MacGyver Reboot Update #112

The Reboot has been renewed for Season 5. So far, there’s not much to report on.

BtS photo of Episode 4×02: Red Cell + Quantum + Cold + Committed (via Levy Tran)

(Minor Spoiler Alert: You might get spoilered about Season 5 by reading this post and its comments or by clicking on the links provided. For daily news and to join the discussion and/or speculate away, you can find me on Twitter and head over to the MacGyverOnline Forums.)

 

All you need to know about Season 5
On May 19, CBS revealed their new Fall Schedule in a virtual Upfronts presentation. MacGyver will return with the other Fall shows, in its usual timeslot (Fridays, 8pm). There is no premiere date yet because “Fall” can mean any date between the end of September and November. Here’s what we know so far about the upcoming season (which isn’t much):

• The rest of the episodes already filmed for Season 4 will be used for Season 5.
• There is no further information yet about the number of episodes being ordered.
• According to Justin Hires, there’s no filming date yet.
• Teresa Huang revealed on May 8 that she joined the crew as Story Editor.
• According to an Instagram post by Rain Management (that was later edited), Jim Adler joins the show as Co-Executive Producer while Monica Macer joins as Co-Showrunner.
• There’s no new key art nor a new production SAK logo yet.

Some unfinished movies and TV shows (mostly outside the US) have resumed filming, but most of the blockbuster projects won’t go back into production before September.

BtS photo of Episode 4×02: Red Cell + Quantum + Cold + Committed (via Levy Tran)

How the pandemic could affect Season 5
This week, Hollywood submitted a COVID-19 Reopening Plan from studios, unions and producers to the NY and CA governors; with CBS Studios being a participant. They’re very similar to the Georgia safety measures released in May and might lead to changes not only in production, but also in storylines, guest stars, settings and locations.

Depending on the current protocols, it won’t be as easy to fly in guest stars and/or directors from abroad (e.g. if they worked on another project just before). The guidelines recommend to reduce the number of Extras and of scenes being filmed in public locations (since those are not as easily controlled).

Episode 3×17: Seeds + Permafrost + Feather (Official Still via SpoilerTV)

While not specifically adressed in the Georgia guidelines, they might reduce the number of fighting scenes and/or intimate scenes, because if one of the main cast gets sick or needs to be in quarantine, production would need to go on hiatus for at least 10 days – unless they can rewrite the script and “eliminate” the character from the episode, which is unlikely.

The pandemic might also reduce the numbers of episodes ordered for TV shows in general – not just because of delayed filming for some shows, but mainly because the safety measures include a lot of protective gear (e.g. masks) being used while sharing of crew equipment as well as costumes should be eliminated.

The guidelines also ask for periodic and regular temperature checks and testing plus enforced physical distancing between both cast and crew (e.g. by limiting the number of passengers in transportation vehicles to two). This will not just increase the cost of production and post-production, but might also slow it down.

Episode 3×17: Seeds + Permafrost + Feather (Official Still via CBS)

What’s going to happen now?
I’m assuming that a virtual writers rooms is already in progress and that CBS is planning safety protocols for their TV shows getting ready to film. Yet, all the planning only helps so much in a pandemic; not to forget that the guidelines were set up before the protests (and the potential surge in corona cases).

For now, it’s all a waiting game. We did get some new material from the recently aired episodes; e.g. via Levy Tran’s IMDb page. CBS also released another segment of the Main Cast Zoom Call; e.g. talking about being locked in a room with Murdoc, Helman and Mason and if they’d rather film a steamy scene or a stunt scene.

Episode 3×19: Friends + Enemies + Border (Official Still via SpoilerTV)

At the moment, there’s reruns of Season 3 episodes scheduled for most Fridays; with occasional reruns on Saturdays. Here’s the current schedule:

• Friday, June 5: Seeds + Permafrost + Feather (3×17)
• Friday, June 12: Friends + Enemies + Border (3×19)
• Friday, June 19: No Go + High Voltage + Rescue (3×20)
• Saturday, June 27: Treason + Heartbreak + Gum (3×21)
• Friday, July 3: tba

So far, there’s no information about a Summer show airing Fridays in our favorite timeslot, but some networks (e.g. CW) have bought Canadian productions to air new material between reruns.

