The Best of the Best (IV) – Top 5 Blog Posts in 2020

Maybe you joined the fandom recently? So you might enjoy to check out “older” stuff about the Reboot?

Hereby, I present you my Top 5 Blog Posts 2020 – a short write-up of the 5 blog posts with the most hits at the end of last year. Maybe this post will make you curious to check out the full post in case you missed it back when I had originally posted it?

Lucas Till on set of the Unaired MacGyver Pilot 2016 (via Micahveli Shakur)

(Minor Spoiler Alert: You might get spoilered about characters and storylines in Seasons 1 and 2 by reading this post and its comments or by clicking on the links provided!)

 

I have done a few of these before. If you missed the post about the Top 5 Blog Posts in 2017 (all about “deleted” scenes in the pilot script), you can check it out here. If you missed the post about the Top 5 Blog Posts in 2018, you can check it out there. The one for 2019 can be found here. Though I have to admit if you’ve already read the one from last year, there’s not much news for you.

 

Rank 5 (612 Hits): Looking Back at Season Zero (I) – The Unaired Pilot: Origins

In this blog post, I wrote about the origins of the Unaired Reboot Pilot. There’s mentions of another Unaired Pilot (Young MacGyver with Supernatural star Jared Padalecki in the lead role; playing MacGyver’s nephew Clay), a script that wasn’t used, a (heavily revised) script that was used for a pilot that never aired and the reboot of the Reboot… As you can see, there’s been a lot going on with this project.

Unaired Pilot Character Description for Lincoln (via SpoilerTV)

Rebooting a Pilot is not unusual for Pilot Season. The character descriptions alone might be worthy of their own blog post. Too bad we might never get to watch this pilot that shall not be named… but I think they had made the right decision to change, switch and tweak things (even though I’m not all okay with what they did with it).

ICYMI: A few months ago, they re-added the Unaired Pilot as “Episode 0” on IMDb. I’m curious if it gets deleted again or not.

 

Rank 4 (634 Hits): Looking Back at Season Zero (IV) – The Unaired Pilot: BtS photos Part 2

I had amassed quite a bit of material about the Unaired MacGyver Reboot Pilot over time which led to several blog posts. In this one, I took another opportunity to present some of the BtS photos – for example Lucas Till and George Eads during a costume fitting as MacGyver and Lincoln (before he became Jack Dalton).

Lucas Till and George Eads as MacGyver and Lincoln (via Eileen Cox Baker)

It’s not easy to find more BtS material online. Part of the problem is that they had wiped the original entry on IMDb and that some social media accounts of cast and crew members (e.g. assistants) went private.

I’m not sure what the policy is about posting BtS material of unaired projects, but people seem to be pretty hesitant – and so many years later, it’s too much work to scroll through 4 years of posts on their social media accounts.

 

Rank 3 (790 Hits): Looking Back at Season Zero (II) – The Unaired Pilot: Promo

It wasn’t much, but the Unaired Pilot had gotten some promo material: Three Official Stills, a trailer and social media headers. That’s what I wrote about in this post.

Because CBS decided to reboot the Reboot with a different main cast and a different showrunner, they declared the promotional material to “promo non grata” right after the Upfronts in May 2016. The same day, they erased all their former tweets, posts and previously released promo material for the discarded pilot from their social media accounts.

Promo Poster at the LA TV Screenings (via Peter Lenkov)

Well, it’s the internet after all, so they couldn’t erase it completely. Some media outlets still use the old logo and the old stills. What once was posted online, has a tendency to come back. I still hope that some day, we’ll see more of it – without having to go search for it for as many hours as I did back then when I still had the patience.

 

Rank 2 (909 Hits): You can google it (Part 2): About Samantha/Olivia Cage

A lot of readers find my blog by using search engines. I wrote a couple of blog posts about what search terms led to people click on one of my blog posts. Interestingly, a lot of those clicks were due to Isabel Lucas and her character of Samantha Cage (formerly known as Olivia Cage) who was introduced in Episode 2×01 (DIY or DIE).

Isabel Lucas on set of Episode 3×05: Skull + Electromagnet (via Robert Maxfield)

Cage was an underdeveloped character that divided the fandom. Yet, even many of the viewers who didn’t like her too much were rather disappointed when and how she got written out of the show in the middle of Season 2; mainly since all of the “secrets” surrounding her character sort of vanished as well and were never resolved.

Some of her traits were incorporated into the character of Desi Nguyen (who had her first appearence in Episode 3×15), but people still occasionally ask about Samantha Cage on social media.

