MacGyver Reboot Update #181

It’s been confirmed that Lucas Till is working on several projects; including an action movie. Meanwhile, Tristin Mays explored more of her creative side.

BtS video screenshot for The Collective (via Tom DeNucci)

(For daily news and to discuss your favourite topics, you can find me on Twitter and on the MacGyverOnline Forums.)

.

New Projects with Lucas Till
It has been an exciting time for Lucas Till fans. After a long drought, it’s been confirmed that he is working on several projects. For episode The War Bride of the podcast True War Stories: Mission Report, Lucas voices parts of the narration of war veteran Stephen Spencer. In the BtS interview for the episode, he talked with producer Nat Mundel about several topics (e.g. about finding a Boston accent and taking care of his garden).

Video screenshot of Tristin Mays being creative (via Instagram)

On November 7, we realized that Lucas is working on a new movie in Boston. In the following weeks, we got several exciting material via social media:

• A photo of Lucas posing with co-star Holly Sullivan on Rexhame Beach.
• A glimpse of Lucas in an Instagram video; wearing a white suit (with stains looking like fake blood).
• An impressive pre-production video of Lucas doing stunt rehearsals.
• Several BtS clips by director Tom DeNucci; e.g. a BtS video of Lucas preparing to film a driving scene.
• An Instagram Story showing a Make-Up Work Station with a Call Sheet on it.

There are several projects called The Collective on IMDb, but only one entry has been updated recently (on November 10). In case you missed it, here’s the synopsis:

A young recruit to a mysterious agency of assassins finds himself going rouge on his first assignment, tracking down a dangerous group of human traffickers.

The Collective (IMDb)

There’s still no cast attached to the IMDb entry. Considering that there’s no entry for Tristin Mays’ movie Bang either (which was filmed in early Summer), it might take a while.

Henry Ian Cusick in a BtS photo on set of Big Sky (via Angelique Cabral)

What are Cast and Crew up to?
Meredith Eaton tweeted on November 19 that she has several projects in the pipepline and that she can’t wait to share them with us.

According to IMDb, Levy Tran is part of action movie For Cory, which is already in post-production and was filmed in Atlanta this fall. The BtS photos and clips I’ve seen on Instagram look very action-heavy, but I haven’t seen Levy in any BtS stuff. She plays a coroner, so it’s possible that her role isn’t as big as we’d like. Several names of the cast members are familiar, as they have been in the stunt crew on the MacGyver Reboot.

BtS photo of Half Baked 2 (via Justin Hires)

Filming for Justin Hires’ Half Baked 2 wrapped on November 11. There’s no release date yet. In the latest episode of his Urban Legendz podcast, he talked to Diallo Riddle about just returning from Atlanta to film his pilot presentation (it’s not stated when the podcast episode was recorded).

There was a rerun of The Christmas Sitters with Tristin Mays on ionTV on November 27. There will be another rerun on December 24. The movie is also available in German (e.g. on DVD via Amazon or on streaming via YouTube or Amazon Prime).

Tristin also picked up a new hobby in creating charcuterie boards (which she sells in her new Etsy Shop). The first batch has already been sold out.

DVD Cover for The Christmas Sitter, German Version (via Amazon Germany)

Paramount+ launching in Europe
ICYMI: CBS streaming service Paramount+ was launched in France yesterday. It will be available in Germany, Switzerland and Austria on December 8.

I haven’t seen anything about the availability of the MacGyver Reboot (since it’s currently available on Amazon Prime in Germany), but Levy Tran’s movie Secret Headquarters will be available.

Other MacGyver-related News
Reruns of the MacGyver Reboot keep airing ionTV. Reruns of FBI starting in January will air on Mondays, so the reboot is probably safe for now with its episodes airing on the weekends. Since November 12, German FreeTV channel Kabel 1 airs four episodes back to back on Saturdays.

Brad William Henke as Jonah Walsh in MacGyver (via MacGyverOnline)

In sad news, guest star actor Brad William Henke has passed away at the age of 56. He played Jonah Walsh in Episode 2×23 (MacGyver + MacGyver). In April last year, he revealed in a tweet that the initial idea had been to bring back his character in Season 3:

(…) they told me they were going to bring me back the next season for five episodes and then they just ghosted me.

Brad William Henke, via Twitter (April 30, 2021)

There’s no further information about why the character had been dropped. Nevertheless, it sparked several ideas for FanFiction as many fans lamented a missed opportunity on a very interesting storyline idea. My guess is the constant rotation of writers and the difficulties in the writers room due to ex-showrunner Peter Lenkov.

One of the writers of this episode (David Slack) didn’t come back for Season 3. It’s possible that the character for this storyline had been his idea and therefore, it “disappeared” – similiar to the character of Jill Morgan, played by his wife Kate Bond (the character was written off in the first episode of Season 3).

Tristin Mays in Sweeney Todd (via Kevin Bennylee)

Other MacGyver-related news you might have missed:

• Citing a “restructuring and streamlining of leadership at CBS Entertainment”, Kelly Kahl has been let go as CBS Entertainment President by the end of the year. It’s not clear if this might affect the MacGyver franchise in any way.
• The first episode of Henry Ian Cusick’s The Wingfeather Saga airs today.
• Original MacGyver Richard Dean Anderson and his Stargate SG-1 co-star Amanda Tapping will attend the Paris Manga Sci-Fi Show (on December 3rd and 4th).
• The German DVD/BluRay of Levy Tran’s movie Secret Headquarters will be released on January 19, 2023. There’s no information regarding bonus material yet.

You can google it (Part 4): Cast, Characters and Locations

It’s been more than 3 years since I’ve started blogging about the MacGyver Reboot on this blog. Most people land here via Twitter or Tumblr, but some also by using search engines. The top 3 list of search terms is still pretty boring:

1. dashboardonfire
2. dashboard on fire
3. dashboard on fire wordpress
4. macgyver spoilers
5. dashboard on fire macgyver

Some search engines don’t reveal search terms anymore for privacy reasons. Google, for example, has been encrypting the vast majority of search terms since 2013. So WordPress often can’t specify which search terms were used by visitors who arrived at this site from a search engine. That’s why the majority on my list – over 8000 by now – are unknown search terms.

Excerpt of the search engine statistics (retrieved July 26, 2020)

It’s been a while since my last blog post about search terms. If you missed Part 1 (about cast, characters and locations search terms), you can find it here. If you missed Part 2 (regarding Isabel Lucas’ character of Olivia/Samantha Cage), you can find it there. For Part 3 (about cast and characters), you can go here.

There’s some more search terms I want to address in blog posts and maybe help the unknown searching beings to get answers for their questions. In this post, I’m going to look at some of the most used search terms since December 2018. At the moment, most of you are still looking for “missing” cast members.

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

 

what happened to leanna on macgyver
To recap: Reign Edwards plays Bozer’s girlfriend Leanna Martin. She joined back in S2 for a handful of episodes, leading to speculations that she would join Season 3 as a regular field agent; sort of a replacement for Isabel Lucas’ character Samantha Cage. She was listed as a recurring for the first three episodes of S3 – then she disappeared apart from a few mentions until she popped up again in Episode 3×09.

