MacGyver (1985 TV series)

MacGyver is an American action-adventure television series created by Lee David Zlotoff and starring Richard Dean Anderson as the title character. Henry Winkler and John Rich were the executive producers. The series follows the adventures of Angus MacGyver, a secret agent armed with remarkable scientific resourcefulness to solve any problem out in the field using any materials at hand. The show ran for seven seasons on ABC in the United States and various other networks abroad from 1985 to 1992. The series was filmed in Los Angeles during seasons one, two and seven, and in Vancouver during seasons three through six. The show's final episode aired on April 25, 1992, on ABC (the network aired a previously unseen episode for the first time on May 21, 1992, but it was originally intended to air before the series finale). The series was a moderate ratings success and gained a loyal following. It was popular in the United States and around the world. Two television films, Lost Treasure of Atlantis and Trail to Doomsday, aired on ABC in 1994. A spin-off series, Young MacGyver, was planned in 2003, but only the pilot was made. Merchandise for MacGyver includes games, toys, print media and an original audio series. A reboot series was broadcast on CBS from 2016 to 2021, which today owns the rights to the original series through its acquisition of the original Paramount Television. Plot The show follows secret agent Angus MacGyver, played by Richard Dean Anderson, who works as a troubleshooter for the fictional Phoenix Foundation in Los Angeles and as an agent for a fictional United States government agency, the Department of External Services (DXS). Educated as a scientist in Physics at Western Tech ("Hell Week"), MacGyver served in the U.S. Army Special Forces as a Bomb Team Technician/EOD during the Vietnam War ("Countdown"). Resourceful and possessing an encyclopedic knowledge of the physical sciences, he solves complex problems by making things out of ordinary objects, along with his ever-present Swiss Army knife, duct tape, and occasionally matches. He favors non-violent resolutions and prefers not to handle firearms due to the accidental shooting death of one of his friends when he was 12.