I haven’t written yet a review about Cage, but if you want to know more about her and what people actually typed into Google only to find my blog, you can find the post here.

 

Rank 1 (1229 Hits): Looking Back at Season 1 (I) – The Hair (Part 1)

The “Winner” of 2020 is the same post that was on Rank 1 in 2018 and 2019 as well. When people talk about Original MacGyver, they often mention his glorious hair. There was a lot of “hair drama” surrounding the Reboot. So in this blog post – my first non-update-blog-post back in 2017, actually – I wrote about MacGyver’s hair. And apparently people keep googling for it; finding my blog post.

Lucas Till in June and July 2016

I’ve been planning to write Part 2 (and probably even 3) since forever, but that still might take a while. Real Life responsibilities, a ton of Reboot Update Posts last year and other stuff, you know.

 

Runner-up posts to give you the Top Ten at the end of 2020:

• Rank 6 (504 Hits): About the Unaired Pilot BtS photos (Part 1)
• Rank 7 (493 Hits): About the Teaser Promo for the Premiere
• Rank 8 (487 Hits): About the portrait photos taken at the TCA Event
• Rank 9 (419 Hits): About deleted scenes in the Pilot Script – the one with Ninjas and Tanks (Part 3)
• Rank 10 (329 Hits): About some more deleted scenes in the Pilot Script (Part 2)

The Best of the Best (III) – Top 5 Blog Posts in 2019

Maybe you joined the fandom recently? So you might enjoy to check out “older” stuff about the Reboot?

Hereby, I present you my Top 5 Blog Posts 2019 – a short write-up of the 5 blog posts with the most hits at the end of last year. And I added a few photos in between so it’s all the more fun for you – and maybe a way to get you to check out the full post in case you missed it back when I had originally posted it?

Official Still of the Unaired Pilot (Ron P. Jaffe/CBS)

(Minor Spoiler Alert: You might get spoilered about characters and storylines in Seasons 1 and 2 by reading this post and its comments or by clicking on the links provided!)

 

If you missed the post about the Top 5 Blog Posts in 2017 (all about “deleted” scenes in the pilot script), you can check it out here. If you missed the post about the Top 5 Blog Posts in 2018, you can check it out there.

 

Rank 5 (408 Hits): Looking Back at Season Zero (IV) – The Unaired Pilot: BtS photos Part 2

I had amassed quite a bit of material about the Unaired MacGyver Reboot Pilot over time which led to several blog posts. In this one, I took another opportunity to present some of the BtS photos – for example Lucas Till and George Eads as MacGyver and Lincoln (before he became Jack Dalton in Episode 1×01: The Rising) during a costume fitting.

Lucas Till and George Eads as MacGyver and Lincoln (via Eileen Cox Baker)

 

Rank 4 (434 Hits): Looking Back at Season Zero (I) – The Unaired Pilot: Origins

In this blog post, I wrote about the origins of the Unaired Reboot Pilot. There’s mentions of another unaired pilot (Young MacGyver with Supernatural star Jared Padalecki), a script that wasn’t used, a script that was used for a pilot that never aired and the reboot of the Reboot… As you can see, there’s been a lot going on with this project.

Unaired Pilot Character Description for Angus MacGyver (via SpoilerTV)

On the other hand, this is not all that exceptional for pilot season. The character descriptions alone are worthy of their own blog post. Too bad we might never get to see this pilot that never aired… but I think they had made the right decision to change, switch and tweak things (even though I’m not all okay with what they did with it).

 

Rank 3 (537 Hits): Looking Back at Season Zero (II) – The Unaired Pilot: Promo

It wasn’t much, but the Unaired Pilot had gotten some promo material as well. Three Official Stills, a trailer and social media headers. That’s what I wrote about in this post.

Because CBS decided to reboot the Reboot with a different main cast and a different showrunner, they declared the promotional material to “promo non grata” right after the Upfronts in May 2016. The same day, they erased all their former tweets, posts and previously released promo material for the discarded pilot from their social media accounts.

Promo Poster at the LA TV Screenings (via Peter Lenkov)

Well, it’s the internet after all, so they couldn’t erase it completely. Some media outlets still use the old logo and the old stills. What once was posted online, has a tendency to come back again. I still hope that some day, we’ll see more of it.

 

Rank 2 (643 Hits): You can google it (Part 2): About Samantha/Olivia Cage

A lot of people find my blog by using search engines. I wrote a couple of blog posts about what search terms led to people click on one of my blog posts. Interestingly, a lot of those clicks were due to Isabel Lucas and her character of Samantha Cage (formerly known as Olivia Cage) who was introduced in Episode 2×01 (DIY or DIE).