Episode 3×03: Bozer + Booze + Back to School (Official Still via SpoilerTV)

ICYMI: During her absence, Reign was filming a pilot project called “The Wilds” for Amazon Studios in New Zealand. She came back to set after she was done; getting appearances in a few more episodes (3×10, 3×11, 3×15 and 3×17). Despite her pilot getting picked up, it took a while for her to get back and film the series. So in theory, she could have filmed more episodes for MacGyver, but that didn’t happen.

Leanna was highlighted in Episode 3×01 as the field agent that can do everything (e.g. flying a helicopter) and has excellent fighting skills, similar to Samantha Cage (and later Levy Tran’s character of Desi). But besides Episode 3×09 (that depicted her as being a bit of a neat freak, at least when it comes to refrigerators) and 3×11 (that had her being insecure about moving in with Bozer), there wasn’t much character development for her.

Screenshot of a Deleted Scene for Episode 3×11: Mac + Fallout + Jack

In an earlier blog post two years ago, I had assumed that Leanna and Bozer would break up or that Leanna would be assigned to another longterm mission if Reign’s series was picked up. That did in fact happen, but it wasn’t all too clear. In Episode 4×01, it was only mentioned in passing that Bozer had lost Leanna to a mission.

If you’re one of the lucky people having access to an international Season 3 DVD release, you get to watch a Deleted Scene of Episode 3×11 in which Bozer preps the apartment he had planned to move in with Leanna; waiting for her arrival to enjoy some cozy time together. Instead, it’s Matty arriving, handing Bozer a phone and advising him to make a “last” phone call with Leanna because she was just appointed to continue the undercover mission that Matty’s ex-husband Ethan had been assigned to; taking his place in the S-Company.

Screenshot of a Deleted Scene for Episode 3×11: Mac + Fallout + Jack

It’s possible they cut this scene because they realized that Reign is able to do more episodes. In the end, she didn’t have much to do in Episodes 3×15 or 3×17, though – probably because they needed the added screentime for Desi who happens to have the exact same skills as Leanna. Whatever the reason, writing a recurring character out off-screen without much explanation so they don’t have to deal with the fall-out or heartbreak for Bozer was rather cheap.

Similar search terms:
what happened to bozer’s girlfriend on macgyver
did reign edwards leave macgyver
why did reign edwards leave macgyver

 

where can i buy upcoming episode scripts
Well, I really don’t know about this stuff. Maybe if you bribed one of the writers? *ahem*

Script Title Page of Episode 4×16: Jack + Kinematics + MgKNO3 + GTO (via Anabelle Acosta)

I don’t even know how to get episode scripts of episodes that have already been aired. Apart from pilot scripts, episode scripts don’t seem to circulate online (although some can be bought via Ebay and similar platforms). If you’re looking for the MacGyver Reboot Pilot script, just try Google again. You won’t need to pay any money for it.

Similar search terms:
macgyver unaired pilot script free online
mcgayver movie script
macgyver 2016 script
macgyver reboot script
new macgyver scripts

BtS picture of the Teaser Promo (via Lucas Till)

lucas till paperclip
Not sure what to make of this one. Lucas Till aka MacGyver sure likes his paperclips, though. I hope we’ll get to see some more outtakes of the Teaser Promo Trailers or more info on the paperclip art one day.

india batson
India Batson was one of the guest stars that appeared in a Deleted Scene of the Pilot Episode, aptly named “Baywatch with Tanks”. Her character was named Tiffany. You can read more about that scene in this blog post.

BtS picture on set of Episode 1×01: The Rising (via India Batson)

was mcguiver filmed in Chernobyl
I’m assuming this person is referring to Episode 2×17 (Bear Trap + Mob Boss), written by Nancy Kiu. Though the episode is set in Chernobyl, the cast filmed in Atlanta and Georgia Area only. While you can get access the area under supervision, the additional drone shots and inserts were probably aquired stock footage from an archive.

As far as I know, the only time some main cast members actually travelled to another country to film scenes was for Episode 1×18 (Flashlight), the crossover episode with Hawaii Five-0. A TV show like MacGyver has a decent budget, but it’s simply not that big 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.

Similar search terms:
where was the bear traps and mob boss macgyver episode filmed

You can google it (Part 3): Cast and Characters

It’s been more than 18 months since I’ve started blogging about the MacGyver Reboot on this blog. Most people land here via Twitter or Tumblr, but some also by using search engines. The top 3 list of search terms is still pretty boring:

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

Some search engines don’t reveal search terms for privacy reasons. Google, for example, has been encrypting the vast majority of search terms since 2013. So WordPress often can’t specify which search terms were used by visitors who arrived at this site from a search engine. That’s why the majority on my list – over 3800 by now – are unknown search terms.

Excerpt of the search engine statistics (retrieved November 21, 2018)

Still, there’s a couple of search terms I want to address in blog posts and maybe help the unknown searching beings to get answers for their questions. In this post, I’m going to look at some of the most used search terms since May 2018. At the moment, most of you are looking for and asking about “missing” cast members.

If you missed Part 1 (about cast, characters and locations search terms), you can find it here. If you missed Part 2 (regarding Isabel Lucas’ character of Olivia/Samantha Cage), you can find it here.

(Minor Spoiler Alert: You will get spoilered about main characters and storylines in Seasons 2 and 3 by reading this post and its comments or by clicking on the links provided!)

 

Where’s George?
For Seasons 1 and 2, many of you commented with a “Where’s Lucas?” on the cast’s social media posts. Lately, it’s been all about “Where’s George?”, asking about the whereabouts of George Eads who plays Jack Dalton.

Well, George has been on set regularly. But he had a lighter filming schedule this season, not appearing at all in two episodes (3×04 and 3×08) so far. He also wasn’t as generous with posing for photos or videos anymore. The last time I’ve seen him on a BtS photo was on October 31, uploaded by Carlos Bernard (director of Episode 3×11: Mac + Fallout + Jack).

BtS photo of Episode 3×11: Mac + Fallout + Jack (via Carlos Bernard)

I assumed he had asked for a lighter schedule to spend more time with his family; similar to Scott Caan on Hawaii Five-0. But then, news about George Eads actually leaving the show for good hit on November 26. The Hollywood Reporter was the first to announce it. The quite unexpected and somewhat shocking news articles flooded Twitter and other social media for days; also making waves in Europe.

We don’t know yet for sure how or when the character of Jack Dalton will be written out. As ET Online stated on Monday, Eads was currently on set filming his last episode when news got out, which would have been either Episode 3×13 or 3×14. Deadline had more information: While Eads has been released from his series regular contract and his character Jack Dalton is being written out, I hear he is not being killed off, with the door left open for Eads to possibly return as a guest star.

BtS photo of Episode 3×14: Father + Bride + Betrayal (via Avi Youabian)

Of course, networks almost always say that about top-billing guest stars and fan favorites leaving and yet it rarely happens. Let’s hope for the best.

On Tuesday, Justin Hires revealed that George was part of the wedding location scenes they’ve been filming for Episode 3×14. According to Roberto Sanchez, it’s titled “Father + Bride + Betrayal”. Of course, we don’t know if they’ve also been filming some additional scenes (e.g. flashback scenes) for later episodes. Interestingly, neither Lucas Till nor his Stand-In Matthew Albright have been spotted for a week until Lucas popped up in Justin’s and director Avi Youabian’s BtS videos. It’s possible Lucas and George have been filming some scenes on their own that we’re not allowed to know about yet.

