MacGyver is an action-adventure series that ran for seven seasons on ABC and follows secret agent Angus MacGyver, played by Richard Dean Anderson. MacGyver prefers non-violent resolutions where possible, and refuses to handle a gun. He works as a troubleshooter for the fictional Phoenix Foundation in Los Angeles. He is a resourceful agent with an encyclopedic knowledge of science, able to solve complex problems with everyday materials he finds at hand, along with his ever-present duct tape and Swiss Army knife.

MacGyver Cast Like James Bond--but without the high-tech gadgets--Angus MacGyver (Richard Dean Anderson) is one of those rare beings who can avert any crisis without mussing a hair. (The rest of us should be so lucky.) In the pilot alone, the secret agent dismantles a missile using a paper clip and fashions a rocket thruster out of a pistol. Is there anything MacGyver can't do? As the first season of ABC's long-running adventure series proves, the answer is a resounding no. MacGyver's secret: the everyday items he "finds along the way," like matches or gum wrappers, and the ingenuity to put them to a myriad of uses (a background in physics and chemistry doesn't hurt). Unlike Alias' Sidney Bristow, he isn't a multi-linguist, a martial artist, or a master of disguises. Wits are MacGyver's weapon of choice.

Cast & Characters

  • Richard Dean Anderson as MacGyver
  • Dana Elcar as Peter Thornton
  • Bruce McGill as Jack Dalton (1987-1992)
  • Elyssa Davalos as Nikki Carpenter (1987-1988)
  • John Anderson as Harry Jackson
  • Michael Des Barres as Murdoc
  • Teri Hatcher as Penny Parker

Broadcast History

First Telecast: September 29, 1985
Last Telecast: May 21, 1992
Original Network:  ABC
Number of Seasons: 7
Number of Episodes: 139
Original Primetime TV Schedule:
  • September 1985- January 1986, ABC, Sunday 8:00-9:00pm
  • January 1986- July 1986, ABC, Wednesday 8:00-9:00pm
  • August 1986, ABC, Wednesday 9:00-10:00pm
  • September 1986- May 1987, ABC, Monday 8:00-9:00pm
  • June 1987- September 1987, ABC, Wednesday 9:00-10:00pm
  • September 1987- May 1988, ABC, Monday 8:00-9:00pm
  • June 1988- September 1988, ABC, Sunday 8:00-9:00pm
  • October 1988- August 1989, ABC, Monday 8:00-9:00pm
  • August 1989- September 1989, ABC, Sunday 8:00-9:00pm
  • September 1989- December 1991, ABC, Monday 8:00-9:00pm
  • May 1992, ABC, Thursday 8:00-9:00pm

Theme Song & Opening Credits

Watch opening intro:


Listen to theme song:

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