Every week I will be posting a new topic titled "Episode Discussion". In this we will discuss an episode, what we liked about it, what we didn't like, etc.
Episode 75 - The battle of Tommy Giordano
MacGyver helps a co-worker rescue her eight year old son after the father kidnaps him and takes him to a powerful mob boss Uncle in Canada.
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Vote from October 2006 Poor [ 0 ] [0.00%] Average [ 0 ] [0.00%] OK [ 3 ] [23.08%] Good [ 6 ] [46.15%] Excellent [ 4 ] [30.77%] Total Votes: 13
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Posted by: MacGyverGod Feb 13 2006, 01:16 AM
QUOTE
I voted excellent on this great and powerful episode. By the way this Richard Giordano showed before in Rock the Cradle as Carlos. The chemistry between MacGyver and Ruth Giordano is great and I love Mac's input during the episode to get Tommy back. Tommy was a great kid with a nice car. Finally a female writer (Marianne Clarkson) who can actually write a decent MacGyver adventure. I wish she did some more. Marianne Clarkson and Michelle Poteet-Lisanti where the two best female writers.
Posted by: MacGyver Feb 13 2006, 09:09 AM
QUOTE
"The Battle of Tommy Giordano" was definitely a pretty good episode. I thought it was an interesting power struggle between Tommy's mom and dad and MacGyver came in the middle of it to Tommy's rescue. And MacGyver had some pretty cool MacGyverisms in this one too- like listening in on the phone calls in the next room and using the remote control car at the end to deliver a smoke screen right around the bad guys. sak.gif duct.gif
Posted by: Lothithil Feb 14 2006, 07:07 AM
QUOTE
This is a very good episode. I like how Mac helps Ruth realize that she's capable of anything, and little Tommy is just adorable. I like Uncle Joe, too.
I'd first seen this ep in commercial tv. When the DVD came, I enjoyed the whole show anew when I got to see the edited 'are you guys from California' scene... very funny!
Posted by: MacGirl Feb 16 2006, 11:57 AM
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Excellent! One of the eps that shows Mac doing good away from his job. Always great.
I don't think I'd seen this one before, so it was a lot of fun to watch. I LOVED the "Are you guys from California?" scene!! I was roller.gif Also liked Mac's very creative use of the robot. And I agree, Lothithil, I also liked how Mac empowered Mary Ruth to do what needed to be done. That was always one of my fave parts of the show... when Mac shows others the strength they have inside them, and helps them act on it.
Old Fan Posted on Feb 16 2006, 01:56 PM
QUOTE
Yes!!! I love the scene in the motel office (are you guys from California... - thanks MacGirl) as Mac and Mary Ruth are checking in and he says to her, "...just follow my lead..." and he goes into this hippy/crazy routine, and she goes, "...oh right... the wrong number really messes with my polarity..." - just to get the room number next door to the one that the bad guys have checked into.
This scene is always cut when the episode is televised and it's a shame 'cause its hysterical.
Sheepy Posted on Mar 16 2006, 12:54 AM
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"For sure" LOL! I voted good, I can't vote excellent on all of them, right? I liked this episode very much. My fav episodes are the ones you can remember having seen a long long time ago. And this was one of them, with the parts at the motel and the remote control toy.
MacsChick Posted on Mar 16 2006, 02:16 PM
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The little boy in this one is cute! I like the hotel part, too, and MacGyver's interactions with all the characters, especially the boy, his mother, and his grandfather, who looks perplexed by the "MacGyverism" of the remote control car explosion. One thing that bothers me...why did they have to name the bad guy "Richard?" I wonder if that made RDA uncomfortable at times, or it confused him during the shoot. I can just picture it now:
Director: "Okay, now Richard is going to stand there, and..." RDA and actor playing "Richard": "What?" Director: "Not YOU, Richard! Richard!" RDA and other actor: "Who?"
Okay, so I'm being silly.
Rockatteer Posted on Mar 16 2006, 08:02 PM
QUOTE
DOn't think they would have had that problem... everyone calls RDA Rick...cos he hates being called Richard.
I don't think it would have bothered RDA at all... its a charecter name in a story.
Lothithil Posted on Mar 21 2006, 01:56 AM
QUOTE
QUOTE
QUOTE (MacsChick @ Mar 15 2006, 10:06 PM)
Director: "Okay, now Richard is going to stand there, and..." RDA and actor playing "Richard": "What?" Director: "Not YOU, Richard! Richard!" RDA and other actor: "Who?"
I can see Rick the practical joker doing this, just to keep things fun on the set!
LOL! What I would give to have been a fly-on-the-studio wall during the filming of these shows!
MacsChick Posted on Mar 21 2006, 01:38 PM
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Oh, I know! I so wish they had behind the scenes footage! Darn!
Sheepy Posted on Mar 24 2006, 09:00 PM
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I love the fighting -scene outside the zoo! The way he puts his entire bodyweight into it, it's brilliant. And I like how he gets smacked into the door. (I'm not a sadist, just think it's agreat shot!!)
MacsChick Posted on Mar 25 2006, 11:45 AM
QUOTE
I wonder how many bruises he'd get after shooting one of these episodes. He's very physical, and it seems like he threw his entire body into these kinds of scenes. I know they do a lot of stunt work and fight coordination so that it looks real, but I have to say...it really looked like he hit that door! Ouch!
Rockatteer Posted on Mar 25 2006, 01:43 PM
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if you freeze-frame in the right place his face is actually squashed against the window... so I would say he would have had a headache after that at the very least... even though his arms and/or body took the impact of the door...his face still hit it
Sheepy Posted on Mar 25 2006, 09:37 PM
QUOTE
QUOTE
QUOTE so I would say he would have had a headache after that ...