BtS of Episode 2×05: Skull + Electromagnet (via Isabel Lucas)

Cage was an underdeveloped character that divided the fandom. Yet, even many of the viewers that didn’t like her too much were rather disappointed when she got written out of the show in the middle of Season 2 since all of the “secrets” surrounding her character sort of vanished as well and were never resolved.

I haven’t written yet a review about Samantha Cage, but if you want to know more about her and what people actually typed into Google only to find my blog, you can find the post here.

 

Rank 1 (705 Hits): Looking Back at Season 1 (I) – The Hair (Part 1)

The “Winner” of 2019 is the same post that was on Rank 1 in 2018 as well. When people talk about Original MacGyver, they often mention his glorious hair. There was a lot of “hair drama” surrounding the Reboot. So in this blog post – my first non-update-blog-post back in 2017, actually – I wrote about MacGyver’s hair. And apparently people keep googling for it; finding my blog post.

Lucas Till in June and July 2016

I’m still planning to write Part 2 (and probably even 3) in the near furture, but that might take a while. Real Life responsibilities and stuff, you know.

 

Runner-up posts to give you the Top Ten of 2019:

• Rank 6 (322 Hits): About the Unaired Pilot BtS photos (Part 1)
• Rank 7 (320 Hits): About the Teaser Promo for the Premiere
• Rank 8 (309 Hits): About the portrait photos taken at the TCA Event
• Rank 9 (294 Hits): About the ever-changing Season 3 airdates
• Rank 10 (287 Hits): About some more deleted scenes in the Pilot Script (Part 5)

The Best of the Best (II) – Top 5 Blog Posts in 2018

We still have to wait for about two months for the start of Season 4 and the production is currently on hiatus until January. Also, maybe you joined the fandom only recently? So you might enjoy or have finally some time to check out “older” stuff about the Reboot.

Hereby, I present you my Top 5 Blog Posts 2018 – a short write-up of the 5 blog posts with the most hits at the end of last year. And I added a few photos in between so it’s all the more fun for you – and maybe a way to get you to check out the full original post in case you missed it back then?

Official Still of the Unaired Pilot (via CBS)

(Minor Spoiler Alert: You might get spoilered about characters and storylines in Season 1 by reading this post and its comments or by clicking on the links provided!)

 

If you missed the post about the Top 5 Blog Posts in 2017, you can check it out here. The top posts in 2017 were all posts about “deleted” scenes in the pilot script. The top posts for 2018 are a bit more varied, thankfully.

 

Rank 5 (221 Hits): Looking Back at Season 1 (VI) – The Promo (Part 3: The TCA Portraits)

In this blog post, I wrote about the main cast plus Executive Producers Peter Lenkov and James Wan attending the TCA Summer Press Tour Event back in August 2016.

TCA Summer Studio Photoshoot (via Hollyrood Reporter)

Before the panel, the main cast took part in a photoshoot for the so-called Summer Studio Portraits. Pretty people posing for pretty photos – what else do you need?

Still wish we had gotten a group photo, though *sigh*.

 

Rank 4 (233 Hits): Looking Back at Season 1 (XIX) – The Pilot Script: Deleted Scenes (Part 5)

Funny coincidence: This blog post was already on Rank 4 for the top posts in 2017.

The rebooted Pilot Script for the MacGyver Reboot was written by Executive Producer Peter Lenkov. In this blog post, I wrote about two scenes written into the pilot script that we didn’t get to see in the episode that aired on TV.

One is a conversation between Mac and Jack about Nikki while racing the (stolen) handyman van to the airport. The other one is an excerpt about the missile prop with Team Phoenix sitting around Mac’s firepit.

 

Rank 3 (270 Hits): Looking Back at Season Zero (I) – The Unaired Pilot: Origins

In this blog post, I wrote about the origins of the Unaired Reboot Pilot. There’s mentions of another unaired pilot (Young MacGyver with Supernatural’s Jared Padalecki), a script that wasn’t used, a script that was used for a pilot that never aired and the reboot of the Reboot….

Unaired Pilot Character Description for Angus MacGyver (via SpoilerTV)

Sounds confusing, but is state of the art for pilot season and pretty interesting. The character descriptions alone are worthy of a blog post. Too bad we probably will never get to see this pilot that never aired…

 

Rank 2 (328 Hits): Looking Back at Season Zero (II) – The Unaired Pilot: Promo

The aforementioned Unaired Pilot I just wrote about actually got some promo material as well. This is what I wrote about in this post.

