While the fans continue fighting for Season 6, former cast and crew are keeping busy with new projects or spending time with friends.
(Minor Spoiler Alert: You might get spoilered about Season 6 storylines and characters by reading this post and its comments or by clicking on the links provided. For daily news and to join the discussion, you can find me on Twitter and on the MacGyverOnline Forums.)
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About the Season 6 Storylines (encore)
ICYMI: Before the Season 5 Finale on April 30, Matt Mitovich had released an interview with Showrunner Monica Macer for TV Line; talking about tweaking the finale a bit and teasing the fans that some of the nanobots might have “survived”. She also adressed potential storylines for Season 6 if the show hadn’t been cancelled – e.g. the future of Mac and Desi, Desi and her “lost” fiancé, the “hero couple” and the fun of Mac, Russ and Bozer on a treasure hunt.
A few days later, TV Line added an article revealing that Season 6 would have delivered a baby. On May 15, Mitovich posted yet another article; this time elaborating on what would have led to the first kiss between Mac and Riley.
Some fans were disappointed about these storylines; stating that they didn’t want another season in that case. If you’re one of these fans, remember that these are only ideas; not approved by the network yet.
Even if a show gets renewed, it could take months or even years until it’s going into production. It could be shipped to another network, for example. Also, the two OG MacGyver movies didn’t have any ties to the OG show storyline in the Season Finale.
Even if the show would stay on CBS, there’s no guarantee Season 6 would still have Macer as showrunner or the same writers who worked on Season 5. Some of the cast might be unavailable for filming. They might have a smaller budget; not bringing back all of the regular actors. They could do a spin-off instead of a continuation.
It’s still worth fighting for a renewal because anything can happen. And isn’t a movie or a handful of episodes for a webseries better than nothing? Lucas went through hell and fought so hard to get the cast and crew justice. Shouldn’t we at least try to give him a chance of playing the character again; no matter the storylines?
What’s going to happen now?
On May 19, CBS revealed their new Fall Season schedule. There’s no premiere dates yet, but our favorite slot goes to SWAT for a handful of episodes. Around midseason, SWAT will move to Sundays 10pm to replace SEAL Team, which was renewed and will premiere in Fall as well, but will be moved to Paramount+ midseason to gather new subscribers.
A bit confusing? It is. For now, CBS hasn’t announced yet which unscripted / reality show will take over the Friday 8pm slot once SWAT has been moved. I can’t imagine it does Magnum PI any favors, though.
Starting tonight, CBS will air two reruns of Magnum PI on Fridays 8pm before going back to one rerun at 8pm so they have room for reality show Love Island at 9pm. Usually, they put reruns of an existing show to their new slot during hiatus, but maybe CBS has other plans for SWAT in late Summer.
For now, SWAT has two reruns on Wednesdays. Considering that CBS still has reruns of cancelled shows Mom and NCIS: New Orleans on the schedule while still not having set a release date for Summer Show Blood + Treasure, it seems like they’re a bit short on Summer hiatus material after cancelling 3 drama shows in total.
The #SaveMacGyver Movement
Here’s an update for the achievements of the #SaveMacGyver Movement during the last two weeks:
- The petition to renew the show for another season hit the mark of 27’000 signatures on May 7. It lost about 3000 signatures (due to the website removing signatures without verified email address). It’s currently back at about 26’800 signatures as I’m writing this post.
- A big package of 1 million paperclips have been sent to CBS Studios recently; meaning that fans sent so far about 1.45 million paperclips.
- Fans keep sending e-mails and writing letters to CBS executives and calling the CBS offices; also contacting other networks and streaming companies to pick up the series. So far, about 260’000 requests have been made to Netflix.
- The GoFundMe-Page to fund more promo (especially billboards, paperclips or press kits) is still up; standing at almost 9800 USD.
- The 5 digital billboards in Los Angeles, New York (Time Square), Phoenix and Atlanta were up until end of May. There might be more coming soon.
- The GoFundMe-Page named “Operation Cure Cancer” to collect money for cancer research is still up; standing at 1900 USD.
The official website gets updated regularly; so check here to keep up with news and learning about the movement and how to help.
What are Cast and Crew up to?
Lucas Till’s movie “Son of the South” premiered in Australia and New Zealand on May 20. There was quite a bit of promo surrounding it, but mostly with Bob Zellner. While cinemas are opening again around the world, the movie might get some more theatrical release dates before the blockbusters will fill up the schedule. In Spain, it already premiered on TV.
As Variety reported on May 28, Lucas got cast in “The Spook Who Sat by The Door” Pilot at FX; playing CIA Agent Graham Renfroe. They started filming on May 24. While I have seen some posts about a hotel set, nice cars and night shoots, there were no BtS photos of the main cast yet.
While some fans might be discouraged about Lucas not being available for MacGyver anymore, you need to remember that it’s just a pilot for now. His character might have limited screentime, or it’s a recurring role for a handful of episodes only. The show might not get picked up to series or his character will be dropped. Remember the Unaired MacGyver Pilot that lost the entire cast besides the two leads after being ordered to series?
In any case, Lucas needs to keep his face on screens while he’s in demand and people remember him. He needs to connect with new directors, producers and actors not associated with CBS. Also, he’s way too talented to sit at home while waiting for CBS to do the right thing.
As stated above, anything can happen. It might take months or even years for MacGyver to continue. It’s worth noting that CBS show Criminal Minds got their revival a year after cancellation. And Original CSI will be continued as CSI: Vegas this Fall (with several of the original actors) 6 years after its Series Finale.
While Justin Hires has been back doing comedy shows and releasing new music, we don’t know much about what the others have been up to regarding work. Tristin Mays updated her IMDb page with more photos, but has no new project listed yet. Henry Ian Cusick is currently attached to several movies. Levy Tran has been working on her martial arts skills.
The Season 4 DVD
In the US, the release date for the Season 4 DVD has been set for June 8. Critical Blast confirmed on Twitter that there are no Extras on the US-version. They were nice enough to add a photo of the back cover; adding confirmation that no love was put into the DVD design, either.
I feel that the back cover “art” has gotten worse with every new season. Considering that almost every CBS Fall show got their former season DVD released before the new season premiered, I’m not sure why it took them so long to put this simple DVD box together.
There’s additional release dates for countries outside the US; e.g. July 7 in Australia, August 4 in Japan and August 19 in German-speaking countries. So far, there’s no information about potential Bonus Features on international DVD versions; but let’s hope for the best.
Other MacGyver-related News
Costume Designer Sarah Downer has uploaded several BtS photos taken during costume fittings; e.g. of Henry Ian Cusick in his kilt (for Episode 5×12), of Tristin Mays (for Episode 3×11), of Lucas Till (for Episode 5×11), of George Eads or of Levy Tran.
Here’s a short overview of MacGyver-related news in recent weeks you might have missed:
Dashboard On Fire 