BtS photo of Episode 3×15: K9 + Smugglers + New Recruit (via CBS)

Season 3 Rerun Ratings
To recap: The rerun of Episode 3×18 on March 20 generated a live-audience of 5.34 million viewers with a demo of 0.7, which was unusually high (probably due to the pandemic). The rerun of Episode 3×15 (K9 + Smugglers + New Recruit) on Friday, May 22 got 4.31 million live-viewers with a demo of 0.4.

A day later, the rerun of Episode 3×06 (Murdoc + MacGyver + Murdoc) had 1.79 million live-viewers with a demo of 0.1. These audience numbers weren’t all that great, but Saturday ratings are rarely impressive, and the amount of live-viewers was still higher than for 2 out of the 3 other broadcast networks.

BtS photo of Episode 3×06: Murdoc + MacGyver + Murdoc (via David Dastmalchian)

What are Cast and Crew up to?
In recent years, we used to have some events in May and June to look forward to; e.g. the Monte Carlo Television Festival (2017), the Corus Entertainment Upfronts in Toronto (2017 and 2019) or the voting for the Teen Choice Awards. This year, there’s not much to report on. With the pandemic and the lockdowns in many US cities, cast and crew mostly stayed home in the last few months.

Therefore, there’s not many sightings and news about upcoming projects. Justin Hires currently releases a new song every Monday and just finished the script for a movie. For Lucas Till, a few new/old BtS photos plus two unofficial Stills for his upcoming movie “Son of the South” have surfaced. He’s also been protesting in the streets of Atlanta and using his social media accounts to speak up about human rights – very fitting, considering the movie is about the Civil Rights Movement.

Official Still for “Son of the South” (via Austin Prince)

Other MacGyver News
ICYMI: The title sequence for Season 4 is nominated for the AICP Post Awards in the Category “Graphic Design & Animation”. The event will be held online on June 10. We have some other MacGyver-related news as well:

• With 7.5 million viewers per episode according to Nielsen ratings, the Reboot made Rank 32 on the list of most-watched TV shows in the US in the 2019/20 season.
• No prestigious award, but the Reboot was the most popular show on SpoilerTV in May.
• The Season 4 Premiere in the UK (on Sky) was postponed to June 7, then to June 14.
• The Season 3 DVD in German-speaking countries will be released on July 16 – and there will be bonus material!

MacGyver Reboot Update #111

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 by Variety, 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).
• According to Justin Hires, there’s no filming date yet.
• Teresa Huang revealed on May 8 that she joined the crew as Story Editor.
• According to an Instagram post by Rain Management (that was later edited), Jim Adler joins the show as Co-Executive Producer while Monica Macer joins as Co-Showrunner.

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.

MacGyver Reboot Update #110

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:

• 34 Official Stills
• 4 Sneak Peeks
• BtS photos before the episode aired; e.g. via Henry Ian Cusick, via Scottie Thompson or the official CBS accounts
• a Zoom meeting call of the main cast; talking about the Season Finale and their characters and answering fan questions via Instagram Stories
• Skype- and Zoom-interviews with Lucas Till for various TV channels; e.g. for Good Day Sacramento, for QC Life, for CBS 46 or for CBS LA
• an interview with Lucas Till for CBSN

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?

BtS photo of Episode 3×06: Murdoc + MacGyver + Murdoc (via Justin Hires)

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.

BtS photo of Episode 4×03: Kid + Plane + Cable + Truck (via Mason Gillett)

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.

Looking Back at Season 3 (III) – The Official Stills (Part 3)

As with Seasons 1 and 2, I’m looking back at the Official Stills for each episode of Season 3; picking my favorites and writing down some of my thoughts. (Because I just can’t keep quiet, as you all know by now.)

