126 - Honest Abe
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How did you rate this episode
user posted image [ 6 ]  [16.22%]
user posted image [ 7 ]  [18.92%]
user posted image [ 8 ]  [21.62%]
user posted image [ 8 ]  [21.62%]
user posted image [ 8 ]  [21.62%]
Total Votes: 37
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Liz1976
Posted on 11 August 2008 - 04:27 PM                                    
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I like the scenes between Mac and Abe watching Mac get annoyed, then frustrated then mad. Great stuff. Abe annoys me. Anyone notice that the dictator is played by Time Winters, who plays Merlin in Good Knight MacGyver?



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trtlsoup
Posted on 11 August 2008 - 07:23 PM                                    
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This is the one episode I just can't get through. Horrible start to the new season (back in CA) and Shelley Berman's voice was beyond annoying... (this coming from a New Yorker with a Brooklyn/Queens accent...) I voted poor.





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Amy
Posted on 12 August 2008 - 04:07 AM                                    
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I think I'm gonna vote average, tho on the low end of average. This is one of my least favorites and when we recently rewatched the entire series I had to force myself to sit through it. It has good moments and some good lines, but as a whole....meh. Abe was annoying (I know it was on purpose...but it was overkill), I always want to roll my eyes at the dictator, and I kept thinking how does a guy like Abe steal a top secret military helicopter anyway? He seems too much of a buffoon. The whole shaving thing was great, tho!



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Posted on 12 August 2008 - 07:14 PM                                    
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"Honest Abe" is one of the more hilarious episodes of MacGyver. It's pretty much one of my favorite episodes. But then, I really do like all the episodes really well, so I can never really think of any that I don't like. I suppose some might find things over-the-top, but I like some things over-the-top. It's what fiction's for.
And Time Winters as the dictator made it for me- he's a great actor. And the dictator was really funny. And wow- Ben Stein was the perfect straight man to him! I love the line when he's explaining to him what a laughingstock is. biggrin.gif
And there were some cool MacGyverisms as always, especially the starting the helicopter up with the mirror! I thought it was a fun episode throughout and a great start to the 7th. season. sak.gif duct.gif MacG.gif



 
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Posted on 15 September 2008 - 01:15 AM                                    
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If that Chopper can be controlled by flashing light at the light sensor.... what happens if theres a lightning storm?? blink.gif

The thing could go ballistic!






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dinoman
Posted on 7 October 2008 - 04:57 AM                                    
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can anyone explain why Mac could be the godfather of Jeffrey? Does that mean Mac is a believer in or has any religious connection with Judaism?



 
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Jack Thornton
Posted on 8 April 2009 - 12:24 PM                                    
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Poor episode. One of the worst. Abe is the most annoying character I have ever seen and the plot is lame. That dictator was meant to be funny, but he wasn't. He was boring and annoying like everything else in this episode.



 
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Miasma
Posted on 16 April 2009 - 07:57 AM                                    
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I tried to watch this episode last night, and I couldn't make it past the first 15 minutes. It's awful.

It makes me wonder, though-- how do they choose the order of the episodes for each season. I mean, who in their right mind would think this was a good way to start a new season? This felt like a poor filler episode, not something that should be used to kick off a new season.



 
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Posted on 16 April 2009 - 02:23 PM                                    
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Maybe they where going with the idea that people would see this episode and think the show can only get better.

laugh.gif




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Posted on 16 April 2009 - 02:31 PM                                    
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QUOTE (dinoman @ 8 October 2008 - 12:57 AM)
can anyone explain why Mac could be the godfather of Jeffrey? Does that mean Mac is a believer in or has any religious connection with Judaism?

Good question. One would assume that if the family where religious enough to follow their Jewish traditions, they would want the Godfather of their son to be Jewish as well. hmm.bmp

In the less-strict sense of the term, I think God-parents take over the role of parenting if the real parents are unable to, such as if they pass away, become too sick, etc.

But it's hard to say what the writers where thinking on this one. although to me it seems pretty clear, that whatever they where thinking it wasn't very much.




