The Reboot has been renewed for Season 5 – and we will already get to watch new episodes in Fall, hopefully!
Schedule Announcement for Season 5 (via CBS)
(Minor Spoiler Alert: You might get spoilered about Season 5 by reading this post and its comments or by clicking on the links provided. For daily news and to join the discussion and/or speculate away, you can find me on Twitter and head over to the MacGyverOnline Forums.)
All you need to know about Season 5 On May 19, CBS revealed their new Fall Schedule in a virtual Upfronts presentation with a pleasant surprise for MacGyver fans: Contrary to some other networks, CBS plays it safe for advertizers with little changes in their schedule; going for stability. Also, the Reboot – who had been benched to midseason last year – will return with the other Fall shows, in its old timeslot (Fridays, 8pm).
CBS Schedule Overview for 2020/21 (via CBS)
Note that “Fall” can mean anything between end of September and November at the moment. As reported byVariety, CBS Entertainment president Kelly Kahl didn’t rule out the possibility that there might be changes if some shows fail to restart production in Summer. Therefore, he stayed rather vague in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter:
There’s a lot we don’t know. We are certainly hopeful we can get into production this summer and we are hopeful that these shows will premiere in the fall. I don’t anticipate a traditional Premiere Week where 90 percent of our shows start the third week of September; I think that’s highly unlikely. At the same point, we are hopeful these shows will premiere at some point this fall. (…) The fall will not look like a traditional fall but that doesn’t mean we can’t have shows there.
(Kelly Kahl via Hollywood Reporter, May 19)
Thankfully, MacGyver is rather safe with already having 6 “leftover” episodes in the can and therefore it doesn’t require to start filming in July. With Magnum PI being filmed in Hawaii, they could still start airing in Fall on their own, even if Blue Bloods (that films in NY) might be delayed.
BtS photo of Episode 4×13: Save + The + Dam + World (via Scottie Thompson)
Of course, we’re all interested in the amount of episodes we’ll get for this season. There is no further information yet if the episodes filmed for Season 4 are part of the Season 5 episode order or not (e.g. if we get 6 already filmed + 13 new episodes or 13 episodes in total or a full season of 22 episodes in total). According to Kelly Kahl, he aims for full seasons:
(…) we may find that they simply run out of time and for some shows, it might mean 20 vs. 22, depending on when they start. Our hope is for full seasons of all of these shows. We’ve spoken to them and all understand there may be limitations to what can be accomplished this season.
(Kelly Kahl via Hollywood Reporter, May 19)
Guess all we can do for now is wait and see. Here’s what we know so far about the upcoming season (which isn’t much):
The rest of the episodes already filmed for Season 4 will be used for Season 5 (see further down for more information).
Teresa Huang revealed on May 8 that she joined the crew as Story Editor.
According to an Instagram post by Rain Management (that was later edited), Jim Adler joins the show as Co-Executive Producer while Monica Macer joins as Co-Showrunner.
What’s going to happen now? May and June are usually the months when scripts get written, edited and approved. The writers plus Showrunner Peter Lenkov are pretty quiet, so there might already be virtual writers rooms going on in the background.
BtS photo of Episode 4×07: Mac + Desi + Riley + Aubrey (via Levy Tran)
Since production was shut down in the middle of Episode 4×20, it’s possible that the scripts for these last few episodes will get re-written a bit or shuffled to later in the season (depending on what story-arc they have planned for Season 5 overall).
There’s no key art nor a new production SAK logo yet for Season 5, but they might exchange the headers on the official social media accounts soon. For the schedule announcement, they used an Official Still of Episode 4×08. We can only hope that we get some more promo or BtS photos during hiatus. With 6 episodes already filmed, they’d have already enough material for Stills, posters and even a teaser trailer – but from past experience, CBS was never keen on putting out material too early; especially without a definite premiere date.
We did get some new material from the recently aired episodes; e.g. via Levy Tran’s IMDb page. Also, they released two more segments of the Main Cast Zoom Call; e.g. talking about how they’ve been handling the lockdown due to the pandemic and who would have most likely joined Codex.
BtS photo of Episode 3×06: Murdoc + MacGyver + Murdoc (via David Dastmalchian)
Starting today, there’s weekly reruns of Season 3 episodes scheduled for most Fridays; with additional reruns on two Saturdays so far. Despite Press Releases, CBS keeps cancelling some of the planned reruns (e.g. 3×16 on May 29) for other broadcasts. Here’s the current schedule for the upcoming reruns:
Friday, May 22: K9 + Smugglers + New Recruit (3×15)
Saturday, May 23: Murdoc + MacGyver + Murdoc (3×06)
Friday, June 5: Seeds + Permafrost + Feather (3×17)
Friday, June 12: Friends + Enemies + Border (3×19)
Friday, June 19: tba
Saturday, June 20: tba
Friday, July 3: tba
As mentioned before, it’s rather unusual for CBS to air reruns of older seasons. And even though the ratings of these reruns won’t matter as much, maybe talking about it on social media is not a bad idea. Also, some attention to these episodes might give us more reruns and some never-seen-before BtS material?
Episode 3×15: K9 + Smugglers + New Recruit (Official Still via What 2 Vue)
Also, this is a good way for new fans to catch up on some backstory stuff. Episode 3×15 is the introduction of Levy Tran as Desi, while Episode 3×06 has Mac’s ex-girlfriend Nasha (Sibongile Mlambo), Jack Dalton (George Eads) and Murdoc (David Dastmalchian) – who could all make another appearance in an upcoming episode, theoretically.
About the Season 4 Ratings To recap: Episode 4×13 generated a live-audience of 5.766 million viewers with a demo of 0.6. In the Live +7 days ratings, it gained an additional 1.39 million viewers (+24%), reaching 7.16 million viewers in total with a demo of 0.94 (+52%) when including DVR ratings.
The Reboot ended Season 4 with an average of 6.081 millions live-viewers per episode with a demo-rating of 0.67. Episode 4×08 airing on April 3 had the highest audience number (of 7.073 million life-viewers), Episode 4×07 airing on March 27 had the biggest demo (of 0.80).
MacGyver Audience Numbers Overview (graph by DashboardOnFire)
Comparing the average ratings to last season, Season 4 lost about 4.84% in demo and only 0.43% in live-audience numbers; which is the lowest demo-loss compared to last year within all scripted CBS shows (26 in total). Not bad for a show that got benched to midseason, huh.
Upcoming Episodes Overview
The infos for the upcoming episodes were either provided by CBS, by the website for the Writers Guild of America West (episode titles), by people working on the show or taken from IMDb (cast and crew info), from SpoilerTV (press releases) and from The Futon Critic (airdates).
4×14 / 5×01: Thief + Painting + Viro-486 + Justice
Written by Peter M. Lenkov and Andrew Klein
4×15 / 5×02: Resort + Desi + Riley + Witness
Written by Stephanie Hicks, directed by Avi Youabian
4×16 / 5×03: Jack + Kinematics + MgKNO3 + GTO
Written by Jim Adler, directed by Ericson Core
4×17 / 5×04: Golden Lancehead + Venom + Blood + Baggage
Written by Joshua Brown and Andrew Karlsruher, directed by David Straiton
4×18 / 5×05: SOS + Hazmat + Frequency + Malihini
Written by Cindy Appel, directed by Yangzom Brauen
4×19 / 5×06: Banh Bao + Drill + Burner + Mason
Written by Justin Lisson and Sophia Lopez, directed by Peter Weller
4×20 / 5×07: Rails + Pitons + Pipe + Salt (unfinished production)
Written by Rob Pearlstein, directed by Christine Moore
Note that the episode titles and their order is not definite until an official Press Release by CBS. It’s also possible that they will re-name the episodes to fit them for Season 5. As long as there’s no further notice, I will use the initially intended episode number and title of the episode when referring to them in this blog.
BtS photo of Episode 4×07: Mac + Desi + Riley + Aubrey (via Levy Tran)
Other MacGyver News
ICYMI: Here’s the overview of all the blog posts for the MacGyverisms in Season 4 by Tech Consultant Rhett Allain. We have some other MacGyver-related news as well:
There’s finally a release date for the Season 3 DVD in German-speaking countries (July 16) and there will be bonus material, yay! (Deleted Scenes for 8 episodes plus a Gag Reel)
Season 4 will premiere in the UK on May 31 (Sky)
The title sequence for Season 4 is nominated for the AICP Post Awards in the Category “Graphic Design & Animation”. The event will be held online on June 10.
In recent years, we used to have some events in June to look forward to; e.g. the Corus Entertainment Upfronts in Toronto or the start of the voting for the Teen Choice Awards.
Lucas Till at the Corus Upfronts 2019 (via Candid Toronto)
There might be a digital Upfronts presentation by Corus this year, but the event in Toronto itself (that Lucas has attended twice so far) has been cancelled. The voting for the Teen Choice Awards might still happen. The show won one of the famous surfboards last year, so it would be nice if it entered the race again this year and could add another one to the collection.
Thankfully, the Reboot has already been renewed for Season 5. It might still be a long wait until we get to watch new episodes together.
Episode 4×13: Save + The + Dam + World (by Nathan Bolster/CBS)
(Minor Spoiler Alert: You might get spoilered about Seasons 4 and 5 by reading this post and its comments or by clicking on the links provided. For daily news and to join the discussion and/or speculate away, you can find me on Twitter and head over to the MacGyverOnline Forums.)
