Has there ever been a thread that discusses/identifies which episodes are shown in each season's openers? Everytime I watch the opening credits, I try to match the snippet scenes with episodes and there are several I don't recognize.

Maybe it's just me, but I think it's fun. Thanks.

From the 4th season on till the 7th on they reshot a few scenes. Which is not so surprising at all. If you check out the difference between the fifth season Mac and the first season.

Try this - it's got a great breakdown of the scenes in the opening credits for each season of MacGyver, identifying the episodes they're taken from, as well as a screenshot of each scene.

Opening credits page

I still wondered that for example even if the first shot is from "The Gauntlet" (scene where Mac get out from bus and "rescue" the girl from cops), Mac gives them money, but the exactly scene which is shown in opening credits isnt in this episode. I have never seen a Mac holding his passport and giving it them in the episode that way like in the theme.
The same with Pilot bomb (in the episode the final 2 seconds is shown only on analog clock but in the theme there are digital), and there are many more scenes like this.

So it means to me that the episode originally had these scenes, but before airing in TV they were just removed(cut), but the theme doesn't change...

Probably not so much cutting the scene as edited so it tells the story better.

You should also remember that the scene with MacGyver leaning on the plan wing, isn't in any episode at all.

they are 2 different clips... remember the explosion changed to the fireball in the second episode, but the clock scene stayed the same...

So the 2 separate clips are taken from the same. it's just a little confusing in that first episode, because they used the explosion from the episode, and both the timer and the explosion are part of the same scene.

does that make sense?

I don't think they originally decided to make the opening credits purely from actual used footage from episodes. I think the idea is to portray what the show is about.

I think too that the TV stations edit little bits out here and there to make room for their commercial breaks (a little snip here, a little snip there and before you know it you have an extra 30 seconds for a commercial) so those scenes may well have been in the episode when it was shipped out to the TV station.

Thanks everybody. You have raised some very interesting points.

Am I correct in thinking that some episodes have different clip combinations for the opening titles?

Or am I just getting confused with the editing issue we had on the DVD version of Thief of Budapest?

I think you are Rocky. But I don't know.

I don't think so. The clips in the opening credits differ from season to season, but not from one eppy to another. Maybe they did in the first few eppys that had opening credits, but I'd have to watch them again.