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Miasma
Posted on 17 April 2009 - 07:59 AM                                    
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QUOTE (Rockatteer @ 17 April 2009 - 10:23 AM)
Maybe they where going with the idea that people would see this episode and think the show can only get better.

laugh.gif

Very possible!! biggrin.gif

Actually, I remember reading somewhere, just before Season 7 started, that they were trying to get back to basics-- "swiss army knife, duct tape and jeep"-- and away from having Mac on soapbox all the time. Maybe they thought this episode was a way of saying, "Look, we're not taking ourselves so seriously anymore." Sadly, it was a complete misfire as far as I'm concerned. I appreciate the idea of bringing the series back to being fun rather than preachy, but this took it too far.



 
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Posted on 17 April 2009 - 02:22 PM                                    
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Yeah RDA also mentions that in one of the interviews we have on-site.

He called it the "Run and jump" factor. This episode hit the fun factor on the head, but completely missed the action adventure target.




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Miasma
Posted on 4 May 2009 - 08:16 AM                                    
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Finally finished watching this episode.
If you're in the right mood for it, it's actually mildly entertaining. The first time I tried watching it, I was obviously not in the right mood, because I didn't make it past the first ten minutes. This time, I watched all the way through, and found myself entertained. Of course it's stupid, but if you accept that, and realize that it's aimed at little kids, it can be kind of fun (though I'm glad this episode didn't become the norm for the show!)

Most unintentionally hilarious scene-- after the explosion, when the agent gets blown backwards and does a perfect somersault in the air like a gymnast. Very impressive technique!




 
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lucsch
Posted on 1 June 2009 - 10:26 PM                                    
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Amazingly, I just watched this for the first time. Not sure how I missed it over the years.

I had just watched a few Macgrubers and was totally set up for the tongue-in-cheek humor. If you assume it is all stupid spoof humor, then it is excellent! I laughed throughout the whole thing.

I did like the scene with Mac shaving. LOL

I MUCH prefer the Mac in season 1, though. Sigh! I think they were getting tired of making the show.



 
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Azalea77
Posted on 10 April 2010 - 07:14 PM                                    
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Maybe it was not the best episode for me, but I enjoyed it!! This Carribbean dictator was way too hillarious and unreal but Mac/Abe duet was pretty good happy.gif The scene when they stop the car and start arguing just made me laugh out loud laugh.gif "Why are they after you?"
"Because of the chopper"
"What chopper?!!" and you can see such a suprise in Mac's eyes! he is driven to the edge. Or "How illegal??!" This is classic! And "complicated" laugh.gif laugh.gif laugh.gif



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BrakeFluid
Posted on 30 December 2010 - 07:16 PM                                    
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I watched this one tonight for what I think is the first time ever.

I saw very few S7 episodes in their original run, because that was my freshman year in college and there was little time for television. (Also, it pains me to admit as much, but peer pressure was a factor as well. Despite all the hype about people appreciating diversity in college, freshman year was a lot like high school with beer. Nobody else I knew that year admitted to having ever liked MacGyver, much less still being a fan by then.) The few episodes I did see did not strike me as very good. I wasn't sure whether the show had grown stale or I had outgrown it. It even occurred to me that maybe it had never been all that good and I just hadn't noticed until then.

Now, of course, I'm sufficiently mature and informed to recognize that in its prime, MacGyver was a terrific show, and that one never outgrows appreciation for a good episode. wink.gif That leaves only one explanation: that the final season was sub-par. As I watch the other episodes, I will try to keep an open mind about that not necessarily being the case, but Honest Abe was not a good start.

I will go somewhat against the consensus here and say I liked the character Abe. Something of a one-note character, yes, but he was good for comic relief in what was otherwise a kind of depressing episode. There were some very funny lines...
"Is there anybody you guys didn't fund?!"
"The Democrats?"
Ben Stein was great, too, especially the line about how "MacGyver's an environmentalist, you can't trust those people." (Something of an inside joke if you're familiar with Stein's politics.)

But overall, the tale was cliched and kind of boring. Worse, MacGyver didn't really strike me as himself much of the time. Some of his lines sounded like they must have been the work of a new writer who'd never been with the show before. The president was just silly - very much in the "so bad it's good" column, and there aren't many other characters in any episode about whom I would say that. I really did try not to look at this episode through the eyes of the jaded eighteen-year-old I was when it first aired - after all, I didn't even see it then - but it does inspire the same kind of cynicism I remember feeling a lot in those days about certain things I'd loved as a child.

It did have some truly great MacGyverisms, though.



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Makedde
Posted on 2 October 2011 - 07:11 PM                                    
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Anyone notice that when we first see Mac he drives into a town called 'Fillmore'? Perhaps a reference to Dexter?



