MacGyver

This is still one of the greatest shows ever! I remember watching this show when I was a kid, and still try to catch the reruns. There are still classic MacGyver references made about building a bomb with a toothpick, some string, a stick of gum, and a few household chemicals if the right proportions. This was just a good show, not overly complicated, but with good values and likable characters. Richard Dean Anderson is likable as MacGyver with Dana Elcar as his boss and best friend. Always a classic!

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.

This is original; a James Bond for kids, or a boy scout yet in the spy business. Whatever the definition of it, (MacGyver) was a pure gold from the 1980s.

For being the actor who was unafraid to use his glasses during the audition, showing a lack of pretension that the show makers wanted in their lead--(Richard Dean Anderson) made it to be the title character. And how he portrayed it fine as innocent and intelligent secret agent that became one of the most memorable characters in TV history. We were waiting him, on the Egyptian national TV (channel one), every Wednesday night. Since the opening credits' electronic, nice and catchy tune, we gather craving what kind of scientific tricks he would come up with this round. It is a real cult favorite, and - strangely - the show which I've never met anyone hates!

At first, the episodes were close to the American super spy's adventures. Therefore it was ordinary at one point to watch (MacGyver) landing from a fallen plane, with a beautiful girl, in a hanging-to-a-parachute convertible car. It's the fanciful propaganda however through unique character of unarmed hero where "mind is the ultimate weapon". But this character itself, so its distinct resourcefulness, prevailed eventually as the attraction's core more than any "save the world" kind of Bond plots. Even (Dana Elcar) as (Pete) was having the most childlike face ever been for intelligence boss.

When the Cold War drew to a close in the late 1980s and the early 1990s, (MacGyver) became like a social worker who deals with family issues more than secret agent with ticking bombs, to watch him just saving a troubled kid from killing himself and stuff. At that phase of the show, there were these episodes where the lead traveled into time, by mysterious dreams, to live some different adventures in other lands and times; since his very time became that boring! But these episodes managed to be magnificent as well.

The excellent episodes are many. For instance, I can't forget "Phoenix Under Siege" where (MacGyver) was fighting an evil man in one building in such limited time pre-Die Hard. Or "Target MacGyver" where he unites with his grandfather to face some evil gunmen in a deserted cowboy city with just simple wiles. Or "Good Knight MacGyver" where he travels into time, to live a hellish night in the age of King Arthur.

Back when the show was on, I remember reading that some people accused it of presenting lies more than scientific facts at times (something got to do with generating electricity by cactus!). But anyway, we just believed the show as a show, a very engaging and entertaining one too. And the important meanings that we've learned from it were: Always be prepared. It takes a lot of study first to be a hero. So many wonders can be made by one Swiss army knife. And yes, brains can beat brawn.

Sure you'll ask: why there are no shows like (MacGyver) anymore? But with whole 7 seasons, the saturation was inevitable. Though, this spirit and these thoughts became old fashion nowadays. I believe that making a show for both kids and grown-ups, that enjoys and teaches them in the same time, turned out to be a lousy idea now in the 2000s, especially with the forensic medicine's too many bloody shows that may originate 3 types of generations later: forensic doctors, serial killers, and serial killers' victims!

Finally, I want to assure a little point of view. I used to list the shows that I watch, and then chronicle them by their production's date. So, if you knew that (Amazing Stories), (Moonlighting), (The Equalizer), (Spenser for Hire), and (North and South) were all products of the same year of (MacGyver)'s start (1985)--then you must admit: that was a happy golden age for TV.

Are the 1980s cool or what?

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.

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.