Plot: What’s it about?
The third season of “MacGyver” showed that the show had legs and even if it didn’t – MacGyver could make some. Seriously, as the show entered its third season it was building up quite a fan following and though I don’t think it’s officially in Webster’s dictionary “Macgyvered” should be a verb. For those not familiar with the premise of the show by now, MacGyver (Richard Dean Anderson) is a scientist/adventurer who now works for the Phoenix Foundation. MacGyver jaunts all around the world searching high and low for lost treasures and in general helping people out. This third season brought back a few returning characters, most notably Murdoc – Mac’s arch nemesis. Though the show is now fairly dated, it’s amazing how much of a lasting influence it still has. Case in point: Richard Dean Anderson will do a guest appearance on “The Simpson’s” later this year as…you guessed it, MacGyver (favorite of Patty and Selma).
The basic plot of the show was pretty consistent throughout the show’s run, MacGyver (Richard Dean Anderson) whose first name was to be revealed in the final season, was sort of an “independent contractor” who later ended up working for the Phoenix Foundation with Pete (Dana Elcar) as his boss. MacGyver wasn’t really a policeman, FBI agent or anything of that nature, but he always managed to get himself into the middle of things and always ended up cheating death time after time. Part of the allure of the show was that MacGyver was more of a role model. He didn’t drink, smoke or swear and he hated guns. He managed to solve all of the problems by using his mind and if he needed a stick of chewing gum and a paper clip to get out of a jam – well so be it. MacGyver was later joined by Jack Dalton (Bruce McGill) who always lightened up the mood and in the later days when he was sporting his frosted hair and mullet – well it just didn’t get much better than that (and a Jeep “Sahara Edition” to boot).
Video: How does it look?
The episodes are shown in their original full-frame aspect ratio (as was concurrent with being a TV show in the 80’s) and for the most part look good. There is a fair amount of grain in a few of the episodes and while it’s not distracting – I’ve seen better from earlier television shows on DVD. Fleshtones seem to be warm and natural and while edge enhancement isn’t a factor, I did notice that on some of the scenes there’s a fair amount of dirt on the print. On the whole, it’s better than you’ll find in reruns but not much.
Audio: How does it sound?
The Dolby Surround track doesn’t really bring the episodes to life as most of the effects (I think something blows up at least once an episode) are pretty weak. For the most part it’s a dialogue-driven action show that doesn’t really challenge your surround system that much. That said, just like the video presentation it sounds as good as it ever has, but that’s still not that great.
Supplements: What are the extras?
Nothing yet…still no extras. Maybe on Season Four.