Because CBS decided to reboot the Reboot with a different main cast team and a different showrunner, they declared the promo material to “promo non grata” and erased all their former tweets, posts and previously released Official Stills for the discarded pilot from their social media accounts.

Promo Poster at the LA TV Screenings (via Peter Lenkov)

Well, not they couldn’t erase it completely. Some media outlets still use the old logo and the old stills. What once was posted online, has a tendency to come back again. I really hope that some day, we’ll see more of it.

 

Rank 1 (351 Hits): Looking Back at Season 1 (I) – The Hair (Part 1)

When people talk about Original MacGyver, they often mention his glorious hair. There was a lot of “hair drama” surrounding the Reboot as well. So in this blog post – my first non-update-blog-post back in 2017, actually – I write about MacGyver’s hair. And it was the top post of 2018.

Lucas Till in June and July 2016

Funny thing: At the moment, it’s still the top post of this blog (with almost 700 hits). Maybe I finally find the time to write Part 2 of this “hairy” topic….

 

Runner-up posts to give you the Top Ten of 2018:

• Rank 6 (215 Hits): About deleted scenes in the Pilot Script (Part 2)
• Rank 7 (209 Hits): About the Teaser Promo for the Premiere
• Rank 8 (203 Hits): About more deleted scenes in the Pilot Script (Part 4)
• Rank 9 (186 Hits): About BtS photos in the Unaired Pilot (Part 2)
• Rank 10 (185 Hits): About Google helping people to find my blog (Part 1)

About that Social Media Etiquette

A lot of new fans joined the MacGyver fandom lately, but this post concerns both “old” and “new” fans. Because there’s something that keeps bugging me. To be honest, it’s bugging me since I’ve started posting about the MacGvyer Reboot. I tried to reason with some of the people doing it, but to no avail.

So I’ll say it again: It seems that some fans don’t think it’s necessary to remember that neither cast, crew nor fans are obliged to post BtS photos. They do it by their own free will, simply because they want to share it with us.

We should at least honor them by sourcing them, so people can find the original posts and like/comment on it. Unless the photo is already watermarked (see below). But even then, the compilation down below wasn’t done by Getty Images, but by me. I don’t mind if other people don’t know that. But some fandom creators DO mind. And a link to the original source can help others to find it if they’re not that experienced yet in fandom stuff.

TCA Summer Studio Photoshoot Compilation (via Getty Images)

Yes, I’m aware that it’s not always easy to find an original source. But stating “found on Tumblr” or “found on Pinterest” is simply not good enough. And this wouldn’t be necessary if people that found a photo first and decide to share it would simply retweet or repost it instead of uploading it without a source. And if they do upload it on another platform to share, would at least state the owner of the photo if they can’t add the source link.

Photos shared by the Main Cast and beyond
Yes, it’s not much of a problem for “old” fans if you state you found the photo you just posted on the social media account of one of the main actors – because we all know where find them. But what about the “new” fans that just joined the fandom? You might be an “old” fan that joined back in 2016, so how about helping out the newcomers so they can contribute to the fandom as well?

Not to forget: It’s annoying when that photo was originally posted weeks or months ago and someone wants to find the original photo in good quality – for creating fanart, for example. Justin Hires posts a ton of photos on Instagram each season, so good luck in finding a specific one. It’s also rather unfair in my opinion when it was originally shared by a Guest Star or an Extra that is harder to find and could use a little bit of extra boost on social media.

I know why people don’t want to put the original source link into Tumblr posts anymore, but it’s still not cool if you prefer to get hits and likes while neglecting the person who voluntarily shared that photo in the first place.

Content shared by fans and fandom artists
Yes, you just saw that cool photo and you want to share it. So why don’t you just check if someone else already posted it and share that post. Or even better, go to the original source and share that one instead? So the person who posted it first gets likes and comments?

The same way, we should honor fans that take the effort to produce content in posting FanFictions, FanArt, GIFs, compilations and blog posts. And no, downloading videos and re-upload them as your own isn’t cool, either. Yes, you are the reason why creators have started to tag their creations. Or even worse, have stopped to create any content for this fandom.

Season 4 FanArt (by MacGyverOnline)

And yes, I’m aware that sometimes, things get murky. This Season 4 group photo a lot of you shared was actually put together by MacGvyerOnline. But it’s been shared so often without a source and pops up so often in Google Search, that even cast and crew members have shared it, thinking it’s actually an official promo photo by CBS.

It can happen even if you’re careful. (But a hint: You can recognize it as fanart by looking at the SAK symbol.) That’s why we all should try to be even more careful with fanart and fandom content.

