Oh 100%. I was amazed on the first page of this thread there were people protesting him having a son because they thought otherwise

I like that Mac enjoyed women, why shouldn't he? I missed that element in the later seasons, although it was enough already with angsty past relationships - new flings would have been nice

Also all these latest comments are cracking me up.

Probably but after getting blown up by Deborah can you blame him? Either they always get in trouble and he has to save them or they want to kill him. Still plenty of old girlfriends showing up in every season.

Well, I don't know what I was expecting to read today, but it sure wasn't this

It's my fault for responding to 12 year old posts

Hey, whatever gets the conversations going, right? XD

I was raised very religious and now I work as a church secretary... and even I found the comment of him being a virgin ridiculous. lol

But I think the problem with some of those fans is that it burst their fantasy bubble. It's the same reason they didn't like Nikki or Maria. They wanted MacGyver to be a certain way in their own personal fantasy and those were threats to it.

I'm a fangirl too, but I also understand that this is a fictional character and it's just a TV show. My personal fantasy adapts to what is canon, not what I want it to be... that's why I know I wouldn't have a snowball's chance in hell with a guy like Mac.

But, I know for certain we'd be excellent friends... which, to me, is better than nothing.

I will admit, that Mac's lack of female interests is good for angst fanfic material. Hell, I'm working on one right now. Teeheehee

@Dragondog - Well, at least we're trying to keep it PG. XD

There's no way that the growing HIV/AIDS did not have an affect on the episode/script content. The timeline was bang on. They went out of their way to make sure Mac set a good example for all us - for everything else. To drop the ball on this one would have been wrong and negligent to their modus operandi. The fact that the majority of the feminine fanbase wanted him for themselves was the perfect cover op for toning the physical relationship down a tad in those decidedly dangerous times. Everyone was aware of it, but it wasn't talked about - like it is today. Bruce Cockburn wrote a song in 1984 that seemed to be about it all .....somehow, or was it …. but he wouldn't really divulge the inspiration behind the lyrics until recently. That's the way it was. Offtopic, or is it ??? ...

I'll give you that

Personally, I don't want Mac for myself. I don't care for the concept of pre-marital sex, but I'm not naive enough to think Mac was virgin. (No offense to anyone intended)

I really strongly doubt it that that would be the reason for toning down relationships in the show. Where they that scared that MacGyver would get infected by that decease if they wrote in a relationship? Come on.

Most of the people that contracted HIV or AIDS especially in the United States at that time were men and mostly gay men, over 90% of the cases. Even today it's over 80%, of course it's no longer just men but the majority is. I think he would be fairly even considerably safe unless he is a carrier of the decease which I don't believe at all. The chances he would get infected by a woman during that time is very unlikely, even if their is always a risk. Besides I think Mac knows his stuff about prevention and would want that his bedpartners would do the same.

I do not believe the fear of HIV/AIDS was the reason of toning down relationships for Mac, no matter what time it was. That is not his fear of commitment. The female fanbase didn't want him in a relationship so he had to remain a loner, that's all.

If they really feared it they could've or even should've addressed it in Runners. Imagine Snakeskin pimping out (minor) hookers to spread out the decease, giving them heroin without needle exchange and who knows maybe he would've had it himself. But I think having a minor play a hooker (the actress herself was only twelve years old), the threat of giving her heroin by a pimp and getting hit twice in one episode was heavy enough. Adding the decease in it would've probably made it too heavy and this was also during the time the decease was around.

I totally agree with MacGyverGod - it just wasn't one of the social issues they dealt with on the show - if they were actually worried about it they wouldn't have had Mac sleeping with Maria in a non-committed way. There were certainly movies dedicated to the subject, but most shows didn't change the way they handled relationships.

That's just the point - nobody talked about it openly, but the whole world was quietly "adjusting" their "social" habits - accordingly. Cockburn wrote a song about it - but to proclaim what it was truely about, at the time, probably would have hurt sales more than it would have helped. So he didn't. Mac was an ultra squeaky clean, goodie-2-shoes, special agent cum healthnut ... who the producers had on a very, very short leash, habit-wise. To think that it didn't breed any discussions nor have any influence on the screenplay evolution - with all that in mind and circa mid '80s - would be a tad myopic.

I'm not convinced, man. I think if you ask them yourself they probably wouldn't even know what you're talking about. On a short leash maybe, they wanted him to be decent guy from next door, but that that decease would've influenced the writing is, I'm sorry to say: bull.

Yes, he had several love interests in the first three seasons mostly but don't forget that the fourth season had a shift in writers and it took a long time before some sort of romance took place. Lulu was the first person he kissed with after Deborah and then Ellen who tried to kill him. If the rule was: "MacGyver doesn't date, period." I can understand but not if the rule was: "MacGyver doesn't date because we're afraid of HIV/AIDS." Even if an episode required a kiss or maybe even sex, don't you think they would've had the actors tested out first?

If there is one reason of Mac being single the blame is on the (female) fans, like it or not. A love interest is one thing but he'll always will have to let her go because they either can't be together or she wants to kill him.

Again if they wanted to address it they should've done so in Runners.

Also don't forget the message being pushed with the AIDS/HIV issue was one of safety not abstinence so having MacGyver abstain is actually contrary to all the messages they would have wanted to push anyway; which is maybe why they didn't approach the subject.

I think MacGyverGod is correct that Runners would have been the perfect episode if they were going to do anything with the subject as it had both prostitution and heroin at the heart of the story - both the major players in the HIV/AIDS epidemic.

