MacGyver

Okay, here's yet another one of my famous nostalgic-experience stories from my youth.

I'm writing this in 2002. I was born in 1976, so that means when "MacGyver" premiered in 1985-- I was nine years old. My father and my older brother used to watch it, but it never really kept my interest as I was too young to understand and appreciate the intelligence and physics of everything. MacGyver-- along with "Hill Street Blues"-- was blown off by me when it started... only to be embraced whole-heartedly by me in my teen years.

When I re-discovered "MacGyver", I was in junior high, and had begun watching it on a daily basis in syndication on the USA Network. It came on at a great time-- 5pm. I was out of school by 3:30 every day, and had plenty of time to get home to watch it 5 days a week. True, I saw the same episodes over and over again, but I loved it so much, I didn't care.

One of the best things about this show is that MacGyver was the perfect role model for young guys who grew up watching the show. He didn't smoke, he didn't drink, he gave his rewards to charity, he never swore or got angry, he hated guns, and he used his WITS to get himself or others out of trouble.

--and "MacGyver" used an aspect not seen (to my knowledge) since the days of Sam Spade... the show used "Film Noir"-- basically, you hear the person's thoughts in a voice-over while they're doing what they're describing.

Now, I can appreciate the biggest complaint about this show: some people don't like it because it's unrealistic that a man could make an explosive device with a lightbulb, a paperclip, and some cleaning supplies. Yes, some of the "MacGyverisms" were eye-rollers... especially in the series finale-- when he and his newly-found son escape out of some kind of pit by strapping fire extinguishers to their backs and setting them off. Yes, that's stupid. But come on, people! This is SEVEN YEARS of thinking up MacGyverisms! They can't ALL be gems! But most of them were REALLY clever and REALLY worked!

I know for a fact that this show inspired me to be a better, more-helpful person to others... and to use my mind to remedy situations. I've tried to watch "Stargate SG-1" with Richard Dean Anderson... but it just makes me sad, because I want to see the long hair and the brown leather jacket with the red plaid interior lining.

From what I understand, "MacGyver" is only playing at 10am Monday through Friday on WGN (a Chicago station) nowadays. USA dumped it (jerks) and I haven't seen it since. But I'm dying for another reunion show. I miss Jack Dalton. (Bruce McGill) I miss Pete Thornton. (Dana Elcar-- who's gone blind from Gloucoma, bless him) Both are fine, fine actors who added greatly to the show.

But... sadly, all good things must end. It's been off the air for years, but I still think about the show all the time.

If you've come here for a review to see if the show's worth watching, it absolutely is. Let your kids watch it. It's a wonderful influence, and I think you'll really love the outcome you'll get from letting them watch it. Hey, watch it yourself. You'll probably get hooked too.

When I think of the 80's, shows like the Dukes of Hazard, Dallas, The A Team and MacGyver bring back memories. They were fun and with the exception of Dallas, the three others all had one thing in common. They all solved things with very little violence. Even though it may seem that there was some, The A Team always made contraptions that would get them out of trouble, but no one died. The Dukes always fought their way out of trouble just long enough for Roscoe to come arrest the bad guys and with Mac, well he would just make a radio receiver out of a paperclip grass and a shoelace or he would make a dart gun out of bubble gum and toothpick. I honeslty believe that this this was the toughest man in the world. Put him up against the Terminator and he would have found a way to dismantle his CPU without ever touching it. He would make something to shut him down. And that's what was so pure about MacGyver. He never really used violence to solve problems, always his head. And he never got carried away either. He never panicked. He just stayed cool and he always managed to save the day. I love this show and I wish they would bring it back, even in sydication where I am, but we don't have it here and that is a shame because it is a great show and one that I miss.

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.

MacGyver was so cool and inventive he had us all believing that we could get out of any jam with a paperclip and bubble gum. Everything he did was scientific and he was the closest thing to a cool scientist I'd ever seen. Even to this day, if someone does something creative with simple items I compare them to MacGyver.

From '85 to '92, MacGyver filled a necessary gap on television: that of the action-adventure hero. Basically MacGyver is the Indiana Jones of the 80's, which the show itself acknowledges (MacGyver goes on several archaeological expeditions, including one for the Holy Grail!). Added benefits were the hero's reliance on mechanical improvisations, his aversion to guns, and the large cast of supporting and recurring characters. The episodes tend to get a bit preachy with their "Message of the Week" in the 4-6th seasons, reflecting star Richard Dean Anderson's own personal beliefs.