About Episode 4×13 The episode airing last Friday is titled “4×13: Save + The + Dam + World”. It was written by Cindy Appel (with a story by Terry Matalas) and directed by Carlos Bernard. The episode went through several “identity changes”: Initially written as a Season Finale (and maybe even Series Finale), it was filmed as a Midseason Finale, then aired as the Season Finale.
BtS photo of Episode 4×13: Save + The + Dam + World (via Scottie Thompson)
Compared to the Season 3 Finale, we got quite a bit of promo this time around:
The Hashtag #MacGyver trended US-wide for about two hours; reaching Rank 37 and generating an estimated 1001 tweets per hour before dropping again.
Instagram Story Screenshot Compilation of Episode 4×12: Loyalty + Family + Rogue + Hellfire (via Joel)
To recap: Episode 4×12 had a live-audience of 5.889 million viewers with a demo of 0.63. In the Live +7 days ratings, it gained an additional 1.34 million viewers (+23%), reaching 7.23 million viewers in total with a demo of 0.92 (+45%) when including DVR ratings.
Episode 4×13 generated a live-audience of 5.766 million viewers with a demo of 0.6. These ratings would have been alright in a “normal” (aka non-pandemic) year as well. In fact, they had almost the same ratings (5.47 million live-viewers with a demo of 0.6) for the Season 3 Finale on May 10 a year ago.
On May 14, Tech Consultant Rhett Allain uploaded his blog post about the MacGyverisms. The episode also made it into SpoilerTV‘s “Quote of the Week” post.
BtS photo of Episode 4×13: Save + The + Dam + World (via Peter Lenkov)
Upcoming Episodes Overview
The infos for the upcoming episodes were either provided by CBS, by the website for the Writers Guild of America West (episode titles), by people working on the show or taken from IMDb (cast and crew info), from SpoilerTV (press releases) and from The Futon Critic (airdates).
4×14 / 5×01: Thief + Painting + Viro-486 + Justice (script credit date: 02/20/2020)
Written by Peter M. Lenkov and Andrew Klein
4×15 / 5×02: Resort + Desi + Riley + Witness (script credit date: 02/20/2020)
Written by Stephanie Hicks, directed by Avi Youabian
4×16 / 5×03: Jack + Kinematics + MgKNO3 + GTO (script credit date: 03/04/2020)
Written by Jim Adler, directed by Ericson Core
4×17 / 5×04: Golden Lancehead + Venom + Blood + Baggage (script credit date: 03/04/2020)
Written by Joshua Brown and Andrew Karlsruher, directed by David Straiton
4×18 / 5×05: SOS + Hazmat + Frequency + Malihini (script credit date: 03/12/2020)
Written by Cindy Appel, directed by Yangzom Brauen
4×19 / 5×06: Banh Bao + Drill + Burner + Mason (script credit date: 03/20/2020)
Written by Justin Lisson and Sophia Lopez, directed by Peter Weller
4×20 / 5×07: Rails + Pitons + Pipe + Salt (unfinished production)
Written by Rob Pearlstein, directed by Christine Moore
Note that the episode titles and their order is not definite until an official Press Release by CBS. It’s actually very likely that they will re-name all the episodes to fit them for Season 5; so adding another “ingredient” if they keep the tradition of how episodes are named.
BtS photo of Episode 4×13: Save + The + Dam + World (via Peter Lenkov)
At the moment, there’s weekly reruns of Season 3 episodes scheduled for Fridays; starting May 22 with an additional rerun on May 23rd (Saturday). Here’s the upcoming reruns scheduled so far:
Friday, May 22: K9 + Smugglers + New Recruit (3×15)
Saturday, May 23: Murdoc + MacGyver + Murdoc (3×06)
Friday, May 29: Lidar + Rogues + Duty (3×16)
Friday, June 5: Seeds + Permafrost + Feather (3×17)
Friday, June 12: tba
As mentioned before, it’s rather unusual for CBS to air reruns of older seasons, and we didn’t get reruns during last Summer hiatus. So maybe tweeting and talking about it on social media in general might give us some never-seen-before BtS material? Episode 3×15 is the first appearance of Levy Tran as Desi, while Episode 3×06 has both Jack Dalton (George Eads) and Murdoc (David Dastmalchian). What’s not to like?
What’s going to happen now? On May 6, CBS renewed the MacGyver Reboot for another season. The rest of the episodes filmed for Season 4 will be used for Season 5, but there is no further information if the filmed episodes are counted into the new episode order or not (e.g. if we get 6 already filmed + 13 new episodes or 13 episodes in total or even a full season of 22 episodes in total). While a full season would be great, there’s a high possibility of networks handing out short season orders for all their shows this year, with potential back-up orders later.
Some media outlets suspect filming for TV shows to start around October with a premiere in January 2021. In fact, both FOX and CW already announced their new “Fall” Season to start in midseason instead, so January and February next year. Some networks have also been buying international TV shows for Fall to avoid having to air too many reruns; e.g. NBC with Canadian Medical Drama “Transplant”.
BtS photo of Episode 3×15: K9 + Smugglers + New Recruit (via CBS)
My assumption is that CBS keeps more reruns scheduled for now; extending Sunday Movie Night and filling up the Summer and Fall schedule with Game and Reality Shows that have already been filmed (e.g. The Amazing Race) or with shows that had been produced initially for CBS All Access. Hopefully, we’ll get more news at the Upfronts on May 19.
MacGyver might premiere in January as well, so de facto as a “Fall Show” alongside Magnum (since Hawaii looks good considering active Corona cases and filming might start on time) and maybe Blue Bloods (though less likely since it’s filmed in NY). With 6 episodes already produced, CBS could still decide to air MacGyver in Fall (in case other planned projects fall through), but I doubt they would want to air new episodes of a single scripted show in between a ton of reruns.
Teresa Huang revealed on May 8 in a short announcement video on Twitter that she joined the crew as Story Editor. Despite delayed filming, the Writer’s Room probably is already preparing for meetings and thinking about new scripts.
BtS photo of Episode 4×03: Kid + Plane + Cable + Truck (via Carolyn Davis Gillett)
You might not remember since it’s been a while, but there were two young actors listed as a young MacGyver in two different episodes on IMDb. Sadly, we never got to see their performances. On May 7, Carolyn Davis Gillett provided several BtS photos of her son Mason who had filmed a flashback scene with the brown leather jacket that was cut; presumably for Episode 4×03.
This really would have fit nicely with the scene where Mac tries on the jacket in front of the mirror at Goodwill; so I guess this was supposed to be the “Opening Gambit” for a bookending. They probably cut it for time which isn’t all that unusual, but sadly reduces the importance of the scene at the end of the episode.
Fun Fact: For the Official Press Release of Episode 4×03, there was another young actor (Sawyer D. Jones) listed, credited as “Little Boy Mac”. Let’s hope we get to see these deleted scenes someday.
Season 3 DVD Release in Germany
ICYMI: There’s finally a release date for the Season 3 DVD in German-speaking countries (July 16).
Against my expectations, they also provided some info about the bonus material: The German version will include at least 8 Deleted Scenes (for Episodes 3×01, 3×02, 3×03, 3×11, 3×13, 3×18, 3×20, 3×22) and a Gag Reel.
Considering the bonus material is about 15 minutes long maybe (since there’s no Featurettes or interviews or Making Ofs like for the previous seasons), it’s even more baffling why they didn’t bother to include it in the US version.
(Spoiler Alert: You will get spoilered about characters and storylines in Season 4 by reading this post and its comments or by clicking on the links provided! For daily news and to join the discussion and/or speculate away, you can find me on Twitter and head over to the MacGyverOnline Forums.)
About Episode 4×03
Episode 4×03 (Kid + Plane + Cable + Truck) aired on February 21. It was written by Producer Rob Pearlstein and directed by Lily Mariye (who also directed Episode 3×08). For promo, CBS had released 9 Official Stills and 3 Sneak Peeks.
Episode 4×03 attracted 5.830 million live-viewers and got a 0.6 rating in the important demo group of 18-49 year olds. The demo is lower than for Episode 4×02, but the same as for Hawaii Five-0 airing right after and maybe a result of Blue Bloods at 10pm being a rerun.
In the Live +7 days ratings, it gained an additional 1.40 million viewers (+24%), reaching 7.23 million viewers with a demo of 0.88 in total when including DVR ratings. The live-tweeting of the hashtag #MacGyver won them Rank 35 US-wide. Generally, the episode seemed to be well-received on social media besides some viewers claiming it was too unrealistic.
On February 24, Tech Consultant Rhett Allain uploaded his weekly blog post about the MacHacks in this episode. The next day, guest star Christopher Convery uploaded a few BtS photos with Lucas Till and Justin Hires and with Henry Ian Cusick.
As revealed by an Instagram video by Levy Tran, Lucas and Levy watched the episode together with Levy’s dog Carlos – who is now Lucas’ security to fend off all the fangirls.
About Episode 4×04 The episode airing last week is titled “Windmill + Acetone + Celluloid + Firing Pin”. It was written by Andrew Karlsruher and directed by Eagle Egilsson (who already directed Episodes 1×14, 2×16, 3×05 and 3×20).
