MacGyver is an
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
action/
adventureThe adventure genre, in the context of a narrative, is typically applied to works in which the protagonist or other major characters are consistently placed in dangerous situations, and a fictional character who lives by their wits and their skills is often called an adventurer...
television series created by
Lee David ZlotoffLee David Zlotoff is a producer, director and screenwriter best known as the creator of the TV series MacGyver. He started as a screenwriter writing for Hill Street Blues in 1981. He then became a producer of Remington Steele in 1982....
and executively produced by
Henry WinklerHenry Franklin Winkler is an American actor, director, producer, and author.Winkler is best known for his role as Fonzie on the 1970s American sitcom Happy Days...
and
John RichJohn Rich is a film and television director. He directed such television shows as Mister Ed, The Dick Van Dyke Show, All in the Family, The Jeffersons, Maude, Good Times, Barney Miller, Newhart, Benson, The Brady Bunch, and Gilligan's Island...
that aired on
ABCThe American Broadcasting Company is an American television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. It first broadcast on television in 1948...
. Seven seasons were produced, all of which were broadcast by
American Broadcasting Company NetworkThe American Broadcasting Company is an American television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. It first broadcast on television in 1948...
(ABC) in the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and various other
networkA television network is a distribution network for television content whereby a central operation provides programming for many television stations. Until the mid-1980s, television programming in most countries of the world was dominated by a small number of broadcast networks. Many early...
s abroad from 1985 to 1992. The series was filmed in
Los AngelesLos Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the municipality of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123.445 inhabitants...
during Seasons 1, 2 and 7, and in
VancouverVancouver is a coastal city and major seaport located in the Lower Mainland of southwestern British Columbia, Canada. The city is bounded by English Bay, Burrard Inlet, the Fraser River, the city of Burnaby, and the University Endowment Lands. Vancouver is named after Captain George Vancouver, a...
, Canada from Seasons 3-6. The show's final episode aired on May 21, 1992 on ABC.
The story arc of
MacGyver follows the laid-back, extremely resourceful
secret agentSecret Agent is a 1936 British film directed by Alfred Hitchcock, loosely based on two stories in Ashenden: Or the British Agent by W. Somerset Maugham. The film starred John Gielgud, Peter Lorre, Madeleine Carroll and Robert Young...
Angus MacGyverAngus MacGyver, known as just MacGyver or Mac until the final season of the American television series MacGyver, is the highly intelligent, optimistic action hero played by Richard Dean Anderson. He prefers non-violent conflict resolution wherever possible and refuses to carry or use a gun...
, played by
Richard Dean AndersonRichard Dean Anderson is an American television and film actor, producer and composer. He began his television career in 1976 as Dr. Jeff Webber in the American soap opera series General Hospital, then rose to prominence as the lead actor in the television series MacGyver...
. 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 AngelesLos Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the municipality of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123.445 inhabitants...
. Educated as a scientist with a background as a Bomb Disposal Technician/EOD in Vietnam ("Countdown"), and 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 knifeA Swiss Army knife , is a brand of multi-function pocket knife or multi-tool.It originated in Ibach Schwyz, Switzerland in 1897. The term "Swiss Army knife" is a registered trademark owned by Wenger S.A...
.
The series was a ratings success for ABC and was particularly popular in the United States, Europe and
AustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the continental mainland , the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans...
. The series received much 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 filmIn the film industry, a feature film is a film made for initial distribution in theaters and being the "main attraction" of the screening...
is planned with a release date yet to be announced. Merchandise for the
MacGyver franchiseFranchise generally means a right or privilege. It may refer to:......*Suffrage, the civil right to vote*Franchising, a business method that involves licensing of trademarks and methods of doing business, such as:...
includes games and toys, print media and an original audio series.
Series overview
The series revolved around
Angus MacGyverAngus MacGyver, known as just MacGyver or Mac until the final season of the American television series MacGyver, is the highly intelligent, optimistic action hero played by Richard Dean Anderson. He prefers non-violent conflict resolution wherever possible and refuses to carry or use a gun...
(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 knifeA Swiss Army knife , is a brand of multi-function pocket knife or multi-tool.It originated in Ibach Schwyz, Switzerland in 1897. The term "Swiss Army knife" is a registered trademark owned by Wenger S.A...