Similar search terms:
why george eads hasn’t been on macgyfer lately

 

did reign edwards leave macgyver
To recap: Reign Edwards plays Bozer’s girlfriend Leanna Martin. She joined back in S2 for a handful of episodes, leading to speculations that she would join Season 3 as a regular field agent; sort of a replacement for Isabel Lucas’ character Samantha Cage. She was listed as a recurring for the first three episodes of S3 – and then she suddenly disappeared. It was mentioned in Episode 3×04 that Leanna was unavailable while being on another mission. But apart from Bozer and his worries about their relationship in 3×05, she wasn’t seen nor mentioned again until she popped up in Episode 3×09 last week.

Screenshot of Episode 2×16: Hammock + Balcony (via CBS)

Reign was filming a pilot project for Amazon Studios in New Zealand. She came back to set in October and should also appear at least in Episodes 3×10 and 3×11. Since then, she hasn’t been seen on set again so at the moment, we don’t know if her character is leaving definitely or staying as recurring. If her pilot was picked up, she might be busy with an other series soon and being written out of the Reboot. If that happens, it would be probably due to Leanna and Bozer breaking up or her being assigned to another longterm mission.

Interestingly, Leanna was highlighted in Episode 3×01 as the field agent that can do anything (e.g. flying a helicopter) and has excellent fighting skills, similar to Samantha Cage. But besides last Friday’s episode (that depicted her as being a bit of a neat freak when it comes to refrigerators), there wasn’t much character development for her.

Episode 3×03: Bozer + Booze + Back to School (Official Still via SpoilerTV)

Similar search terms:
what happened to leanna martin on macgyver s3e3 spoiler 2
full recap what happened to leanna martin on macgyver s3e3 spoiler 2

 

will isabel lucas return to macgyver?
To recap: Isabel Lucas played Samantha Cage. She was a regular cast member in the first half of Season 2; appearing in 12 episodes.

In general, no cast member is 100% safe on a TV show – not even when their character’s name is the title of the show (see recently cancelled Roseanne and its Spin-Off The Conners). We don’t know if Samantha Cage had been meant to stay on for an entire season initially or not. The character wasn’t well received on social media; enhanced by some of the Jack Dalton fans that feared she had been brought in to replace George Eads.

Lucas Till and Isabel Lucas in Episode 2×03: Roulette Wheel + Wire (Screenshot)

Theoretically, it would be possible for Isabel Lucas to come to the show again since Cage went back to Australia to recover from a gunshot wound. In fact, it happens on Peter Lenkov’s other show Hawaii Five-0 quite often that characters show up again after a season or two. The chemistry between her and the cast seemed good, so I don’t think that would be a problem. Since her character hasn’t been mentioned in Season 3 so far at all, it didn’t seem very likely to happen – but that could change now with George Eads being gone soon.

In my opinion, the storyline of Cage wasn’t resolved satisfactorily. She was almost shoved aggressively into the team at first; making her a regular instead of a recurring character before joining Phoenix – then as the character finally seemed to work it fizzled out and disappearing in the backgroundd, almost being overlooked in some episodes. After a plot twist that was never explained either, she wasn’t seen or talked about again.

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

Also, Murdoc hinted at her not using her real name and having secrets that her friends (aka Team Phoenix) would not approve of. Of course, this could have been a joke regarding the character’s name change after they had started filming (see this post for more information about Olivia Cage), but it rather feels that some of the writers didn’t really know what to do with her, while other writers had had some ideas for the character that somehow didn’t turn out since Isabel’s guest stint was cut short.

Personally, I wouldn’t mind if she came back for another episode or two to wrap up her storyline.

Similar search terms:
why hasn’t isabel lucas been on mcgyver lately
what happened to cage on macgyver
isabel lucas left mcguver
isabel lucas leaving macgyver
when does cage come back in macgyver

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

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

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

Some search engines don’t reveal search terms for privacy reasons. Google, for example, has been encrypting the vast majority of search terms since 2013. So WordPress often can’t specify which search terms were used by visitors who arrived at this site from a search engine. That’s why the majority on my list – over 2500 by now – are unknown search terms.

Lucas Till and Isabel Lucas in Episode 2×03: Roulette Wheel + Wire (Screenshot)

Still, there’s a couple of search terms I want to address in blog posts and maybe help the unknown searching beings to get answers for their questions. If you missed Part 1, you can find it here. Today, I’m looking back at search terms regarding Isabel Lucas’ character of Samantha Cage.

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

 

macgyver diy or die who played agent cage
If you’re looking for a cast member of a specific episode, you might be faster if you head over to the official reboot page on IMDb than trying to Google it. Visiting the site, you’ll find Isabel Lucas’ IMDb page very easily and can check what other projects she has done already.

For example, she is credited for 259 episodes of the Australian TV Show “Home and Away” or for American movies like “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” (2009) or “Red Dawn” (2012). She has also appeared in the Music Video for “Give Me Love” by Ed Sheeran.

On IMDb, you can also find trivia or biographical information, for example:

• Isabel’s mother is Swiss, her father is Australian, so she speaks Swiss German and German as well
• she was born in Melbourne and moved to LA in 2008
• Along with other protesters (e.g. Hayden Panettiere) of Sea Shepherd, she paddled out on surfboards off the coast of Japan to protest the killing of dolphins in 2007. They had to turn around to avoid being arrested for trespassing. (According to Wikipedia, there is still an outstanding arrest warrant for her in Japan.)
• she was involved in a car crash with Transformers-Star Shia LaBeouf in July 2008 (his car had been hit by another vehicle running a red light)
• she has sectoral heterochromia (her right eye has a noticeable brown spot)

FunFact: Isabel has been with Sea Shepherd since 2010. The organization is very close to Original MacGyver Richard Dean Anderson’s heart, so it’s actually possible they’ve met each other before.

Similar search terms:
macgyver blonde agent 2017
isabel lucas macgyver 2018

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

is isabel lucas a permanent cast member on macgyver
Isabel Lucas is a regular cast member in the first half of Season 2. She appeared in 12 episodes.

We can assume it doesn’t apply to Lucas Till since the show is named after his character, but in general, no cast member is 100% safe on a TV show. There are never permanent, only current cast members. It’s possible that some actors coming on a show for a new character have a contract for just half the season or a certain amount of episodes so the producers can “test the waters”.

I’m not sure if either Sandrine Holt as Patricia Thornton or Isabel Lucas’ character of Samantha Cage had been meant to stay on for an entire season initially or not. Both characters got mixed reviews, and some negative comments were quite “loud”, so it’s possible that this is one of the reasons both characters “disappeared” after 12 episodes each.

Similar search terms:
why isn’t isabel lucas in the second half of season 2 of macguyver
why is isabelle lucas in so few macgyver episodes?
why hasn’t isabel lucas been on mcgyver lately
what happened to cage on macgyver

Isabel Lucas in Episode 2×01: DIY or DIE (Screenshot)

olivia cage macgyver
The character of Olivia Cage seems to be a unicorn: Some believe she exists, but it looks like she only exists in theory because no one has ever really seen her.

In an article by Moviehole in July 2017, they revealed that Season 2 would have TWO new female characters: Olivia Cage and an intel extraction specialist named Agent Carmen. While Olivia Cage should have been a “woman to be reckoned with and someone we will get to know well”, Agent Carmen has been described as “late twenties, fierce, focused and utterly fascinating”, being ex-CIA and having history with Matty.