CBS first uploaded 12 Official Stills; mostly of Mac and Riley working on securing the bomb. You can find 6 of them untagged on What 2 Vue, and 7 of the Stills in HD quality (but watermarked) on Getty Images. On February 27, they added 6 more photos onto their press site. Some of them were posted on social media; e.g. one of Bozer and Russ in the Phoenix lab by Justin Hires or one of Riley by Tristin Mays. They also released 5 Sneak Peeks that day; the first of Lucas speaking German.
Episode 4×04 had 5.565 million live-viewers and a demo rating of 0.6. When compared to all other CBS shows (24 in total), the Reboot was at Rank 15 for both average demo and audience numbers. No, those are not stellar ratings, but its demo is only slightly below the CBS average demo (of 0.679) and still doing better than 4 of the 7 Rookie shows this year. Also, it only lost about 8% in demo compared to last season, which is the second-lowest demo loss of all current CBS shows.
The episode sparked a lot of fan talk about pro and contra “MacRiley” and about the upcoming episode 4×07 (Mac + Desi + Riley + Aubrey) that Lucas Till talked about an interview with ET Online back in February:
“Episode seven is a date night episode and it’s hilarious,” Till promises, adding that that particular hour falls just before “things start to take a darker turn… and we do stuff we’ve never done on this show before. I can’t tell you what that is because there are a lot of surprises.”
(via ET Online)
On March 1st, Tech Consultant Rhett Allain uploaded his blog post about the MacGyverisms used in this episode.
ICYMI: Last Friday, CBS announced that Hawaii Five-0 will air not just their Season 10 Finale on April 3, but the Series Finale with the last two episodes. This was rather surprising, considering the ratings were very stable, elevating all the other Friday shows. In recent years, last seasons for veteran shows were usually announced with a last renewal (also called “renanceling”), so even the prediction sites (e.g. The TV Grim Reaper or The TV Ratings Guide) were taken by surprise.
It’s not clear yet what this means for MacGyver. There’s hope that if the show gets renewed, it will have its premiere again in Fall as a lead-in for Magnum PI. On the other hand, the ratings for all other Friday shows profited from H50 and I’m not sure they will be able to hold up. It’s possible that one of the Friday shows will be put into a different timeslot or even cancelled to make room for a rookie show.
BtS photo of Season 4 (via Christopher Jon Duddy)
Furthermore, I’ve had this nagging feeling for a while that they might hold back on the remaining nine episodes after the midseason finale in May. Now that H50 is ending, they probably won’t air reruns during Summer, meaning that the ratings for MacGyver will plummet even more if it’s running until July or even August. Additionally, there’s a writer’s strike looming. In that case, they might need the rest of the MacGyver episodes as fillers; holding onto them until the Fall. Whatever happens, we should know by the Upfronts on May 13 when the networks will present their Fall schedules.
What you need to know about Episode 4×05
The episode airing tonight is titled “Soccer + Desi + Merchant + Titan“. It was written by Cindy Appel and directed by Duane Clark (who already directed Episodes 2×03 and 3×02). We got the Press Release with a First Official Still on February 13. Here’s the synopsis:
In an attempt to find the main players in the Codex and cut off their match-fixing funding, Desi goes undercover to infiltrate a soccer team and find the corrupt player working with the shadow organization.
In total, CBS uploaded 14 Official Stills onto their press site. You can find 10 of the Stills in HD quality (but watermarked) on Getty Images. There’s 8 of them untagged on both SpoilerTV or on What2Vue. Monday, CBS used one unmarked Still of Desi in soccer gear for Twitter.
What you need to know about Episode 4×06
The episode airing next Friday is titled “Right + Wrong + Both + Neither”. It was written by Andrew Klein and directed by Roderick Davis (who also directed Episode 3×18). We got the Press Release with a First Official Still on February 21. Here’s the synopsis:
When Russ’ first love, Emilia (Amanda Schull), is kidnapped by the same rebels he fought during his private military contract days, he takes the Phoenix team to a small, impoverished town to rescue her and rid the town of the rebels for good.
On March 3, CBS uploaded 13 Official Stills; all of them by Jace Downs and featuring Mac, Riley, Desi and Russ in the field. 8 of them are available on Getty Images.
Episode 4×06: Right + Wrong + Both + Neither (Photo by Jace Downs/CBS via Getty Images)
Season 4 Episode Overview
Here’s a short recap about the upcoming episodes. The infos were either provided by CBS, by people working on the show or taken from IMDb (cast and crew info), from SpoilerTV or similar sites (episode titles and storyline info) and from The Futon Critic (airdates).
Just remember: Episode titles and airdates are not definite until an official Press Release by CBS. And even then, changes are still a possibility.
4×07: Mac + Desi + Riley + Aubrey (April 3)
Guest appearances by Tate Donovan (as James MacGyver) and Peter Weller (as Mason)
4×08: Father (?) Son (?) Father (?) Matriarch (April 10)
Presumably directed by David Straiton
4×09: Code (?) Artemis (?) Nuclear (?) Nemesis (April 17)
Written by Brandon Botta and Casey Tollett Botta, directed by Mike Martinez
4×10: Tesla (?) Bell (?) Edison (?) Mac (April 24)
Directed by Yangzom Brauen
4×13: Save + The + Dam + World (May 15)
Directed by Carlos Bernard
4×14: (title tba)
(tba)
4×15: Resort + Desi + Riley + Witness (tbd)
Written by Stephanie Hicks, directed by Avi Youabian
4×16: Jack + Kinematics + MgKNO3 + GTO (tbd)
Written by Jim Adler, directed by Ericson Core
4×17: (title tba)
Presumably directed by David Straiton
4×18: (title tba)
Directed by Yangzom Brauen, presumed guest appearances by Jorge Garcia and Robert Patrick
4×19: (title tba)
Presumed guest appearance by Peter Weller
A little recap since my last blog post: Some scenes for Episode 4×17 were supposed to be in San Diego, but the second/stunt team had to work during heavy snowfall. They filmed on sets dressed as a laboratory and with different lab animals; e.g. snakes. For Episode 4×18, Lucas Till got to ride “in the belly of the airport beast”. Guest star Jorge Garcia (from Hawaii Five-0) will resume his role as Jerry Ortega and filmed scenes with the cast in the War Room before production moved to the Georgian Terrace Hotel.
BtS photo of Season 4 (via Henry Ian Cusick)
Working on Episode 4×18 On February 21, Anthony Kountz revealed another guest star on set: Robert Patrick (Terminator, Scorpion). He had worked with Lucas Till before (in Walk the Line; back in 2005). While attending the Monte Carlo Film Festival in 2017 together, Lucas had posted a throw-back-BtS-photo of the movie; mentioning that whe would love to work on another project together.
On Februar 24, filming resumed in and around an abandoned hospital to be set in Slovania. After uploading a new BtS photo with guest star Jorge Garcia; Justin Hires confirmed that Bozer will be getting around on a crutch for the episode. Justin later added more BtS photos; e.g. with Jorge and Henry Ian Cusick in the Phoenix lab.
BtS photo of Season 4 (via Justin Hires)
Despite the long hours, they still have a lot of fun on set during filming – proven by another dance/music video uploaded by Tristin Mays on February 25. On February 27, they filmed a fight scene taking place in a restaurant kitchen. The next day, Lucas and Levy worked until after 10pm; joining some crew members watching the premiere of Episode 4×04 on their phones and Lucas live-tweeting in between scenes.
Working on Episode 4×19 and beyond
There’s not many more episodes left to film. As Todd Amateau revealed on February 25, he was already scouting for locations while getting “close to the end”. On March 2nd and 3rd, filming took place on a parking lot with rain pouring down. Meredith Eaton and Henry Ian Cusick had to endure the cold weather on both days, entertaining themselves with uploading a few BtS photos. Although he wasn’t needed on set on Wednesday, Lucas was still working in he studio; doing ADR for an older episode.
BtS photo of Season 4 (via Lucas Till)
Generally, we haven’t seen as much BtS material this week; mainly because Justin and Tristin haven’t been on set this week and Levy just stated she’s having the week off, but maybe also due to them having to film during heavy rain on three consecutive days. They also had a nightshoot on Thursday.
Showrunner Peter Lenkov posted an Instagram Story of Levy Tran and Lucas Till posing with Peter Weller – it’s not clear yet if he’s back as Mason, as the director of the episode (or both).
Cast and Character News ICYMI: As revealed byTV Insider, there’s another recurring character showing up this season: Jery Ryan has been cast as Gwendolyn Hayes – MacGyver’s aunt! As mentioned above, other guest stars are Jorge Garcia and Robert Patrick.
Best of TV Awards: Round 2 Voting still ongoing
The Reboot is still competing in the “Best of TV Awards” held by Canada Graphs and already won in ALL the categories in Round 1. Voting for Round 2 started about a month ago. You can find the voting page here.
Remember: This time, you can only vote once for a category, but sometimes you have multiple selections to choose from. These are the MacGyver-related categories to keep an eye on in Round 2:
Best Action or Drama Actor/Actress (Lucas Till, Justin Hires, Tristin Mays, Meredith Eaton)
Best Recurring Actor/Actress (George Eads, Tate Donovan, Reign Edwards; closed)
Best Guest Actor (David Dastmalchian, Michael Des Barres; closed)
Best Director (Brad Turner for 3×13; closed)
Best Episode (3×13, 3×22 and 3×11; closed)
Best Writing (closed)
Best Stunts (closed)
Favorite Character (Mac, Jack, Riley, Bozer; closed)
While we finally get to enjoy our weekly episodes, cast and crew are nearing the ending of filming. Only about 4 episodes left to shoot – and there’s casting info for a new, recurring character!
