Title: Macgyver (DVD) Review Word Count: 522 Summary: A unique and different kind of TV action series, MacGyver made its television premiere in the Fall of 1985 to much fanfare. Audiences immediately responded to the title character and his unusual penchant for turning everyday items like chewing gum and paperclips into elaborate life-saving contraptions. In this way, it maintained a slight resemblance to The A-Team, and this recurring plot device helped MacGyver build a strong cult following… Richard Dean Anderson plays the ... Keywords: macgyver dvd review Article Body: A unique and different kind of TV action series, MacGyver made its television premiere in the Fall of 1985 to much fanfare. Audiences immediately responded to the title character and his unusual penchant for turning everyday items like chewing gum and paperclips into elaborate life-saving contraptions. In this way, it maintained a slight resemblance to The A-Team, and this recurring plot device helped MacGyver build a strong cult following… Richard Dean Anderson plays the title role of MacGyver, an energetic employee of the fictional Phoenix Foundation for Research. An unorthodox hero by action series standards, MacGyver has a deadly fear of heights. A pacifist who refuses to use weapons, he relies heavily on his ability to use his brain and tinker with the various materials at his disposal. MacGyver's best friend, and the director of the Phoenix Foundation, is Pete Thornton (Dana Elcar). Pete often sends MacGyver on Foundation missions and sometimes comes to his aid (usually after MacGyver has saved the day). In addition, MacGyver is joined on a regular basis by his airplane pilot friend Jack Dalton (Bruce McGill), a man who constantly entangles himself in illegal activities and other troublesome situations. Between the usual slew of bad guys, the vendetta of archenemy Murdoc (Michael Des Barres), and his multitude of troublesome friends, MacGyver is always in the midst of interesting and dangerous events, and the show's true entertainment value derives from watching MacGyver's distinctive method of dealing with each one… The MacGyver DVD features a number of action-packed episodes including the series pilot in which MacGyver is forced to race against the clock when a team of scientists are trapped underground after a lab experiment goes awry. Wanting to contain the leak, the Army allots a small time window for MacGyver to pull off his mission before they destroy the facility… Fans will make note of some interesting aspects of the pilot episode such as Dana Elcar's role as another character, MacGyver's use of a gun, and MacGyver's boss is a man named Gantner (Michael Lerner)… Other notable episodes from Season 1 include "Trumbo's World" in which MacGyver, while on expedition in Brazil, encounters and wages war with a mile-wide column of army ants, and "Every Time She Smiles" in which MacGyver meets up with a beautiful, yet talkative, artist named Penny Parker (Teri Hatcher) and the two must escape the clutches of the KGB… Below is a list of episodes included on the MacGyver (Season 1) DVD: Episode 1 (Pilot) Air Date: 09-29-1985 Episode 2 (The Golden Triangle) Air Date: 10-06-1985 Episode 3 (Thief of Budapest) Air Date: 10-13-1985 Episode 4 (The Gauntlet) Air Date: 10-21-1985 Episode 5 (The Heist) Air Date: 11-03-1985 Episode 6 (Trumbo's World) Air Date: 11-10-1985 Episode 7 (Last Stand) Air Date: 11-17-1985 Episode 8 (Hellfire) Air Date: 11-27-1985 Episode 9 (The Prodigal) Air Date: 12-08-1985 Episode 10 (Target MacGyver) Air Date: 12-22-1985 Episode 11 (Nightmares) Air Date: 01-15-1986 Episode 12 (Deathlock) Air Date: 01-22-1986 Episode 13 (Flame's End) Air Date: 01-29-1986 Episode 14 (Countdown) Air Date: 02-05-1986 Episode 15 (The Enemy Within) Air Date: 02-12-1986 Episode 16 (Every Time She Smiles) Air Date: 02-19-1986 Episode 17 (To Be a Man) Air Date: 03-05-1986 Episode 18 (Ugly Duckling) Air Date: 03-12-1986 Episode 19 (Slow Death) Air Date: 04-02-1986 Episode 20 (The Escape) Air Date: 04-16-1986 Episode 21 (A Prisoner of Conscience) Air Date: 04-30-1986 Episode 22 (The Assassin) Air Date: 05-07-1986