History Trivia / MacGyver1985

* CreatorBacklash: Richard Dean Anderson was consistently the only main cast member of the series (even with Pete around) and required to be in nearly every scene. For an hour-long TV show running 7 years, he was exhausted by the end. He said similar things about ''Series/StargateSG1''. He is very proud of the actual show itself however, and has fond memories of playing the character.

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* YouLookFamiliar: Dana Elcar played a one-off character in the pilot before being cast as Pete Thornton in the ongoing series. Numerous other actors appeared in multiple roles over the course of 7 years.

** Dana Elcar developed glaucoma which led to blindness; Pete Thornton accordingly developed the same condition.

* RealLifeRelative: [[AvertedTrope Not quite]]: [=MacGyver=]'s grandfather Harry Jackson was played by John Anderson. It's often assumed he was Richard Dean Anderson's real grandfather, due to their resemblance and same last name -- but the two were not actually related.

* YouLookFamiliar: Dana Elcar played a one-off character in the pilot before being cast as Pete Thornton in the ongoing series. Numerous other actors appeared in multiple roles over the course of seven years.

* ActorInspiredElement: Richard Dean Anderson really is from Minnesota, loves hockey and hates guns, and has long been active in environmentalist circles.
* CastTheExpert: Most of [=MacGyver=]'s random skills and hobbies are taken from Richard Dean Anderson's own talents, including hockey and being an outdoorsman. He had extensive training as a circus performer as well.

* PromotedToOpeningTitles: Dana Elcar from Season 2.

* ShownTheirWork: The show made an active attempt to actually understand chemistry and physics. Sometimes the effects were exaggerated, but it was pretty rare for [=MacGyver=] to do something that was straight science fiction. ''Series/MythBusters'' considered him to be their Patron Saint, and multiple episodes were dedicated to both things he did and the concept of {{MacGyvering}} to save the day. The producers also actively sought out stories about these kind of DIY fixes to integrate into the show.
** In the first episode, using chocolate to stop an acid leak is true. The chemical interaction creates a gummy plug rather than just eating through it.
** Fixing a busted engine radiator using egg whites.
** In the Season 4 episode "Fraternity of Thieves", [=MacGyver=] uses sodium thiosulfate (taken from a photo-processing store) to save the life of Pete Thornton, who's been poisoned with hydrogen cyanide; sodium thiosulfate is used both as a photo-fixing agent and as an antidote to cyanide poisoning.
* TheWikiRule: [[http://macgyver.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Page The MacGyver Wiki]].

* CreatorBacklash: {{Downplayed|Trope}}. Richard Dean Anderson was consistently the only main cast member of the series (even with Pete around) and required to be in nearly every scene. For an hour-long TV show running 7 years, he was exhausted by the end. He said similar things about ''Series/StargateSG1''. He is very proud of the actual show itself however, and has fond memories of playing the character.

** Don Davis, who would, years later, co-star with Richard Dean Anderson on ''Series/StargateSG1'', appears as a bulldozer driver with a single line in the very first episode of [=MacGyver=].

* CreatorBacklash: If only a mild example, Richard Dean Anderson was consistently the only main cast member of the series (even with Pete around) and required to be in nearly every scene. For an hour long TV show running 7 years, he was exhausted by the end. He said similar things about ''Series/StargateSG1''. The actual show itself he is very proud of, and has fond memories of playing the character.

** "Every Time She Smiles" had [=MacGyver=]'s arm in a cast from the start, supposedly due to a skiing accident in Switzerland, rather than have him injured somewhere in the middle of the episode. This was because Richard Dean Anderson had injured that arm and needed to have the cast written in. The same injury re-appeared in the next episode, "To Be A Man", with a different backstory.

** Don Davis, who would, years later, co-star with Richard Dean Anderson on ''Series/StargateSG1'', appears as a bulldozer driver with a single line in the very first episode of Macgyver.

* YouLookFamiliar: Dana Elcar played a one-off character in the pilot before being cast as Pete Thornton in the ongoing series. Numerous other actors appeared in multiple roles over the course of seven years.