The success of this long-running American action/adventure series from ABC was largely due to the charm of lead actor Richard Dean Anderson.
Anderson played former special forces agent Angus MacGyver, who worked for the Government (in season one) and then for the Phoenix Foundation – a think tank dedicated to exposing and eliminating evil forces around the world.
MacGyver was an expert at infiltrating the bad guys’ domains, and because of his expertise at using ordinary everyday objects to get out of any problem, he was always able to extricate himself from danger.
MacGyver’s boss was Peter Thornton, Director of Field Operations for the Phoenix Foundation.
As the series progressed, it became increasingly concerned with social issues such as teenage runaways, the environment, and politics.
Mayim Bialik was, for a time, a regular on the show playing MacGyver’s teenage friend, Lisa. Michael Des Barres was also seen regularly as MacGyver’s major nemesis, the evil Murdoc.
In the final episode, MacGyver discovered that he had fathered a son – who was by then a teen – named Sean ‘Sam’ Malloy, played by Dalton James.
At the end of the last show, MacGyver and Sam set off on their motorcycles together to look for new adventures.
Angus MacGyver
Richard Dean Anderson
Peter Thornton
Dana Elcar
Murdoc
Michael Des Barres Lisa
Mayim Bialik