Episode 3×14: Father + Bride + Betrayal (Official Still via SpoilerTV)

If you missed Part 1 (Episodes 3×01 to 3×05), you can find the post here. For Part 2 (Episodes 3×06 to 3×10), you can visit here.

 

Episode 3×11: Mac + Fallout + Jack (Still Photographer: Guy D’Alema)
For Episode 3×11, we got 11 Official Stills. They all feature the main mission – or rather the memory of a main mission – with Mac and Jack.

Episode 3×11: Mac + Fallout + Jack (Official Still via SpoilerTV)

MY FAVORITE: To me, Guy D’Alema is the best of the bunch of Still Photographers they have been using for Official Stills. My favorite Still of this episode is the perfect example – he chooses interesting angles. Even when he takes photos of the same scene, they don’t all look the same.

NOW THAT’S DISAPPOINTING: Nothing downright disappointing. I wouldn’t have minded an additional Still of the B-storyline with Riley, Leanna and Bozer, though. Or of the current storyline of Mac and Jack being held prisoner.

 

Episode 3×12: Fence + Suitcase + Americium-241 (Richard DuCree)
For Episode 3×12, we got 13 Stills of the team involved in the main mission. For once, the photos featured the team in different constellations.

Episode 3×12: Fence + Suitcase + Americium-241 (Official Still via SpoilerTV)

MY FAVORITE: The one with Bozer, Mac and Riley. We didn’t get many Stills of the “core” team this season. The cast appears usually in pairs or alone in the Still photos; not as a group.

NOW THAT’S DISAPPOINTING: Not having a Still with Jack to choose from is always disappointing.

 

Episode 3×13: Wilderness + Training + Survival (Guy D’Alema)
Episode 3×13 delivered 9 Official Stills; all of them featuring MacGyver and the main mission.

Episode 3×13: Wilderness + Training + Survival (Official Still via CBS Press Express)

MY FAVORITE: It’s Mac doing some MacGyvering. What else do you need?

NOW THAT’S DISAPPOINTING: It’s nice to see Mac doing his thing out in the wild, so nothing disappointing here.

 

Episode 3×14: Father + Bride + Betrayal (Guy D’Alema)
We got 9 Stills for this episode; all of them of the main cast.

Episode 3×14: Father + Bride + Betrayal (Official Still via SpoilerTV)

MY FAVORITE: MacRiley! As a runner-up, we have Mac and Jack contemplating food at the top of this post.

NOW THAT’S DISAPPOINTING: Pretty people in pretty clothes looking pretty. But it’s the last episode with Jack *sniff*. And there’s not even a group photo of them all dolled up.

 

Episode 3×15: K9 + Smugglers + New Recruit (Jace Downs)
This episode delivered 12 Official Stills. The new recurring cast member got 2 Stills all for herself and the guest star is in several of them as well.

Episode 3×15: K9 + Smugglers + New Recruit (Official Still via CBS)

MY FAVORITE: Pretty people looking fierce.

NOW THAT’S DISAPPOINTING: No close-up Still of the canine guest star. He’s cute and deserves to have his own portrait.

 

(More coming soon.)

MacGyver Reboot Update #77

No new episode tonight. Instead, we get a rerun of this season’s Murdoc episode 3×06 to prepare us for the next appearances by both rebooted and Original Murdoc.

BtS photo of Episode 3×16: Lidar + Rogues + Duty (via Alan Kaplan)

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

 

About Episodes 3×15 and 3×16
Before and after the episodes aired, some of the cast (e.g. Justin Hires) and of the guest stars (e.g. Kinsley Isla Dillon) posted BtS photos they had taken when filming back in December and January.

There were some nice photos of Levy Tran and Presilah Nunez with their stunt doubles in Episode 3×15. Tristin Mays uploaded a BtS video of Riley jumping a bad guy to help MacGyver. Even CBS offered some more BtS photos presumably taken when the Official Stills were shot. On February 18, Technical Consultant Rhett Allain uploaded a blog post with science notes about the MacHacks.

