MacGyver - The Complete Final Season
The houseboat is history. In the final season, MacGyver (Richard Dean Anderson) moves to a loft in an eccentric inner-city neighborhood. The point seems to be to paint the secret agent as less of a loner, but living away from the rest of the world seemed to suit MacGyver better. Fortunately for fans, Mac's ever-enthusiastic buddy, Jack (Bruce McGill), and surprisingly lively nemesis, Murdoc (Michael Des Barres), who faked his death in year six, come back to add a little zest to proceedings that were starting to grow stale (see "Obsessed" and "The Mountain of Youth"). Aside from Pete Thornton (Dana Elcar, now wearing dark glasses due to glaucoma), MacGyver's boss, other recurring characters include Mama Lorraine (Kimberly Scott), a voodoo priestess, and the Colton brothers (Cleavon Little, Richard Lawson, and Cuba Gooding Jr.), who return in "The Coltons," pilot for a series that never materialized (Della Reese, who plays their mother, would have better luck withTouched by and Angel). In addition, Mac's son, Sam (Dalton James), is introduced in "The Stringer," the series' fitting finale. Sadly, Elcar, who also starred inBarrettaandBlack Sheep Squadron, would pass away in 2005.Instead of a full season, only 14 episodes were produced for the seventh, including the silly two-parter "Good Knight MacGyver," in which a bump on the noggin transports Mac to Camelot. As he spends more time with the Challengers Club than the Phoenix Foundation, other stories revolve around domestic matters rather than the international crises of yore. Guest stars include Shelley Berman ("Honest Abe"), Wendy Malick ("Obsessed"), Henry Gibson ("Deadly Silents"), and Dick Butkus ("Split Decision"). The final season was followed by two tele-films, an appearance onThe Simpsons, and a Super Bowl 2006 MasterCard commercial in which Anderson revived his most famous character. Priceless, indeed.--Kathleen C. Fennessy