12 septiembre 2007

Bubble-gums & needles.

MacGyver



Otro must be seen de la pantalla chica, ya no puedo recordar la cantidad de mediodias que pase mirando como este genio resolvia situaciones limite con unas mierditas que encontraba por ahi, la verdad un idolo de cualquier niño que le gustara jugar a hacer robots con cajas de lavarropas y chapitas de Coca de a litro.
MacGyver sin duda se hubiese merecido una buena pelicula!

MacGyver is an American adventure television series, produced in Canada, about a laid-back, extremely resourceful secret agent, played by Richard Dean Anderson. The series was created by Lee David Zlotoff and executive produced by Henry Winkler and John Rich. It ran for seven seasons from September 29, 1985 to May 21, 1992 on the ABC network and filmed primarily in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Of the 139 one-hour episodes, three had two parts. Additionally, two made-for-TV movies were produced in 1994.

Angus MacGyver's main asset is his practical application of scientific knowledge and inventive use of common items—along with his ever-present Swiss Army knife and duct tape and the usual coincidence of being locked up in a room full of useful materials. The clever solutions MacGyver implemented to seemingly intractable problems—often in life-or-death situations requiring him to improvise complex devices in a matter of minutes—were a major attraction of the show, which was praised for generating interest in engineering[1] as well as providing entertaining storylines. All of MacGyver's exploits on the show were ostensibly vetted to be based on real scientific principles (even though, the creators acknowledged, in real life one would have to be extraordinarily lucky for most of MacGyver's ideas to succeed). In the few cases where MacGyver used household chemicals to create poisons, explosives or other things deemed too dangerous to be accurately described on television, details were intentionally altered or vague.

The use of ordinary household items to jury rig devices shows an influence from The A-Team (though MacGyver eschewed firearms). The idea has entered U.S. popular culture; such constructions are referred to as "MacGyverisms" (a term first used in episode 3 of season 2, "Twice Stung").

Characters:
Angus MacGyver is a highly intelligent, optimistic action hero who prefers non-violent conflict resolution wherever possible. He refuses to carry or use a gun due to a childhood accident with a revolver that resulted in the death of a friend.[2] The character is portrayed as an outspoken advocate of gun control, and is also politically liberal in other respects; environmental preservation, racial equality, assisting the poor. Even in cases where his improvised devices are used to attack hostile opponents, he is always doing so in self-defense and, if possible, subduing or disabling rather than killing. He is often suspicious of militaristic attitudes within the government; he sees his Phoenix Foundation employer as an alternative to the more conventional (and violent) means of law enforcement.

He was born and raised in Minnesota on either January 23, 1951 (per his passport in "Every Time She Smiles") or March 23, 1951 (working back from dates given in the episodes "Thin Ice", Passages, Friends, Runners, and "Phoenix Under Siege"). (Note: Given the fact that MacGyver was on a covert mission in the episode "Every Time She Smiles", it is possible that the birthdate on his passport was purposely incorrect.) His heritage explains why he speaks with a Minnesota accent. (Richard Dean Anderson himself was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota on January 23, 1950.) MacGyver lived his childhood in Mission City. Like Anderson, MacGyver was an avid hockey player as a child, and competed in his local hockey league, continuing to play the game as an adult. He graduated from Alexander Ramsey High School in Roseville, Minnesota. His character earned a degree in physics from the fictitious Western Tech where in 1973 a mustachioed MacGyver had studied under Julian Ryman, a man who also had an ability to fix things with everyday objects and was probably influential on MacGyver. This was revealed in the episode "Hell Week" where MacGyver returns to his college and ends up helping Ryman's son, David. MacGyver's interests include mountain climbing, ice hockey and baccarat.

MacGyver's first name remained a mystery until the final season; whenever he's asked about it, he says he dislikes his first name and changes the subject. Consequently, most of his friends and colleagues call him by his last name or simply "Mac." The script for the series pilot gave MacGyver's first name as "Stace", but this information, while mentioned in promotional material, did not appear in the finished episode. His first name is finally officially revealed in "Good Knight, MacGyver", in which he learns of a 7th century Scottish ancestor, Angus M'Iver, and admits that they share their first name; and repeated in the series finale, which introduces MacGyver's son, whose middle name is Angus. It is also revealed on the boxes of the MacGyver seasons.

During seasons 4–7, the show revolved more around social issues such as guns and runaway teens than did the episodes in seasons 1–3, which were mostly about MacGyver's adventures working for the United States government, and then later the Phoenix Foundation.

The most appealing aspect is that MacGyver, when being challenged to protect himself or a person who needs protection (a persecuted man, woman, or child), is a man "who never gives up", and "when plan A doesn't succeed", then he will think about "plan B". There are only a few episodes in which he was forced to think about a "plan B".

Influence on culture:
MacGyverisms:

For a list of MacGyverisms, see List of problems solved by MacGyver

The spontaneous inventions have come to be nicknamed MacGyverisms and even led to the verb, 'to MacGyver' or 'to MacGyver-ize'. This word was used in Richard Dean Anderson's project Stargate SG-1, in a breaking of the 4th wall moment in the first episode, when the character Samantha Carter (portrayed by Amanda Tapping) comments on the time and effort that had been required "to MacGyver" a replacement for the Stargate's long-lost control system. Anderson's character, Colonel O'Neill, is seen to inwardly groan and raise his eyes, in the manner of one who is not being allowed to forget something. In an outtake from another SG-1 episode, Tapping becomes 'upset' with Anderson over their characters' current predicament (being trapped under Antarctica), saying "For God's sake, I'm stuck in here with MacGyver! Here, I have a straw and some bubble gum, now make me a nuclear reactor!" Her remarks prompted laughter on the part of the crew, and apparent shock and disbelief on the part of Anderson. However, "MacGyverism" was used long before that, in a MacGyver episode. It was used by Joanne Remmings (played by Pamela Bowen) in the second-season episode #3 "Twice Stung", in which MacGyver must con a con man. (The episode title is a reference to The Sting, with Paul Newman, Robert Redford, and Dana Elcar.)

MacGyverism is a derivative of the "robinsonade" genre, named after Robinson Crusoe (1719). In this genre, the protagonist is suddenly isolated from the comforts of civilization and must improvise the means of his survival from the limited resources at hand. MacGyverism is also an example of bricolage, and MacGyver himself is the paradigm of a bricoleur ("a person who creates things from existing materials, is creative and resourceful").

In July 2005, the American International Press released a book of MacGyverisms from the television show, called 'The Unofficial MacGyver How-to Handbook' by Bret Terrill and Greg Dierkers.

A Swiss Army knife is commonly called "Macgybar Chakku" in Bangladesh, "Maekgaibeo Kal" in South Korea, and "Pisau MacGyver/Pisau Lipat MacGyver" in Indonesia and Malaysia. (Chakku, Kal and Pisau mean knife in Bengali, Korean and Malay, respectively.) In Malaysia, the term "MacGyver knife" (English) is also commonly used. In Norway and in certain areas of Finland, duct tape is commonly known, to some degree, as "MacGyver-tape", though it is more used in a joking manner. In Mozambique, fixing something by adapting locally-available parts is sometimes referred to as doing a "Macgyver". In Taiwan, a person who is knowledgable or skilled at a technical subject X is termed an "X magaixian" ("X MacGyver").