The Reboot has been renewed for Season 5. So far, there’s not much to report on.
(Minor Spoiler Alert: You might get spoilered about Season 5 by reading this post and its comments or by clicking on the links provided. For daily news and to join the discussion and/or speculate away, you can find me on Twitter and head over to the MacGyverOnline Forums.)
All you need to know about Season 5
On May 19, CBS revealed their new Fall Schedule in a virtual Upfronts presentation. MacGyver will return with the other Fall shows, in its usual timeslot (Fridays, 8pm). There is no premiere date yet because “Fall” can mean any date between the end of September and November. Here’s what we know so far about the upcoming season (which isn’t much):
- The rest of the episodes already filmed for Season 4 will be used for Season 5.
- There is no further information yet about the number of episodes being ordered.
- According to Justin Hires, there’s no filming date yet.
- Teresa Huang revealed on May 8 that she joined the crew as Story Editor.
- According to an Instagram post by Rain Management (that was later edited), Jim Adler joins the show as Co-Executive Producer while Monica Macer joins as Co-Showrunner.
- There’s no new key art nor a new production SAK logo yet.
Some unfinished movies and TV shows (mostly outside the US) have resumed filming, but most of the blockbuster projects won’t go back into production before September.
How the pandemic could affect Season 5
This week, Hollywood submitted a COVID-19 Reopening Plan from studios, unions and producers to the NY and CA governors; with CBS Studios being a participant. They’re very similar to the Georgia safety measures released in May and might lead to changes not only in production, but also in storylines, guest stars, settings and locations.
Depending on the current protocols, it won’t be as easy to fly in guest stars and/or directors from abroad (e.g. if they worked on another project just before). The guidelines recommend to reduce the number of Extras and of scenes being filmed in public locations (since those are not as easily controlled).
While not specifically adressed in the Georgia guidelines, they might reduce the number of fighting scenes and/or intimate scenes, because if one of the main cast gets sick or needs to be in quarantine, production would need to go on hiatus for at least 10 days – unless they can rewrite the script and “eliminate” the character from the episode, which is unlikely.
The pandemic might also reduce the numbers of episodes ordered for TV shows in general – not just because of delayed filming for some shows, but mainly because the safety measures include a lot of protective gear (e.g. masks) being used while sharing of crew equipment as well as costumes should be eliminated.
The guidelines also ask for periodic and regular temperature checks and testing plus enforced physical distancing between both cast and crew (e.g. by limiting the number of passengers in transportation vehicles to two). This will not just increase the cost of production and post-production, but might also slow it down.
What’s going to happen now?
I’m assuming that a virtual writers rooms is already in progress and that CBS is planning safety protocols for their TV shows getting ready to film. Yet, all the planning only helps so much in a pandemic; not to forget that the guidelines were set up before the protests (and the potential surge in corona cases).
For now, it’s all a waiting game. We did get some new material from the recently aired episodes; e.g. via Levy Tran’s IMDb page. CBS also released another segment of the Main Cast Zoom Call; e.g. talking about being locked in a room with Murdoc, Helman and Mason and if they’d rather film a steamy scene or a stunt scene.
At the moment, there’s reruns of Season 3 episodes scheduled for most Fridays; with occasional reruns on Saturdays. Here’s the current schedule:
- Friday, June 5: Seeds + Permafrost + Feather (3×17)
- Friday, June 12: Friends + Enemies + Border (3×19)
- Friday, June 19: No Go + High Voltage + Rescue (3×20)
- Saturday, June 27: Treason + Heartbreak + Gum (3×21)
- Friday, July 3: tba
So far, there’s no information about a Summer show airing Fridays in our favorite timeslot, but some networks (e.g. CW) have bought Canadian productions to air new material between reruns.
Season 3 Rerun Ratings
To recap: The rerun of Episode 3×18 on March 20 generated a live-audience of 5.34 million viewers with a demo of 0.7, which was unusually high (probably due to the pandemic). The rerun of Episode 3×15 (K9 + Smugglers + New Recruit) on Friday, May 22 got 4.31 million live-viewers with a demo of 0.4.
A day later, the rerun of Episode 3×06 (Murdoc + MacGyver + Murdoc) had 1.79 million live-viewers with a demo of 0.1. These audience numbers weren’t all that great, but Saturday ratings are rarely impressive, and the amount of live-viewers was still higher than for 2 out of the 3 other broadcast networks.
What are Cast and Crew up to?
In recent years, we used to have some events in May and June to look forward to; e.g. the Monte Carlo Television Festival (2017), the Corus Entertainment Upfronts in Toronto (2017 and 2019) or the voting for the Teen Choice Awards. This year, there’s not much to report on. With the pandemic and the lockdowns in many US cities, cast and crew mostly stayed home in the last few months.
Therefore, there’s not many sightings and news about upcoming projects. Justin Hires currently releases a new song every Monday and just finished the script for a movie. For Lucas Till, a few new/old BtS photos plus two unofficial Stills for his upcoming movie “Son of the South” have surfaced. He’s also been protesting in the streets of Atlanta and using his social media accounts to speak up about human rights – very fitting, considering the movie is about the Civil Rights Movement.
Other MacGyver News
ICYMI: The title sequence for Season 4 is nominated for the AICP Post Awards in the Category “Graphic Design & Animation”. The event will be held online on June 10. We have some other MacGyver-related news as well:
- With 7.5 million viewers per episode according to Nielsen ratings, the Reboot made Rank 32 on the list of most-watched TV shows in the US in the 2019/20 season.
- No prestigious award, but the Reboot was the most popular show on SpoilerTV in May.
- The Season 4 Premiere in the UK (on Sky) was postponed to June 7, then to June 14.
- The Season 3 DVD in German-speaking countries will be released on July 16 – and there will be bonus material!
Dashboard On Fire 