Content shared by my own
I take a lot of extra time to always add the original source into my blog posts, my tweets, my Tumblr posts and into all the posts in the MacGyverOnline forums.

You’re all free to share everything I post but there’s a reason why I always take the extra time to put the original source link into all my posts. If I don’t add a link to the original source, that usually means…

• …the account was deleted
• …the link has been lost
• …it’s an Instagram Story Screenshot Compilation that has the source right on the photo (but I do try to be more consistent in adding a direct source link as well in the future).

For example, I can’t find the original TCA photos of the above posted compilation on Getty Images anymore. They must have been taken off the page for whatever reason.

But if I actually DID forget the original source – yes, it can happen to me too, of course – feel free to shout at me and I go and try to hunt it down in my notes. I don’t bite. (At least not usually *lol*.)

One of my typical BtS Instagram Short Story Screenshot Compilations (this one of Episode 3×09, via Justin Hires)

And now, I have to add a mini rant that inspired this blog post into the first place:

• It’s not very nice when people go look into the MacGyverOnline forums for new content, then post it onto Twitter and Tumblr without linking back to the original source we extra put into the post for exactly that reason. At least you could give a shout out to MacGyverOnline that has been providing this platform for years for fans of both the Original MacGyver and the rebooted version to provide daily new content.
• I usually recognize the photos I cropped together in a compilation for a specific blog post. And no, it’s not really nice to crop them further just because you don’t like one of the actors in the compilation I chose. Follow the original source and crop it together however you want it. Or maybe give me a shoutout then?

Come on, people. Let’s work together in this. It only takes a few extra seconds to add the source – especially when other people like me already handed it to you on a plate. It’s simply proper social media etiquette.

The Best of the Best (I) – Top 5 Blog Posts in 2017

I’ve been blogging about the MacGyver Reboot since May 2017. That’s already two years. Thank you for visiting and reading and coming back!

I regularly present statistics about the Reboot; mainly ratings and audience numbers. But I never really presented any info about the blog itself – a habit I actually implemented a long time ago on my first blog in German.

So I present you the Top 5 Blog Posts 2017 – a short write-up of the 5 blog posts with the most hits at the end of 2017. And I added a few photos in between so it’s all the more fun for you – and maybe a way to get you to check out the full original post in case you missed it back then? 😉

Since we have to wait quite a bit for the start of Season 4, you might finally find the time to check out “older” stuff about the Reboot…

BtS picture on set of Episode 1×01: The Rising (via Chris Payne Gilbert)

(Minor Spoiler Alert: You might get spoilered about characters and storylines in Season 1 by reading this post and its comments or by clicking on the links provided!)

 

The top posts in 2017 were all posts about scenes in the pilot script that didn’t make it into the episode. Interestingly, all posts had similar traffic numbers.

To refresh your mind: The rebooted Pilot Script for the MacGyver Reboot was written by Executive Producer Peter Lenkov. An earlier version of the script – the Revised Network Draft (June 20, 2016) – has been available online since October 2016. I wrote several blog posts about “Deleted Scenes” aka scenes that didn’t make it into the Pilot Episode version that was aired on television.

 

Rank 5 (53 Hits): Looking Back at Season 1 (XVII) – The Pilot Script: Deleted Scenes Part 3 (Baywatch With Tanks)

This blog post is dedicated to a Deleted Scene that was actually partially filmed. A member in the MacGyverOnline forums had labelled the spectacle (with gun-wielding Bikini Babes, Ninjas and a tank) as “Baywatch with Tanks” after BtS photos had been posted on social media, leaving us all confused and asking ourselves what this was about.

BtS picture on set of Episode 1×01: The Rising (via Tiko Pavoni)

If you’re lucky enough to have gotten a DVD copy of Season 1 that actually contains Extras, you can watch the filmed scene there. If you want to know more what the scene is about and how it was written in the script, you can read my blog post.

 

Rank 4 (57 Hits): Looking Back at Season 1 (XIX) – The Pilot Script: Deleted Scenes (Part 5)

In this blog post, I wrote about two different scenes in the pilot script. One is a conversation between Mac and Jack about Nikki while racing the (stolen) handyman van to the airport. The other one is an excerpt about the missile prop with Team Phoenix sitting around Mac’s firepit.

 

Rank 3 (59 Hits): Looking Back at Season 1 (XVI) – The Pilot Script: Deleted Scenes (Part 2)

In this blog post, I wrote about two different scenes in the pilot script. One scene got dropped, the other one was reshot and used in the Season 1 Finale instead.