(mainly the Huntsman and the Tinker models). 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, 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
poisonIn the context of biology, poisons are substances that can cause disturbances to organisms, usually by chemical reaction or other activity on the molecular scale, when a sufficient quantity is absorbed by an organism...
s, 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 rigJury rigging refers to makeshift repairs or temporary contrivances, made with only the tools and materials that happen to be on hand. Originally a nautical term, on sailing ships a jury rig is a replacement mast and yards improvised in case of damage or loss of the original mast.-Etymology:The...
devices shows an influence from
The A-TeamThe A-Team is an American action adventure television series about a fictional group of ex-United States Army Special Forces who work as soldiers of fortune while being on the run from the military for a "crime they didn't commit". The A-Team was created by writers and producers Frank Lupo and...
(though MacGyver eschewed firearms). The idea has entered United States
popular culturePopular culture is the totality of ideas, perspectives, attitudes, memes, images and other phenomena that are deemed preferred per an informal consensus within the mainstream of a given culture...
; such constructions are referred to as "MacGyverisms" (a term first used in episode 3 of season 2, "Twice Stung"). The name has also become a verb, as in
"The car broke down but he MacGyvered
a fix to get home". The show often dealt with social issues, though more so in Seasons 4-7, versus Season 1-3, which were mostly about MacGyver's adventures working for the United States government, and then later the Phoenix Foundation.
Format
Several episodes began with a
cold openA cold open in a television program or movie is the technique of jumping directly into a story at the beginning or opening of the show, before the title sequence or opening credits are shown...
, finding MacGyver already on a mission. MacGyver often narrated himself with a story from his childhood that was somehow analogous to his current situation. MacGyver resolves his current situation quickly and the main story commences after the opening credits. This opening sequence is called in the credits the "Opening Gambit". This segment is often written and directed by a different team than the main story of the episode. After the credits, the main story plays out in standard three-act structure. In many episodes, the opening sequence occurs after the opening credits and often does not involve MacGyver on a mission, but rather in a situation used for
character developmentCharacter development may refer to:* The change in characterization of a dynamic character, who changes over the course of a narrative.* Character creation, especially for games...
. In the same manner as the "Opening Gambit" sequences, these opening segments often do not directly relate to the main story.
Cast
- Richard Dean Anderson
Richard Dean Anderson is an American television and film actor, producer and composer. He began his television career in 1976 as Dr. Jeff Webber in the American soap opera series General Hospital, then rose to prominence as the lead actor in the television series MacGyver...
as Angus MacGyverAngus MacGyver, known as just MacGyver or Mac until the final season of the American television series MacGyver, is the highly intelligent, optimistic action hero played by Richard Dean Anderson. He prefers non-violent conflict resolution wherever possible and refuses to carry or use a gun...
, a highly intelligent, optimistic action heroThis is a list of action heroes who appear in a number of genres including action films, adventure films, swashbuckler films, television Westerns, old-time radio, adventure novels, dime novels, pulp magazines, and folklore...
who prefers non-violent conflict resolution wherever possible. He refuses to carry or use a gun due to a childhood accident with a revolverA revolver is a repeating firearm that has a cylinder containing multiple chambers and at least one barrel for firing. As the user cocks the hammer, the cylinder revolves to align the next chamber and round with the hammer and barrel, which gives this type of firearm its name...
that resulted in the death of a friend. However, in the pilot episode, MacGyver is seen using a gun on a mission in the opening Gambit. 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.
- Dana Elcar
Dana Elcar was an American television and movie character actor. Although he appeared in about 40 films, his most memorable role was on the 1980s and 1990s television series MacGyver as Peter Thornton, an administrator working for the Phoenix Foundation...
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 MurdocMurdoc is a fictional character in the television series MacGyver played by Michael Des Barres. Murdoc is an assassin working for the Homicide International Trust, an international group of assassins...
, 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. In addition to sending Mac out on various tasks for the Foundation, Pete is many times forced to bail MacGyver out of the trouble he gets into. Pete has a son named Michael.
Production
While creating the series
MacGyver,
John RichJohn Rich is a film and television director. He directed such television shows as Mister Ed, The Dick Van Dyke Show, All in the Family, The Jeffersons, Maude, Good Times, Barney Miller, Newhart, Benson, The Brady Bunch, and Gilligan's Island...
worked on the American series,
Mr. SunshineMr. Sunshine is the title of an American sitcom that aired on the ABC network for a season beginning in 1986.The series followed the trials and tribulations of Paul Stark , a blind university professor. Co-stars were Barbara Babcock and Leonard Frey.The series was controversial during its run,...
