MacGyver is not just the ideal hero, but the ideal person.  He never uses guns in a shoot-em-up sense, but instead shows us how versatile a gun can be when it isn’t used as intended.  He’s extremely health conscious, but not pushy and obnoxious about it.  He’s always willing to lend a helping hand, regardless if it’s helping an old lady with her groceries or helping someone escape from a third world prison.  The moral lessons in MacGyver are abundant.  In nearly every episode there is an underlying message, often dealing with controversial social issues and global conflicts.  Everything from the dangers of nuclear weapons to overdevelopment and land rape are touched upon; smaller yet important issues such as education and parenting have also been central themes of various episodes.

That’s the big picture–the show’s essence–but there are plenty of nuanced elements of MacGyver that make the show such a captivating piece of television.  Seeing real stuntmen performing real stunts is certainly one of the best aspects of the show.  Special effects during the 80s were not seamless, and it was obvious when they were used.  The producers’ decision to pay the extra money and avoid the economic shortcut of green screening at all opportunities has made many of the action scenes enjoyable to watch as poorly executed special effects yank the audience out of the manufactured reality of the show.  Even better is the fact that the stuntman didn’t wear some phony and easy-to-recognize wig, but instead sported the same classy mullet haircut that MacGyver was known for.

That’s not to say the show was completely seamless.  Richard Dean Anderson (MacGyver), Dana Eclar (Pete Thorton), and Bruce McGill (Jack Dalton) are talented and convincing actors, but many of the supporting or short-term characters tend to overact.  You know, facial expressions that look like the aftermath of Botox; overly dramatic delivery of lines; awkward pauses, etc.  But the occasional corny line or action doesn’t hurt the show as one might imagine.  Instead, it adds to it.  While MacGyver is an action drama, it has plenty of unintentionally humorous moments–the kind of moments that were a major part of 80s’ television.

It is commonly overlooked components of the show that blend together like well-paired spices to enhance the overall product.  The stunt work was one overlooked aspect, but it was the show’s music that really set the mood and tone of each episode.  Another instance of the producers (Henry “The Fonz” Winkler and John Rich) not skimping on budget, the show utilized a small orchestra of horns and strings to create music unique to each scene.   The music was often sporadic horn-driven bursts of intensity, the tuba being the most notable instrument.  Something about the way the music was composed made watching any scene twenty times more exciting than if pre-made, stock music were merely added over the scene.

It was the attention to detail and the focus on subtleties that kept the show on the air for 7 seasons while creating a pop-culture icon in the process.  The show utilized natural lighting to make scenes genuine and authentic.  This is why some of the characters merge with shadows on some of the dimmer scenes. It is also no mistake that MacGyver is typically wearing some form of blue clothing.  After all, blue is a color that symbolizes creative thinking, and MacGyver is the supreme creative thinker.

While he credits his vast knowledge to a childhood subscription to Popular Mechanics magazine and a chemistry set that his uncle gave him, MacGyver was a mold breaking television character as his pragmatism, innovative thinking, and intelligence separated him from other characters who often saw guns and murder as a means to an end.  With MacGyver, killing was rarely ever an option–the exception being his arch nemesis, Murdoc, but Murdoc always seemed to come back from the dead, even if he fell down a mine shaft or off a cliff.  An entire review could be dedicated to the MacGyver vs. Murdoc subplot that ran throughout the series, but for the sake of saving space, let it be known that Murdoc is the evil equivalent to MacGyver, whose arrogance always leads to his undoing.

For an American television show to promote the use of intelligent alternatives to extreme violence while fighting (and defeating) the kind of enemies who rely on extreme violence further solidifies MacGyver’s cultural significance.  There was a certain righteousness to MacGyver that is still unrivaled.  The show was never afraid to shed light on the darker aspects of American history and society, as well as humanity in general.  This is probably why the cheesy side of MacGyver is so easy to forgive.  It was a show with a purpose.  In a way, MacGyver was a medium for activism as much of the show’s content was and is relevant.

In 2008, Mythbusters did a special focused on various episodes of MacGyver.  While some of the stuff proved to be implausible, many of MacGyver’s innovations turned out to be entirely possible.  However, the show’s writers admit that a great deal of luck would be needed in real life for many of the scenarios in the show to play out the way they did for MacGyver.  Nevertheless, watching an episode of MacGyver is an emotion-rich experience as so many well-executed (and sometimes poorly-executed) elements are working together to create a truly unique, entertaining, and occasionally perspective changing piece of television.

Apparently, there is a MacGyver movie in the works, with the tentative release date being 2011.  Since Richard Dean Anderson (MacGyver) is much older now and Dana Elcar (Pete Thorton) has passed away I really can’t imagine the film having the same awesome and corny qualities that made MacGyver great.  But who knows?  Maybe they’ll do a good job with it.

To watch episodes of MacGyver goto: MacGyver on IMBD.com