Or at least a very painful jaw....
thlayli87 Posted on May 4 2006, 05:44 AM
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I tried watching this episode twice in the past week, but I fell asleep both times. Not that it's bad, just kinda slow-paced. I put in a null vote. Will try again soon.
Just watched this again. Found that Uncle Joe's last name is Catano. Like the Katano in Stargate SG-1? Anyway got amazed again at seing the fight outside the aquarium and Mac hitting the glass.
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This is one of my favorites. I love where Mac runs through the door leading outside the aquarium and the bad guy draws back to punch him, and Mac knocks him out before he could react. Pow!
And I like Tommy's mother's "Distraction" for the hitmen so Mac can get out.
'Tis unwise to wake the Tygr.
"Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me." - Psalms 23:4
I love this one too. My favorite part is when Mac and the woman are checking into the motel, and the ensuing conversation there. I liked episodes that showed family values
Just watched this episode and loved the motel check-in scene. I also enjoyed watching some MacGyverism failed (the robot was kicked by the bad guy and not giving out smoke as they should as planned) because it really reflected what would happened in real life -- you don't always get what you want as planned.
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I loved the phonejacking (pun intended) in the motel. Completely brilliant. And the numerology comment, you can tell what Minnesota-Boy RDA thought about all the screwballs he met in California I would bet a small sum of money that his comment wasn't scripted.
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I watched this ep for the first time today. I thought it was very well-written and I especially like the fact that the little boy acted like a real little boy and not some cutsied up child actor that doesn't pull it off very well.
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one of my favorite episodes however only in the 80s would a grown man playing with a young boy who utters the line "tommy was a good friend of mine ever since the first time i gave him a bath and got wetter than he did" not cause a huge backlash of people crying foul. try putting that scene on tv today and youd have every watchgroup in america calling macgyver a pedofile
one of my favorite episodes however only in the 80s would a grown man playing with a young boy who utters the line "tommy was a good friend of mine ever since the first time i gave him a bath and got wetter than he did" not cause a huge backlash of people crying foul. try putting that scene on tv today and youd have every watchgroup in america calling macgyver a pedofile
I really doubt it.
Most people are mature enough to understand the meaning of that sentence without reducing it to the perverted toilet humor I suspect that comment was based on.
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If anything, I'd have expected that line to cause more trouble in the '80s than in any other decade before or since. It was, after all, the '80s that gave us the daycare sex-abuse witch-hunt which resulted in an unknown, but tragically high, number of innocent people being thrown in jail.
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Not a bad episode. Mac uses his talents to rescue a co-workers son who has been taken to Canada by her ex-husband whose uncle is a powerful Mob boss. The Macgyverisms were pretty good. Tapping the motel phone was pretty good. I wonder if you can do that today with fiber optics? I remember growing up with dial router phones.
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One fun fact about this episode that I never noticed until someone pointed it out to me is that when the mobsters are watching hockey in the motel room, the game they're listening to is the one from "Thin Ice," and you can hear the announcer reference "that kid Kirby."
Awesome. I pointed out the game out on the episodes with hockey thread .... but failed to realize that it was the audio clip from 'Thin Ice'. Iirc, the clip wasn't real crisp and, I would have, could have, should have recognized, Steve Armitage, the announcer's voice under normal audio conditions.
Armitage is a Canadian institution in the sports broadcasting field. You probably could have caught up to him for an interview up until last year - sadly he was a victim of the ongoing CBC cutbacks and was laid off last August. If you can track him down, I'd be happy to help with a few hockey questions that might pique his interest though ...
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QUOTE (Joe SAKic @ 22 August 2015 - 04:19 PM)
Awesome. I pointed out the game out on the episodes with hockey thread .... but failed to realize that it was the audio clip from 'Thin Ice'. Iirc, the clip wasn't real crisp and, I would have, could have, should have recognized, Steve Armitage, the announcer's voice under normal audio conditions.
Armitage is a Canadian institution in the sports broadcasting field. You probably could have caught up to him for an interview up until last year - sadly he was a victim of the ongoing CBC cutbacks and was laid off last August. If you can track him down, I'd be happy to help with a few hockey questions that might pique his interest though ...
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QUOTE (Joe SAKic @ 22 August 2015 - 04:19 PM)
Awesome. I pointed out the game out on the episodes with hockey thread .... but failed to realize that it was the audio clip from 'Thin Ice'. Iirc, the clip wasn't real crisp and, I would have, could have, should have recognized, Steve Armitage, the announcer's voice under normal audio conditions.
Armitage is a Canadian institution in the sports broadcasting field. You probably could have caught up to him for an interview up until last year - sadly he was a victim of the ongoing CBC cutbacks and was laid off last August. If you can track him down, I'd be happy to help with a few hockey questions that might pique his interest though ...
The series played an important PR role for the sport at a time when it needed a booster shot & was looking to expand it's market and influence much further throughout the world.
In particular, there was a gathering storm at the time that the episode 'Thin Ice' aired with Wayne Gretzky only months from being traded to the LA Kings, a trade that would change the sport of hockey forever. The Gretzky label is well known to the series.
Armitage was well plugged in and would know the importance/influence this series played and more importantly the buzz it carried back to the sports media circles at the time. All crucial in the timeline and as to how/what the sport has evolved into today.
So, with all that in mind, it would be interesting to hear his thoughts on the whole issue, especially as a media insider.