As we know now, this news was either aquired via old and unredacted scripts or had been somehow messed up and mixed.

BtS of Episode 2×06: Jet Engine + Pickup Truck (via Patrick Pierre)

Many have landed on my blog while looking for one of those two women, though; leading to an array of similar search terms like “agent carmen macgyver” or “agent olivia cage macgyver”.

So far, we can say that there isn’t an Olivia Cage on the show currently, but it seems like Isabel’s character was indeed called “Olivia” in the beginning. In fact, I’ve seen a BtS video on Instagram where it says “Olivia Cage” under Isabel’s photo. Sadly, I was never able to get a clear screenshot while on holiday and since Costume Designer Sarah Downer locked her profile to private a few months ago, I was never able to go back and try again.

Another hint is a set report done by Radio TV Talk (presumably on set of Episode 2×09: CD-Rom + Hoagie Foil), posted online on September 29 in 2017:

While the “MacGyver” revival wasn’t a super smash hit last season, it did just fine in its Friday night slot. The bottom line: it’s considered fun, escapist drama that isn’t too taxing on the noggin.

Till said blow back from traditionalists of the Richard Dean Anderson version wasn’t as harsh as he had anticipated. And he’s now more comfortable in his role. “We know what we have now and can build a foundation,” Till said. “The stunts are bigger and we have a new cast member.” CBS indeed added Olivia Cage to their team, played by Aussie actress Isabel Lucas. “She’s a CIA operative,” Till said. “She kicks a lot of a**. Kind of like what Jack does, female version.”

Fun Fact: They might have changed it to Samantha so that it could be shortened to “Sam”. I’ve had the theory in the beginning that Cage might have been a relative to Mac (e.g. a half-sister). Since Original MacGyver got to meet his son S.A.M. in the series finale, that would have been kinda funny.

With Einstein on set of Episode 2×06: Jet Engine + Pickup Truck (via Isabel Lucas)

when does cage come back in macgyver
Well, I don’t know. Since her character didn’t die in the show so far, Isabel could pop up in another episode. In fact, it happens on Peter Lenkov’s other show Hawaii Five-0 quite often that characters show up again after a season or two. The chemistry between her and the cast seemed good, so I don’t think that would be a problem.

In my opinion, the storyline of Cage wasn’t resolved satisfactorily. She was almost shoved aggressively into the team at first; making her a regular instead of a recurring character before joining Phoenix – then as the character finally seemed to work it fizzled out, almost being overlooked in some episodes and after a plot twist that was never explained either, she wasn’t seen or talked about again.

Also, Murdoc hinted at her not using her real name and having secrets that her friends (aka Team Phoenix) would not approve of. Of course, this could have been a joke regarding the character’s name change after they had started filming, but it rather feels that some of the writers didn’t really know what to do with her, while other writers had had some ideas for the character that somehow didn’t turn out since Isabel’s guest stint was cut short.

BtS of Episode 2×09: CD-Rom + Hoagie Foil (via Brandon Smith)

While I didn’t like how her character was introduced and used in the first few episodes, I wouldn’t mind if she showed up this season for another episode or two. Maybe another showdown with Murdoc or Harper (from Episode 2×05: Skull + Electromagnet)? Though now that they added Leanna as another field mission regular, this might be rather unlikely.

similar search terms:
is cage leaving macgyver
cage leave mcgyver
is isabel lucas leaving macgyver season 2
does cage die on dec 15 finale of macgyver?
isabel lucas returning to macgyver
macgyver 2018 will cage return

MacGyver Reboot Update #61

Filming for Season 3 has started. We have a Premiere Release Date, an Episode Order Number and lots of BtS photos and videos!

BtS photo of Episode 3×02: Bravo Lead + Loyalty + Friendship (via Lucas Till)

(Spoiler Alert: You will get spoilered about main characters and storylines in Season 3 by reading this post and its comments or by clicking on the links provided!)

 

Season 3 News
The Premiere Date has been set for September 28. We also know that CBS has ordered a Full Season Order of 22 episodes.

The main cast started filming on Monday, July 9. In the beginning, it was mostly Justin Hires and the Stand-Ins that provided us with BtS material. By now, others of the main cast and some of the crew and guest-stars posted some photos or videos as well.

BtS of Episode 3×01: Improvise (via George Eads)

As every year, cast and crew are suffering in the Summer Heat – or get shut down due to rain storms and lightning. According to some crew members, they logged about 80 hours on the first week; working on the weekend as well.

Working on Episode 3×01
Episode (3×01: Improvise) is directed by Stephen Herek. SpoilerTV has released some very spoilery snippets for the Season 3 Premiere, so read at your own risk.

Meredith Eaton shared a photo of Matty being back in “Boss Business” while Justin Hires’ character Bozer donned a Russian military uniform and a black suit. Instead of posting a photo for 3×01, Lucas Till shared a BtS photo of the Season 2 Finale, making a Harry Potter time-turner reference.

BtS of Episode 3×02: Bravo Lead + Loyalty + Friendship (via Justin Hires)

In total, the filming took about 9 days on various sets. Cast and crew have been filming in “Nigeria” again; bringing back some of the actors that have been on set of Episode 2×06 (Jet Engine + Pickup Truck). Hakeem Kae-kazim posted a short video of the set; revealing that he had worked with Sibongile Mlambo before.

Peter Lenkov posted a video of Lucas Till doing a stunt on a motorbike. The same scene of the stunt double on the bike was filmed by crew member Brandon Smith; using a different angle. George Eads had also posted a BtS photo of him on a bike; so this might have been a scene of them chasing the bad guys. They also filmed scenes at an airport set and in a “Russian” restaurant. They also had a helicopter on set for a few days, with Tate Donovan sharing temporary videos taken inside while flying as a passenger. Filming continued on Saturdays. Seems like there’s a lot going on in the Season Premiere.

BtS photo of Episode 3×02: Bravo Lead + Loyalty + Friendship (via Lucas Till)

Working on Episode 3×02
On July 19, cast and crew started working on Episode 3×02, directed by Ericson Core. As Justin Hires revealed, the title is “Bravo Lead + Loyalty + Friendship”, written by Brian Durkin.

The Episode looks pretty exciting. Cast and crew have been filming at an airport, also using some nice vintage cars as props, been traipsing trough the woods and apparently, MacGyver makes “Bangalore Torpedoes“. Lucas Till also filmed a stunt of his character jumping out of an airplane; joking this was an audition tape for the new Deadpool movie. His Stand-In Matthew Albright complained in an Instagram Live Story that his actor gets to do all the cool stuff while he’s uploading videos of himself playing whith his hair.

BtS photo of Season 3 (via Steven Serna)

George Eads posted some photos as well, showing Jack in tac gear, in an Aloha shirt and carrying the big guns. He seems to need the big guns, according to the two videos Peter Lenkov posted on July 26. One has Jack Dalton dealing with some kind of hostage situation. The scene might be filming over several days. Some of the guest cast posted a few photos on social media; e.g. Josh Stamberg with George. Han Soto uploaded a Live Story of Lucas Till in slow motion that looks like an audition tape for a shampoo commercial; tagging it with “long hair, don’t care”.

It’s nice to see the cast and crew having fun, despite the heavy work schedule.