BtS of 1×01: The Rising (via Peter Lenkov)

Both scenes go together, though. The first scene is Mac and Jack in the helicopter with Mac being afraid he’s going to barf due to Jack’s “helicoptering” and digging through the med kit for a vial of Morphine. The second one is Mac in Siberia, dropping a vial into the glacier.

I was actually a bit disappointed about the way the scene in Siberia was re-written – to know why, you can read my blog post.

 

Rank 2 (60 Hits): Looking Back at Season 1 (XV) – The Pilot Script: Deleted Scenes (Part 1)

In the first of my blog posts about the Pilot Script, I wrote about three different scenes. One is about Lake Como, one about Mac running up Griffith Park and some dropped voice-over lines about his relationship with Nikki, and the last is about Mac in the shower.

Eh. Not a shower scene in the way you thought; sorry *lol*. For more information, you can check out the post…

 

Rank 1 (66 Hits): Looking Back at Season 1 (XVIII) – The Pilot Script: Deleted Scenes (Part 4)

In this blog post, I wrote about four different scenes in the pilot script. One is about Mac and Jack heading to DXS, another one about meeting Riley, and one about tinfoil and bikini babes we didn’t get to see.

The last one is about chasing Kendrick and an extended MacGyverism that was dropped, but later used in Episode 1×14 (Fish Scaler).

Episode 1×01: The Rising (via SpoilerTV)

 

Runner-up posts to give you the Top Ten of 2017:

• Rank 6 (40 Hits): About MacGyver’s Hair in the Unaired Pilot and at the start of Season 1
• Rank 7 (36 Hits): About Guns and Violence in Season 1
• Rank 8 (35 Hits): About early versions of the Pilot Script
• Rank 9 (33 Hits): About the first half of my predictions for the Season 2 Premiere Plot Twists
• Rank 10 (29 Hits): About Yellow Rubber Duckies as an Easter Egg in Season 1

You can google it (Part 1): Cast, Characters and Locations

It’s been a year now since I’ve started blogging about the MacGyver Reboot on this WordPress blog. Most people land here via Twitter, but some also by using search engines. The top 3 list of search terms is pretty unspectacular:

1. dashboardonfire
2. dashboard on fire wordpress
3. george eads

Some search engines don’t reveal search terms for privacy reasons. According to WordPress, search engines like Google have been encrypting the vast majority of search terms since 2013. Therefore, WordPress often can’t specify which search terms were used by visitors who found this blog using a search engine. That’s why the majority on my list – almost 2000 by now – are Unknown search terms.

Excerpt of the search engine statistics (retrieved May 20, 2018)

Still, there’s a couple of search terms I want to comment on and throw in some additional education – and maybe help the unknown searching beings in finding an answer. I’m not sure people found exactly the answer they were looking for on here, though. So feel free to comment if I missed something.

Let me say this before we start, though: I’ve never seen so many different ways how you can write “MacGyver” before.

 

macgyver cast
Yes, I write a lot about the MacGyver Cast. If you’re looking for the cast of a specific episode, you might be luckier if you head over to the official reboot page on IMDb.

Not only can you check for the entire cast and crew for the whole series (circled red at the bottom) or for every episode using the Episode Guide (circled left), but you can also rate the episodes and check which episodes are the highest rated. In case you’re interested: The highest-rated one at the moment is Episode 2×12 (Mac + Jack ).

macgyver fanfiction
First, let me explain: FanFiction (FF) is when fans take either the story or characters (or both) of a certain piece of work (whether it be a novel, TV show, a movie) and write their own story based on it. Easy example: The infamous Fifty Shades of Grey movie series is based on books by the same name that were initially Twilight FanFiction. If you write a story about what would have happened if famous wizard Harry Potter had been sorted into Slytherin instead of Gryffindor, that’s FanFiction.

Yes, there’s MacGyver FanFiction as well. Not as much as for other fandoms, but the Reboot fandom is still growing and new stories are published or updated every day. If you’re looking for Original MacGyver FanFiction, you can hit the MacGyverOnline forum. For Reboot FF, I usually check on either Archive Of Our Own (AO3) or FanFiction.net. Many authors post on both archives and some use Tumblr or WattPad.

