There’s still no filming date for Season 5, but we have some information about upcoming storylines.
(Spoiler Alert: You will get spoilered about Season 5 storylines 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.)
Premiere Date Speculations
On October 13, CBS announced premiere dates for 10 of their shows; followed by some new key art, press releases and teaser trailers. Sadly, MacGyver was not on the list. On October 21, CBS announced the return of an additional 5 of their shows. Again, MacGyver was not on the list.
I speculated a few months ago that CBS might want to set a premiere date for the entire Friday lineup, and now it seems that this is indeed their plan. Considering that Blue Bloods just started filming around October 5, they don’t have any episodes ready to air yet. It’s also possible that they wait in case another production has to be put on hiatus or is benched for the rest of the season, so they can quickly readjust the schedule (though it’s more likely they will put in reruns instead).
Initially, CBS had scheduled more episodes of The Greatest AtHome Videos and Undercover Boss on Fridays; followed by Blue Bloods Reruns up to November 20. They later replaced the timeslots with reruns of MacGyver and Magnum up until mid-December. The schedule is not set in stone, however. Since CBS usually has special programming set for Thanksgiving weekend, it doesn’t look very likely for MacGyver to premiere before December, though – which would mean 3 episodes at most until Christmas Break.
According to a tweet by the Magnum PI Writers, the premiere was planned to happen before the end of the year. Apparently, cast member Amy Hill also mentioned on social media that the Magnum premiere is planned for December. Guess all we can do is wait and see. If it was a pandemic-free year, MacGyver might have been benched for midseason anyway, despite the cancellation of Hawaii Five-0.
All you need to know about Season 5
CBS has upgraded its logo a bit and posted new “title cards” for their shows, but used an Official Still of Episode 4×08 for MacGyver. It’s understandable that they’re now busy promoting the shows that have a premiere in November, but it’s still disappointing for fans of the reboot. After all, they have material of 6 ready-to-air-episodes to choose from – episodes that have been filmed half a year ago.
We did get news about upcoming storylines, though. TV Guide Magazine has a tradition for Fall Preview Teasers by providing information about the season openers. While they did use an Official Still of Episode 4×02, new Showrunner Monica Macer warned that Codex is still a threat. According to the article about the Season 5 Opener, Codex kidnaps Russ Taylor; demanding a prisoner exchange for Murdoc. (Note: This is most likely about the episode written with production number 501 that has yet to be filmed, titled “Telescope + S-218 + Amplifier + Frenemies + Fog”.) The fans weren’t very excited about the prospect of a love triangle between Mac, Desi and Riley, however.
On October 14, The Washington Post published an article about CBS shows remaking its police shows for the Black Lives Matter era. In short interview snippets with Monica Macer, we got a few teasers about an upcoming storyline. As Macer states, the writing team has no agenda to abolish or diminish police departments.
“We’re a fun show about stopping the threat of the day with some witty banter,” she said. But, she added, “as a society, we’re also at an inflection point, and I’m not afraid to lean into that.”
(Monica Macer for The Washington Post, October 2020)
According to the article, MacGyver will hash out questions of racial justice, police defunding and the long-standing contradictions of being a Black police officer in America with a friend.
Presumably, this friend will be Wilt Bozer. And here’s an additional Spoiler Alert: We’re finally meeting Bozers family!
Macer says she has drawn on her own experience as a woman of color. In an upcoming episode, MacGyver (…) will talk with the father of his friend Wilt Bozer, who also plays a paternal role for him, about the elder Bozer’s inner conflict as a Black police officer. The show may also explore the tensions between the elder Bozer and his wife, active in city politics, over the defund-the-police debate.
(The Washington Post, October 2020)
ICYMI: Back in July, the writers promised us a “real teaser” when reaching 8000 followers on Twitter. They reached that goal on October 16. This Monday, the writers gave us 3 Spoilers for our efforts:
- Mac & Riley become linked in an unexpected way
- We’ll meet the parents of TWO characters
- Russ gets a love interest
Of course, these teaser-spoiler led to a lot of fan activity and speculations on social media.
What’s going to happen now?
Most scripted CBS crime/drama shows and some of the CBS comedies have successfully started filming. On October 12, Justin Hires travelled to LA. In an Instagram Live Video, he revealed that they have gotten a filming date and will start up pretty soon.
Tristin Mays had visited Houston before her arrival in Atlanta and it looks like she settled in until they start production. Justin arrived in Atlanta on Monday. The location of Levy Tran’s workout videos has changed, so she might be back already as well. There’s still no Casting Calls yet, and the stage hasn’t been opened up yet, but it looks like the cast and crew is gathering to prep for production.
On October 20, Heather R. Kritzer posted via Facebook that she’s travelling to Atlanta for MacGyver Season 5. Her main credits on IMDb are for Second Unit Director, Assistant Director and Producer; so she might either direct the first episode or stay on the show for the season.
Here’s the upcoming reruns schedule:
- Friday, November 13: Loyalty + Family + Rogue + Hellfire (4×12)
- Friday, November 20: tba
- Friday, November 27: tba
- Friday, December 4: tba
- Friday, December 11: tba
- Friday, December 18: tba
Note that this schedule is not definite until an official Press Release by CBS. And sometimes, not even after the Press Release of an episode *lol*. But it can’t hurt to tune in live for these reruns and/or talk about it on social media and make some noise; letting CBS know that we’re eager for new material.
What are Cast and Crew up to?
On October 15, CBS celebrated Spirit Day to support LGBTQ youth. Last year, the cast took a photo in the War Room. This year, alongside the cast and crew of several CBS shows, Levy Tran, Lucas Till and Meredith Eaton took selfies while wearing the purple shirts.
There’s no release date yet for Lucas Till’s movie Son of the South in the US. Interestingly, both Allociné and Cineday Orange list the release date for France as March 10, 2021.
ICYMI: A few weeks ago, Lucas did a very interesting, hour-long video podcast with actor Billy Gallo (presumably recorded in September), talking about his career and acting in general, but also about filming MacGvyer under Ex-Showrunner Peter Lenkov.
Best of TV Awards: Nomination Phase
The Reboot is soon competing again in the “Best of TV Awards” held by Canada Graphs. As usual, the automatic nominees list includes eligible finalists and semi-finalists from the 2019 awards; as well as eligible winners from prior years. Therefore, the regular cast is already listed in most of the categories. The nomination thread is still open.
Dashboard On Fire 
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