Lucas Till on set of Season 3 (via Han Soto)

On July 25, Justin Hires posted another photo of Team Phoenix in what looks like “funeral attire”. A few days before that, he had uploaded a video to reassure fans that George was still on the show. Though now, some fans are worried abut James MacGyver already being killed off (especially since Tate Donovan hasn’t been sighted on set this week).

Cast, Crew and Character News
As the MacGyver Writers revealed, a new writer has joined their team: Jim Adler, who has written some episodes for Castle and Vegas.

Casting Calls for regular Stand-Ins by Central Casting Georgia confirmed that Reign Edwards (as Leanna) and Tate Donovan (as MacGyver Senior) will have recurring or regular appearances this season. They have also been looking for Stand-Ins for Josh Stamberg (The Time Machine, Pacific Rim 2, Drop Dead Diva), for Han Soto (Preacher, Ender’s Game) and for Johnny Land (Hunger Games: Catching Fire), who mostly worked in the Art Departement for several movies and TV shows. For Episode 3×02, they had a Casting Call for Photo Doubles for Owen Harn (Gotham, Devious Maids) and for Matt Skollar (Sex and the City, Law and Order) as well.

George Eads on set of Season 3 (via Josh Stamberg)

Of course, Central Casting Georgia has been looking for Extras also; e.g. for a Pilot, for Airport Staff, Hollywood Party Guests, Waitresses and Bartenders, for Politicians, Moms and Dads with cars, for Teachers, Mafia Men with European Looks, for Hispanic Outdoor Market Shoppers and Caucasian Hostages. They’ve also had Casting Calls for Techs, Agents, Stand-Ins, a female Lab Tech, for Contractors and for Party Guests with Upscale Cars.

During hiatus, some of the cast members have been busy, and we can finally see and hear some more about these projects. As Justin Hires revealed, he just landed his first feature as a Hip Hop Artist. Tristin Mays has been filming for a short movie with the working title “Breathe”; written and directed by Devon Deshaun Stewart. Her character Charlotte wears some pretty impressive make-up as a victim of violence.

Tristin Mays in “Breathe” (2018, via IMDb)

Season 2 News
According to The Futon Critic, CBS has planned 2 reruns in September, right before the Season 3 Premiere. There’s still no further information about what episodes they will air. I’m assuming it will be the Season 2 Finale the week before Season 3 starts.

For once, fans in the US are lucky, since they don’t have to wait until February again and get the Season 2 DVD on September 18, ten days before the Season 3 premiere. Let’s hope the DVD Special Features are included this time.

Furthermore, Season 2 will be aired in Japan starting August 8 on Wednesdays (10pm).

BtS photo of Season 3 (via Justin Hires)

MacGyver in Germany
Sadly, the ratings for the first two episodes of Season 2 on German TV weren’t too overwhelming and not as good as the ones for Season 1; most likely inflated due to the sunny, hot weather plus the ongoing Soccer Championship and the premiere of some reality show on another channel. Nevertheless, the numbers increased for the following episodes; surpassing recent episodes of Lethal Weapon or Hawaii Five-0 in the same timeslot on Mondays earlier this year.

To recap: Episodes 2×01 (DIY Or DIE) and 2×02 (Muscle Car + Paper Clips) had reached about 1.61 million live-viewers each, with a rating of about 6.7 in the demo-group (14-49 years old). 

Episode 2×03 (Roulette Wheel + Wire) managed 1.66 million live-viewers with a 9.6 in demo while Episode 2×04 (X-Ray + Penny) had a demo of 8.7, but reached 1.81 million live-viewers in total. With these audience numbers, the episodes actually did better than their counterparts (Episodes 1×03 and 1×04) a year ago.

Promo for the German Premiere of Episode 2×03: Roulette Wheel + Wire (via Sat. 1)

Episode 2×05 (Skull + Electromagnet) reached 1.65 million live-viewers with a demo of 8.9 while Episode 2×06 (Jet Engine + Pickup Truck) snagged 1.83 milllion live-viewers in (with the same demo). It’s clear that the episodes on 9pm do a lot better in Summer than the ones on 8pm. Sadly, I have no information about DVR numbers or how many people watch the episodes on the website (they are available for free a week after airing).

The upcoming German Episode Titles:
2×07: Herz und Helden (literally translated: Heart and Heroes; Duct Tape + Jack)
2×08: Der Turm der blauen Pferde (The Tower of Blue Horses; Packing Peanuts + Fire)
2×09: Die Regeln des Spiels (The Rules of the Game; CD-Rom + Hoagie Foil)
2×10: Verloren im Eis (Lost in Ice; War Room + Ship)
2×11: Unter Mordverdacht (Under Suspicion of Murder; Bullet + Pen)

Lucas Till and George Eads on Set of Season 3 (via George Eads)

Interestingly, they will air the skipped Episode 1×19 (Compass) after 2×07 next Monday.

MacGyver in Austria
Due to the soccer championship and Formula 1, the weekly episode on Austrian TV turned into a monthly episode. People might have forgotten the show still airs, but interestingly, the numbers are not too bad. For July, the two Season 1 episodes that aired (1×14 and 1×15) still reached 63’000 live-viewers each; despite being reruns.

MacGyver Reboot Update #60

Filming for Season 3 has already started. Also, we finally have a Premiere Release Date!

BtS photo of Season 3 (via Bruce Giglio)

(Spoiler Alert: You will get spoilered about main characters and storylines in Season 3 by reading this post and its comments or by clicking on the links provided!)

 

Season 3 News
Like every year, Justin Hires had revealed the Season Premiere Episode Title. Written by Peter Lenkov and Craig O’Neill, Episode 3×01 (Improvise) is directed by Stephen Herek. The Premiere Date has been set for September 28. We also know that CBS has ordered a Full Season Order of 22 episodes.

While some cast and crew had been on set starting July 6 or even earlier shooting inserts, the main cast started filming on Monday, July 9. So far, it’s mostly Justin Hires and the Stand-Ins that provide us with BtS material. Compared to Seasons 1 and 2, there’s not much to see yet, though.

BtS photo of Episode 3×01: Improvise (via Lucas Till)

Justin uploaded several short videos on Snapchat and Instagram, but also provided some BtS photos every now and then. As every year, cast and crew have to suffer in the Summer Heat – but as Costume Designer Sarah Downer reveals, they come to work with a smile every morning, no matter the conditions. She also provided a new BtS photo of the traditional Finnish costumes used for Episode 2×06 (Jet Engine + Pickup Truck).

Lucas Till provided a snapshot taken inside of a car, congratulating Henry Winkler for his Emmy nomination. Besides Lucas, we can see Tate Donovan, Tristin Mays, Reign Edwards, Justin Hires and Lucas’ younger brother Nick. It’s not clear yet if Nick was visiting or if he’s also working on the episode, since he was on set today as well. It’s also not the first time that Lucas brought family on set: His cousin Eric worked on set of Episode 2×03 (Roulette Wheel + Wire).

BtS photo of Episode 2×06: Jet Engine + Pickup Truck (via Sarah Downer)

Cast and crew are filming in “Nigeria” again. Interestingly, they’re using some of the actors that have been on set of beforementioned Episode 2×06, e.g. Hakeem Kae-kazim. A lot of the bad guys for this episode seem to be Russian, though. So there should be a lot going on in the Season Premiere. Yesterday, SpoilerTV released some very spoilery snippets for Episode 3×01, so read at your own risk.

As End of Silence revealed, one of their tracks will be used for Season 3 – presumably for a Teaser Trailer.