BtS photo of Episode 2×18: Riley + Airplane (via Sheryl Lee Ralph)

Many stories are so-called Episode Tags, meaning these are scenes we didn’t get to watch in an episode (e.g. what happened after MacGyver was shot in the Pilot Episode or a specific scene told using Jack’s or Thornton’s point of view).

what did sheryl lee ralph get paid for the macgyver episode
I have no clue what actors get paid in general, so I don’t know anything about TV show salaries either. Apparently, it was enough, otherwise she wouldn’t have come back for Season 2.

what episode of macgyver does jack use his sniper rifle who loves you baby
You’re referring to the Pilot Episode (1×01: The Rising). In a flashback to their military days, we see Jack sniping at bad guys while Mac is defusing a bomb. The scene was set up to be a nod to Peter Lenkov’s other show Hawaii Five-0 since Jack has history with H50 main character Steve McGarrett (played by Alex O’Loughlin). In a deleted shot of the episode, you can see the word ALOHA stenciled on Jack’s rifle.

Deleted Shot of Episode 1×01: The Rising. Photo by Guy D’Alema (via TVLine)

The scene caused some controversy; especially with fans of the Original Show. If anyone’s interested about the reasons, I wrote a blog post about it.

macgyver cast 2018 who plays willy mardi
I have no clue who Willy Mardi is, but he sounds interesting. Unless you were looking for Episode 2×14 (Mardi Gras Beads + Chair), I can’t really help out here.

macgyver justine hires cries during agent test
In the first half of Season 2, Bozer (played by Justin Hires) goes to “spy school”. In Episode 2×09 (CD-ROM + Hoagie Foil), Bozer has to pass an interrogation test at the training center which needs him to confront a painful childhood memory. Justin got many compliments on the scene by fans, but also by cast and crew – though he stated on Instagram that this was the most difficult scene he’s filmed so far for the show.

All Fun and Games in a BtS of Episode 2×09: CD-ROM + Hoagie Foil (via Justin Hires)

FunFact: The memory is a nod to the Original Show (Episode 4×02: Blood Brothers) since a similar childhood drama involving a gun happened to Original MacGyver and his friends. The storyline of the episode is all about MacGyver returning to his hometown to find himself haunted by the memories of that fatal shooting accident.

what did the trampoline w ballons have to do w the beginning of mcguver
The scene you’re talking about is not only a nod to the animated movie UP, but also part of the so-called Opening Gambit for Episode 2×19 (Benjamin Franklin + Grey Duffle). The Opening Gambits were implemented in the Original Show and usually written and directed by another crew than the rest of the episode. They were longer than in the Reboot, so you had a mini MacGyver adventure within the episode that usually had no ties to the main storyline. Because of the high production costs and time issues, they dropped these kind of opening sequences pretty soon. Some of them have become pretty iconic, though and feature some of the most favorite MacGyverisms of the Original Show.

BtS picture of Episode 2×19: Benjamin Franklin + Grey Duffle (via Steven Serna)

what episode of macgyver season 2 does jack wear chaps
The chaps make an appearance in the Opening Gambit of Episode 2×18 (Riley + Airplane). Crew member Kate Roberson posted a funny BtS video on Instagram; revealing what these chaps looked up close. As you can see, nobody had to freeze their buttocks off.

macgyver was tied up
Oh yes. That happens quite often, both in the Original Show and in the Reboot. Not that often in the Reboot, though since sometimes it’s Jack that gets tied up. Thinking about it without any kind of research, I can refer to Episodes 1×07 (Can Opener) and 2×04 (X-Ray + Penny) where Mac is the one getting tied up to a chair.

 

BtS Instagram Live Story video screenshots of Episode 2×18: Riley + Airplane (via Kate Roberson)

was latest macgyver episode filmed in purrto rico
This person is referring to Episode 2×21 (Wind + Water), written by MacGyver creator Lee Zlotoff. Though the episode is set in Puerto Rico, the cast filmed in Atlanta and Georgia Area. It is possible that the crew produced some recent aerial shots of Puerto Rico via drone, but it’s also possible they bought already existing material for the landscape sequences. As far as I know, the only time the main cast actually travelled to another country to film scenes was for Episode 1×18 (Flashlight), the crossover episode with Hawaii Five-0. It was only Lucas Till and George Eads filming in Hawaii, though – the rest of the scenes were filmed in Atlanta as well.

For Season 2, the crew and the stunt doubles for Lucas and George travelled to Cuba to film the Opening Gambit of Episode 2×01 (DIY or DIE). The scenes involving Lucas and George themselves were also filmed in Atlanta, in front of blue and green screens. A TV show simply doesn’t have the budget to do all the oversea travelling required for filming on location. To save money, many TV shows set in California are either filmed in Vancouver or in Atlanta.