BtS photo of Episode 3×15: K9 + Smugglers + New Recruit (via CBS)

No Sneak Peek had been released prior to Episode 3×16. Alan Kaplan posted photos of his son David Alexander posing with Lucas Till and with Meredith Eaton. Chad Michael Collins also provided several nice BtS photos of that episode, e.g. with Lucas and Levy Tran in the car or with his make-believe family.

Technical Consultant Rhett Allain uploaded a blog post with science notes about the MacHacks in this episode on February 23. Two days later, he added a post about the MacGyverisms used in Episode 1×18, the cross-over episode with Hawaii Five-0.

BtS photo of Episode 3×15: K9 + Smugglers + New Recruit (via CBS)

Let’s take a look at the recent ratings. To recap: Episode 3×14 had 6.964 million live-viewers and a demo of 0.8, thus making it the highest audience number this season so far. In the +7 Days Ratings, it added another 1.669 million viewers (+24%), reaching a total of 8.636 million viewers with a demo of 1.19 (+50%).

Episode 3×15 managed 6.378 million live-viewers and a demo of 0.7. In the +7 Days Ratings, it added another 1.619 million viewers (+25%), reaching a total of 8.001 million viewers with a demo of 1.02 (+55%).

Episode 3×15: K9 + Smugglers + New Recruit (Official Still via What 2 Vue)

Episode 3×16 reached 6.574 million live-viewers and a demo of 0.8. Again, it won against Last Man Standing in audience, this time by over a million viewers. Interestingly, it had less than half as much tweets per minute than Episode 3×14, but the amount of tweets has never been any indication to how the ratings will turn out.

About the Season 3 Ratings
At the moment, the MacGyver Reboot has an average of 6.291 millions live-viewers per episode with a demo-rating of 0.73. Compared to the 23 scripted shows on CBS at the moment, the Reboot is still at rank 21 in demo and at rank 13 in audience.

Episode 3×16: Lidar + Rogues + Duty (Official Still via SpoilerTV)

Let’s take a look at some other CBS crime-action shows in the same range. Thanks to a special airing after the AFC Championship, Magnum PI raised their average up to 6.057 million live-viewers per episode with a 0.94 demo-rating. SEAL Team is still at 5.545 millions live-viewers and a demo of 0.84 on average (since they’re on a 4-weeks-hiatus) while SWAT is at 5.360 / 0.79. Interestingly, the decline towards Summer is not as steep as it was last year. Both Magnum and SWAT even managed to raise their ratings lately.

All you need to know about next week’s Episode 3×17
Episode 3×17 is titled “Seeds + Permafrost + Feather”, written by Nancy Kiu and Lindsey Allen and directed by Alexandra La Roche.

Episode 3×17: Seeds + Permafrost + Feather (Official Still via CBS)

The Press Release with the first Official Still came out on February 15. Here’s the synopsis:

MacGyver and team are asked to solve a locked-door mystery when a man working inside a remote, ultra-secure international seed vault disappears.

There’s guest appearances by Carsten Norgaard and Carlos Leal. Under the Recurring Cast, there’s Reign Edwards, Levy Tran and Tate Donovan listed.

Season 3 Overview: Episodes 3×18 to 3×22
It’s easy to loose track of the upcoming episodes. Let’s do a short recap of all the information we have gathered so far for remaining episodes this season:

• 3×18: Murdoc + Helman + Hit (March 15)
  Written by MacGyver creator Lee David Zlotoff, directed by Roderick Davis. Guest appearances by Michael Des Barres, Andre Reed and David Dastmalchian. The first Official Still was released on February 28. Channel CBS46 had been on set for that episode; doing on-set interviews with the cast.
• 3×19: Friends + Enemies + Border (April 5)
  Guest appearances by Odelya Halevi and Nick Massouh.
• 3×20: tba (April 12)
  Directed by Eagle Egilsson. Guest appearances by Andrew Brodeur and Emily Marie Palmer.
• 3×21: tba (April 19)
  Presumed guest appearance by Emerson Brooks.
• 3×22: tba (April 26)

Tonight, there is a rerun of Episode 3×06 (Murdoc + MacGyver + Murdoc), probably to prepare us for the upcoming guest appearance of David Dastmalchian in Episode 3×18. After 3×18, there will be a break for 3 weeks due to March Madness (Basketball).