Cast, Crew and Character News
As the MacGyver Writers revealed, a new writer has joined their team: Jim Adler, who has written some episodes for Castle and Vegas.

BtS Photo of Episode 3×01: Improvise (via Justin Hires)

By looking for regular Stand-Ins and providing photos of the actors, Central Casting Georgia has confirmed what we already suspected: Both Reign Edwards (as Leanna) and Tate Donovan (as MacGyver Senior) will have recurring or regular appearances this season. For now, we can expect Leanna to join Team Phoenix (similiar to Cage last Season). Let’s hope she doesn’t suffer the same fate…

They’ve also been looking for Stand-Ins for Gil Darnell (SEAL Team, Lethal Weapon, Bones) and for Richie Stephens (Blue Bloods, Major Crimes). Darnell revealed on his Twitter Profile that his character will be named Oleg Vadim. Looks like they might play some bad guys. Another actor in the Season 3 Premiere is Ilia Volok ( Air Force One, Water For Elefants, Indiana Jones and an Episode of rebooted Hawaii Five-0).

Sibongile Mlambo (via IMDb)

Another Casting Call has been looking for a Stand-In for Sibongile Mlambo (Teen Wolf). It’s not clear yet what character she will portray and if she will have recurring appearances over the Season or not. The most interesting Call for a Stand-In is probably the one for tomorrow: Apparently, our favorite villain will be on set this Saturday, as will Meredith Eaton.

As Carie Patterson revealed in her Facebook comments, she will play a regular Special Agent all Season. This reads interesting to me, since the show so far exchanged their Phoenix personnel for every episode (besides the recurring assistants of the Phoenix bosses). At first, I thought that unless she was cast as Mac’s mother (in flashbacks), there was no reason of them needing a regular female character. But since they’ve also been looking for a male Tech who works regularly through the season, they’re finally starting to bring in recognizable faces.

BtS photo of Season 3 (via Lucas Till)

Central Casting Georgia has been looking for Extras as well; e.g. for Soldiers with Caucasian or European Looks, a male Fit Model, for Bad Guys, for Techs and Agents or for Computer Techs and Military Officers. They’ve also had Casting Calls for European Brand Cars, a bald Security Guy, Bodyguards, people in the background for an Airport scene, a waiter and Nigerian patrons.

We don’t know yet who the new Stunt Coordinator is. As Reece Fleetwood mentioned, a new Stunt Coordinator also means new Stunt Doubles, which means he’s not on set doubling for George Eads anymore.

BtS photo of Season 3 (via Sarah Downer)

Season 2 News
There have been no Reboot re-runs so far – contrary to pretty much all the other action and drama shows in the CBS line-up. Initially, episodes of Celebrity Undercover Boss (CUB) had been scheduled for Fridays 8pm until August 31.

Either the ratings were not promising enough or CBS couldn’t find another timeslot, because they dropped CUB in favor of the new show Whistleblower that premieres today. According to CBS, the Summer Show has 8 episodes – so even without reruns, the schedule is already filled up until the end of August.

That’s quite a disappointment, considering the S1 reruns had had better ratings than CUB or than Peter Lenkov’s show Salvation (airing on Mondays 9pm; currently at about 3 million live-viewers per episode with a demo-rating of 0.37).

DVD Season 2 UK Cover (via Irish Film Critic)

According to The Futon Critic, we should get 2 reruns in September, right before the Season 3 Premiere. I’m assuming it will be 2 episodes of Season 2; one of them most likely the Seasaon 2 Finale.

Fans living in Ireland are lucky, though: The DVD release for Season 2 has been set for September 18, ten days before the Season 3 premiere in the US. Interestingly, the cover is completely different from the S2 poster they used for the social media promo so far; again photoshopped with material of the photoshoot for the Season 1 promo.

The DVD Extras are listed as following:

• MacGyver in Cuba (Featurette)
• Saving the Day, Season 2 (Featurette)
• MacGyver: Special & Visual Effects (Featurette)
• Gag Reel
• Deleted Scenes

Of course, we have yet to see if the US fans will get these extras as well or if CBS leaves them empty handed as they did for the Season 1 DVD.

A stack of old scripts (via Johnny Vy)

Stunt Coordinator Jeff Wolfe had handed in a Season 2 Stunt Reel for the Emmy Awards. Nominations have been out since yesterday. Sadly, MacGyver didn’t snag another Emmy nomination.

Lucas Till was nominated for the Teen Choice Awards in the category “Choice Action TV Actor”. The Awards Show will air on August 12. I guess we’ll know if he’s won or not by judging his attendance (or lack of it).

MacGyver in Germany
Season 2 premiered this Monday on German FreeTV. Channel Sat.1 airs two episodes every Monday on primetime, right before two episodes of SEAL Team. The DVD for Season 1 was released on July 5.

Einstein in the Production Office for Season 3 (via Ethan Guice)

Sadly, the ratings weren’t all that good. While Season 1 had surprised everyone with its ratings; surpassing even Lethal Weapon, Hawaii Five-0, Bull or NCIS in demo ratings, the first episodes of Season 2 failed to deliver.

The German dubbed Episode 2×01 (DIY Or DIE) reached 1.61 million viewers in total, resulting in a rating of 6.7 in the demo-group of 14-49 years-old viewers. Episode 2×02 (Muscle Car + Paper Clips) garnered 1.62 million viewers with a demo-rating of 6.6. (For comparison: The Pilot Premiere back in June 2017 made 2.1 million viewers with a demo-rating of 12.9.)

Promo for the German Premiere of Season 2 (via Sat. 1)

Compared to the Season Finale of Lethal Weapon that just aired before, the ratings aren’t that bad, though. Most likely, the hot weather plus the Soccer Championship has more impact on audience TV-watching-habits than expected; even when there’s no games going on.

The upcoming German Episode Titles:
2×03: Die rote Faust (The red fist; Roulette Wheel + Wire)
2×04: Väter und Söhne (Fathers and Sons; X-Ray + Penny)
2×05: Geisterinsel (Ghost Island; Skull + Electromagnet)
2×06: Höllenfeuer (Hellfire; Jet Engine + Pickup Truck)
2×07: Herz und Helden (Heart and Heroes, Duct Tape + Jack)
2×08: Der Turm der blauen Pferde (The Tower of Blue Horses, Packing Peanuts + Fire)
2×09: Die Regeln des Spiels (The Rules of the Game, CD-Rom + Hoagie Foil)
2×10: Verloren im Eis (Lost in Ice, War Room + Ship)

MacGyver Reboot Update #59

No new episodes and no re-runs of MacGyver at the moment. The Production Office re-opened on June 4, and filming for Season 3 starts in less than 10 days. Also, Season 2 scored some nominations and awards!

Script Title Page for Episode 3×01: Improvise (via Justin Hires)

(Minor Spoiler Alert: You might get spoilered about Season 3 by reading this post and its comments or by clicking on the links provided!)

 

What are Cast and Crew up to?
Several cast members took opportunity of the hiatus and enjoyed some downtime, attended charity events or started on new projects in between.

Lucas Till enjoyed a short holiday on Hawaii with family and friends. On June 26, he went to the shooting range with friend Mike Milligan. George Eads spent several days on the Bahamas with his family. He also attended the LA Golf Classic, an annual fundraiser organized by the SAG-AFTRA Foundation. Last week, Tristin Mays travelled to Jamaica with her brother and a group of friends; including on-screen-boyfriend Lance Gross (Billy Colton). The group took part of workshops and charity events for the RuJohn Foundation.

