What is it? MacGyver, Complete Series, 139 episodes on 39 discs from CBS Home Entertainment
How much? $89.99
When? Now
Wasn't that a sketch on Saturday Night Live? You're thinking of "Macgruber," which was actually a parody of this series. This is the original TV show, which ran 1985-1992.
MacGyver (Richard Dean Anderson) is a secret agent, of sorts, who works for Pete Thornton (Dana Elcar), head of the Phoenix Foundation. His job keeps him hopping all around the world, from Los Angeles to Bangkok.
Any given episode might find him rescuing an imprisoned missionary or getting classified information from a spy behind the Iron Curtain. Not all his adventures come courtesy of the Phoenix Foundation. He also has a habit of stumbling into trouble.
Whatever the case, MacGyver tends to get emotionally involved in one way or another and uses all his skills and cunning to help whatever friends he makes along the way.
Of course, that's all just the framework for the series' main attraction: the gadgets. The series is a science-and-gadget geek's fantasy world. With an encyclopedic knowledge of applied sciences, there's nothing MacGyver can't do or build with simple components.
Need to blow a hole in a wall? All he needs is a cold pill capsule, a glass jar and a little sodium. What about starting a fire on a time delay? Just take a cooking pot, rat poison, cleaning chemicals and lard. Boom. Bad guys chasing you? Create a road hazard with diesel and water.
MacGyver generally explains the science behind what he's doing either through voice-over or by talking to whatever person happens to be trapped with him.
The series was so popular that people even started using MacGyver as a verb meaning "to make use of surrounding materials to build a contraption or get out of life's crazy things" (according to Merriam-Webster Dictionary).
This is an anthology series so there's not much in the way of continuing story lines, and the location and characters change with each episode, so it's an easy show to watch in one-episode bites.
Aside from Pete, there are other regular faces, like the dim-witted dancer/actress/model/trouble magnet Penny Parker (Teri Hatcher) and MacGyver's archnemesis, the assassin Murdoc (Michael Des Barres).
How is it? It's a typical 1980s action-adventure series, if that tells you anything. That means it's not terribly thought-provoking or deep. The characters are fairly simple, the adventures bordering on unbelievable and the tone relatively light. But that's what it was aiming for: to provide viewers with a good time. It didn't strive to be much more than that and MacGyver succeeds, thanks in part to Anderson's good-natured portrayal.
Has this been released before? Yes. This is one of several series CBS is re-releasing in slimmer, more compact packaging, designed to take up much less shelf space than buying the season sets individually. In this case, the discs are in two accordion-style packets, slipped loosely into slots that keep them from rubbing against each other. There's nothing to hold them in place, but while it's not exactly secure, it is compact. The discs slide in and out easily, which reduces the risk of scratching.
There's also a full episode guide and the main set box is nice and sturdy.
Are there extras? Two post-series TV movies. Otherwise, no.
New this week: Cancer: The Emperor of All Maladies, Mini-series; Covert Affairs, Season 5; The Jeffersons, Season 7; The Mentalist, Season 7 and Complete Series; New Tricks, Season 11; Royal Pains, Season 6; Sgt. Bilko: The Phil Silvers Show, Season 2; Suits, Season 4; Wire in the Blood, Complete Series; Wolf Hall, Miniseries.
Next week: Cheers, Complete Series; Dalziel and Pascoe, Season 11; DCI Banks, Season 3; Death in Paradise, Season 3; Father Brown, Season 2; The Fugitive, Complete Series; Law & Order, Seasons 18-20; Mr Selfridge, Season 3; Parenthood, Season 6 and Complete Series; White Collar, Season 6 and Complete Series.
Style on 04/26/2015