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MacGyver
Paramount Television, 1985-1992, 2005-2011
Created by Lee David Zlotoff (Remington Steele)
Executive Producers: Henry Winkler (The Fonz in Happy Days) and John Rich
Running Time: 50 minutes per episode
Rated TV-PG for violence and mature situations.

Cast
Richard Dean Anderson (Lt. Gen. Jack O'Neill in Stargate SG-1) as MacGyver*
Dana Elcar (1927-2005) as Pete Thornton
Bruce McGill (D-Day in National Lampoon's Animal House) as Jack Dalton
Michael Des Barres (British rock singer from the '70s and '80s) as Murdoc

(*I refuse to believe that he has a first name, Angus or whatever.)

Part James Bond, part Indiana Jones (and a little bit of Adam West on the side) and often armed with nothing but a Swiss Army knife and a flattened roll of duct tape, MacGyver is all adventure. Regardless of how hairy the situation, he knows a way out. And for seven years, MacGyver kept viewers on the edge while at the same time, educated them a bit on science and chemistry.

Right at the same time I bought the Miami Vice season 1 boxed set, I couldn't resist getting MacGyver on DVD as well. It's just another series that was part of my childhood. Even though most of the experiments are bullsh*t, they're still fun to watch. In the first episode alone, you'll learn that: 1) chocolate bars can neutralize a sulfuric acid leak, and 2) MacGyver used cigarette smoke to see invisible laser beams before Solid Snake did. And until now, many other TV shows (not just The Simpsons) use MacGyver references on their storylines.

As with most '80s action/adventure shows, MacGyver is pretty hokey and unrealistic. Episode 2 is a prime example, as MacGyver is in Burma and everyone's speaking in perfect English with fake Asian accents. Regardless of which, the series is great family entertainment. Hell, MacGyver's the reason I always have a Swiss knife in my pocket.

Rating: B+

DVD Extras: F
Six discs, 22 episodes, and nothing else to make the season 1 DVD boxed set more worthwhile.

Links
Official YouTube Channel
MacGyver Online

Reference
The Internet Movie Database Edited by areaseven
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You forgot to mention the flattened roll of duct tape he always has on him! Hell, it should be listed under "Cast". Don't you know, MacGyver can fix ANYTHING with duct tape.

Little know fact: MacGyver's first name is Angus.

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Great review-I just might go out and get this set. Have you considered reviewing the 21 Jumpstreet DVD sets?

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(*I refuse to believe that he has a first name, Angus or whatever.)

You can refuse all you want, Area, the fact is that its true. It was revealed in one of the very last episodes. Accord to IMDB.com, it was in the episode "Good Knight MacGyver: Part 2". Oh, lookie here, you have a link to the IMDB MacGyver page which states his full name on it. B))

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macgyver was really a great show, i remember the episodes with murddock and the little guy with a moustache who has a plane :), and all the chemistry stuffs where he had always the good ratio... :rolleyes:

with the a-team it was one of my favorite show :)

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You forgot to mention the flattened roll of duct tape he always has on him! Hell, it should be listed under "Cast". Don't you know, MacGyver can fix ANYTHING with duct tape.

Little know fact: MacGyver's first name is Angus.

And of course this led to every "Harry Homeowner" knucklehead out there trying this bit of ingenuity and totally making things worse than they already were. One thing I find extremely funny is that here in Maryland duct tape is against code now to use on ductwork on new furnace and heat pump applications.

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Macgyver had another first name according to the script of the earlier episodes, but it wasn't mentioned and Angus only appeared near the end of the series. You could call him "Gus" lol.

Also, before his character was defined, he shot guns.

He's also a hockey fan of the Calgary Flames.

They also mention Macgyver on Stargate.

Edited by ComicKaze
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back in the day i thought this show was cool, but I saw a rerun recently and it was a real letdown.

Well, I finally realized that some episodes were so cheesy, they weren't funny anymore. Here's an example:

Episode 3: "Thief of Budapest"

- Half of this episode isn't even MacGyver; it's the Mini Cooper chase scene from The Italian Job.

On the bright side, it did have some great actors and actresses as guests (not as prominent as Miami Vice, but still, many of them are more famous than they were 20 years ago):

Joan Chen

Tia Carrere

George Takei

Teri Hatcher

Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa

Robin Curtis (Saavik in Star Trek III-IV)

James Hong (David Lo Pan in Big Trouble in Little China)

Ernie Reyes, Jr.

G. Gordon Liddy

Cuba Gooding, Jr.

Traci Lords

Even veteran anime voice actor Beau Billingslea (Jet Black in Cowboy Bebop, Millard in Macross Plus) made a guest appearance on the show.

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I swear, this series hardly fails to amuse me. On disc 2, the episode "The Heist" teaches you the following tricks:

1. You can rig a dice by rubbing one side against an electric shoe polish.

2. You can strip a girl of her nightgown by tying a long string to a paper clip, then hooking the clip on the back zipper. Simply step on the other end of the string before she walks away.

3. You can open a sound-activated safe by rubbing your index finger around a wine glass.

The episode "Trumbo's World" teaches you a perfect way to escape from a mountain hideout. You climb down the mountain with a rope drenched in gasoline. Chances are the bad guys will use the same rope while chasing you, so once you reach the ground, light it up.

Edited by areaseven
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Just bought me this series' 1st ever DVD collection and I just love it! I still find the episodes entertaining, even after all these years! And those opening gambits for the 1st few episodes are just awesome, specially for the one entitled "The Gauntlet" :) .

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Hey, I like MacGuyver. I think, in large part, it's because I'm such an SG-1 fan, and they star the same lead actor. But, aside from that, I think it's a really good show.

Also, a little-known fact: I've got MacGuyver's hair! Now, normally I cut it before it gets to that point, but if I go a couple months without a haircut, the resemblance is shocking!

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  • 3 weeks later...

I swear, Hideo Kojima must've watched a lot of MacGyver before creating Metal Gear Solid. In the episode "The Enemy Within," the villain uses hypnosis to control people into committing assassinations and an ultrasonic noise to trigger a heart attack if they fail. It's also funny how MacGyver knows how to make a defibrilator out of candle holders, microphone wire and a rubber mat.

Edited by areaseven
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  • 7 years later...

macgyver was really a great show, i remember the episodes with murddock and the little guy with a moustache who has a plane smile.gif, and all the chemistry stuffs where he had always the good ratio... :rolleyes:

with the a-team it was one of my favorite show smile.gif

The character's name is Jack Dalton, played by Bruce McGill. Real funny guy; he crackes me up :D every time I see him on Rizolli & Isles (he plays Corsack (sp.?; I'm in the process of reading the novels, so I'll update his character's name later).

I used to watch the show when it was on the air, and my sister totally loved the show. Years ago I wondered why Dana Elcar's character was using a different name after the first episode of the series before I learned that the network (I think it was USA) actually aired the pilot during the syndication run. Talk about a "duh!" moment :huh: .

Oh and when I finally found out what his first name was, I really didn't care, mainly because one of Austrailia's best musicians is named Angus ^_^.

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