Presentation of sports equipment to Kingston College (via RuJohn Foundation)

Justin did some more Stand-Up comedy shows, but still found time to pose with fans for photos. In his Instagram Live Story on June 26, he sported a new hairstyle. At the moment, there’s no news about the movie project he is attached to, so it’s not clear if this is a new do for the movie, the Reboot or just for fun before they start filming again. (The status of said movie project could be relevant since it would probably interfere with his screentime on Season 3.)

Executive Producer Peter Lenkov still spends a lot of time on the Paramount Studio lot, presumably working on finalizing the scripts, doing table reads and other pre-production-work for his many TV shows. David Dastmalchian is promoting his new movie “Ant-Man and the Wasp”, hitting red carpets and prepping for interviews.

George Eads and CSI-buddy Carmine Giovinazzo at the LA Golf Classic (via Chris Jacobs)

Meanwhile, the crew is slowly trickling into the studio; setting up shop and prepping the gear, or sending ordered gear (e.g. T-Marks) to the studio. The prop people started work on Monday while most of the grip crew will start next week. Set dog Einstein has already been back at Stage 6 yesterday.

Season 1 News
Due to Celebrity Undercover Boss, there are no Reboot re-runs at the moment – contrary to pretty much all the other action and drama shows in the CBS line-up. More episodes for Celebrity Undercover Boss (CUB) – some of them reruns even – are scheduled for Fridays 8pm until August 31. At the moment, it looks like there are no plans for MacGyver reruns at all which still makes no sense to me – considering the Season 1 reruns had higher ratings than the CUB premieres; not to mention that the CUB rerun airing today just premiered on May 11.

Original MacGyver Remaster Preview (via Jediferret)

Season 2 News
The Reboot got nominated for an International TV Audience Award within the category “Action & Science-Fiction TV Series”. Sadly, it lost against Scorpion, another CBS Show (which ultimately wasn’t really a surprise, considering Executive Producer Nicholas Wootton had been listed as a VIP guest on the Festival Website for weeks before the event.)

Composer Keith Power, who’s involved in all three of Peter Lenkov’s Reboot Shows, just won the “Screen Composer of the Year” Award.

Stunt Coordinator Jeff Wolfe had handed in a Season 2 Stunt Reel for the Emmy Awards. Nominations will be announced mid-July.

Lucas Till was nominated for the Teen Choice Awards in the category “Choice Action TV Actor”. The first voting period ended on June 19. Voting for the 2nd wave started on June 22, but it doesn’t look like any of the cast made the cut for other categories in the 2nd wave of nominations. The Awards Show will air on August 12.

Lucas Till at the Shooting Range (via Mike Milligan)

Season 3 News
On June 22, Costume Designer Sarah Downer tweeted about her excitement of doing the first fitting soon. According to Justin Hires, filming for Season 3 should start around July 10 (which is the same day that Hawaii Five-0 will start filming). Like every year, he also revealed the Season Premiere Episode Title: Improvise. Written by Peter Lenkov and Craig O’Neill, the episode will be directed by Stephen Herek.

Interestingly, David Slack – husband of Kate Bond (who portrays Phoenix Tech Jill in the Reboot) – is not listed as Executive Producer anymore. Instead, there’s Rob Pearlstein listed as Co-Executive Producer. Pearlstein had previously worked as a producer on all episodes of Scorpion and had also written about 11 episodes for the now-cancelled CBS show.

MacGyver Pop! Vinyl Figure (via Funko Blog)

Fans have been discussing if some of the Scorpion cast (or even Scorpion characters) might show up on the Reboot, especially since it seemed very likely last year that both shows would have a cross-over soon. Maybe it’s more likely now that writers or producers who had multi-year-contracts with CBS might end up on the Reboot instead.

The Fall Premiere Date and the amount of episodes for Season 3 are still not known to us *sigh*. There’s also no news yet about a Season 2 DVD release, although most other CBS shows have their DVD release dates set for August or September.

Original MacGyver News
While there was a serious lack of Reboot News over the last weeks, there’s interesting news for the Original Show. For one, CBS just announced that they’re in the process of remastering the Original Show into HD. All 7 Seasons should be available until the end of the year, although it’s not clear yet how it will be distributed. The Before-and-After preview looks pretty good to me.

Second, after years of waiting, MacGyver finally gets his own Funko Figure. After “coming soon” promises on Reddit and leaked release schedules on Instagram, Funko officially announced that a MacGyver Pop! Vinyl Figure is coming in August. Of course, he’s decked in his favorite jacket, carrying his SAK and a glorious mullet.

Greenlight Collectible (via Jim Scavenger)

On the other hand, Original MacGyver isn’t the only one anymore with having collectible cars made by Greenlight. I’ve seen pictures of the car model on social media last year, but it was only yesterday that I came across a picture of the packaging.

It’s a police car – the same model (Ford Crown Victoria) that Greenlight uses for most of their police cars. (Of course, it’s much cheaper to obtain a license for one model and use the prototype case for several TV shows.)

It’s great that Reboot fans finally can get their hands on some collectibles, but I’m still confused why they chose a police car for the first MacGyver Reboot vehicle.

MacGyver in Germany and Switzerland
Starting July 9, German FreeTV channel Sat.1 will premiere two episodes of Season 2 on Mondays 8pm. On June 26, they released a German promo trailer on YouTube, using snippents from the first few episodes.

Swiss FreeTV channel 3+ will start July 4, airing the two first episodes on Wednesday 9pm before moving to Fridays 9pm, skirting around the Soccer World Cup games on TV.

Original MacGyver Remaster Preview (via Jediferret)

The German Episode Titles so far:
2×01: Von den Toten auferstanden (Literal translation: Risen from the dead; Original Title DIY Or DIE)
2×02: Solomission für Artemis (Solo Mission for Artemis; Muscle Car + Paper Clips)
2×03: Die rote Faust (The red fist; Roulette Wheel + Wire)
2×04: Väter und Söhne (Fathers and Sons; X-Ray + Penny)
2×05: Geisterinsel (Ghost Island; Skull + Electromagnet)
2×06: Höllenfeuer (Hellfire; Jet Engine + Pickup Truck)
2×07: Herz und Helden (Heart and Heroes, Duct Tape + Jack)
2×08: Der Turm der blauen Pferde (The Tower of Blue Horses, Packing Peanuts + Fire)
2×09: Die Regeln des Spiels (The Rules of the Game, CD-Rom + Hoagie Foil)
2×10: Verloren im Eis (Lost in Ice, War Room + Ship)

T-Marks ready to be delivered (via Jimmy’s T-Marks)

FunFact: The translation of the German title for 2×06 (Jet Engine + Pickup Truck) is the same title as for Original MacGyver Episode 1×08 – the episode on which the storyline for Episode 2×06 is loosely based on. In 1×08: Hellfire (1985), an accident starts a fire in an oil-well owned by MacGyver’s friends. MacGyver and his buddy go to fetch dynamite so the fire can be put out. The transport of the leaking dynamite with their failing Pickup Truck is stupidly dangerous since there’s a time limit – they have to move fast, but cautious. Even more interesting: This episode was probably the inspiration for a recent episode of Hawaii Five-0 (7×18: E malama pono; Handle with Care), where McGarrett and Danno have to transport an Uranium bomb – set to blow and strapped down on their Pickup Truck. During transport, they have to cross a riverbed the same way Original MacGyver did.