, which was eventually canceled by the
American Broadcasting CompanyThe American Broadcasting Company is an American television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. It first broadcast on television in 1948...
(ABC). After this Rich teamed up with
Henry WinklerHenry Franklin Winkler is an American actor, director, producer, and author.Winkler is best known for his role as Fonzie on the 1970s American sitcom Happy Days...
and
Lee David ZlotoffLee David Zlotoff is a producer, director and screenwriter best known as the creator of the TV series MacGyver. He started as a screenwriter writing for Hill Street Blues in 1981. He then became a producer of Remington Steele in 1982....
to create the series which would later be known as
MacGyver.
The television series was filmed in
Southern CaliforniaSouthern California, or SoCal, is defined as the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Its population centers around three major metropolitan areas, each of which have over 3 million people; the Los Angeles Metropolitan Area with over 12 million inhabitants, the San Bernardino-Riverside...
for its first two seasons and again in his final season. From seasons 3-6 it was filmed in various locations around
VancouverVancouver is a coastal city and major seaport located in the Lower Mainland of southwestern British Columbia, Canada. The city is bounded by English Bay, Burrard Inlet, the Fraser River, the city of Burnaby, and the University Endowment Lands. Vancouver is named after Captain George Vancouver, a...
,
CanadaCanada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. The estimated budget for each episode was around 1 million
United States dollarThe United States dollar is the unit of currency of the United States. The U.S. dollar is normally abbreviated as the dollar sign, $, or as USD or US$ to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies and from others that use the $ symbol. It is divided into 100 cents .The U.S...
s.
When the series was in pre-production,
executive producerAn executive producer is a producer who is not involved in any technical aspects of the filmmaking or music process, but who is still responsible for the overall production. Typically an executive producer handles business and legal issues. See also associate producer, co-producer, line producer...
s
Henry WinklerHenry Franklin Winkler is an American actor, director, producer, and author.Winkler is best known for his role as Fonzie on the 1970s American sitcom Happy Days...
and
John RichJohn Rich is a film and television director. He directed such television shows as Mister Ed, The Dick Van Dyke Show, All in the Family, The Jeffersons, Maude, Good Times, Barney Miller, Newhart, Benson, The Brady Bunch, and Gilligan's Island...
were looking for a suitable actor for the lead. After
Richard Dean AndersonRichard Dean Anderson is an American television and film actor, producer and composer. He began his television career in 1976 as Dr. Jeff Webber in the American soap opera series General Hospital, then rose to prominence as the lead actor in the television series MacGyver...
's appearance in the
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
television series,
The Love BoatThe Love Boat is an American television series set on a cruise ship, which aired on the ABC Television Network from September 24, 1977 until May 24, 1986. The show starred Gavin MacLeod as the ship's captain, who encourages his customers to find romance...
, Winkler got Anderson to audition for the part of
Angus MacGyverAngus MacGyver, known as just MacGyver or Mac until the final season of the American television series MacGyver, is the highly intelligent, optimistic action hero played by Richard Dean Anderson. He prefers non-violent conflict resolution wherever possible and refuses to carry or use a gun...
. According to Rich, every auditioning actor "hulked" his way through his audition. When Anderson eventually auditioned for the role, Winkler and Rich felt that he gave the character a human touch which the other actors couldn't. Both believed that Anderson would become one of the new "breakout" stars on American television.
Richard Dean AndersonRichard Dean Anderson is an American television and film actor, producer and composer. He began his television career in 1976 as Dr. Jeff Webber in the American soap opera series General Hospital, then rose to prominence as the lead actor in the television series MacGyver...
is known for having done many of the stunts on the series, though in later seasons he reduced his stunt participation because of accumulating injuries. He injured his back and required a foot surgery because of his accidents working as a stuntman.
By the sixth season,
Dana ElcarDana Elcar was an American television and movie character actor. Although he appeared in about 40 films, his most memorable role was on the 1980s and 1990s television series MacGyver as Peter Thornton, an administrator working for the Phoenix Foundation...
who portrayed Pete Thornton in the series was going blind as a result of
glaucomaGlaucoma is a group of diseases that affect the optic nerve and involves a loss of retinal ganglion cells in a characteristic pattern. It is a type of optic neuropathy. Raised intraocular pressure is a significant risk factor for developing glaucoma...