(Spoiler Alert: You WILL get heavily spoilered about characters and storylines in Season 4 by reading this post and its comments or by clicking on the links provided! For daily news and to join the discussion and/or speculate away, you can find me on Twitter and head over to the MacGyverOnline Forums.)
About the Season 4 Premiere Promo Season 4 premiered two weeks ago. Contrary to Season 3, we got a lot of exciting promo material beforehand. To recap:
Interviews: We got a few not-so-new interviews; done with Lucas Till at the Corus Upfront in Toronto back in June 2019. We got a lot of new interviews with Lucas (e.g. with Parade Magazine) and with Henry Ian Cusick (e.g. on the Emmy website).
Photos: We got new portraits and group photos taken by Still Photographer Mark Hill.
Episode Titles: CBS released all the title ingredients for the initially ordered 13 episodes.
Previews and Sneak Peeks: We got an extended preview, a Sneak Peek of rebooted Team Phoenix’ first mission plus the Opening Scene, including the introduction of Russ Taylor.
New Opening Title Sequence: CBS presented us the Opening Title Sequence for Season 4 a day before the episode aired.
Interestingly, CBS kept handing us more promo afterward; e.g. the Agent Profile for Russ Taylor. We also got a new interview with Tristin Mays for Starry Constellation Magazine last Friday. She talked about her character; revealing that we will get to see a flashback episode and getting to know more about Riley’s past.
Agent Profile for Russ Taylor (via CBS)
About Episode 4×01
Season 4 picks up 18 months after the Phoenix Foundation was disbanded and the team members were stripped of their high-level clearances; having to take on non-government jobs. The season premiere episode airing on February 7 is titled “Fire + Ashes + Legacy = Phoenix”. It was written by (former) Co-Showrunner Terry Matalas and directed by David Straiton – and Lucas Till is now listed as a producer, too!
CBS had uploaded 26 Official Stills onto their press site. Sadly, not all of them are available in HD quality, but most of them are up on SpoilerTV. We also got several Sneak Peeks for the episode plus a few new BtS photos. Because of the push to midseason and this episode being filmed as the second one (instead of the first), a few co-stars had missed their appearance on Llive-TV. Some of the co-stars and the crew members uploaded BtS photos and videos afterwards; e.g. Toshiji Takeshima or Matthew Albright.
BtS photo of Episode 4×01: Fire + Ashes + Legacy = Phoenix (via CBS)
Episode 4×01 attracted 5.935 million live-viewers and got a 0.7 rating in the important demo group of 18-49 year olds. While the ratings didn’t win the night, they were better than both the Season 3 Premiere and the Season 3 Finale. In the Live +3 days ratings, it gained an additional 1.4 million viewers, reaching 7.4 million viewers. When looking at the Live +7 days ratings, it gained 1.55 million viewers (+26%), making 7.49 million viewers with a demo of 0.94 in total when including DVR ratings.
The twitter-trend-competition was high that night (due to a politics-related event on TV), but the fans live-tweeted enough for the hashtag #MacGyver to reach Rank 30 US-wide. The episode also made it into SpoilerTVs “Quote of the Week“.
On February 9, Tech Consultant Rhett Allain continued with his blog posts about the MacGyverisms used in the show and uploaded a post about the MacHacks in this episode.
About Episode 4×02 The episode airing last week is titled “Red Cell + Quantum + Cold + Committed”. It was written by Stephanie Hicks and directed by Alexandra La Roche (who had also directed Episode 3×17).
CBS had uploaded 15 Official Stills onto their press site. 14 of them are available on Getty Images; 11 of them are smaller, but untagged up on What 2 Vue. Lucas Till added some funny captions and uploaded them as Instagram Stories last week. We also got 4 Sneak Peeks.
Episode 4×02 had 5.772 million live-viewers and a demo rating of 0.7. The ratings are almost the same as the ones for Episode 3×02 back in September 2018. When compared to all other CBS shows (24 in total), the Reboot is currently at Rank 15 for demo and at Rank 14 for audience numbers.
That might not sound like stellar ratings, but it’s still slightly above the CBS average demo (of 0.686) and doing better than 5 of the 7 Rookie shows this year. Also, it only lost 4% in demo compared to last season, which is the lowest demo loss of all current CBS shows.
Again, the episode made it into SpoilerTV‘s “Quote of the Week” compilation. On February 17, Tech Consultant Rhett Allain uploaded his blog post about the MacGyverisms used in this episode.
What you need to know about Episode 4×03
The episode airing tonight is titled “Kid + Plane + Cable + Truck”. It was written by Producer Rob Pearlstein and directed by Lily Mariye (who already directed Episode 3×08). Here’s the synopsis:
MacGyver and the team board a plane that’s mid-flight when the pilot has a heart attack, and discover the medical emergency was intentional.
Among the guest cast, Sawyer D. Jones is listed as “Little Boy Mac”, so we should get another flashback sequence – maybe one that has to do with Mac’s fear of heights?
CBS had uploaded 9 Official Stills beforehand and 2 Sneak Peeks yesterday with an additional Sneak Peek (focusing on Mac and Desi) today. You can find all the promo material here.
What you need to know about Episode 4×04
The episode airing next Friday is titled “Windmill + Acetone + Celluloid + Firing Pin”. It was written by Andrew Karlsruher and directed by Eagle Egilsson (who already directed Episodes 1×14, 2×16, 3×05 and 3×20).
The storyline is set in Germany. We got the Press Release with a First Official Still on February 13. Here’s the synopsis:
As MacGyver works quickly to rescue survivors from a collapsed building in Germany, he discovers a new safety threat – a 1,000-pound undetonated bomb from World War II hidden beneath the rubble.
This sounds very much like an OG episode and I’m pretty excited. Also, Lucas Till had revealed in an interview for the premiere episode that he will speak a few lines of German this season. Among the guest cast, there’s also a German actor listed (Hauke Bahr).
In total, CBS uploaded 12 Official Stills; mostly of Mac and Riley working on securing the bomb.
Season 4 Episode Overview
Here’s a short recap about the upcoming episodes. The infos were either provided by CBS, by people working on the show or taken from IMDb (cast and crew info), from SpoilerTV or similar sites (episode titles and storyline info) and from The Futon Critic (airdates). On May 22, there’s an episode of reality show “Love Island” listed, so there might be a short break after the midseason finale on May 15.
Just remember: Episode titles and airdates are not definite until an official Press Release by CBS. And even then, changes are still a possibility.
4×05: Soccer + Desi + Merchant + Titan (March 6)
Written by Cindy Appel, directed by Duane Clark. You can find the Press Release with the first Official Still here.
4×06: Right + Wrong + Both + Neither (March 13)
Directed by Roderick Davis
4×07: Mac + Desi + Riley + Aubrey (April 3)
Guest appearances by Tate Donovan (as James MacGyver) and Peter Weller (as Mason)
4×08: Father (?) Son (?) Father (?) Matriarch (April 10)
Presumably directed by David Straiton
4×09: Code (?) Artemis (?) Nuclear (?) Nemesis (April 17)
Written by Brandon Botta and Casey Tollett Botta, directed by Mike Martinez
4×10: Tesla (?) Bell (?) Edison (?) Mac (April 24)
Directed by Yangzom Brauen
4×13: Save + The + Dam + World (May 15)
Directed by Carlos Bernard
4×14: (title tba)
(tba)
4×15: Resort + Desi + Riley + Witness (tbd)
Written by Stephanie Hicks, directed by Avi Youabian
4×16: Jack + Kinematics + MgKNO3 + GTO (tbd)
Written by Jim Adler, directed by Ericson Core
4×17: (title tba)
Presumably directed by David Straiton
4×18: (title tba)
Directed by Yangzom Brauen, presumed guest appearance by Jorge Garcia
A little recap since my last blog post: Filming for Episode 4×16 (Jack + Kinematics + MgKNO3 + GTO) started around January 24. The episode was written by Jim Adler and directed by Ericson Core. The cast set up at Fulton County Airport, at East Point Wagon Works, at the Arcade and in Downtown Atlanta.
BtS photo of Season 4 (via Lavonda Till)
The most interesting part was Lucas’ dad filming his guest appearance. Apparently, he’s part of the scene with MacGyver waiting in uniform to attend the arrival of a casket in an airport hangar (as seen on photos uploaded by Lucas’ stepmom Lavonda Till). Although it’s all pretend, Papa Till sure looks proud of Lucas in uniform.
Working on Episode 4×17 Despite Season Premiere Day, cast and crew worked until late that evening. The second/stunt team worked on stunts on Saturday despite rather heavy snowfall, although the scene was supposed to be set in San Diego.
On February 12, they filmed both inside and outside, but we didn’t get to see much BtS material. Aly Michalka (Frankie) uploaded a photo of herself in a lab coat as an Instagram Short Story. Considering there’s another BtS Insta Story of the same day of a bloody handprint on a glass door and casting calls for a CSI Forensics Team, we can only hope Frankie didn’t have to fake her death again.
