that he had time to prepare in advance when he brought things like the lock picks or flashlight, however, it is certain he always had a Swiss Army Knife, his watch, and duct tape. The duct tape was Shurtape brand, as can be seen printed inside the roll in "The Heist." His watch was a Timex Camper for most of the series, with a black and silver chronograph watch appearing on his wrist towards the end. A Casio digital watch makes a brief appearance in the first season where a countdown timer was helpful to MacGyver.

MacGyver rarely had any kind of a wallet with him. Although in a few episodes he was shown with a thin ID holder, most often money and ID's were loose effects in his pockets. Whenever forced to empty his pockets for an enemy, a minimal number of things would turn up, usually just an ID card, watch, his knife, and occasionally duct tape or matches. In "Ugly Duckling" it is shown that he had a toolbox in his Jeep, so it seems he had a tendency to keep things close at hand more often than in his pockets. Despite carrying more in his pockets than most people, he still appeared to have been a minimalist about it.

[edit] Vehicles

MacGyver drove a Jeep Chief Cherokee for the first part of the first season, which quickly changed to the Wrangler for the first half of the series, California license plate 1RJQ104. The last half saw him first driving a 50's Chevy truck, and finally a Nomad he inherited from his grandfather. For the final episode we see the brief return of the Jeep Wrangler. At different points in the series, he commandeered several exotic vehicles such as a Camaro Z-28 and a Ferrari 308. During a visit to Arkansas, he chose a Mustang convertible as his rental vehicle. He was also an able pilot, but perhaps unlicensed, as he usually left the task to Jack Dalton or other pilots, opting for the passenger seat.

[edit] DVD releases

CBS Home Entertainment has released all 7 Seasons of MacGyver on DVD in Region 1. The first season release was co-ordinated with a Media Release Pack sent to various outlets and websites for promotion. They have also released Seasons 1 to 5 in Region 2. On October 16, 2007, Paramount released MacGyver: The Complete Series, a special collectors' edition boxset that features all 139 episodes of the series as well as the two TV movies that followed. It is not known if the TV movies will be released in a separate set on their own.

DVD Name	Release Date	Ep #	Tagline
MacGyver: Season 1	January 25, 2005	22	Always prepared for adventure
MacGyver: Season 2	June 7, 2005	22	His mind is the ultimate weapon
MacGyver: Season 3	September 6, 2005	20	Saving the day is all in a day's work
MacGyver: Season 4	December 6, 2005	19	He acts fast and thinks faster
MacGyver: Season 5	March 14, 2006	21	The right man when things go wrong (originally He has a mind for adventure)
MacGyver: Season 6	June 13, 2006	21	Braver than most—smarter than the rest
MacGyver: Season 7	October 24, 2006	14	Back in action—ready for danger

[edit] Television movies

DVD Name	Release Date	Status
MacGyver: Lost Treasure of Atlantis	October 16, 2007	Included in complete series set
MacGyver: Trail to Doomsday	October 16, 2007	Included in complete series set

Lee David Zlotoff, creator of the series, announced on May 3, 2008, that a MacGyver film is in the works.^[14] It is unknown at this time whether Richard Dean Anderson will return to play the role, or someone new will take his place.

[edit] Book releases

#	U.S. Book publication date	Title and Author
1	July 9, 1987	MacGyver on Ice by Mark Daniel

[edit] International

This section does not cite any references or sources. (December 2007) Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed.

