DVD Talk review of 'MacGyver - The Complete Third Season'
09-04-05, 03:51 PM
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DVD Talk review of 'MacGyver - The Complete Third Season'
I read Francis Rizzo III's DVD review of MacGyver - The Complete Third Season at http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/read.php?ID=17367 and...
Just for the record, Murdoc only appeared once per season in the MacGyver episodes, save for the fifth season where he had two appearances, albeit one in a dream sequence. As for Penny Parker, she was absent in the third season, but resurfaces twice in the fourth season.
Another FYI....micromanaging ABC programming executive Brandon Stoddard (1986-88) insisted upon the addition of the Nikki Carpenter character based on the impression that because "Moonlighting" was a hit for the network, "MacGyver" could benefit by emulating its squabbling-boy-and-girl detective format. Viewers disagreed and she disappeared from the show after the six-episode stint in the third season.
I can't speak for the video quality of the DVD's, but the third season is where MacGyver moved production from Los Angeles to Vancouver, Canada, and the production values really began to sparkle. The mountain-scape footage from "The Widowmaker" remains some of the most impressive television footage I've witnessed in my nearly three decades of TV viewing. The move to Vancouver also enabled the show to do location episodes with winter settings, including "The Spoilers" and "Mask of the Wolf" this season, with more to come in upcoming seasons.
I also appreciated the depth of the storytelling and a somewhat more mature tone this season after the second season occasionally drifted to cartoonishness. His renewed difficulties with women, past and present (Lisa, Deborah, Karen), along with the death of childhood friend Mike Forrester added a certain darkness to the series' tone which I felt worked....and which was magnified both in the stories and the production values of the fourth season, MacGyver's best season and by far its darkest.
As for your jab about the series' tone changing to "teaching sportsmanship", I can think of only two examples of such episodes..."Thin Ice," done in correspondence with the 1988 Winter Olympics, and "Hell Week" an outstanding episode that you praised. Beyond that, MacGyver continued to be a solidly action-adventure series. My opinion is that the reason MacGyver outlasted all of its action-show peers from the era was the diversified story selection that you suggest "lessened its impact." "The A-Team" may have been a huge hit at its peak, but fell from grace very quickly in its fourth season because viewers were basically watching the exact same story unfold 94 different times between 1983 and 1986. This was not the case with MacGyver, and viewers rewarded the story diversity with one of the longest runs in action-TV history.
Just for the record, Murdoc only appeared once per season in the MacGyver episodes, save for the fifth season where he had two appearances, albeit one in a dream sequence. As for Penny Parker, she was absent in the third season, but resurfaces twice in the fourth season.
Another FYI....micromanaging ABC programming executive Brandon Stoddard (1986-88) insisted upon the addition of the Nikki Carpenter character based on the impression that because "Moonlighting" was a hit for the network, "MacGyver" could benefit by emulating its squabbling-boy-and-girl detective format. Viewers disagreed and she disappeared from the show after the six-episode stint in the third season.
I can't speak for the video quality of the DVD's, but the third season is where MacGyver moved production from Los Angeles to Vancouver, Canada, and the production values really began to sparkle. The mountain-scape footage from "The Widowmaker" remains some of the most impressive television footage I've witnessed in my nearly three decades of TV viewing. The move to Vancouver also enabled the show to do location episodes with winter settings, including "The Spoilers" and "Mask of the Wolf" this season, with more to come in upcoming seasons.
I also appreciated the depth of the storytelling and a somewhat more mature tone this season after the second season occasionally drifted to cartoonishness. His renewed difficulties with women, past and present (Lisa, Deborah, Karen), along with the death of childhood friend Mike Forrester added a certain darkness to the series' tone which I felt worked....and which was magnified both in the stories and the production values of the fourth season, MacGyver's best season and by far its darkest.
As for your jab about the series' tone changing to "teaching sportsmanship", I can think of only two examples of such episodes..."Thin Ice," done in correspondence with the 1988 Winter Olympics, and "Hell Week" an outstanding episode that you praised. Beyond that, MacGyver continued to be a solidly action-adventure series. My opinion is that the reason MacGyver outlasted all of its action-show peers from the era was the diversified story selection that you suggest "lessened its impact." "The A-Team" may have been a huge hit at its peak, but fell from grace very quickly in its fourth season because viewers were basically watching the exact same story unfold 94 different times between 1983 and 1986. This was not the case with MacGyver, and viewers rewarded the story diversity with one of the longest runs in action-TV history.
09-04-05, 10:54 PM
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Hmmm... Is your real name Patti Bouvier?
09-05-05, 02:30 AM
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LMAO! Patti's got nothing on me. I've been obsessed with MacGyver ever since the very first TV ad ABC aired in July 1985 of their upcoming fall shows. Glowing with wisdom at age eight, I saw a brief snippet of MacGyver on the ad and thought to myself that this was gonna be the best show on television. I was right. If I'm as protective of my future children as I am of MacGyver, I'll be a great father. 
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