BtS photo of Season 4 (via Cornell Willis)
They next day, they had more snakes on set; this time in a laboratory setting instead of a pet store a few weeks ago. Cornell Willis took the chance to face his fears by getting up and close with a snake. They also had some fake snakes there; so it’s possible that some of the animals will “escape” on screen.
Working on Episode 4×18 and beyond Production for Episode 4×18 started around February 13. Work continued outside on Valentine’s Day; at least with nice and sunny weather for once. The cast continued to upload photos and stories to remind us of the premiere for Episode 4×02. Meredith Eaton uploaded a nice photo with Henry Ian Cusick while Lucas Till showed us how difficult it is to concentrate on set when the stunt team makes so much noise during their fight scenes. He also revealed that he finally got to ride the “ride in the belly of the airport beast”. Could this be a nod to another OG episode?
BtS photo of Season 4 (via Meredith Eaton)
Cast and crew got to enjoy a long weekend due to a public holiday. Filming continued on Tuesday, February 18 with a familiar face in the War Room: Jorge Garcia (from Hawaii Five-0) will resume his role as Jerry Ortega; guest-starring in an upcoming episode (either 4×18 or 4×19; depending if they’re still filming in order).
The next day, production moved to the Georgian Terrace Hotel. Justin Hires and the rest of the cast got to dress up again. We didn’t get to see much BtS material in the last few days, but they sure wear a lot of sharp suits this season!
Jeri Ryan in Season 4 (via TV Insider)
Cast and Character News Yesterday, we got some big casting news: There’s another recurring character showing up this season! As revealed byTV Insider, Jery Ryan has been cast as Gwendolyn Hayes – who is related to MacGyver!
Gwendolyn Hayes is Mac’s aunt, his beloved mother’s sister, and an ex-DXS agent who was presumed dead. Mac never knew she existed but Gwen was always keeping track of her nephew’s life in the shadows. She is now the presumed head of Codex, the organization that the Phoenix has been hunting this season.
(Peter Lenkov for TV Insider)
Talk about creepy stalkers *ahem*. The article says that the character will first appear in the March 27 episode. There’s no episode listed for March 27, though (due to March Madness). But she will probably appear in Episode 4×08; at the moment set for April 10.
Best of TV Awards: Round 1 Results
The Reboot is still competing in the “Best of TV Awards” held by Canada Graphs – and already won in ALL the categories in Round 1! Well done, fans! Here are the results:
Best Action or Drama Program (Rank 1)
Best Action or Drama Actor/Actress: Lucas Till/Tristin Mays (Rank 1), Justin Hires/Meredith Eaton (Rank 2)
Best Recurring Actor/Actress: Tate Donovan/Reign Edwards (Rank 1), George Eads (Rank 2)
Best Guest Actor/Actress: David Dastmalchian (Rank 1), Michael Des Barres (Rank 2)
Favorite TV Program (Rank 1)
Best Director: Brad Turner for Episode 3×13 (Rank 1)
Favorite Character: Mac (Rank 1), Jack (Rank 2), Riley (Rank 3), Bozer (Rank 4)
Best Writing (Rank 1)
Best Stunts (Rank 1)
Best Non-Human Character or Prop (Sparky; Rank 1)
Best Couple (Bozer + Leanna; Rank 1)
Voting for Round 2 has already started a few weeks ago. You can find the voting page here. Remember: This time, you can only vote once for a category, but sometimes you have multiple selections to choose from.
Episode 4×02: Red Cell + Quantum + Cold + Committed (via What 2 Vue)
These are the MacGyver-related categories to keep an eye on in Round 2:
Best Director (Brad Turner for 3×13)
Best Episode (3×13, 3×22 and 3×11)
Best Writing
Best Stunts
Favorite Character (Mac, Jack, Riley, Bozer; closed)
We finally reached the most important Friday this year so far – the Season 4 Premiere is tonight! While filming continues, we’re spoiled with new promo material every day now.
Promo photo for Season 4 (Mark Hill/CBS, via Tristin Mays)
(Big Spoiler Alert: You WILL get heavily spoilered about characters and storylines in Season 4 by reading this post and its comments or by clicking on the links provided! For daily news and to join the discussion and/or speculate away, you can find me on Twitter and head over to the MacGyverOnline Forums.)
Season 4 Storylines and Promo News Season 4 premieres tonight! We got some more exciting promo material since my last blog post:
New/Old Interviews: We got a few not-so-new, but still interesting interviews to read and watch; done with Lucas Till at the Corus Upfront in Toronto back in June 2019. On January 31, Rudy Blair uploaded his interview. ET Canada posted their video interview on Wednesday. Yesterday, Global News posted the video of Lucas appearing on The Morning Show.
Since the Corus Upfronts Interviews were recorded about half a year ago and before filming for Season 4 had even started, Lucas couldn’t reveal much about the storyline this season. He probably hadn’t even gotten a script of the new episodes to read yet.
BtS photo of Episode 4×01: Fire + Ashes + Legacy = Phoenix (via Meredith Eaton)
He did talk a bit about the stunt work and about filming his movie “Son of the South” during the Morning Show interview.
New Interviews: We got a lot more of new interviews than I ever expected and hoped for; considering the show got pushed to midseason. Fun times! On February 4, Matt Carter posted a new interview with Lucas taken just a few days ago. A day later, TV Line posted their interview with Henry Ian Cusick. Additionally, ET Online posted a new interview with Lucas, alongside an exclusive clip of the opening scene. The local CBS stations also had an interview up with Lucas on the same day. Ian had also done an interview with Melissa Byers that was posted on the Emmys website. Today, Parade Magazine released their interview with Lucas who spilled quite a bit about the first episode (more on that further down).
Being already in the middle of filming the season, Lucas talked with Matt Carter about working with Henry Ian Cusick and the character of Russ Taylor, about the different energy in the new season and about the possibility of him directing an episode.
Promo photo for Season 4 (Mark Hill/CBS, screenshot via Tumblr)
As Lucas told ET Online, the new season is a bit different and slightly darker, and looks and feels more mature. Also, he revealed to CBS that Executive Producer Peter Lenkov had initially been a bit concerned about making too many changes; fearing it could alienate the audience.
You see Mac grow up in his way of thinking. ‘You can’t save everybody,’ is what part of the season turns into and it’s not just black and white. There’s not just good and bad, and that’s what the season becomes in the first 13.
(Lucas Till for ET Online)
Despite the darker tone, Lucas said in the interview for CBS that there’a still a lot of fun in the episodes. Ian told TV Line he’s never had more fun in a TV role before; being able to be “bigger”, joking around and even improvising his lines every now and then. But he also revealed to Melissa Byers the had been very nervous coming on set; being the “new guy” after the others had already worked with each other for months and even years.
Portraits and Group Photos: Last Friday, the new potraits and group photos shot by Still Photographer Mark Hill popped up online.
They had never done new photos after the promo material for the pilot episode with Lucas Till and George Eads. Heck, there isn’t even an official promo team photo for the first three seasons. As you can imagine, the fans were over the moon; re-posting and -tweeting the new photos on social media like crazy. The portraits are being used on the bio page for CBS Press Express and are available on Getty Images; along with one of the team photos.
Promo photo for Season 4 (Mark Hill/CBS)
On February 3, Justin Hires uploaded a short video (taken by Tristin Mays) of him posing for his portraits. Interestingly, he has one additional portrait while the others only got two single portraits each.
Episode Titles Galore: On February 3, CBS released the titles for the initially ordered 13 episodes.
Well, the majority of the titles since the equations weren’t fully revealed. We can assume that most titles will have plus signs only – but for now, I’ll put in question marks as placeholders.
Extended Trailer and Sneak Peeks: On February 4, we got a new, extended preview. Just a day later, ET Online presented an exclusive video clip of the Opening Scene, alongside a short interview with Lucas.
Like the first preview, the extended preview features scenes from the first four episodes. We get to see more scenes of MacGyver teaching and Riley in her non-Phoenix workplace.
Episode 4×01: Fire + Ashes + Legacy = Phoenix (Mark Hill/CBS via Getty Images)
In the Opening Scene, we see MacGyver wave his way through traffic at speed, running along campus – only to finally arrive in his own classroom and the chemistry lesson he was apparently late to.
New Opening Title Sequence: On February 5, CBS presented us the Opening Title Sequence for Season 4.
The music is still the same length, though they dropped the beginning that was reminiscent to the Original Show. Also, the new logo is red with a different font. The cast order is Lucas Till, Tristin Mays, Justin Hires, Meredith Eaton, Levy Tran and Henry Ian Cusick.
Spoiler Alert and BtS Previews: On February 6, CBS released a short, spoiler-filled video with the cast. Later, CBS uploaded a BtS Preview Video. Last Week, Astrid Martinez from TV News Channel CBS46 had visited the cast on set. Yesterday, they aired the short segment on TV. Today, CBS uploaded another video from set, this time with the cast talking about their best life hacks.
Of course, the spoilers are all censored (aka bleeped out). Though from what I was able to understand, someone gets married and a lot of people will die. Sadly, all the clips on the official YouTube-account are restricted to US-viewers only. If perusing the MacGyverCBS-account from Europe, the videos are not listed. Also, the set visit was really short. I hope we get to see more photos and interview segments; maybe shortly before the episode airs.