Looking Back at Season 2 (VII) – The Official Stills (Part 5)

As with Season 1, I’m looking back at the Official Stills for each Episode of Season 2; picking my favorites and writing down some of my thoughts. (Because I just can’t keep quiet, as you all know by now.)

If you missed Part 1 (Episodes 2×01 to 2×05), you can find the post here. For Part 2 (Episodes 2×06 to 2×10), you go there. Part 3 (Episodes 2×11 to 2×15) can be found here and for Part 4 (Episodes 2×16 to 2×20), you follow through here.

Episode 2×23: MacGyver + MacGyver (Official Still via SpoilerTV)

 

The Official Stills for the last two episodes of Season 2 were done by Jace Downs. It’s been a while since he worked on the Reboot; providing the Stills for 7 episodes out of the first 8 episodes in Season 1.

 

Episode 2×21: Wind + Water (Still Photographer: Guy D’Alema)
For this episode, CBS released 8 Official Stills.

Episode 2×21: Wind + Water (via SpoilerTV)

MY FAVORITE: Mac on his way to do great things.

NOW THAT’S DISAPPOINTING: Stills of various scenes, taken outside during daylight which makes for better lighting. Nothing to complain here.

 

Episode 2×22: UFO + Area 51 (Still Photographer: Jace Downs)
For this episode, we only got 4 Official Stills via SpoilerTV.

Episode 2×22: UFO + Area 51 (Official Still via SpoilerTV)

MY FAVORITE: Mac and Jack posing as if they are doing a photoshoot on the race track (which they kinda are).

NOW THAT’S DISAPPOINTING: I wouldn’t have minded a Still of an UFO or an Alien…

 

Episode 2×23: MacGyver + MacGyver (Still Photographer: Jace Downs)
For the Season Finale Episode of Season 2, TV Line released an exclusive First Look photo on April 25. Five days later, SpoilerTV provided 7 additional Stills.

Exclusive Sneak Peek of Episode 2×23: MacGyver + MacGyver (via TVLine)

MY FAVORITE: Technically, it’s not really an Official Still and more of a First Look Screenshot, but… it’s Mac and Oversight, also known as (insert Spoiler Alert). The runner-up is an Official Still, though. It’s Mac and a Jeep which is always great to see.

NOW THAT’S DISAPPOINTING: It would have been nice to have a bit more promo for the Season Finale. It’s an episode that has a deep impact on all the characters and might influence the major storyline on the upcoming 3rd Season. Maybe an additional photoshoot instead of just Stills and Sneak Peeks as usual?

Looking Back at Season 2 (VI) – The Official Stills (Part 4)

As with Season 1, I’m looking back at the Official Stills for each Episode of Season 2; picking my favorites and writing down some of my thoughts. (Because I just can’t keep quiet, as you all know by now.)

If you missed Part 1 (Episodes 2×01 to 2×05), you can find the post here. For Part 2 (Episodes 2×06 to 2×10), you go there. Part 3 (Episodes 2×11 to 2×15) can be found here.

Episode 2×18: Riley + Airplane (via SpoilerTV)

 

Starting with Episode 2×15, Still Photographer Annette Brown did most of the Still-photographing for the rest of the season. Interestingly, Matty hasn’t been featured in any of the Stills since Episode 2×14 (Mardi Gras Beads + Chair). She will only come back in two Official Stills for the Season 2 Finale. Bozer shares the same fate: After Episode 2×13 (CO2 Sensor + Tree Branch), he’s only featured in Stills for 2×16 and the Season 2 Finale.

 

Episode 2×16: Hammock + Balcony (Still Photographer: Guy D’Alema)
Due to the Olympics, this episode premiered after a month-long hiatus. For once, CBS cranked up the promo and delivered more Official Stills than usual – 12 in total. Even the guest-stars got to be in several of the photos.

Episode 2×16: Hammock + Balcony (via SpoilerTV)

MY FAVORITE: The group doing some kind of grape-crushing-contest. This looks like they seriously had fun filming this episode.

NOW THAT’S DISAPPOINTING: So many Stills to choose from! It would have been nice to have some photos from other scenes in there (e.g. of the Opening Gambit), but I don’t really mind. Pretty people all dolled up, what’s not to like about that? Although it’s still weird for me to see Mac drinking alcohol.

 

Episode 2×17: Bear Trap + Mob Boss (Still Photographer: Annette Brown)
For this episode, we got 7 Stills via SpoilerTV. All of them feature Mac, Jack and Riley on their mission near Chernobyl.

Episode 2×17: Bear Trap + Mob Boss (via SpoilerTV)

MY FAVORITE: Mac, Jack and Riley trying to get information of a guy that’s not that willing to talk, leading to Jack sacrificing some of his most beloved possessions.

NOW THAT’S DISAPPOINTING: Nothing, really. It’s also nice to see Mac wearing a different color for once. Looks good on him.

 

Episode 2×18: Riley + Airplane (Still Photographer: Annette Brown)
For Episode 2×18, SpoilerTV delivered 12 Official Stills again – after a 2-week-premiere-break due to March Madness Basketball. It looks like additional promo is the one positive thing about having a short hiatus every now and then.

Episode 2×18: Riley + Airplane (via SpoilerTV)

MY FAVORITE: Having the Colton’s back is fine, but it’s definitely nice to have an Official Still of Mac only while doing some MacGyvering.

NOW THAT’S DISAPPOINTING: The Colton’s are fun and I hope to see them again next season, but I wasn’t so fond of the Stills with them in it. Not sure why.

 

Episode 2×19: Benjamin Franklin + Grey Duffle (Still Photographer: Annette Brown)
We got 10 Stills for this Episode. Amy Smart coming back as Dawn even got to be in several of them. As always, the whole team is completely color-coordinated.

Episode 2×19: Benjamin Franklin + Grey Duffle (via SpoilerTV)

MY FAVORITE: Mac, Riley, Dawn and Jack on their mission.

NOW THAT’S DISAPPOINTING: It’s nothing new, but the Stills are not that exciting – despite the team getting arrested in most of them. I preferred Guy D’Alema’s style of taking Stills, but he went on to work on other projects.

FUN NOTE: Amy Smart’s character Dawn in casual clothing reminds me of Mac’s “bad” ex-girlfriend (Nikki Carpenter).

 

Episode 2×20: Skyscraper – Power (Still Photographer unknown)
For this episode, there were 2 small pics with the Press Releases – but we didn’t get any full Official Stills or Sneak Peeks until 2 hours before the Premiere. At last, Seat42F provided some last-minute Stills.

Episode 2×20: Skyscraper – Power (via Seat42F)

MY FAVORITE: There’s some action going on! And who’s that kid in the middle? That definitely looks like it could have been an episode of the Original Show.

NOW THAT’S DISAPPOINTING: The Stills came in so late, they didn’t even make it to SpoilerTV. What’s up with that? It’s possible many fans never got to see them. Some of them look rather like screenshots, and there’s not even a Still Photographer credited. Maybe they were screenshots and only added as an afterthought. Also, while they don’t have the SpoilerTV logo on them, they are of a lesser quality size.

 

(More coming soon.)2

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).