BtS photo of Season 3 (via Justin Hires)

Working on Episodes 3×19 and 3×20
Filming for Episode 3×19 started on February 7. Tristin Mays filmed a Bomb Squad scene for this episode; wearing a bomb disposal suit. Lucas Till and Levy Tran filmed for several days around and inside a pit they had built just for the episode.

Cast and Crew had a long weekend due to President’s Day on February 18; returning back to set on a Tuesday. Justin Hires uploaded a video taken inside the War Room Set onto Instagram; revealing that besides Team Phoenix, also Tate Donovan was filming that day.

BtS photo of Season 3 (via tailormadegrip)

On January 20, the main cast filmed in MacGyver’s home. They posted several videos and photos that day, showing the fans they have a good time on set even when waiting for filming to resume. Justin uploaded some nice photos of him with Tristin Mays and Meredith Eaton.

On January 25, they filmed on location again, this time right under and near power lines. Judging by Instagram stories, it looked like MacGyver and Desi will climb the tower – both on location and in front of a green screen. Lucas Till confirmed this in one of his stories yesterday.

BtS photo of Season 3 (via Robert Maxfield)

The next day, the cast and crew along with Tate Donovan and guest stars filmed scenes at Fulton County airport. Some scenes involved the cast getting kidnapped and being transported in a prisoner’s bus. Lucas Till let us have a look into the bad guy’s lair; sharing his excitement about the animals skulls to be found there.

On Wednesday, they filmed scenes involving a rat and jumping the bad guys at Turner Field. Robert Maxfield posted a nice photo with Lucas. Yesterday, they continued with the location shots; this time getting close due to the pouring rain.

Other Cast, Crew and Character News
Levy Tran officially joined the cast as recurring character, but she has already been on set for every episode since 3×15 so far so CBS will probably bump her to a regular if the show gets another season.

BtS photo of Season 3 (via Justin Hires)

Central Casting Georgia had posted Casting Calls for Photo Doubles and Hand Doubles (e.g. for Michael Des Barres) and for Stand-Ins (e.g. for David Paluck, Rachael Thompson or Tate Donovan). According to his Instagram Live Story yesterday, Emerson Brooks will be back in another episode as Charlie Robinson.

As usual, Central Casting has also been looking for Extras; e.g. for Background Actors on a Bike, for Coffee Shop Patrons, Caucasian Men on a Bench, Hispanic Guards, for Italy Background Actors, for an “Emotional Couple” in their 50s, Air Force Personnel, Hikers, African American Family Members in their 40s and 50s, Pedestrians, Tough Men and Women Cooking, Men lifting Weights and for Extras as SWAT Men and as Firefighters, Police, Bomb Squads, FBI and Sheriffs.

Other MacGyver-related News
France will get to enjoy the 3rd season or the Reboot starting Saturday, March 16 on channel M6 (9pm).

Episode 3×15: K9 + Smugglers + New Recruit (Official Still via What 2 Vue)

In case you missed it: The confirmed guests for the MacGyver panel on March 23 at the Paley-Fest LA so far are Lucas Till, Tristin Mays and Meredith Eaton. Justin Hires has a stand-up comedy gig in Washington that day and won’t be able to attend, but it’s possible they will add more guests. As Peter Lenkov revealed on Tuesday, the Season 3 Wrap Party will take place just a day before.

On February 20, Deadline and other outlets reported that the producers of the reboot have been fined with a penalty of about 9500 USD for the set accident that happened during the filming of Episode 3×04. Apparently, Stunt coordinator Justin Sundquist is still recovering, but otherwise we don’t know anything about his condition.