Screenshot of the Season 4 Opening Title Sequence
What you need to know about Episode 4×01
The episode airing tonight is titled “Fire + Ashes + Legacy = Phoenix”. It was written by (former) Co-Showrunner Terry Matalas and directed by David Straiton.
Ex-MI6 agent Russ Taylor (Henry Ian Cusick) recruits former Phoenix Foundation members Mac, Riley, Bozer, Matty and Desi to hunt down a bioweapon that’s planned to be used by a mysterious organization for a devastating attack on a major U.S. city.
On January 7, CBS had released a red logo with black writing. We can assume it’s for the not-so-mysterious-anymore organization named “The Codex” that will test our heroes and their abilities to save the world.
Promo photo for Season 4 (Mark Hill/CBS, screenshot via Tumblr)
According to TV Line, Season 4 will pick up 18 months after the Phoenix Foundation was disbanded and the team members were stripped of their high-level clearances. We already knew MacGyver works as a college professor and we’ve seen BtS photos of Bozer promoting his own movie, but Lucas revealed to Parade Magazine what the other members of Team Phoenix have been doing: Riley works in Silicon Valley, Desi works as a bouncer and Matty is doing TED talks. Also, not only did Mac and Desi broke up, but Bozer’s love life is also on the skids – and someone is in a secret relationship!
In an interview with TV Guide Magazine, Lucas Till revealed that Russ Taylor will buy up the Phoenix, so we can assume some tension between Russ and former boss Matty. Also, he told Astrid Martinez when visiting the set for Channel CBS46 that his dad will have a guest appearance. Maybe as a fellow professor?
CBS had uploaded 26 Official Stills onto their press site. Sadly, not all of them are available in HD quality, but most of them are finally up on SpoilerTV. We also got several Sneak Peeks for the episode. In case you missed them: The First Look Video via TV Insider shows is the first meeting between MacGyver and Russ Taylor. In another Sneak Peek, we get to see the “rebooted” Team Phoenix on their first mission.
Episode 4×02: Red Cell + Quantum + Cold + Committed (Guy D’Alema/CBS via Getty Images)
What you need to know about Episode 4×02 The episode airing next Friday is titled “Red Cell + Quantum + Cold + Committed”. It’s written by Stephanie Hicks and directed by Alexandra La Roche.
Department of Defense General John Acosta (Xander Berkeley) recruits MacGyver to steal a highly classified project from a military lab in order to find flaws in its security. But when it’s discovered that the general is planning an attack using the weapon, Phoenix must stop Acosta before the weapon is uploaded.
CBS uploaded 15 Stills in total onto their press site. At the moment, 14 of them are available on Getty Images (watermarked). Weirdly, the cast list for 4×02 is the exact same as for 4×01, so there might have been a mix-up with the episode order being different from the production order.
Season 4 Episode Overview
Here’s a short recap about the episodes we can look forward to. The infos were either provided by CBS, by people working on the show or taken from IMDb (cast and crew info), from SpoilerTV or similar sites (episode titles and storyline info) and from The Futon Critic (airdates).
Promo photo for Season 4 (Mark Hill/CBS, screenshot via Tumblr)
As you can see, there will be a 3-week-break for March Madness like every year. Episode titles and airdates are not definite, though – until an official Press Release by CBS. And even then, changes are still a possibility.
4×01: Fire + Ashes + Legacy = Phoenix (February 7)
Written by Terry Matalas, directed by David Straiton
4×02: Red Cell + Quantum + Cold + Committed (February 14)
(Presumably) Written by Stephanie Hicks, directed by Alexandra La Roche
4×03: Kid + Plane + Cable + Truck (February 21)
Written by Rob Pearlstein, directed by Lily Mariye
4×12: Loyalty (?) Family (?) Rogue (?) Hellfire (May 8)
Presumed guest appearance by Rob Giumarra
4×13: Save + The + Dam + World (May 15)
Directed by Carlos Bernard
4×14: (title tba)
(tba)
4×15: Resort + Desi + Riley + Witness (tbd)
Written by Stephanie Hicks, directed by Avi Youabian
4×16: Jack + Kinematics + MgKNO3 + GTO (tbd)
Written by Jim Adler, directed by Ericson Core
4×17: (title tba)
(tba)
A little recap: Filming for Episode 4×15 (Resort + Desi + Riley + Witness) started around January 16 and is directed by Avi Youabian. The cast filmed scenes in the War Room, in an elevator, inside the Equitable Building and at the Candler Hotel. There was a bullet-riddled Maserati, a wheelchair and a bleeding Riley, a sandy beach in Hawaii and several night shoots.
Working on Episode 4×16 and beyond Episode 4×16 is titled “Jack + Kinematics + MgKNO3 + GTO” and was written by Jim Adler. Filming for the episode directed by Ericson Core started around January 24. The cast set up at Fulton County Airport, at East Point Wagon Works and at the Arcade. They also destroyed quite a few bottles of red wine for the camera. Additionally, we got a photo of Lucas Till in MacGyver’s military dress uniform; filming what looks like army personnel waiting on a casket to arrive in the hangar.
BtS photo of Season 4 (via Grecia)
On February 3, filming continued in warehouse-like locations we’ve seen before. Mike Milligan was back for stunt work and geo-tagged his posts with “Croatia”. Lucas Till uploaded a video of Mike “losing it” on the stunt floor.
On February 4, they filmed on different locations around Downtown Atlanta. People nearby were able to get some photos and videos; e.g. of Lucas Till and Henry Ian Cusick filming or of Lucas during lunch break. According to Matthew Albright, they filmed at Interpol HQ as well.
On Wednesday, they filmed more scenes with – presumably Jack’s – GTO. Tristin Mays was happy to find another tiny door right on set. Both her and Lucas took photos and videos with it.
Promo photo for Season 4 (Mark Hill/CBS, screenshot via Tumblr)
Yesterday, there was heavy rain in Atlanta; making it difficult to get to set unscathed and to film outside (they were scheduled to shoot in Grant Park). It looks like they had to reschedule for filming outside. Considering it’s snowing now, they might have to do some changes to today’s schedule as well. For now, they do film some scenes outside what looks like the old DXS building.
All in all, cast and crew are exciting for tonight’s premiere; posting a lot on social media. Even Lucas Till has been uploading some Instagram Stories as I type this post. Sadly, Twitter doesn’t seem to be working properly right now, so let’s hope it’s fixed before the premiere so we can get the show’s hashtag trending!
It looks like Aly Michalka (who played Frankie Mallory in Episode 1×19) might be back on set for Episode 4×17. Also, it looks like some more of Lucas’ relatives and friends might have background spots in upcoming episodes.
About that Time Jump (encore)
As mentioned before, Time Jumps are not a rarity in TV-Show-Land – but it’s rare to have such a long one. And while the writers and producers practically get a “blank slate” to change and shape the show into whatever they wanted from the beginning, it’s not easy to not getting the long-term fans all worked up and angry or anxious about what’s coming and what’s been undone.
Episode 4×01: Fire + Ashes + Legacy = Phoenix (via TV Insider)
It’s nice we got so much promo this year. But there are a few things I’m not too happy about from what I’ve seen in the Sneak Peeks and read in the interviews.
MacGyver being reckless: In the Opening Sequence, we see Mac weaving in and out of traffic. What looks like a chase for a mission, turns out to be MacGyver just being late for his class.
While Mac certainly is not hesitant to be reckless and put his own life in danger to save other people’s lives, he would never endanger anyone else just because he overslept.
The Team falling out of touch: Apparently, Team Phoenix hasn’t talked to each other during the “hiatus”.
Maybe they wouldn’t see each other as often; especially with Jack still away and the team grieving over Charlie (and Mac feeling awfully guilty). I can see Desi falling out of touch with the others; for once because she joined last and second because if she actually dated MacGyver and the relationship fell apart (more on that further down), the others may have “sided” with Mac.
Promo photo for Season 4 (Mark Hill/CBS, screenshot via Tumblr)
I can accept everyone struggling with losing a job/position they loved – but I just can’t believe they would have fallen out of touch for a year or more. Even if Bozer moved out of Mac’s house (and he must have, otherwise it makes no sense at all). While Mac has a tendency to withdraw himself from others, Bozer sure doesn’t. This is rather out of character and was just done to have a reason to Russ Taylor swooping in to “save” them. I’m sure, there would have been a better idea how to bring Russ into the team. Personally, I’d preferred maybe Mac saving his life, then deciding they need each other to save Phoenix and get rid of the new bad guy collective.
MacGyver’s love life all happening off-screen: The last few episodes of Season 3 hinted at a beginning romance between Mac and Desi; ending with Mac and Desi planning to go on a “date”.
There were several hints at Mac and Desi having been dating and breaking it up again off-screen. Them having been a couple was just confirmed by Lucas with the Parade Magazine interview. Why didn’t we get to see that? While it can be interesting to see an ex-couple reconciling and to learn a story through flashbacks, I fear it’s only implemented to add tension throughout the entire season until they find back together. Both Lucas Till and Levy Tran have good chemistry together, I don’t see why they didn’t let the viewers come to the same conclusion and see the relationship progress naturally over time. (Though to be honest, I’d rather see MacGyver and Riley ending up together; spending a lot of time talking about Jack and struggling with his absence, and later spending a lot of time without talking about Jack.)