@Joe - It always makes me laugh when people claim MacGyver is squeaky clean and a goodie-good. lol Actually, he's pretty rebellious... he doesn't have a problem questioning authority and breaking the law when he feels like he should.

He's just simply a good guy and does what he feels is right. But, he seems pretty laid back to me. *shrugs*

That short leash lease was THAT short. lol

They were never going to do "anything" openly with the subject. That's not the point - nobody did back then - it was an uncertain, unknown, social hot potato. Nobody really want to touch it with a ten-foot pole. However ….. they could send a subliminal message embodied within his character about how to best address the situation for the role model they were portraying. Given their schooling resume, they would be remiss if they didn't.

Mac was a hockey player and, in part, derived from 007 who are both well know for their promiscuous activities …. and it was cool to do so in the 70s and, accordingly, with those hobbies/vocations - we would expect to see these liasons common within the subplot. But HIV/AIDS changed the popular opinion on that and it suddenly-overnight became not as cool as it once was. Just like what has happened with smoking, and what is happening with gun control these days.

My point is only that the producers, being as methodical and persistent in their message-sending as they were, must have tabled it when building/evolving his character. It couldn't not have had an influence on the character portrayed - whatever percentage that might have been.

Incidentally, I have an original draft from "Collusion Course". Hudson Hickman's handwritten editing is on the front cover. It says clearly to "Lose Carly - add a 13-14 year old". Huh! Hockey playing, secret agent, man of the world has an apt love interest op with "Carly Farrell" - a sexy sports reporter in a high fuelled sports episode - and that needs to be tamed downed and edited out completely for another teenie-bopper to cuddle, back rub and huggy-bear with?

Mac is a persnickety, socially correct nerd that refrains from guns, caffeine, junk food, nicotine, drugs, and alcohol ... and increasingly as the series wore on "fast woman". If this was 1978 that kind of characterization might be considered strange, if not farcical/sacrilege for a man of his stature; if it were 2018, eyebrows might be raised in other ways. But it wasn't - it was 1988 and they slid it in to sate the molding of their character for the time and the era that it was.

Attached Image

Can you make that picture a little smaller, please?

I think that it's implicit that he had a certain above and beyond - carte blanche for situational (not constitutional) happenings that would behoove someone in his position and for the betterment of the government and citizens under his protection. I am only speaking of his otherwise life choices that seem to be more cookie-cut towards the clean living, low health risk, side of things …..

No, you've totally convoluted the point. His character had the table set as a Bond-derived, Indiana Jones, hockey playing .gov special agent but who also had the duty of being as responsible a role model as possible for the times and viewing audience. Talk about having your work cut out for you, the character. Now, about a week before the Pilot debuted in 1985, the first big celebrity dies of AIDS. Ir was well in the news. In 1991 Magic Johnson, after months of speculation, stated that he had contracted HIV, and a ton of stories in between. That was the unfortunate reality of the coinciding timelines. If HIV/AIDS was an acquired syndrome that created "the fountain of youth" in it's hosts - I think you would have seen more bed scenes and dating as the series evolved. But it was far from that and the producers toned his relationships down accordingly and in line with his decidely conservative list of morals, ethics and life decisions. How much of an affect did it have on his character? 10% 15% 20% … Dunno but you can bet that it had an in influence and it's ridiculous to suggest that the producers "wouldn't know what you're talking about" and that it ddn't have any affect on the script for such a morally and ethically sensitive character of that time.

Agreed! Even RDA calls him a goodie two shoes, but I never really saw him that way - sure he's quite liberal and progressive, but he's far from priggish or rule following. He eats healthy, but will eat unhealthy things too - etc..


I can't believe this thread as devolved into an argument about whether the producers slightly adjusted Mac's relationships due to the AIDS epidemic in the 80s lol. I would say probably no more than any other show of the time... but since we're all guessing, I don't really care

Well, I guess the only way to know is to ask the producers themselves.

Yeah, that happens sometimes on here.

I've got my own problems, so I really don't have the time or patience to argue. lol

At least as plausible as leashing his libido for fear of causing any undue anxiety/depression in their squeaky-wheeled female fanbase. Male fanbase bedamned! That get's me thinking about Jack's character, now, as well, and Pete, goodgawd I think they were all theatrically neutered .... just kidding … so little time (40 minutes) and so much more important coolness to cover per episode ….

LOL! Well, you know what they say... the squeaky wheel gets the oil. XD

At least as plausible as leashing his libido for fear of causing any undue anxiety/depression in their squeaky-wheeled female fanbase. Male fanbase bedamned! That get's me thinking about Jack's character, now, as well, and Pete, goodgawd I think they were all theatrically neutered .... just kidding … so little time (40 minutes) and so much more important coolness to cover per episode ….

Haha, wait so you're telling me there is a male fanbase that wrote in about Mac's girlfriends?

At least as plausible as leashing his libido for fear of causing any undue anxiety/depression in their squeaky-wheeled female fanbase. Male fanbase bedamned! That get's me thinking about Jack's character, now, as well, and Pete, goodgawd I think they were all theatrically neutered .... just kidding … so little time (40 minutes) and so much more important coolness to cover per episode ….

Haha, wait so you're telling me there is a male fanbase that wrote in about Mac's girlfriends?

No, the boys didn't have any time to write - they were all out on dates when not watching MacGyver Seriously, I can't ever imagining being so gripped by a tv show as to rabidly write the producers and attempt to alter the subplots for one's own oersonal whimsy.