BtS of Episode 2×01: DIY or DIE (via George Eads)

what do i watch first hawaii 5 o bulletproof or macgyver flashlight?
Good question. Since the episode titles for Hawaii Five-0 are in Hawaiian, it wasn’t that easy to find out which episode this visitor was looking for. In fact, I still don’t know: Despite Wikipedia helping out by providing the English titles, I couldn’t find an episode named “Bulletproof”. In general, I’ll advise watching the episodes in the same order as they premiered on American TV. In this case, that means first MacGyver and then H50 plus following the airdates, so 1×17 (Ruler), 7×18 (Handle with Care), 1×18 (Flashlight), 7×19 (Exodus), 1×19 (Compass) and so on. I’ve watched the whole first Season of MacGyver before starting Season 7 of H50 (without having seen Seasons 2 to 6, actually) and although both shows are set in the same Universe, I was fine (besides probably missing some Easter Eggs).

Announcing a short Updates Hiatus

Hey there! I’m going on a holiday, practically travelling to the other side of the world, yay.

BtS picture of the Unaired Pilot (via Meg London-Boche)

But that means no Updates posts for at least 4 weeks, booo. And not much time on the internet. No picture-posting on the MacGyver Online Reboot Forums. And no new MacGyver Episodes to watch for me, ay.

Don’t fret, dear readers. I have scheduled two posts already, so check back on Friday, March 2 (the picture might give you a hint about the topic) and on Friday, March 16.

You can also find me on Twitter; I might be able to do some tweeting and retweeting ;-). And of course, there’s always things to discuss in the MacGyver Online Forums, even if I’m not online!

Take care and hopefully, see you soon!

There’s something about MacGyver…

Disclaimer: My original guest-posts (MacGyver Reboot Updates #1 to #29) were first published on Nicholas Sweedo’s Blog called The MacGyver Project.

I made a few minor changes (e.g. grammar or source corrections, link corrections, additional pictures, layout changes, additional author’s notes) before re-posting these guest-posts on my own blog for safe-keeping in form of an archive (and to please my OCD tendencies *blush*).

If you want to read the original guest-posts in their pure form including comments and discussions and without any layout-shifts and mishaps (e.g. links not opening up in a new window, pictures not available to view in their original size), visit the original source. For easier access, here’s an overview of all original guest-posts. (You should visit Nick’s blog anyway, especially if you’re a fan of Original MacGyver. His blog is pure awesomeness.)

 

Hi there.

My Name is DashboardOnFire and I write about the MacGyver Reboot.

 

First of all: I love all things MacGyver, especially Richard Dean Anderson’s version. It was my favorite TV show as a kid (yes, I’m that old that I grew up with Original MacGyver).

Richard Dean Anderson posing for a MacGyver Promo Shoot (July 1986, via Getty Images)

The love for the original is what made me being interested in the Reboot in the first place. I thought I would watch at least the pilot episode (it’s MacGyver, after all). Then I started looking for information about the production and the filming process online. Then I started sharing this information and discussing it on the MacGyver Online Forums. Because there was drama (The Casting! The hair! The Unaired Pilot that shall not be seen! The Reboot Overhaul! The cast and crew that was let go!) and things to learn and people to meet.

Then I started blogging about it. When the pilot episode finally premiered, I was already in too deep because I had opinions. And I needed to discuss them.

Original Logo vs Unaired Pilot Logo vs Reboot Logo

Maybe you’ve already read some of my posts on The MacGyver Project, a blog by Nicholas Sweedo. Back in July 2016, he invited me to start guest-blogging about the Reboot. Between July 2016 and May 2017, I wrote 29 guest-blog-posts.

I’ve reserved the address for this blog called “Dashboard On Fire” back in February 2017 – mainly because it goes along with my Twitter Account. I didn’t know if and when I would ever need this blog; especially because I didn’t know if I would continue blogging in English if the Reboot wouldn’t get a second season.

Today, I had to decide quickly if I would continue this on my own or not and I made the decision that YES, I would try.

Lucas Till posing for a MacGyver Promo Shoot (October 2016, via CBS Watch! Magazine)

The reason why I set up a blog via WordPress is that I’ve been blogging in German using WordPress for about 7 years now. It’s easier to handle two blogs using the same tools. I’m aware that this means that people that used to comment on my guest-posts on The MacGyver Project (that publishes via Blogspot) might not be able to comment in here as easily as before.

I would have preferred to set up a website using a “universal” disscussion tool (e.g. Disqus), but I have no clue about these things and didn’t have the time to learn it within 2 weeks (because I wanted to continue with my former bi-weekly publishing schedule since in my experience, if I don’t post regularly I forget to do it altogether).

So here I am. Thank you for visiting and reading, commenting and sharing.