Episode 3×16: Lidar + Rogues + Duty (Official Still via SpoilerTV)

Reminder: The Reboot was eligible for the “Best of TV Awards” held by Canada Graphs. It had won several categories in Round 1 (e.g. Best Stunts, Best Writing, Kate Bond as Best Recurring Actress) and made it into most of the categories for Round 2 and 3.

The 3rd and final round started on February 7 and ended yesterday. The show made it into following categories for the Finals:

• Best Action or Drama Program
• Best Action or Drama Actor (George Eads, Lucas Till)
• Best Action or Drama Actress (Tristin Mays, Meredith Eaton)
• Best Guest Actor (Michael Des Barres)
• Best Guest Actress (Amy Smart)
• Best Recurring Actor (David Dastmalchian, Tate Donovan)
• Best Recurring Actress (Kate Bond)
• Best Writing
• Favorite TV Program
• Favorite TV Character (Angus MacGyver, Jack Dalton)
• Best Stunts

The results should be posted soon.

BtS photo of Season 3 (via Todd Amateau)

MacGyver Reboot Update #76

Only a bit more than three episodes left to film before production for Season 3 will wrap up. We’ve glimpsed another familiar face and we get to meet the new recurring character Desi tonight!

BtS photo of Season 3 (via Justin Hires)

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

 

About Episode 3×14
Before and after the episode aired, director Avi Youabian and several guest stars (e.g. the bride Madalyn Horcher or father of the bride Roberto Sanchez) posted BtS photos they had taken when filming back in November and December.

Sadly, Blue Bloods was the only CBS Friday show that got a Sneak Peek, therefore not providing any additional promo to share. While the hashtag #MacGyver wasn’t trending US-wide, it still set a new record of more than 1100 estimated tweets per hour.

BtS photo of Episode 3×14: Father + Bride + Betrayal (via Madalyn Horcher)

As expected, the episode got discussed about a lot on social media. While most fans stated being sad and disappointed about Jack leaving, some were also unhappy about how the goodbye between Mac and Jack had been dealt with.

Just a day later after the episode had aired, Technical Consultant Rhett Allain uploaded a blog post with science notes about the MacHacks in this episode. He later added posts about the MacGyverisms used in Episode 1×14 (Fish Scaler), Episode 1×15 (Magnifying Glass), Episode 1×16 (Hook) and Episode 1×17 (Ruler) as well.

Let’s take a look at the recent ratings. To recap: Episode 3×13 (Wilderness + Training + Survival) had reached 6.895 million live-viewers with a demo of 0.8. In the +7 Days Ratings, it added another 1.583 million viewers (+23%), reaching a total of 8.482 million viewers with a demo of 1.16 (+43%).

BtS photo of Episode 3×13: Wilderness + Training + Survival (via Maya Lisa)

Episode 3×14 had 6.964 million live-viewers and a demo of 0.8, thus making it the highest audience number this season so far and beating Last Man Standing by a million viewers. It’t interesting to note that all three CBS Friday shows got a demo of 0.8. In the +3 Days Ratings, it added another 1.352 million viewers (+19%), reaching a total of 8.319 million viewers with a demo of 1.12 (+41%).

About the Season 3 Ratings
At the moment, the MacGyver Reboot has an average of 6.265 millions live-viewers per episode with a demo-rating of 0.72. Compared to the 22 scripted shows on CBS at the moment, the Reboot is at rank 21 in demo and at rank 13 in audience.

Episode 3×15: K9 + Smugglers + New Recruit (Official Still via What 2 Vue)

Let’s take a look at some other CBS crime-action shows in the same range. Thanks to a special airing after the AFC Championship, Magnum PI raised their average up to 6.047 million live-viewers per episode with a 0.95 demo-rating. Just two weeks ago, they announed that the show will get another season. SEAL Team is at 5.545 millions live-viewers (but is facing a 4-weeks-long break) and a demo of 0.84 on average while SWAT is at 5.351 / 0.78.

