Mac Is Back, Redux
The good news: A new season of MacGyver is being released on DVD today. The even better news: It's the fourth season, MacGyver's best. Without the faintest hint of a doubt, MacGyver was the greatest show in television history. It had its occasional flaws, not the least of which being the one-dimensional supporting characters, the gratuitously happy endings complete with toothy-grinned freeze frames at the closing of the epilogues, the bad acting in the early seasons and the heavy-handed preaching of later seasons. But the good news about the fourth season is that it was right in the middle of the series' run, where the cheese of the early years had waned and the self-righteousness of the later seasons was yet to fully congeal. The result: a superior selection of 19 ingeniously-crafted episodes with first-rate production values (for the 80's anyway). Sure, those desperately looking for something to nitpick about will find it, but those looking for 19 hours of television more fun than anything on the TV schedule today will thoroughly enjoy the ride.
The fourth season was a transitional year for MacGyver. Perhaps sensing that the formula needed to be tweaked so the series didn't repeat itself and flame out, the writers and producers broadened their horizons. The addition of scriptwriter John Sheppard was noticeable throughout the season, as his twisted fingerprint was abundantly evident in the series' decidedly darker tone. The decision for MacGyver to go dark this year was revolutionary for this otherwise lighthearted series, but not necessarily revolutionary for 80's era action/crime series as both Miami Vice and The Equalizer, among others, shifted to a darker tone in one of their respective seasons. Production logistics weighed heavily in the shift as the series was filming in bleak Vancouver during its winter months, a scenario that forced the series indoors to complete episodes on schedule. Mac even traded in his trademark brown leather jacket for a black one that better fit the season's style.
The darker, brooding stories also presented the opportunity for Richard Dean Anderson and other supporting players to flex their muscles as actors. While the series usually didn't go so far as to taking itself seriously, it also was no longer straitjacketed to the tongue-in-cheek lightheartedness of seasons past which although monstrously fun, kept the series stuck in a ghetto of low expectations and canny acting. The fourth season changed that, while still maintaining most of the kinetic energy and fun of the early years. Not an easy task, but judging from the fact that MacGyver actually saw its ratings climb (and rather dramatically) this season indicated that the strategy worked. Even more impressive is that MacGyver was able to mount its creative and Nielsen comeback this year despite a six-week head start by its sitcom competitors in the fall of 1988, triggered by the writers' strike of the previous summer. Given MacGyver's grueling production schedule, ALF, The Hogan Family and Newhart were able to churn out episode much more quickly than MacGyver. At the end of the day, this turned out to be more of an asset than a liability since more MacGyver episodes aired between January and May, notoriously the series' best ratings season since it wasn't competing with Monday Night Football on its own network in Western time zones. MacGyver proved it was the real deal this season, and here are some of the primary reasons why:
"The Secret of Parker House"--the Halloween special that kicked off the season, setting the stage for the dark and brooding feel of the episodes to come with a cleverly-crafted haunted house story.
"Blood Brothers"--A trip to his Minnesota hometown provides further insights into MacGyver's "tragic hero" profile. The series' anti-gun moralizing was often heavy-handed, and was here as well, but it doesn't take away from the strength of this pivotal episode.
"The Outsiders"--The sap factor goes off the charts with this engrossing episode involving the Amish, eminent domain, and little kids trapped in a well. Even though this episode "borrowed" heavily from the Harrison Ford film Witness and the TV-movie The Jessica McClure Story, it had its own undeniable MacGyver fingerprint and a genuinely goosebump-provoking finale.
"On a Wing and a Prayer"--A back-to-the-basics adventure episode featuring Jack Dalton and Mac heading to Central America to rescue an injured Pete Thornton and a nun from revolutionaries with Jack's new sea plane. MacGyverisms a plenty ensue. Good stuff.
"The Survivors"--The chemistry between MacGyver and boss Pete Thornton (always well played by recently-deceased character actor Dana Elcar) hit a new level in this episode where they're trapped in the woods during a Phoenix field-training exercise and uncover an offshore drug operation. All of the problems that arised from filming in Vancouver were more than made up for with Smokey-the-Bear lush-green forest adventures like this.
"Deadly Dreams"--This first-rate episode introductes Dr. Zito, easily MacGyver's most worthy adversary. While many like to claim that Zito is a retread of Hannibal Lecter, the similarities are only skin-deep as are the plot similarities with Silence of the Lambs. With all the darkness of the fourth season, this is perhaps the darkest and most over-the-top intense MacGyver episode of this season or any season. The fiendishly clever science and plot mechanics should impress even the series' most clueless critics. Highly recommended.
