I've just been looking through captures of the houseboat and noticed that the location of where it docked changed.

You can see in the below picture that it's clearly in a different place from earlier episodes.

I wonder if they had to move because of the redevelopment project? or if there was some other reason?

Attached Image

Are you certain it isn't just a case of filming from different angles?

I don't have access to screen graps, and it might be the camera point of view showing different angles -- but that's just devil's advocacy. It does look to me as if it's a different berth, with a different dock layout. Which episodes are those taken from?

well theres a path around the kitchen area and also past the yacht in the first shot.. I don't see any of that part of the path in the second shot.

The below shot also shows us that the kitchen end of the boat is jammed up beside a huge building.. yet the first picture is taken from the kitchen end of the house.



Attached Image

Dang, what just happened? One of your posts moved while I was answering it. Oh, well.

I remember watching MacGyver's Woman... when Mac and Maria are walking to the houseboat... and thought.... "where the hell are they going?" Check out that episode.

Possible 'extrinsic' reasons: (production-based)

- change in marina dock layout itself, loss of original berth location, or owner of real houseboat may have moved to a new berth
- changes in regulations at original marina may have made filming more difficult or expensive, or impossible
- terms of location use constantly change; location scouts often have to renegotiate, or find a new or cheaper alternative, including building a new façade onto a different houseboat
- different dock layout around the houseboat’s new location may have worked better for shot set-up and filming angles – I can think of some good filmic uses for those stairs.
- changes around the original berth location may have added up to lousy filming options
- second location may have had advantages the first one lacked -- proximity, cost, etc.


And, just for fun, some possible 'intrinsic' reasons: (within the 'verse)

- noisy neighbours
- nosy neighbours
- inexplicable moves of residence keep the bad guys guessing
- staying one step ahead of junk mail
- Mac did a favour for the marina owner and was given a better berth location

It's not easy moving a houseboat, but it's still doable.

'Beth

I just had a thought that it may have coincided with when Zoe towed him out into the harbor at the start of Holy rose..

but a few episodes after that we see MacGyver talking to Milt Bozer on the yacht parked in front of Macs boat..

so the change didn't happen until well after Zoe towed him... around MacGyver's Women episode, which is when we see Mac and Maria take the long walk from the car park down to the houseboat... its quite a different path from what we see in episodes like serenity.

Hmm- another unexplained event in MacGyver's history (or at least one not mentioned much of- sort of like when he lost the houseboat itself in the 7th. Season and just had that quick explanation about the fire that he spoke of in "The 'Hood")

Last time we see MacGyver entering the houseboat the way he always did (via the marina entrance and the board) was in Lesson in Evil. After that it changed for the rest of the season. Than it was always the stairs.

Reasons? I don't know.

Could be possible.

Also what changed after the 'move' is and you could see that well in Jerico Games and High Control is that in front of the door some sort of wooden fence appeared.

Maybe also possible after looking at both pictures. Could be deceiving, though. Maybe the houseboat never moved but it's just a shot of the backside. But that doesn't explain the building. Unless there was no way to get it in the first shot.

but wheres the path that leads along beside the yacht? its not in the second picture.

Heres a shoot looking down past the houseboat. You can see the stairs from the second location aren't visible.. it's definitely a different location.



Attached Image

I had noticed the house boat looked like it had moved about between episodes but just presumed MacGyver could move his house about like it was a caravan. Just move it along to another berth for a change in the scenery. I didn’t really pay attention to it. Now you’ve mentioned it I want to tie it in to events, like if it moves after someone undesirable (Murdoc or Jack ) have broken in or something. But I think if there was ever a connection between the moves and the story lines in the series they would have made it more obvious. It must have been for some external reason and we were either not supposed to notice or were supposed to think it was fine that a movable house moved.