WEBVTT 00:00.000 --> 00:08.000 A ticking clock, a locked room, nothing but a paperclip and a roll of duct tape. For most people, this would be the end, but for this hero, it's just another day. 00:08.000 --> 00:18.000 He wasn't the strongest guy in the room, but he was always the smartest proving that brains can outmatch Braun and that sometimes the best weapon is a little ingenuity. 00:18.000 --> 00:28.000 Today we're looking back at one of the most inventive and thrilling TV shows of the eighties, A show that inspired a generation to think outside the box. 00:28.000 --> 00:35.000 In fact, his name even became a verb. Some people still say it to this day, including myself. 00:35.000 --> 00:45.000 Welcome to Family TV Uncovered. If you're tired of wasting time, searching for clean family friendly entertainment. You're in the right place. 00:45.000 --> 00:55.000 I'm your host Jennifer, a lifelong TV enthusiast who grew up on the kind of shows. I now spotlight for parents like you. 00:55.000 --> 01:05.000 So skip the scrolling because I'm here to help you discover timeless classics and forgotten TV shows that are perfect for your family. 01:05.000 --> 01:10.000 And in today's episode, I'll be talking about MacGyver. 01:10.000 --> 01:20.000 Yes, folks. MacGyver the hero of the eighties and the show who coined the phrase. Just MacGyver it or you can always MacGyver it. 01:20.000 --> 01:30.000 That phrase was used so often during this show's run and even beyond. This show is so much fun. 01:30.000 --> 01:40.000 My kids, and I love this show, and I'm so glad my kids got into this show. When I showed them the first couple of episodes, they were hooked. 01:40.000 --> 01:50.000 I mean, come on now. MacGyver is so cool. Never uses any kind of weapons, or I should say, he tries really, really, really hard to never use any weapons. 01:50.000 --> 02:00.000 And then during the whole show, yeah, he doesn't use any weapons. He uses his brain and he tries to his best to avoid violence or confrontations. 02:00.000 --> 02:10.000 He does have to use his hands every once in a while as a weapon, but that's about it. 02:10.000 --> 02:20.000 Throughout all seven seasons, I think I've only seen. One person get killed. I've seen all seven seasons within the last year, but it's hard to remember sometimes. 02:20.000 --> 02:30.000 Every little detail. I'm gonna go out on the limb here. I'm gonna say throughout the whole show, you never see anybody get killed, but don't be afraid to let me know if you notice somebody get killed. 02:30.000 --> 02:40.000 But I'm pretty sure nobody gets killed. And the scenes if, if people are fighting or whatever, it really doesn't get. Like horrifically, gory it, it doesn't go off the rails. 02:40.000 --> 02:50.000 And that's what makes it so cool because it's a great family show. You can watch with your kids and as a family together. 02:50.000 --> 03:00.000 That's the point of this show is to television that used to bring, uh, that used to bring families together and used to create conversation in communities. 03:00.000 --> 03:10.000 With friends and family and so on. I remember people used to be like, oh, we need to gather, let's, let's watch. Um, MacGyver together as a family, you know, everybody tuned in, oh, did you watch last week's episode? 03:10.000 --> 03:15.000 I missed those days. So yeah, MacGyver, MacGyver's signature tool was his Swiss Army knife. 03:15.000 --> 03:25.000 That was his tool. That's Swiss Army knife was with him everywhere. It was something he used all the time to get him out of trouble. 03:25.000 --> 03:35.000 It had like, I guess the little scissors. It had a little knife. It had. A little screwdriver, and he could always, always think his way out of a challenge, and he was the hero that could save people. 03:35.000 --> 03:45.000 I mean, there's even the movie called Six Days, seven Nights that Stars Harrison Ford and Anne Haes that came out years ago. They even kind of referenced. 