. This condition was eventually written into the Thornton character.
The producers of
MacGyver had a tendency to use the same actor in multiple roles throughout a series run. Kai Wulff played Stepan Frolov in season one's "Every Time She Smiles", Hans Visser in season four's "
Collision CourseCollision Course is a CD/DVD set released on November 30, 2004 by rapper Jay-Z and nu metal band Linkin Park. It went to #1 on the Billboard 200...
", Ladysmith in season five's Black Rhino, and Nicolas Von Leer in season six's episode "Eye of Osiris".
Gregory SierraGregory Sierra is an American actor known for his roles as Detective Sergeant Chano Amenguale on Barney Miller and as Julio Fuentes, the Puerto Rican neighbor on Sanford and Son, where his character was often the brunt of racist insults and jokes via the show's main character, Fred G...
appeared in the season one episode "
The GauntletThe Gauntlet is a 1977 action film directed by and starring Clint Eastwood. The film also stars Sondra Locke, Pat Hingle, William Prince, Bill McKinney, and longtime personal friend Mara Corday who would appear with Eastwood in another three films....
", 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 VisitorNana Visitor is an American actress, best known for playing Kira Nerys in the television series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Jean Ritter in the television series Wildfire.-Career:...
of
Star Trek: Deep Space NineStar Trek: Deep Space Nine is a science fiction television program that premiered in 1993 and ran for seven seasons, ending in 1999. Rooted in Gene Roddenberry’s Star Trek universe, it was created by Rick Berman and Michael Piller, at the request of Brandon Tartikoff, and produced by Paramount...
fame appeared in the season one episode "
Hellfire-In music:* Hellfire , a 2005 album by Norwegian black metal group 1349* "Hellfire" , in the 1996 film The Hunchback of Notre Dame* "Hellfire", a song by Airbourne from Runnin' Wild-Films:* Hellfire , a 1949 western...
" as Laura Farren, and in the season two episode "DOA: MacGyver" she appears again as Carol Varnay.
David AckroydDavid Ackroyd is an American actor, who first came to prominence in soap operas such as The Secret Storm and Another World.-Television and Films:...
appears in the season one episode "Trumbo's World" as Mr. Trumbo, and in the season three episode "
The NegotiatorThe Negotiator is a drama/thriller film that takes place in Chicago and was released on July 29 1998. It was directed by F. Gary Gray, and stars Samuel L. Jackson and Kevin Spacey. This is WB's last film produced with Regency Enterprises until The Fountain.-Plot:Lieutenant Danny Roman is a top...
" as Mr. Knapp.
Elyssa DavalosElyssa Davalos is an American television and movie actress. She is the daughter of actor Richard Davalos and the mother of actress Alexa Davalos, from her marriage to photographer Jeff Dunas.- Television :...
played Lisa Kohler/Kosov in "Lost Love: Part 1 & 2" in season 3, then just a few episodes later (in the same season) she re-appeared as Nikki Carpenter, a role which she reprised in several more
episodesEpisodes is the quarterly journal of the International Union of Geological Sciences, published in Beijing, China.- See also :* List of scientific journals* List of scientific journals in earth and atmospheric sciences...
.
Dana ElcarDana Elcar was an American television and movie character actor. Although he appeared in about 40 films, his most memorable role was on the 1980s and 1990s television series MacGyver as Peter Thornton, an administrator working for the Phoenix Foundation...
first appeared in the pilot episode as the chief of operations for
KIVA laboratories under a different character name, Andy Colson. Elcar returns later in the first season to play the main character, Pete Thornton.
Syndication, cancellation and future
After a slow start in its first season,
MacGyver became a
sleeper hitA sleeper hit, a.k.a. surprise hit , refers to a film, book, single, album, TV show, or video game that gains unexpected success or recognition.-Sleeper films:...
for
ABCThe American Broadcasting Company is an American television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. It first broadcast on television in 1948...
in its second season. During the show's fourth season,
Richard Dean AndersonRichard Dean Anderson is an American television and film actor, producer and composer. He began his television career in 1976 as Dr. Jeff Webber in the American soap opera series General Hospital, then rose to prominence as the lead actor in the television series MacGyver...
complained that ABC was not marketing the series enough. Saying that the series is "just another action show" for ABC, he further stated that ABC didn't give the series enough promotion.