According to Variety, the big networks have ordered up to 20 percent less pilots this year. Variety concludes that most networks seem to be eyeing to renew shows instead of risking to order the usual slate of new shows, which will potentially lead to more renewals of shows (even if they aren’t all that good-looking in ratings).

BtS photo of Season 3 (via Meredith Eaton)

All you need to know about tonight’s Episode 3×15
Episode 3×15 is titled “K9 + Smugglers + New Recruit”, written by Executive Producer Rob Pearlstein and directed by Gabriel Beristain. The Press Release witht he first Official Still came out on February 8. Here’s the synopsis:

After a surprising introduction to Phoenix’s newest recruit, Desi (Levy Tran), MacGyver and team are assigned to escort and protect an ATF (alcohol, tobacco, firearms) gun-sniffing dog who has a bounty on his head, only to discover they’re not the only ones crashing the weapon drop.

There’s guest appearances by Presilah Nunez and Ryan Czerwonko. We’ll also see Reign Edwards as Leanna again, so it looks like this episode will have a lot of girl power.

Episode 3×15: K9 + Smugglers + New Recruit (Official Still via CBS)

The preview was released on Saturday; giving us a glimpse into Mac and Desi meeting for the first time. On February 12, they released additional Stills. They were all taken on the same day while filming a scene of the cast running and hiding in between a shipping container area; accompanied by the canine guest star. The 2 Sneak Peeks released on Valentine’s Day were filmed at the same location the Stills were taken. A few hours later, TV Line released an exclusive, additional Sneak Peek of presumably the Opening Gambit with the full scene of MacGyver meeting Desi.

Season 3 Overview: Episodes 3×16 to 3×20
It’s easy to loose track of the upcoming episodes, so let’s do a short recap of all the information we have gathered so far for the next handful of episodes:

• 3×16: Lidar + Rogues + Duty (February 22)
  Written by Don Perez and directed by Stephen Herek. Guest appearances by Billy Baldwin and Chad Michael Collins. Check here for the Press Release and the Official Stills.
• 3×17: Seeds + Permafrost + Feather (March 8)
  Guest appearances by Matthew Bellows and Matthew Jayson Cwern.
• 3×18: Murdoc + Helman + Hi (March 15)
  Guest appearances by Michael Des Barres, Andre Reed and David Dastmalchian.
• 3×19: Friends + Enemies + Border (April 5)
  Guest appearances by Odelya Halevi and Nick Massouh.
• 3×20: tba (April 12)

There will be a rerun of Episode 3×06 (Murdoc + MacGyver + Murdoc) on March 1st, probably to prepare us for the upcoming guest appearance of David Dastmalchian.

Episode 3×15: K9 + Smugglers + New Recruit (Official Still via What 2 Vue)

After the premiere of Episode 3×18, there will be a break for 3 weeks due to March Madness (Basketball). They already released the full schedule for the rest of the episodes, but there might be some more changes.

Working on Episodes 3×18 and 3×19
Filming for Episode 3×18 started around January 25. Michael Des Barres had arrrived early in Atlanta to learn his lines. He spent some time with David Dastmalchian during his free time as well; keeping us updated with photos on social media.

Episode 3×16: Lidar + Rogues + Duty (Official Still via CBS)

On January 26 (Saturday), the crew had filmed a stunt scene on the Atlanta Motor Speedway involving a helicopter. The BtS photo by Jason Tubbs revealed early on that both Murdoc and MacGyver Senior will be part of the episode.

On January 28, TV channel CBS 46 was on location for promo. Astrid Martinez provided photos and short videos via Instagram and Facebook; revealing that she did interviews with Lucas Till, Meredith Eaton, Tristin Mays and Justin Hires on the parking lot in front of the studio lot. Meg Oliver posted a photo with Lucas Till a few days later while the video segment of her visiting the War Room was uploaded by CBS Sunday Morning.

BtS photo of Season 3 (via Christopher Jon Duddy)

On February 4, Michael Des Barres posted a BtS video of him in Helman/Murdoc get-up; throwing and catching a knife. As Peter Lenkov revealed, that knife will probably end up stuck in Andre Reed’s chest. Trish Dowling posted a nice group photo of MDB with the cast and crew on set for those scenes. Apparently, this was already his last day of filming. David Dastmalchian filmed some more scenes and left Atlanta two days later.

