In the first few seasons, MacGyver is a "problem solver" for the government. Really, that's the job title he tells everyone. So most episodes involve him going to different countries to try to stop some big conspiracy, save some third world country from itself, or do other Mission Impossible style hijinks. Occasionally, his buddy, Jack, will get him into trouble with some new get rich quick scheme. Sometimes, a world class assassin, Murdoc, will be either assigned to kill him or trying to get revenge for the last time he failed (these are always the best episodes!). Eventually, MacGyver gets hired by the Phoenix Foundation, which is much more about saving the world through the environment, so he starts taking on the big, evil corporations. By the end of the series, he's a huge environmentalist, health nut, hippie type character, which is especially funny because in the pilot he smokes some cigarettes to get past some lasers (of course) and there's no way the character at the end of the show would do that, so it's funny to see how much the character changed without any mention of these changes. He's always represented as he always was how he currently appears. So according to the end of the series MacGyver, he was always a health nut environmentalist.
Another funny change the show took is that the pilot clearly wanted to represent his clever solutions to things as more realistic and even very scientific. He plugged up a leaking vat of sulfuric acid with a chocolate bar he had with him and while he was doing this, he was explaining the science behind why chocolate could be used this way. As the show went on, the solutions and escapades became more and more ridiculous, from being transported back in time to King Arthur's days and basically having a Yankee in King Arthur's Court episode or to using a giant punch board computer from Atlantis (which was really just a giant tumbler lock and not a computer at all). But it's still a great show, as long as you never ever take one minute of it seriously.
If I recall correctly, the King Arthur episode was the result of a potted plant landing on Mac's head and the whole thing was a dream...even if Morgana was using black powder.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I read somewhere that the outlandish science of the latter seasons was the result of government influence asking the show not to reveal to the audience how to become homegrown terrorists.
That's true, the King Arthur thing was all in Mac's head, which is why King Arthur was Pete Thorton and also had his vision problems. That's only slightly less ridiculous than if he actually traveled back in time. Plus, that's how it worked in the Mark Twain book, too. The guy got hit really hard and then was suddenly in medieval times.
ReplyDeleteAfter the plot, there really wasn't too much science in the show. Or at least the explanations were far less detailed. The reason you give could explain why, but I just figure the writers couldn't keep that level of explanation up.