DVD Talk review of 'MacGyver - The Complete Fifth Season'
 

I read Francis Rizzo III's DVD review of MacGyver - The Complete Fifth Season at http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/read.php?ID=20597 and...


While I won't deny that "MacGyver" started to show some gray hair (the series, that is) by season five, you once again undercut the series' appeal and failed to mention some of the breakthrough episodes that aired this season. "The Madonna" was about as good (and original) of a Christmas story as has ever been made for television. While the episode certainly represented the "social worker" element of the season that you otherwise dislike, can't you at least cut the show a break for a Christmas episode? "Passages" was not necessarily my cup of tea, but was a very pivotal and well-made episode of this series, and a fan favorite.

Also ironically, we have diametrically opposed views on "Legend of the Holy Rose" and "Serenity". The former, while not lacking in cheeseball moments, was masterfully executed for a weekly TV production and had a wildly imaginative script. I agree that the "killer laser beam" ending was a disappointment, but the rest of the episode worked well for me. "Serenity" was, again, brilliantly produced per 1990 standards, but the pacing of the story didn't win me over. An interesting episode experiment, but not one of my favorites.

Where I really think you miss the mark was your failure to discuss the "anthology" aspect of this show, where our hero faced a uniquely diverse set of scenarios week-to-week. Far from the tiresome formula you suggest, each week presented some of the starkest thematic contrasts I've ever seen on a non-anthology series. You definitely don't do justice to that when you overstate the series' "social worker" aspect.

Overall, the last great "MacGyver" season though. The show does sink into malaise and heavy-handed political moralizing in its sixth season before an outright fatigued seventh season.

I was waiting for this...

The people behind "MacGyver" really should appreciate that they have fans like you out there, and really put some effort into some retrospective features to help pump up the last few weak seasons left to produce.

I figured that by now, you'd know you'd have at least one response to anything MacGyver-related. :)

At first I was hopeful for some extras in the later season, or at least the final season which is only 13 episodes. At this point though, I'm not holding my breath. Paramount never did one thing more than it absolutely had to to promote this series and appears content to count the profits it reaps from sales on these sets, which have reportedly exceeded expectations by a significant margin. Considering my VHS recordings are getting more brittle by the year, I'm glad these sets keep churning out, but comparing them to other major studio releases leaves much to be desired both in picture quality (especially for season three where picture quality was horrible) and in special features.