03:45.000 --> 03:55.000 They kind of even referenced MacGyver in that movie a little bit in a scene where Harrison Ford and Anne Hait, um, are in a situation that requires some thinking to get out of. 03:55.000 --> 04:05.000 And um, Anne Heche's character says to Harrison Ford, aren't you one of those guys? And he goes, what guys? You know, you know those guys, guys where you give them a Q-tip and bottle of glue or something like that and you build a shopping mall? 04:05.000 --> 04:15.000 I think that was referring to MacGyver being like, can't you just MacGyver your way out of this? 04:15.000 --> 04:25.000 So MacGyver had enemies, and in this, throughout this show, there is one arch enemy of his named Murdoch, who is relentless with MacGyver in getting MacGyver and getting rid of him. 04:25.000 --> 04:35.000 So the show does a great job with weaving Murdoch in and out throughout the seasons. The writers did a fabulous job weaving the whole Murdoch storyline throughout. 04:35.000 --> 04:45.000 All the seasons of the show, and it's, those are, those episodes are our family's favorites. My kids love the episodes with Murdoch in them because they're just so ingenious. 04:45.000 --> 04:55.000 The writers, I don't know how they came up with a lot of these plots and the little inventions and all the science involved in this show, but it's just amazing how the, the crew had to think of how to pull all these things off to make MacGyver look as smart as he was. 04:55.000 --> 05:05.000 And MacGyver, who's played by Richard Dean Anderson, he did all, I think he did all of his stunts. 05:05.000 --> 05:15.000 So because of this show, my daughter is super motivated in our homeschool now because she tells me, mom, what do I have to study in order to be as smart as MacGyver? 05:15.000 --> 05:25.000 And I tell her, well, you've gotta learn science and you've gotta know math. Um, those are the main two because those are MacGyver's biggest tools in his brain is his knowledge of how to make things work for him and how to improvise. 05:25.000 --> 05:35.000 There's, there's so much you can learn on this show with science survival skills and exactly what you can do in life, what you can do for yourself in situations to help yourself, that don't always include violence. 05:35.000 --> 05:45.000 How to outwit your enemy, how to outthink people. MacGyver has a heart. For people. He loves to help other people and he has empathy for all the different kinds of characters that come that, that are on the show. 05:45.000 --> 05:55.000 The supporting cast is great. His boss on the show is his best friend. There's also some emotional episodes and there's some historical episodes. 05:55.000 --> 06:05.000 There are also a couple of notable guest stars on this show. I know one was Mitzi Capture, who I actually ended up working with during my time at CBS. 06:05.000 --> 06:15.000 I used to work for "The Young and the Restless". Mitzi Capture was one of the characters at the time, a recurring role on the soap opera, and I remember when I met her, she was just the nicest woman in the world. 06:15.000 --> 06:25.000 I met her and her daughter, and I had mentioned to her that I remember seeing her on MacGyver and she was surprised that I remembered a show from that long ago in her careers. 06:25.000 --> 06:35.000 Another person was Miam Bialyk. She was the star of the show Blossom back in the nineties. And she was also on "The Big Bang Theory" on CBSA while ago as well. 06:35.000 --> 06:45.000 Some other popular guest on guests on MacGyver were Terry Hatcher, who I remember from "Lois and Clark" with Dean Kane. 06:45.000 --> 06:55.000 Bruce Harwood, who I know as buyers on the Hit Fox show, "The X-Files" and also Cuba Gooding Jr. Is in a few episodes, um, throughout the series. 06:55.000 --> 07:05.000 Oh, and another. Popular guest that I am very familiar with is Jason Priestly. He was on an episode as well, who I know him best for playing Brandon Walsh on the Hit Teen Show, "Beverly Hills 90210" that I grew up watching as well. 07:05.000 --> 07:15.000 The other thing about MacGyver that you'll notice is one of the things he has known for was his hairstyle. Now, back in the eighties, the eighties was all about big hair and the mullet. 07:15.000 --> 07:25.000 For guys the Mullet was what it was called, and that's the hairstyle of MacGyver that makes him so recognizable is the mullet. 07:25.000 --> 07:35.000 MacGyver was actually created by Henry Winkler, who is known as the fawns from Happy Days. 07:35.000 --> 07:45.000 And the crazy thing is, is back in 2003 ish, my first day on the CBS lot, when I was coming off the elevator and I got off on the wrong floor, there was Henry Winkler standing right there. 07:45.000 --> 07:55.000 Now, I didn't talk to him or anything, but I remember thinking in my head. Oh my gosh. It's the guy that made MacGyver. 