MacGyver was canceled after the seventh season because
ABCThe American Broadcasting Company is an American television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. It first broadcast on television in 1948...
wished to broadcast a new series, entitled
Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, which became a minor success compared to
MacGyver. When asked why the series was cancelled, Anderson replied: "The only reason it went off the air was that everybody was ready to move on. I was physically exhausted and had no life."
In 1994, the series was released in over seventy different worldwide markets.
Because of popular demand, two TV-movies were created, both released in 1994. The first movie
MacGyver: Lost Treasure of Atlantis premiered in the United States in May. The film was shot in
EnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
and
GreeceGreece , officially the Hellenic Republic , is a country in southeastern Europe, situated on the southern end of the Balkan Peninsula....
. The second movie was entitled
MacGyver: Trail to Doomsday. Anderson served as
executive producerAn executive producer is a producer who is not involved in any technical aspects of the filmmaking or music process, but who is still responsible for the overall production. Typically an executive producer handles business and legal issues. See also associate producer, co-producer, line producer...
for both films, which were filmed in Europe. Re-runs of the series still air in
North AmericaNorth America is the northern continent of the Americas, situated in the Earth's northern hemisphere and in the western hemisphere. It is bordered on the north by the Arctic Ocean, on the east by the North Atlantic Ocean, on the southeast by the Caribbean Sea, and on the west by the North Pacific...
,
EuropeEurope is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian Sea, the Caucasus Mountains , and the Black Sea to the southeast...
,
AustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the continental mainland , the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans...
and
AsiaAsia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.6% of the earth's total surface area and with approximately 4 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population.Asia is traditionally defined as part of the...
.
In 2003,
The WB Television NetworkThe WB Television Network, or simply The WB, was a television network in the United States that was launched on January 11, 1995 as a joint venture of Warner Bros. and Tribune Broadcasting. As a replacement, on January 24, 2006, CBS Corporation and Warner Bros...
had a pilot for a possible new
Young MacGyver series starring
Jared PadaleckiJared Tristan Padalecki is an American actor. He grew up in Texas and came to fame in the early 2000s after appearing on the television series Gilmore Girls as well as in several Hollywood films, including New York Minute and House of Wax...
as MacGyver's nephew
Clay, but opted to pass on it. 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.
Lee David ZlotoffLee David Zlotoff is a producer, director and screenwriter best known as the creator of the TV series MacGyver. He started as a screenwriter writing for Hill Street Blues in 1981. He then became a producer of Remington Steele in 1982....
, creator of the series, announced on May 3, 2008, that a
MacGyver film is in the planning stages. He will produce the film along with Martha De Laurentiis and
Raffaella De LaurentiisRaffaella De Laurentiis is an Italian film producer. Films she has produced include Conan the Barbarian, Dune, Prancer, Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story, Dragonheart and Kull the Conqueror....
through her Raffaella Productions.
Richard Dean AndersonRichard Dean Anderson is an American television and film actor, producer and composer. He began his television career in 1976 as Dr. Jeff Webber in the American soap opera series General Hospital, then rose to prominence as the lead actor in the television series MacGyver...
has expressed interest in revisiting his role, however there is no word on who will be playing the role of
MacGyver in the film.
MacGyver now airs on the Sleuth Channel.
Home releases
CBS Home Entertainment has released all 7 Seasons of
MacGyver on DVD in Region 1 and shortly will for Region 2. On October 16, 2007, CBS 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.
Legacy
In 2006,
Richard Dean AndersonRichard Dean Anderson is an American television and film actor, producer and composer. He began his television career in 1976 as Dr. Jeff Webber in the American soap opera series General Hospital, then rose to prominence as the lead actor in the television series MacGyver...
appeared in a
MasterCardMasterCard Worldwide is a multinational corporation based in Purchase, New York, United States. Throughout the world, its principal business is to process payments between the banks of merchants and the banks of purchasers that use its "MasterCard" brand debit and credit cards to make purchases....
television commercial for
Super Bowl XLSuper Bowl XL was an American football game pitting the American Football Conference champion Pittsburgh Steelers against the National Football Conference champion Seattle Seahawks to decide the National Football League champion for the 2005 season...
. The spot poked fun at the character's ability to use everyday objects to perform extraordinary feats: In it, he manages to cut the ropes binding him to a chair using a pine tree
air freshenerAir fresheners are consumer products that mitigate unpleasant odors in indoor spaces. They can be in the form of candles, aerosol sprays, potpourri, gels and mechanical or heat release products...
