MacGyver Steps Off Soapbox

After stirring up controversy for taking stands on issues ranging from gun control to the homeless, ABC's Macgyver will be delivering a lot fewer messages this fall. Steve Downing, executive producer of the series, acknowledges, "It's possible we became too preachy. Our fan mail shows that some of our audience is getting tired of being exposed to the cause-of-the-month." Downing stresses that MacGyver (actor Richard Dean Anderson) won't turn his back on issues altogether, but does say we will be seeing "more of what I call 'Jeep, Swiss army knife and duct tape shows' -- in other words, shows with more 'MacGyverisms'," in which the brainy detective uses his Mr. Wizard-type solutions to get himself out of sticky situations. MacGyver will also change filming locations from Vancouver to Los Angeles and the character will move off his boat into a place near the beach, providing an opportunity for new semi-regulars to come on the show as his neighbors.

TV Guide, June 1991.