"Cleo Rocks"--Frequently cited by reviewers as the best MacGyver of all (a feeling I share), this dark and ingenius tale portrays scar-faced archrival Murdoc as the Phantom of the Opera. Complete with Penny Parker gyrating in a leotard, death threats by way of poems, underground dungeons with iron-clad cages and boiling pools of water, and relentless gallows humor winking at us to not take anything too seriously, this episode is one of a kind.....a smorgasbord of MacGyver Magic that offers more fun than is legally allowed in certain Puritanical red states.
"Fraternity of Thieves"--A late Cold War-era espionage thriller where Pete Thornton's son sells out his country and his estranged old man. Strong acting and a welcome opportunity for Pete to grow as a character.
"The Challenge"--The first of the now-infamous Challenger's Club episodes, but also the hands-down best, featuring Cuba Gooding, Jr. in a rock-solid performance that leads the way for one of the best-acted episodes of the series. While the gang-banger motif is very dated, the story remains powerful.
"Gold Rush"--Perhaps the best-produced hour of a weekly TV series that the medium has ever seen, MacGyver accompanies a Soviet delegation to the Arctic Circle to recover millions of dollars of gold lost in a plane crash during World War II. Watching this epic adventure episode today and enjoying all the crafty old-school special-effects, I still can't believe they were able to produce something like this for television back before computerized backgrounds became the standard. Worse yet, I really can't believe that this episode was nominated for an Emmy on visual effects....but didn't win!
"The Invisible Killer"--A brilliantly-executed mystery thriller involving Phoenix employees hiking through the woods with a murderous escaped convict amongst them. The paranoia of the characters is shared by the viewers and the stakes are raised with every plot twist. This is an episode I appreciate more every time I watch it.
"Brainwashed"--My personal pick as MacGyver's second-best episode, Jack Dalton is brainwashed into assassinating an African President. The insanely dark and exciting plot takes so many delicious turns that the viewer is nearly exhausted at the episode's end from having so much fun. Watching this episode consistently reinforces the perception that writer John Sheppard probably single-handedly saved this show from jumping the shark two years earlier than it did.
"Easy Target"--Another smartly-crafted thriller, this time involving terrorists who hijack an electromagnetic pulse as leverage to free their jailed leader. Once again, the thrill ride never stops with this episode.
Not all of the episodes rose to this level of quality, but only one episode qualifies as a total stinker, and that's "Unfinished Business," one of those vapid "flashback" episodes. With Jack Dalton along for the ride, this one had its moments, but the story and eventual resolution was predictable and disappointing.
There's something to satisfy just about every taste in MacGyver: The Complete Fourth Season. Even if you don't own the previous three seasons, season four is a fantastic place to start.
The fourth season was a transitional year for MacGyver. Perhaps sensing that the formula needed to be tweaked so the series didn't repeat itself and flame out, the writers and producers broadened their horizons. The addition of scriptwriter John Sheppard was noticeable throughout the season, as his twisted fingerprint was abundantly evident in the series' decidedly darker tone. The decision for MacGyver to go dark this year was revolutionary for this otherwise lighthearted series, but not necessarily revolutionary for 80's era action/crime series as both Miami Vice and The Equalizer, among others, shifted to a darker tone in one of their respective seasons. Production logistics weighed heavily in the shift as the series was filming in bleak Vancouver during its winter months, a scenario that forced the series indoors to complete episodes on schedule. Mac even traded in his trademark brown leather jacket for a black one that better fit the season's style.
The darker, brooding stories also presented the opportunity for Richard Dean Anderson and other supporting players to flex their muscles as actors. While the series usually didn't go so far as to taking itself seriously, it also was no longer straitjacketed to the tongue-in-cheek lightheartedness of seasons past which although monstrously fun, kept the series stuck in a ghetto of low expectations and canny acting. The fourth season changed that, while still maintaining most of the kinetic energy and fun of the early years. Not an easy task, but judging from the fact that MacGyver actually saw its ratings climb (and rather dramatically) this season indicated that the strategy worked. Even more impressive is that MacGyver was able to mount its creative and Nielsen comeback this year despite a six-week head start by its sitcom competitors in the fall of 1988, triggered by the writers' strike of the previous summer. Given MacGyver's grueling production schedule, ALF, The Hogan Family and Newhart were able to churn out episode much more quickly than MacGyver. At the end of the day, this turned out to be more of an asset than a liability since more MacGyver episodes aired between January and May, notoriously the series' best ratings season since it wasn't competing with Monday Night Football on its own network in Western time zones. MacGyver proved it was the real deal this season, and here are some of the primary reasons why:
"The Secret of Parker House"--the Halloween special that kicked off the season, setting the stage for the dark and brooding feel of the episodes to come with a cleverly-crafted haunted house story.