Episode 4×02: Red Cell + Quantum + Cold + Committed (Mark Hill/CBS via Getty Images)
Best of TV Awards: Round 1 Results
The Reboot is still competing in the “Best of TV Awards” held by Canada Graphs – and already won in several categories in Round 1! Here are the results that are available so far:
Favorite TV Program (Rank 1)
Best Director: Brad Turner for Episode 3×13 (Rank 1)
Favorite Character: Mac (Rank 1), Jack (Rank 2), Riley (Rank 3), Bozer (Rank 4)
Best Writing (Rank 1)
Best Stunts (Rank 1)
Best Non-Human Character or Prop (Sparky; Rank 1)
Best Couple (Bozer + Leanna; Rank 1)
Voting for Round 2 has already started! You can find the voting page here. Remember: This time, you can only vote once for a category, but sometimes you have multiple selections to choose from.
Promo photo for Season 4 (Mark Hill/CBS, screenshot via Tumblr)
These are the MacGyver-related categories currently open for voting and to keep an eye on in Round 2:
Best Couple (Bozer + Leanna)
ICYMI: Last Summer, the Reboot had won a surfboard at the Teen Choice Awards (in the category “Choice Action TV Show”). It finally arrived at the Paramount Studio Lot.
Every time I dig through my stash of MacGyver-Reboot-related folders, I stumble over material about the Unaired MacGyver Reboot Pilot, filmed in April/May 2016. I have written about it before, but it was usually a few bits and pieces here or there. I’m trying to put all the necessary information together for interested readers – especially since many of you accidentally landed on my blog after looking for information about it by using search engines.
If you missed Part 1 (about the Unaired Pilot’s Origins), you can read it here.
Unaired MacGyver Pilot Logo (via CBS)
Rebooting the Reboot The Unaired Pilot was filmed in April/May 2016. Production wrapped on May 5, only two weeks before the CBS Upfronts – THE event for the networks to announce their TV schedule for Fall and to provide more info about the upcoming TV shows.
On the 13th of May, Variety confirmed that the Reboot had been picked up and ordered to Series by CBS – with Peter Lenkov as an Executive Producer. The Hollywood Reporter hinted that the script might be tossed out and stated that the secondary cast members were “unlikely to return”. Deadline added that Lenkov would write a new script with the general premise of the series remaining the same; confirming that the supporting cast was not coming back.
Official Still of the Unaired Pilot (Ron P. Jaffe/CBS, via NY Times)
Of course, this was exciting, yet also concerning news. What had exactly happened, and was this project doomed now that they rearranged everyting, but still wanted the show to premiere in Fall? What would this mean for the quality of the show, if the showrunner had to not only find a new cast, but also a new crew and new locations in time to start filming in Summer? Why had CBS picked up the show for Fall if they didn’t like the pilot, the script or the cast in the first place? Did they care for MacGyver at all or only for the promise of making money with a well-known brand that had the potential to be turned into a franchise? And wasn’t Peter Lenkov already busy enough with Hawaii Five-0?
The move also left a bit of a bitter taste since it looked like the secondary cast members got the news at the same time as us – via the internet.
Official Still of the Unaired Pilot (Ron P. Jaffe/CBS)
Official Stills that were not meant to stay
Despite the Pilot Episode being scrapped and just days before the CBS Upfronts, we got the first Official Still of Lucas Till and George Eads in character on May 16 via NY Times. (The article itself was not about the Reboot per se, but about the nostalgia leading to resurrecting old TV shows.)
The reactions were mixed. Many felt that MacGyver looked too young, but were quite happy to see that both chemistry and physics still seemed to be an important part of the show. Others made fun of rebooted MacGyver’s hairdo; deeming him as one of the “Hanson Brothers”.
Social Media Header (via MacGyver On CBS)
On May 18, they released two new Official Stills just before the Upfronts. The tweet by Eric Goldman reveals that a lot of the talk revolved around MacGyver’s hair again:
MacGyver 2016 has no time for haircuts! He’s gotta make a thing out of a thing!
The third Still had rebooted MacGyver walking to his next mission. About the same time, CBS revealed the new social media pages for Facebook, Twitter and Instagram; revealing another look at the pilot and the new logo. (Little did we know that only hours later, the Stills would be deleted; alongside all material on the social media pages.)
The logo – featuring an SAK forming the letter “v” in the show title – was very well received among the fans. Even 30 years after the original series, everyone associates the SAK with MacGyver, so the logo was pretty clever and easily recognizable.
Official Still of the Unaired Pilot (Ron P. Jaffe/CBS)
The description for the show provided by CBS read as follows:
A secret agent unlike any other, MacGyver escapes perilous situations with nothing but a paperclip, his trusty Swiss Army knife and his wit. A dynamic reimagining of the hit television series, this action-packed origin story follows the young MacGyver as he returns from war, a hero with an idealistic vision of saving the world. He and his late father’s best friend partner to form the clandestine Phoenix Foundation. Using his scientific know-how and resourcefulness, MacGyver – alongside his intrepid team – undertakes missions to save lives and change the world.
CBS also revealed that the show was scheduled to air on Fridays, which had some fans worried since Friday used to be a “death slot” for years until CBS had managed to turn it around for them.
Presentation of the Unaired Pilot Promo Material at the CBS Upfronts 2016 (via Twitter)
The Teaser Trailer that disappeared At the Upfront Events, usually both Art Work and Teaser Trailers for the new Fall shows are being released. This not only to tease the potential audience, but also to attract international buyers. Since we already knew that the Pilot Episode would be scrapped along with most of the cast, we were wondering if CBS would even dare to show a trailer.
The trailer soon hit social media accounts all around the world. To watch it, the fans had to do a bit of MacGyvering themselves since the trailer was geo-blocked outside the USA. It didn’t take long for other countries to post and revierw it as well, though. Let’s just say it wasn’t that well received – or the positive reviews got buried under the amount of negative comments and down-votes. Many Original fans found rebooted MacGyver too cocky or too violent and not very distinguishable from any other action show. And of course, the comments about his hair were never-ending.
Unaired Pilot Teaser Trailer Screenshots
Some of the fired cast members (e.g. Addison Timlin) were not happy either; tweeting statements like “I wish network television would quit firing me but putting me in their promotions anyway”.
In the Teaser Trailer, they created the tagline that they would later use for the rebooted Pilot Episode again: Mac is Back. The trailer clearly marked the show as a one-man-show like the Original, with MacGyver as the lead hero in the centre.
Unaired Pilot Teaser Trailer Screenshots
According to Deadline, a 20-minute-cut-down of the pilot episode had sparked a lot of interest among international buyers. Nonetheless, CBS declared the trailer soon to “promo non grata” and erased all their former tweets, posts and Official Stills concerning promo for the discarded pilot from their social media accounts.
The LA TV Screenings
A few days later, Peter Lenkov posted a photo on Instagram that showed a promo poster in form of a character portrait with Lucas Till. Interestingly, they used yet another font for what seemed like the new MacGyver logo, but the writing style was used for posters for other CBS shows as well. Since Lenkov was on holiday, he didn’t attend the event and neither did the (remaining) cast members.
Usually, there are cast photos and interviews being made at the LA TV Screenings, but with the imminent rebooting of the reboot, we didn’t get to enjoy any of that.
Promo Poster at the LA TV Screenings (via Peter Lenkov)
(More about the BtS photos of the Unaired Pilot in Part 3.)
It’s Season 2 Premiere Day! Between filming and posting BtS pictures, the cast is also busy doing promo.
BtS of Season 2 (via Lucas Till)
(Spoiler Alert: You will get spoilered about Season 2 and the Season 2 Premiere Episode by reading this post and its comments or by clicking on the links provided!)
Season 2 News and Promo
Season 2 of the MacGyver Reboot premieres today. It is kind of a special date because back in 1985, the Original Show also premiered on September 29.
There wasn’t much promo until yesterday; especially compared to other CBS shows (e.g. Hawaii Five-0). Also, as I’m writing up this blog post earlier than usual, there’s still no press release about Isabel Lucas joining the cast and no press releases or stills for other episodes but the Season Premiere. But we have new interviews and Sneak Peeks; so let’s take a look at these.
In TV Guide Magazine (released in print on September 16), Lucas Till and George Eads talked a bit what Season 2 will bring. As Lucas revealed, we will be in Cuba and Turkey, in catacombs and underwater (judging from Stills and Previews, this all might happen in the Season Premiere Episode tonight). They also let us know that Murdoc will be involved in the first four episodes in some capacity and that Murdoc’s son also figures into the storyline. George stated that we will meet Riley’s dad (which was recently mentioned by Executive Director Peter Lenkov on Instagram as well).
This interview was additionally released online on TV Insider yesterday. Sadly, there were no new promo pictures accompanying the article.
BtS of George Eads doing Season 2 promo (via Karyn Greer)
There are some recent interviews released by Canadian outlets. Most of these were probably taken at the Corus Upfront in Toronto back in June – before filming for Season 2 had even started. That’s why Lucas talks about Season 1 and 2 in general, but doesn’t give any specific news.
You can listen to Lucas doing an audio interview with CFox here. He talks a bit about the high expectations he faced for Season 1. In a written interview with Canada.com, Lucas revealed he’s doing a lot of yoga because “action scenes can also wreak havoc on a guy”.