, uses an ordinary
tube sockSocks or sox are a knitted or woven type of hosiery for enclosing the human feet. Socks are designed to:* ease chafing between the foot and footwear* protect footwear by absorbing perspiration and dead skin lost from the foot* provide comfort...
as the
pulleyA pulley, also called a sheave or a drum, is a mechanism composed of a wheel on an axle or shaft that may have a groove between two flanges around its circumference. A rope, cable, belt, or chain usually runs over the wheel and inside the groove, if present...
for a zipline, and somehow repairs and
hotwireHot-wiring is the process of bypassing an automobile's ignition interlock and thus starting it without the key. It is used primarily as either a way to commit grand theft auto or as a worst-case-scenario for car owners who have lost their car keys.-Methods:...
s a nonfunctional
truckA truck or lorry is a motor vehicle - more specifically a commercial vehicle commonly used for transporting goods and materials. Some light trucks/lorries are similar in size to a passenger automobile...
using a
paper clip"Paper Clip" is a 1995 episode of The X-Files television series. It was the second episode broadcast in the show's third season. Paper Clip concludes the story regarding the agents' possession of a digital tape containing government secrets on extraterrestrials.- Plot :Continuing from the previous...
,
ballpoint penA ballpoint pen , is a modern writing instrument...
,
rubber bandA rubber band is a short length of rubber and latex formed in the shape of a loop....
,
tweezersTweezers are tools used for picking up small objects that are not easily handled with the human hands. They are probably derived from tongs, pincers, or scissors-like pliers used to grab or hold hot objects from the dawn of recorded history....
,
nasal sprayNasal sprays, or nasal mists, are used for the nasal delivery of a drug or drugs, either locally to generally alleviate cold or allergy symptoms such as nasal congestion or systemically, see nasal administration. Although delivery methods vary, most nasal sprays function by instilling a fine mist...
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.
The series is referenced in many episodes of
The SimpsonsThe Simpsons is an American animated television sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its eponymous family, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, and Maggie...
, primarily detailing
Marge SimpsonMarjorie "Marge" Simpson is a fictional main character in the animated television series The Simpsons and part of the eponymous family. She is voiced by actress Julie Kavner and first appeared on television in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987...
's sisters Patty and Selma's obsession with the show and their
crushLimerence refers to an involuntary cognitive and emotional state of intense romantic desire for another person. The term was coined by psychologist Dorothy Tennov to describe the ultimate, near-obsessional form of romantic love....
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"Black Widower" is the 21st episode of The Simpsons third season, originally airing on the Fox network in the United States on April 9, 1992. It was written by Jon Vitti, directed by David Silverman, and saw Kelsey Grammer guest star as Sideshow Bob for the second time. In the episode, Sideshow...
". 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"). In another episode, "
A Star is Burns"A Star Is Burns" is the eighteenth episode of The Simpsons
' sixth season. It first aired on the Fox network in the United States on March 5, 1995. In the episode, Springfield decides to hold a film festival, and famed critic Jay Sherman is invited to be a judge...
", Homer tricks
Jay ShermanThe Critic was an American animated series revolving around the life of movie critic Jay Sherman, voiced by actor Jon Lovitz. It was created by Al Jean and Mike Reiss, both of whom had worked as writers on The Simpsons. The Critic had 23 episodes produced, first broadcast on ABC in 1994, finishing...
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?" 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“Kiss Kiss, Bang Bangalore” is the seventeenth episode of the seventeenth season of The Simpsons.-Plot:On movie night at the nuclear plant, Homer learns that the nuclear power plant is being shut down and outsourced to India. After Homer is sent to train the new employees, he becomes power-hungry...
", which first aired April 6, 2006, where Patty and Selma kidnap Richard Dean Anderson after he admits that he never liked doing
MacGyver and only did the show for the money.
In 2007, the NBC sketch show
Saturday Night LiveSaturday Night Live is a weekly late-night sketch comedy and variety show filmed in New York City. It made its debut on October 11, 1975, under a slightly different title. The show features a regular cast of comedy actors, joined by a guest host and musical act...
featured a parody of
MacGyver called "
MacGruberMacGruber is a Saturday Night Live sketch that is a parody of the show MacGyver. The sketch stars Will Forte and Kristen Wiig . Richard Dean Anderson has also appeared on MacGruber. The shorts are written by Will Forte, John Solomon , and Jorma Taccone...