Country	Foreign title	Translation	Network(s)	Notes
Algeria	MacGyver	Dubbed	Algerian TV
Argentina	MacGyver	Dubbed	Canal 13 (Argentina)
Australia	MacGyver	None	Seven Network
Austria	MacGyver	Dubbed	ORF1
Bangladesh	MacGyver		Bangladesh Television Ekushey Television
Belgium	MacGyver	Dubbed Subtitled	VTM Kanaal2 RTL TVI	The show was shown on VTM (Dutch-subtitled), Kanaal2 (Dutch-subtitled) and RTL TVI (French-dubbed), VT4 (Dutch-subtitled)
Barbados	MacGyver		CBC
Bulgaria	MacGyver		BNT Evrokom TV	The show was shown on BNT , and now is being re-aired on Evrokom TV
Brazil	Profissão: Perigo! (Occupation: Danger!)	Dubbed	TV Globo Rede Bandeirantes TV Guaíba	The original opening and closing themes was replaced by Rush's song "Tom Sawyer". It later aired on Rede Bandeirantes, this time with the original name.
Colombia	MacGyver		RCN Telecaribe CityTV	The show originally premiered in 1986 on RCN when they were a licenser of the Public Television system. After many repetitions over the years, it was one of the flagship shows of RCN when they became a TV network in 1998. Then, the show was shown on Telecaribe and currently is shown on the Bogotá local network CityTV.
Costa Rica	MacGyver	Dubbed	Channel 6 Channel 11	The show was shown on channel 6 and now appears on channel 11. It became very popular and, as in Greece or South Korea, a person who is ingenious in technical tricks is still called "MacGyver". When a complex technic problem is solved, the action is called "doing a MacGyver".
Czech Republic	MacGyver	Dubbed	TV Nova TV Prima
Denmark	MacGyver	Subtitled	TV Danmark
Dominican Republic	MacGyver		Canal 11 Canal 7	The show was shown on Canal 11 (Telesistema) then on Canal 7 (Rahintel, now Antena Latina).
Egypt	MacGyver		Channel 1 Channel 2	The show was shown several times on the program "Ekhtarna Lak" (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.
El Salvador	MacGyver		Channel 2	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.
Estonia	MacGyver	Subtitled	Kanal 2
Finland	Ihmemies MacGyver (The Miracle Man MacGyver)	Subtitled	MTV Sub	Originally shown by MTV3 (at the time known as MTV, buying airtime on TV1 and TV2 channels) , currently being rerun on Sub.
France	MacGyver	Dubbed	Antenne 2 TF1 TV Breizh
Germany	MacGyver	Dubbed	Pro7 Sat.1 Kabel1 Premiere Serie	MacGyver was dubbed for broadcast in Germany, but the Region 2 (UK) DVD releases contains neither the German soundtrack nor German subtitles, even though other (less common) languages were included on those DVDs.
Greece	MacGyver		ERT ANT1 ALTER	Aired as "Μαγκάιβερ", the show became very popular in Greece. The name MacGyver is now used as a synonym for any person who can come up with technically ingenious ideas. Complex "tricks" that can be used to provide a simple result are called "Μαγκαϊβεριλίκια" (MacGyverisms)
Hungary	MacGyver	Dubbed	MTV2 TV2
India	MacGyver		Star World
Indonesia	MacGyver	Subtitled	RCTI SCTV
Ireland	MacGyver	None	RTE Network 2
Israel	MacGyver		Channel 1, AXN Israel	Subtitled
Italy	MacGyver	Dubbed	Italia 1 Rete 4
Japan	MacGyver		JCTV
Latvia	MacGyver	Dubbed	LNT
Malaysia	MacGyver		TV3	currently running on RTM2 in DTV
Malta	MacGyver	None	TVM
Mexico	MacGyver	Dubbed	Canal 5 Televisa	The show has been aired since 1989 to 1994.
Mozambique	MacGyver		TVM
Namibia	MacGyver		NBC
Netherlands	MacGyver	Subtitled	RTL5
New Zealand	MacGyver	None	TV2 Prime	the show was shown on TV2, and is now repeated on Prime
Norway	MacGyver	Subtitled	TV 2	the show has been shown in several reruns on TV 2, and still running as of 2008.
Pakistan	MacGyver		PTV	The show has been shown in several reruns on PTV.
Peru	MacGyver		Channel 9	The shown has been shown since 1988 to 1997 on Channel 9 ATV called MacGyver.
Philippines	MacGyver		RPN 9
Poland	MacGyver		TVP 1 Polonia 1 Polsat TV Puls	The show was shown on TVP 1, Polonia 1 and Polsat and is shown on TV Puls
Portugal	MacGyver	Subtitled Subtitled	RTP 1 SIC Radical
Romania	MacGyver	Subtitled	Antena 1
Russia	MacGyver	Dubbed	TNT
Saudi Arabia	MacGyver		Saudi TV Channel 2
Singapore	MacGyver		Channel 5
Slovakia	MacGyver		STV Markiza JOJ	Currently running on JOJ.
Slovenia	MacGyver	Subtitled	Kanal A
South Africa	MacGyver		SABC
South Korea	MacGyver		MBC	In South Korea, MacGyver is so popular, that the people simply call a Swiss Army knife, 맥가이버 칼 or MacGyver's Knife. The original name, Swiss Army knife is not used usually. And the word 맥가이버 or MacGyver is also widely used in South Korea for a noun to describe a person who is good at using tools or machines. the nickname, 맨손의 마법사 or the magician of bare hand is widely known as MacGyver's nickname in South Korea.
Spain	MacGyver	Dubbed	TVE Telecinco Calle 13 Antena 3	The shown was aired on TVE, Telecinco, Antena 3 and Calle 13.
Sri Lanka	MacGyver		Rupavahini
Sweden	MacGyver	Subtitled	SVT Kanal 5	The show was shown first run on SVT and is currently syndicated on Kanal 5
Switzerland	MacGyver	Dubbed	TSR	The show was shown on TSR, in French
Taiwan	MacGyver	Dubbed	TTV FTV
Thailand	MacGyver	Dubbed	Channel 3	Aired as "ยอดคนสมองเพชร"
Trinidad and Tobago	MacGyver		TTT
Turkey	MacGyver	Dubbed	TRT 2 Star TV Kanal 6 aTV
Uganda	MacGyver		TV Africa
United Kingdom	MacGyver	None	ITV1 BBC1 Bravo FX	BBC1 initially aired Season 1 during the early 1980's, and although it has presented (and repeated) both post-series movies, have yet to schedule Seasons 2-7. Of the independent sector, whereas terrestrial station ITV1 has never presented any MacGyver as a network, it is possible that some Regions did acquire the rights to present MacGyver, and present episodes within its schedule. Channel 5 presented the series 5 opener "Treasure of the Holy Rose" as a feature length edition during the late 1990's.
Uruguay	MacGyver	Dubbed	Canal 12
Venezuela	MacGyver		RCTV	The show since 1988 aired on RCTV.
Zambia	MacGyver		ZNBC
Zimbabwe	MacGyver		ZBC TV 1

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• MacGyver at the Internet Movie Database
• Free Online First Season Episodes on CBS.com
• List of technical tricks used by MacGyver in each episode