"MacGyver" (1985) TV series 1985-1992

Creator:

Lee David Zlotoff

Seasons:

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | unknown

Release Date:

6 October 1985 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Crime | Drama

Tagline:

His mind is the ultimate weapon.

Plot:

The adventures of a secret agent armed with almost infinite scientific resourcefulness.

Plot Keywords:

Science | Gadget | Brains Over Brawn | Sobriety | Famous Theme

Awards:

Nominated for 4 Primetime Emmys. Another 2 wins & 4 nominations

Cast

Richard Dean Anderson	...	MacGyver (140 episodes, 1985-1994)
Dana Elcar	...	Pete Thornton / ... (93 episodes, 1985-1994)

Runtime:

45 min (139 episodes) | USA:60 min (including commercials)

Country:

USA | Canada

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (seasons 1-3) | Stereo (seasons 4-7)

Certification:

Brazil:12 (DVD rating) | Netherlands:12 | Finland:K-18 (2005) (DVD) (self applied) | Australia:PG

Filming Locations:

BC Place, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Company:

Henry Winkler/John Rich Productions

Trivia:

In the late '80s, two teenage boys made a bomb in their garage which went off, killing one of them. The surviving boy said they learned how to make the bomb from an episode of the show. However, the show was quickly exonerated after it was discovered no such episode existed.

Quotes:

[repeated line] [grumbling to himself under his breath]
MacGyver: Ah, man.

Movie Connections:

Spoofed in "Saturday Night Live: Molly Shannon/Linkin Park (#32.19)" (2007)

A fun piece of TV history

MacGyver is synonym for resourceful and creative. If you look those words from the dictionary, you'll see MacGyvers photo and a text: dude, who can make anything out of a roll of duct tape, dental floss and some loose pieces of stone.

That's the whole basic idea for a show. MacGyver (Richard Dean Anderson) is a secret agent, or something, who uses his brain before his brawn always coming up a clever solution on dispatching the baddies without the need of using a gun. Though he might do explosives now and then. ;) Mac's boss is Pete Thornton (Dana Elcar), boss of Phoenix foundation, that seems to dabble in a bit of everything, just like Mac. Another regular character is Jack Dalton (Bruce McGill), Mac's adventurous pilot friend who is often in trouble or is gonna get in one in order to help his friend.

What astonishes me is, that MacGyver has lasted the test of time reasonably well. Sure, there are lots of episodes, that feel a bit campy these days, but in all the series is still very watchable. And this comes from a person, who saw MacGyver for the first time back in 80's as a little kid (I was little under ten when it started in the TV here) and saw the series again in my mid twenties.