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KiwiTek
Posted on 2 October 2011 - 08:50 PM                                    
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laugh.gif yeah. Although that is the real cities name of where that scene was shot.

The city of Filmore is located in Ventura County, California, USA.

Here's their website

Maybe that's where Dextor's last name came from?






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Posted on 27 April 2013 - 10:44 AM                                    
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I just saw this episode again and I just noticed that the presidential palace and in fact to whole city was also used in the Bushmaster episode.



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Posted on 27 April 2013 - 10:40 PM                                    
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QUOTE (KiwiTek @ 3 October 2011 - 03:50 PM)
laugh.gif yeah. Although that is the real cities name of where that scene was shot.

The city of Filmore is located in Ventura County, California, USA.

Here's their website

Maybe that's where Dextor's last name came from?

The possibility of it being a reference to Dexter crossed my mind too.
But it being the origin of Dexter's last name is also an interesting thought... happy.gif



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Posted on 12 February 2014 - 06:39 PM                                    
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Abe is just the old git version of Penny Parker. He's absolutely annoying and I fell asleep before they could crack the door on the chopper. Will try it again later but usually when an episode sends me to snooze land .... it's a dud in my books.



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Posted on 14 February 2014 - 05:40 AM                                    
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While I voted GOOD, this episode was just too comical to be a MacGyver episode. It didn't fit with the rest of the series, although it did fit with the less than stellar season 7 (my least favorite season).

I found Abe and his repeated, "It's complicated" catch phrase very annoying. Although when Abe and MacGyver say it at the same time at the end of the episode it's kind of funny.



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Posted on 14 February 2014 - 01:00 PM                                    
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QUOTE (MacFan092985 @ 15 February 2014 - 01:40 AM)
I found Abe and his repeated, "It's complicated" catch phrase very annoying. Although when Abe and MacGyver say it at the same time at the end of the episode it's kind of funny.

I tried to count how many times he says that. At least 9!! w00t.gif

However, I liked this episode. It's silly, but in a good way.
I voted "good" smile.gif



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Grazer
Posted on 28 June 2014 - 07:23 PM                                    
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I must have been in the mood for some light hearted silliness last night because I watched this episode and found it highly entertaining.

My girlfriend likened it to a spoof of the show and I have to say it did kinda have that feel to it.




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Myrtle Groggins
Posted on 26 December 2015 - 09:53 AM                                    
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Didn't I want dada comedy? Yeah, this is it. I like the episode though. I might find some longer thoughts later why I think this episode works well.

Also looked like MacGyver and Abe ended up in the area where the A-Team jumped over a nonexistent bridge once. And their 90s Ford makes it looks like they are 20 years ahead of the A-Team smile.gif



 
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Myrtle Groggins
Posted on 26 December 2015 - 02:53 PM                                    
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We spend most of the episode wondering if Abe is the bad guy, or the others. Turns out neither. That itself is a) a good plot and b) a good ending.

The characters are outlandish but are written and played so well that they come across as somehow realistic. And the president of San Rochelle is takes the stereotype so far out there and then runs with it. I've rarely ever seen such an spin on that character type. It just works. Oh, and if this was science fiction, the culture of San Rochelle would be just screaming "this isn't our Earth" laugh.gif



 
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Posted on 25 August 2016 - 10:37 PM                                    
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I think Macgyver is the greatest tv show ever. So I was amazed at the level of just plain bad acting in this episode. Was that the point? Abe was talking, or rambling on, in this punch-drunk tone, the fbi guys were the worst comic relief. Ben Stein played an even dryer version of Ben Stein. Macgyver was great, as always. I was just amazed that this was allowed on tv.



 
                                                                     
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KiwiTek
Posted on 26 August 2016 - 03:49 AM                                    
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I think it was meant to be a light-hearted adventure episode. Unfortunately it was a precursor of things to come in what turned out to be arguably the worst season of the show.




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MacsJeep
Posted on 27 August 2016 - 02:42 AM                                    
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I could not EVER sit through this episode again. It was one of the worst for me. Abe irritated me so much, I wanted to just get up and switch off. sad.gif



 
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RadiantRose
Posted on 10 October 2016 - 11:43 AM                                    
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I thought it was really funny. Also, I kind of liked Mac's shirt. A lot. He should have worn it more often. I'm not sure why.



"They have no idea how well they cast this."

 
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