"Blood Brothers"--A trip to his Minnesota hometown provides further insights into MacGyver's "tragic hero" profile. The series' anti-gun moralizing was often heavy-handed, and was here as well, but it doesn't take away from the strength of this pivotal episode.
"The Outsiders"--The sap factor goes off the charts with this engrossing episode involving the Amish, eminent domain, and little kids trapped in a well. Even though this episode "borrowed" heavily from the Harrison Ford film Witness and the TV-movie The Jessica McClure Story, it had its own undeniable MacGyver fingerprint and a genuinely goosebump-provoking finale.
"On a Wing and a Prayer"--A back-to-the-basics adventure episode featuring Jack Dalton and Mac heading to Central America to rescue an injured Pete Thornton and a nun from revolutionaries with Jack's new sea plane. MacGyverisms a plenty ensue. Good stuff.
"The Survivors"--The chemistry between MacGyver and boss Pete Thornton (always well played by recently-deceased character actor Dana Elcar) hit a new level in this episode where they're trapped in the woods during a Phoenix field-training exercise and uncover an offshore drug operation. All of the problems that arised from filming in Vancouver were more than made up for with Smokey-the-Bear lush-green forest adventures like this.
"Deadly Dreams"--This first-rate episode introductes Dr. Zito, easily MacGyver's most worthy adversary. While many like to claim that Zito is a retread of Hannibal Lecter, the similarities are only skin-deep as are the plot similarities with Silence of the Lambs. With all the darkness of the fourth season, this is perhaps the darkest and most over-the-top intense MacGyver episode of this season or any season. The fiendishly clever science and plot mechanics should impress even the series' most clueless critics. Highly recommended.
"Cleo Rocks"--Frequently cited by reviewers as the best MacGyver of all (a feeling I share), this dark and ingenius tale portrays scar-faced archrival Murdoc as the Phantom of the Opera. Complete with Penny Parker gyrating in a leotard, death threats by way of poems, underground dungeons with iron-clad cages and boiling pools of water, and relentless gallows humor winking at us to not take anything too seriously, this episode is one of a kind.....a smorgasbord of MacGyver Magic that offers more fun than is legally allowed in certain Puritanical red states.
"Fraternity of Thieves"--A late Cold War-era espionage thriller where Pete Thornton's son sells out his country and his estranged old man. Strong acting and a welcome opportunity for Pete to grow as a character.
"The Challenge"--The first of the now-infamous Challenger's Club episodes, but also the hands-down best, featuring Cuba Gooding, Jr. in a rock-solid performance that leads the way for one of the best-acted episodes of the series. While the gang-banger motif is very dated, the story remains powerful.
"Gold Rush"--Perhaps the best-produced hour of a weekly TV series that the medium has ever seen, MacGyver accompanies a Soviet delegation to the Arctic Circle to recover millions of dollars of gold lost in a plane crash during World War II. Watching this epic adventure episode today and enjoying all the crafty old-school special-effects, I still can't believe they were able to produce something like this for television back before computerized backgrounds became the standard. Worse yet, I really can't believe that this episode was nominated for an Emmy on visual effects....but didn't win!
"The Invisible Killer"--A brilliantly-executed mystery thriller involving Phoenix employees hiking through the woods with a murderous escaped convict amongst them. The paranoia of the characters is shared by the viewers and the stakes are raised with every plot twist. This is an episode I appreciate more every time I watch it.
"Brainwashed"--My personal pick as MacGyver's second-best episode, Jack Dalton is brainwashed into assassinating an African President. The insanely dark and exciting plot takes so many delicious turns that the viewer is nearly exhausted at the episode's end from having so much fun. Watching this episode consistently reinforces the perception that writer John Sheppard probably single-handedly saved this show from jumping the shark two years earlier than it did.
"Easy Target"--Another smartly-crafted thriller, this time involving terrorists who hijack an electromagnetic pulse as leverage to free their jailed leader. Once again, the thrill ride never stops with this episode.
Not all of the episodes rose to this level of quality, but only one episode qualifies as a total stinker, and that's "Unfinished Business," one of those vapid "flashback" episodes. With Jack Dalton along for the ride, this one had its moments, but the story and eventual resolution was predictable and disappointing.
There's something to satisfy just about every taste in MacGyver: The Complete Fourth Season. Even if you don't own the previous three seasons, season four is a fantastic place to start.
posted by Mark at 9:34 AM
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