On September 21, the official Instagram Account asked the fans to leave their questions below. So far, there are over 370 comments, but there was no announcement if and how these questions will be answered.
We can expect some more promo and appearances today. Meredith Eaton was in the studio to film a segment for KCAL9 News. You can watch the interview here. She said that she’s having the time of her life and that her role is the highlight of her career.
Lucas Till doing Interviews on Set (via Natasha Lee)
Episode 2×01 Promo
On Wednesday, Peter Lenkov released another short Cuba-Sequence and how Jack utilizes his head as a weapon. Ouch.
Yesterday, SpoilerTV released three Sneak Peeks for Episode 2×01 (DIY or DIE). In the first clip, new character Samantha Cage saves Mac and Jack from the bad guys. The other clip plays in Cuba. Mac and Jack are in a bit of trouble (what else is new *lol*), but as soon as they’re out of trouble, it turns out they’re actually on a quest to find Murdoc.
Episode 2×01: DIY or DIE (Sneak Peek Screenshot)
The third clip sees Bozer getting released from hospital after rehab. Looks like not that much time has passed since the Season 1 Finale Episode. We have to assume Mac and Jack didn’t have a lead on Mac’s dad that was deemed worth following any longer or they returned as soon as they got notice about Murdoc breaking out of prison.
Producer’s Praise
After praising Justin Hires on his drama acting chops last week and praising George Eads on his take for Jack Dalton, Executive Producer Peter Lenkov continued honoring the rest of the cast members in different Instagram posts. Besides praising Lucas, Tristin and Meredith, he also revealed some little trivia on each post.
Why walk when you can drive?
The main unit has been filming outside a lot and on some interesting looking sets; e.g. an obstacle course. They also like to use cars, mopeds and other vehicles as props. Jack’s GTO will be back as well.
Cast and Character News
Although the main cast welcomed Isabel Lucas two weeks ago, there’s still no official press release about her joining the Season 2 cast. Like Season 1 with Meredith Eaton, it’s possible she doesn’t have an opening title credit in the first episode of her appearance.
BtS of Season 2 (via Roger Floyd)
We know we’ll get to meet Riley’s dad. We don’t know who will play the role, but there has been some speculation it might be Roger Floyd who had posted some funny BtS pictures this week.
Crew and Director News On Sunday, director Bobby Roth was busy scouting the Porsche museum for the show. Stacey Black, the director of Episode 2×08, finished filming her scenes on September 27.
BtS of Episode 2×08 (via Stacey Black)
Bobby Roth posted a picture with Tristin Mays in the afternoon; indicating that filming for Episode 2×09 has already started. On the same day, Tawnia Canell McKiernan had revealed that she’s packing to leave for Atlanta, so she will most likely direct Episode 2×10. Last Season, she had directed the episode with the Coltons (1×16: Hook).
Rerun Ratings
There was a rerun of the Season 1 Finale (Cigar Cutter) last Friday. While the ratings for Episode 1×20 (Hole Puncher) back on September 2 hadn’t been that overwhelming, the Season 1 Finale won its time slot again and reached about 4.2 million live viewers (with a rating of 0.5 in the important demo group of 14-49 year-olds).
Overall, all rerun episodes managed to reach 4.2 million live viewers on average (with a 0.6 rating in demo). Not bad. Some similar shows don’t even reach as many people during their premiere.
Season 1 DVD News
The Season 1 DVD has already been released in some countries (e.g. Australia, UK) two weeks ago. Many fans have been asking about a US-release on the official social media accounts, but so far no one ever bothered to answer or to even acknowledge the questions. It seems like there is no release date yet which is a bit curious since the newest Seasons of many other CBS-Shows (e.g. Hawaii Five-0 or Blue Bloods) have been released recently. Apparently, CBS is still banking on people getting a pass for CBS All Access, their streaming account.
Season 1 DVD (UK version)
MacGyver in Austria
So far, I haven’t seen any promo on TV or on social media, but the show seems to do well enough in Austria. While Episode 1×03 (Awl) two weeks ago only managed 51’000 viewers on average, Episode 1×04 (Wire Cutter) reached 56’000.
As predicted, Season 2 of the MacGyver Reboot will continue to air on Fridays this Fall. The competition for the Friday ratings has changed, though.
LA Wrap Party (via Justin Hires)
CBS Upfronts
On May 17, CBS presented their 2017-2018 TV schedule. As predicted, their Fridays Line-Up hasn’t changed and the “Holy Trinity” (MacGyver, Hawaii Five-0 and Blue Bloods) stays intact. The competition has changed, though; e.g. because Tim Allen’s Last Man Standing has been cancelled. MacGyver will share its airtime with Once Upon A Time (ABC), Blindspot (NBC), Hell’s Kitchen (FOX) and Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (CW).
Blindspot used to air on Wednesdays. The show earned on average 4.89 million live viewers (with a 18-49 Demo of 1.03) per episode which is less than MacGyver (7.73 live viewers, Demo 1.08). But like the Reboot, Blindspot also serves a lot of action scenes.
Once Upon A Time used to air on Sundays. In its 6th Season, the show managed on average 3.15 million live viewers (with a 18-49 Demo of 0.93) per episode. The show will undergo a complete overhaul for next season with the consequence of losing six series regulars; looking for a “younger” and “fresher” audience. The show was renewed due to its fierce and loyal fanbase, but we’ll see if the fans will stay without their main heroes that made the audience fall in love with the show in the first place. Also, considering they’re targeting a younger audience by using younger actors, moving the show to Friday might not help to get bigger ratings.
What are cast and crew up to?
This Monday, Executive Producer Peter Lenkov has been back on the Paramount Studios lot. With roughly a month left until production moves to Atlanta to get ready for filming, it’s save to say that there are scripts to finish, locations to scout, sets to design and build and casting calls to send out soon.
Justin Hires is already excited for next season. He posted several pictures of MacGyver Episodes and also a new picture with Lucas Till at the LA Wrap Party. George Eads was seen at a restaurant and posed for a picture. Interestingly, we can’t clearly see what’s going on with his hair, but it looks like he has shaved off Jack Dalton’s “Fauxhawk” for hiatus.
MacGyver around the world
The Reboot is or has been airing in several countries by now. The premiere for Italy is set for June 13 (Rai2). For the premiere in Japan, there will be a premiere event on June 6 which the dubbing actors for MacGyver (Mamoru Miyano) and Jack (Hiroshi Tsuchida) will attend.
While the English episode titles are named after tools on an SAK, other countries don’t even try to literally translate them. In Germany, the pilot episode (The Rising) is titled “Die Wiedergeburt” (Rebirth), episode 1×02 (Metal Saw) is called “Alias” (which doesn’t make much sense to me).
In France, the episode titles are either funny or outrageous. Episode 1×02 (Metal Saw) is called “Sauvez la femme” (literally translated: “Rescue the woman”). Episode 1×11 (Scissors) is titled “Joyeux Noël” (Merry Christmas) while Episode 1×14 (Fish Scaler) reveales the plot since it’s titled “Agent double” (Double Agent).
Episode 1×13: Large Blade (via SpoilerTV)
The Vault: New/Old interview with George Eads
There were times when the promo load was so intense that I couldn’t catch all of it. I recently stumbled over an old interview with George Eads that was published in September 2016, a day before the premiere of the pilot episode.
Again, I’m amazed how often he gets away with revealing stuff in interviews; e.g. the entire plot for Episode 1×05 (Toothpick), that “pretty hefty bottles of wine” are consumed while rehearsing with Lucas Till and that they both get “a vitamin bag IV, amino shots and B12 shots” on the weekends. He also talked about the differences between filming scenes for MacGyver and CSI, about the bond with Lucas and about some of the issues with the Unaired Pilot.
Here’s an interesting excerpt regarding the original actors:
When they see the pilot and see we’ve hit the mark, we’ll have a lot more of them come around. I think that’s when we can ask Richard Dean Anderson. We’ll have to wait and see how the kid does before he does anything. It will be cool to have MacGyver play MacGyver. It would be almost like ‘Back to the Future.” We brush by the real Jack Dalton and MacGyver in a case. That might be interesting.
(George Eads, via RadioTVTalk, September 2016)
(via Lauren Leigh)
He revealed that they reshot some scenes for Episode 1×03 (Awl). Comparing Jack Dalton with his CSI-character Nick Stokes, Eads said:
It’s completely different. There is still that bravery issue, that no fear issue that Nick had. But this character has severe PTSD. He’s a death dealer. He’s ex Special Forces, been in all kinds of secret ops. He kills without a conscience. He’s kind of the epitome of courage but when you have those screws loose, he’s the type of guy Mac has to turn around and say, ‘Stop! Calm down! We’re not just running in there like that!’ […] So [Mac’s] teaching Jack how to get his temper and emotions in check because there’s nothing Jack likes better than to fight and kill someone who deserves it. He’s just a loose cannon, a damn wild man.
(George Eads, via RadioTVTalk, September 2016)
It’s funny how I absolutely can’t see rebooted Jack Dalton in this, considering they were already filming Episode 5 when this interview took place. It feels like he’s talking about his Unaired-Pilot-character Lincoln. Also, I always felt that Jack does all the emotional work for MacGyver, not the other way around.
Dashboard On Fire 