07:55.000 --> 08:05.000 So all these different experiences that I had at CBS and meeting some of the people I saw on MacGyver growing up, it was just really cool for me at the time. 08:05.000 --> 08:15.000 I love this show because there's no political agenda, no ideology. It's just, it was just a show to entertain. 08:15.000 --> 08:25.000 And yes, actually it does touch upon a couple of societal issues. At that time that was going on in the eighties, but it's not overbearing or over powerful. 08:25.000 --> 08:35.000 I think you will get hooked to this show. I think your children will love this show. I think it will spark conversation among families. 08:35.000 --> 08:45.000 I cannot recommend this show enough. It is so much fun. 08:45.000 --> 08:55.000 And the theme song, oh my gosh. The theme song is. So iconic that I love the theme song to this show, the intro. 08:55.000 --> 09:05.000 It just brings back so many memories of my childhood and of being with my, either my mom or my dad. 'cause both of my parents loved this show so much. 09:05.000 --> 09:15.000 And all my children ask me, mom, how come people can't make shows like this anymore? I go, I know. I don't know what it is about creative thinking nowadays. 09:15.000 --> 09:25.000 Do you guys have any ideas as to why writers lack the creative ingenuity that was on display on shows like MacGyver and other things back in the day? 09:25.000 --> 09:35.000 So where can you watch MacGyver? I've only seen it available on Paramount Plus. You can also watch it on Amazon Prime, but it still requires a Paramount Plus subscription. 09:35.000 --> 09:45.000 But when you're looking for it on these platforms, you will see two MacGyvers pop up. Obviously, I'm pretty sure you can guess my review is about the original MacGyver 09:45.000 --> 09:55.000 CBS did a reboot back in 2016 and ended in 2021. I was never interested in seeing this. I am wholeheartedly all about originals. I don't like reboots. 09:55.000 --> 10:05.000 I think they're a waste of time, and I strongly believe that TV these days have a hard time of coming up with new ideas that are just meant to entertain, and they always go back to old stuff and reboot it. 10:05.000 --> 10:15.000 Why? Because the old stuff was the best. It was the pinnacle of television. That's why all these, that's why I see so many reboots. That's just my opinion. 10:15.000 --> 10:25.000 So, um, watch the, what they call MacGyver Classic, which I hate that because it's just MacGyver. Watch MacGyver. You'll absolutely love it. 10:25.000 --> 10:35.000 I don't know anything about the reboot, so don't send me questions about the reboot. I have no interest in watching it, but if I had to guess, original MacGyver fans like myself would be very critical about it. 10:35.000 --> 10:45.000 I mean, even Richard Dean Anderson refused a cameo on the reboot that has to tell you something. He said the reboot didn't do justice for the original foundation that he had laid in the original show. 10:45.000 --> 10:55.000 Plus the new show had more guns involved where MacGyver completely avoided them in the original show. I already mentioned that earlier. 10:55.000 --> 11:05.000 So that should tell you something. Listen to Richard Dean Anderson and myself, Don't bother with the reboot. 11:05.000 --> 11:15.000 So that brings us to the end of this episode of Family TV Uncovered. I hope you enjoyed learning about MacGyver. 11:15.000 --> 11:25.000 Join me next week for a special episode. It's Parents Night. A strong family starts with a strong relationship, and sometimes the best way to reconnect is with laughter. 11:25.000 --> 11:35.000 In our next episode, we're diving into a sitcom led by a legendary actor whose comedic genius. Is on par with the likes of Lucille Ball backed by a fantastic cast and unforgettable misunderstandings. 11:35.000 --> 11:45.000 It's the perfect pick for a fun night in. Thank you for joining me on today's episode of Family TV Uncovered. 11:45.000 --> 11:55.000 If you enjoyed this episode, please do a couple things for me and leave a review on Apple Podcast to help me grow the podcast and share it with family and friends who you think might enjoy the same content. 11:55.000 --> 12:05.000 You can also send me a message with your comments and questions on my website@www.family tv uncovered.com. 12:05.000 --> 12:15.000 Thank you for tuning in and I'll catch you in the next episode.