#4 Macgyver (1985 -1992)

Yes, I was like two or three when this show first aired, deal with it. I do have a vague memory of  being annoyed with Monday Night Football for screwing up my Macgyver watching, I think the game came on right after the show. Heh. I still don't like football that much.

Anyway, back to the point. If you haven't heard of Macgyver before then IDK what I can do for you. Macgyver is more American than apple pie and baseball, because while we argue about who actually invented baseball and apple pie it's clear that the only thing that could create the amazingly ridiculous yet awesomely superb Macgyver is the American entertainment industry of the mid 80s. Equal parts commie bashing, barely PC machismo, and barely possible in this universe with a healthy dose of huh scientific 'theory' Macgyver is a unique and wonderful amorphous thing that will never be repeated or equaled in our life times.

In brief, Mac is an ingenious little bugger,  he can basically do anything with random junk he finds lying around. One of the interesting aspects of the character is that he abhors guns, however, in the pilot he actually shoots an AK toward some enemy soldiers, there are some other things that are weirdly different from the rest of the series as well.

MURDOC!

His arch nemesis is a supposed master of disguise/assassin known as Murdoch. They clash frequently and in an apparently inadvertent homage to slasher films of the same era Murdoc usually 'dies' and pops up again in a later episode/season.

And, lest I forget, one of Terri Hatcher's first roles was as the incredibly spunky (think stab with a fork and leave in the sun she's so irritatingly spunky) Penny Parker. She's part damsel in distress part pseudo wanna be heroine. She gets Mac into scrapes then makes him feel bad for not valuing her as a woman. What can I say? The 80s were a confusing time for female role models. Or something.

He's thinking of ways to kill her & get away with it. Scientifically

Another key (annoying) character is Jack Dalton played by Bruce McGill, Jack is Mac's best buddy/dreamer/fuck up/con man. When he's not getting Mac dragged into nefarious schemes, shot at, locked up etc he's blaming him for ruining his dreams via saving his life that one time. Seriously. Not making this up

Mac's boss can't go unmentioned either. Pete Thornton is a long time friend of Mac's. He is a higher up in the weird pseudo-government kinda think tanky thing that employs Mac. The actor that played Pete, Dana Elcar started to go blind due to glaucoma during the show run. His condition was written into the show and incorporated into a separate arc. He passed away in '05. Interestingly his body double on the show was Don S. Davis who later went on to play Richard Dean Anderson's character's superior on Stargate: SG-1. (Davis passed away in '08).  Pete and Mac have a strong friendship that occasionally veers toward father/son but never quite makes it.

If Mac stops smiling Pete will snap his neck SO FAST

Mac's only family for the majority of the series is his Grandfather. They have a cantankerous but loving relationship. The series introduces Mac's heretofore uknown son toward the end of its run which serves as the reason for Mac leaving the Phoenix Foundation and the show ending.

There are two made for TV movies and recently there's been talk of a new movie being made. However it could be that those rumors were referring to the recently released MacGruber movie (based on an SNL character that mocked the very mockable show).

There is as much to love about this wackadoo gem as there is to snicker at. Mac's manly mullet,  the un-P.C. way certain things are addressed, the amazing theatrics of the opening gambit for most episodes, the strangely foreign (to me and anyone else born in the waning days of the cold war or after) interplay of the evil commies vs the noble yanks, and how about an EXPLODING freaking title card? It's dated, anachronistic, cheesy as fuck in places but goddamnit it's Mac-fucking-gyver!

For an example of cheese, how about the two part episode where Mac is hit in the head and transported back in time to, get this, Arthurian England where he teams up with freaking MERLIN!? IIRC he ends up saving Arthur's ass and his own ancestor, y'hear that? Macgyver mocks the laws of space time and King Arthur needed HIS help! Ha ha so awesome, I triple dare any prime time show nowadays to try to pull some crazy shit like that.

Take me to your whiny King so I can save history weird beard.

Or how about the time Mac singlehandedly invades a hyper secure installation to test it's security, gets to the core, is told to do it again without using a vehicle to get in then has to break out (with a beautiful lady scientist in tow) in order to foil evil? Bad ass motherfucker was coined with the likes of Macgyver in mind.


Macgyver is a national gem, and I for one like it that way.

(Bonus points to anyone that can tell me Mac's actual first name. Without going to IMDB!)

Availability:

Netflix - Yes, disc only including the two TV movies Apparently the entire series is on instant now minus the movies which are still disc only.


Hulu - Seasons 6 & 7 only


Amazon - Yes, clickable pics below