MacGyver: Trail To Doomsday saw a very rare instance of the title character using a gun. MacGyver debuted on CBS back in 1985 and starred Richard Dean Anderson as the main character, who works for the Pheonix Foundation. MacGyver preferred to use brain over brawn, and became famous for whipping up gadgets of all varieties from everyday items like paperclips and toothpicks. The series ran for seven seasons in total, with the final series airing in 1992. The character was also heavily parodied by Will Forte on Saturday Night Live, where he played the very MacGyver-inspired MacGruber; Richard Dean Anderson himself guest-starred on one sketch.
Supernatural star Jared Padalecki starred in a pilot for Young MacGyver in 2004 where he played the character's nephew, but the show wasn't picked up. MacGyver itself was later given a reboot in 2016, which cast Lucas Till in the title role. The show got off to something of a rocky start, with the original pilot being scrapped and a new version being shot by James Wan. The reboot proved a hit, however, and has been running for four seasons so far. Richard Dean Anderson has admitted to not being a fan of this new take on the character and has ruled out making an appearance.
While MacGyver was seen firing a gun in the show's pilot episode, the character pretty much swore off firearms for the rest of the series. He explained his dislike of guns due to a childhood friend accidentally being killed by one. Richard Dean Anderson's final performances as the character came in the form of two TV movies in 1994; MacGyver: Lost Treasure Of Atlantis and MacGyver: Trail To Doomsday. This latter entry saw Angus travel to London and after a close friend is murdered his investigation leads him to a businessman selling nuclear weapons.
One key scene in MacGyver: Trail To Doomsday sees the character jumped by thugs in a warehouse, and after beating an attacker, he's tossed a submachine gun by the leader to finish him off. Instead of killing him, however, Angus fires the gun over the leader's head before throwing it away. While he didn't actually shoot anybody with the weapon, it was still a little jarring to see the character holding one.
The new MacGyver also favors using his wits and gadgets over resorting to guns. While he may not have used many firearms as MacGyver, Richard Dean Anderson was later seen making heavy use of guns on sci-fi action series Stargate: SG-1.
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November 07, 2020 at 05:10AM