" with
Will ForteOrville Willis Forte IV, best known as Will Forte is an American actor, writer, and comedian.-Early life:Forte was born in Alameda County, California, the son of Patricia C. and Orville Willis Forte III. He was raised in Lafayette, California and graduated from Acalanes High School and UCLA with...
as the title character. The intros for these skits featured scenes from the
MacGyver series. MacGruber and cohorts are always locked in a control room of some type with a bomb set to go off in 15–20 seconds. MacGruber has his costars hand him components to defuse the device, but something inevitably gets in the way (either situational, because MacGruber himself interferes, or because no one wants to touch what he has asked for) and the bomb detonates. In a recent installment of the "MacGruber" sketches, it was revealed that MacGyver is MacGruber's long-lost father.
The
New ZealandNew Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses , and numerous smaller islands, most notably Stewart Island/Rakiura and the Chatham Islands. The indigenous Māori named New Zealand Aotearoa, commonly translated as The Land of the Long White Cloud...
sporting skit show
Pulp SportPulp Sport is a TV show filmed in New Zealand, that mixes sport with various styles of comedy. The hosts Jamie Linehan and Ben Boyce act under their respective pseudonyms Bill and Ben, performing a half hour of various sports based skits...
had a running gag called "Mc Kay-ver" in which the
MacGyver theme is played. This skit, a spoof of MacGyver, involve the hosts playing pranks on TV3 sports reporter Hamish McKay. The pranks often revolve around the victim's car, such as covering the car with Post It Notes or decorating it in a manner similar to that of the General Lee, and / or around the victim's office area, such as wrapping the victim's office equipment with fishing line.
In February 2008, the popular science show
MythbustersMythBusters is a popular science television program produced by Australian company Beyond Television Productions originally for the Discovery Channel in the United States. The series has since been distributed by a number of international broadcasters, including SBS in Australia and BBC2 in the UK...
featured a
MacGyver special which tested several of MacGyver's tactics. Also, earlier in July 2004, a portion of the episode titled "Car Capers" featured the Mythbusters testing if an egg placed into a radiator of a car would subsequently cook and plug holes in said radiator. This was featured in an episode of
MacGyver titled "Bushmaster".
MacGyverisms
MacGyver employs his resourcefulness and his knowledge of chemistry, physics, technology, and outdoorsmanship to resolve what are often life-or-death crises. He creates inventions from simple items to solve these problems. These inventions became synonymous with the character and were called MacGyverisms by fans. MacGyver was unlike secret agents in other television series and films because, instead of relying on high-tech weapons and tools, he carried only a
Swiss Army knifeA Swiss Army knife , is a brand of multi-function pocket knife or multi-tool.It originated in Ibach Schwyz, Switzerland in 1897. The term "Swiss Army knife" is a registered trademark owned by Wenger S.A...
and
duct tapeDuct tape is a vinyl, fabric-reinforced, multi-purpose pressure sensitive tape with a soft and tacky pressure sensitive adhesive. It is generally silver or black in color but many other colors and transparent tapes have recently become available...
.
This also led to the verb, 'to MacGyver' or 'to MacGyver-ize' (the latter being introduced by Gregory Shockley in his training manuscripts published for the Boy Scouts of America). This word was used in Richard Dean Anderson's project
Stargate SG-1Stargate SG-1 is an American-Canadian military science fiction television series and part of Metro-Goldwyn-Meyer's Stargate franchise. The show, created by Brad Wright and Jonathan Glassner, is based on the 1994 feature film Stargate by Dean Devlin and Roland Emmerich...
. 'MacGyverism' was first used by Joanne Remmings (played by Pamela Bowen) in the third episode of Season 2. When MacGyver introduces himself to her, she uses the term in a manner that suggests other people had used it before:
"Oh I've heard about you! You're the guy who does the whatchamacallits, you know, MacGyverisms; turns one thing into another?"
The show's writers based MacGyver's inventions on items they found on location, concepts from scientific advisors John Koivula and Jim Green, and real events. The show also offered a monetary prize to people who sent good ideas in to the show. A young fan of the series suggested that MacGyver could patch up a vehicle's radiator by cracking an egg into it. The episode "Bushmaster" was constructed around this trick, and the fan was rewarded. Although staff were appointed to read every letter sent in, few usable ideas were obtained in this way.
External links