On February 5, Lucas Till revealed how he prepares as an actor. He welcomed Levy Tran in a post; comparing her to a female Jackie Chan. It was Justin Hires who provided the first team photo with Levy on the fireplace set.

BtS photo of Season 3 (via Marty Lindsey)

Filming for Epsiode 3×19 started on February 7. Casting Calls and Instagram Live Stories by Tristin Mays revealed that they filmed a Bomb Squad scene in a parking garage. For once, Riley herself will get to wear one of the disposal suits. On Tuesday, they filmed at a chapel near the woods.

On Wednesday, they filmed on location on and inside a pit or cave they built just for the episode. Lucas Till uplodaded Instagram Live Stories of him hanging on a rope, waiting to be lowered down. It was pretty windy on set and cast and crew still in need of heaters in the tents.

BtS photo of Episode 3×19 (via Jesse Parker)

As Justin Hires shared, Levy’s character Desi likes to read the World Surfers Magazine at work. Some of cast and crew posted photos and videos of older episodes; e.g. stunt double Maya Lisa (with Vanessa Garcia for Episode 3×13). Justin Hires uploaded an older video of him visiting Lucas Till and Levy Tran on set of Episode 3×16 back in January and a BtS video of Episode 3×12 with Bozer trying to get out of a trash can after successfully subduing a bad guy.

Other Cast, Crew and Character News
On February 5, Deadline broke the news that Levy Tran officially joined the cast as recurring character Desiree Nguyen (Desi), a Vietnamese agent who had worked with George Ead’s character Jack Dalton (off-screen) before. As far as I know, Levy has already been on set for every episode so CBS will probably bump her to a regular if the show is renewed for another season (and the fans are interested in seeing more of her).

BtS photo of Episode 3×19 (via Mike Torino)

Central Casting Georgia had posted Casting Calls for Photo Doubles and for Stand-Ins (e.g. for Brandon Rush, Gabriel Rodriguez, for David Bianchi, for Mo Gallini or for Levy Tran).

Central Casting also been looking for Extras; e.g. for a Tac Team with cars, for Techs with cars, a Bomb Squad with cars, for a female Fit Model and for Lab Techs.

Other MacGyver-related News
In case you missed it: On March 23, there will be a panel for all 3 CBS shows helmed by Peter Lenkov at the Paley-Fest LA. As reported on February 5, the confirmed guests for the MacGyver panel are Lucas Till, Tristin Mays and Meredith Eaton with the option of adding more guests. Tickets are already on sale, so take the chance if you want to enjoy this event up close and personal.

Episode 3×16: Lidar + Rogues + Duty (Official Still via SpoilerTV)

Reminder: The Reboot is eligible for the “Best of TV Awards” held by Canada Graphs. It won several categories in Round 1 (e.g. Best Stunts, Best Writing, Kate Bond as Best Recurring Actress).

The show made it into following categories for Round 2:

• Best Action or Drama Program
• Best Action or Drama Actress (Meredith Eaton, Tristin Mays)
• Best Action or Drama Actor (Lucas Till, George Eads, Justin Hires)
• Best Guest Actress (Amy Smart)
• Best Guest Actor (Michael Des Barres)
• Best Recurring Actor (Tate Donovan, David Dastmalchian)
• Best Recurring Actress (Kate Bond)
• Best Stunts
• Best Writing
• Favorite TV Program
• Favorite TV Character (Angus MacGyver, Jack Dalton, Riley Davis)

The results for Round 2 aren’t fully uploaded yet.

Sneak Peek Screenshot for Episode 3×15 (via TV Line)

The 3rd and final round started on February 7. The show made it into following categories for the Finals so far:

• Best Writing
• Favorite TV Program
• Favorite TV Character (Angus MacGyver, Jack Dalton)
• Best Stunts