We know the observatory we see MacGyver living in, in the pilot episode was in fact the Griffith Observatory in LA, but do you think it was suppose to be the Griffith Observatory in the show? or just some unnamed observatory.

In one of the outside shots (when MacGyver walks out to meet Gantner) we can actually see the name over the top of the door. In most other episodes the crew went to lengths to hide the real names of locations, so that makes me wonder about what this was meant to be.

I think the reason why the real names of the locations was hidden was because their identities in the show were different from the real life, e.g. a library was posed as law court or a university was posed as a museum. In the case of the observatory, because the facility was an observatory both in real life and in the show, therefore no need to hide the name.

so your going with the idea that MacGyver was, in fact, living at the Griffith Observatory within the storyline of the show?

No doubt MacGyver lives in an observatory in the Pilot episode. Considering Mac's taste in selecting living quarter, I am willing to believe he did live in an observatory once.

yeah, I'm not really asking if he lived in an observatory. More asking if the observatory was supposed to be the Griffith Observatory in the episode, or if they just forgot to hide the name.

If it was in fact suppose to be the Griffith Observatory, that then raises the question of does someone actually live there and does it really look like that inside?

If the answer to either of those questions is no, doesn't that kinda mess with the reality-fiction boundaries?

I think that they just didn't bother to hide the identity of the location.

Griffith Observatory has been a favorite setting for other shows. When I saw it being used in the The Man From UNCLE (The Double Affair/The Spy With My Face), I laughed as I recognized it, and said aloud "Hey! MacGyver used to live there! Of course, in that timeline (circa 1964), he wouldn't have lived there YET!"
Saw it again more recently in The Transformers movie. Laughed again. I'm starting to think that it is a multi-fandom landmark--everybody wants Griffith Observatory!

Having a live-in caretaker for such a place is easily believable for me. GO isn't that far away from the city anymore, due to urban sprawl, and the ambient light from LA severly hampers observing the night sky. Thus, I imagine, it has become of limited use as an observatory, and much more popular as a film-site, landmark, monument, and museum.

LOL! I ALWAYS say "MacGyver lived there" whenever I see it somewhere else and I see it a lot! It reminds me of how I always say "They were on MacGyver." whenever I see one of the actors on something else. My family got so sick of me always saying it but it didn't stop me:)

I second that!

I really do believe that Mac did live in the Griffith Observatory, though whether the building does have a living quarter in reality is a mystery to me. Till now when I see the place appears in some other shows I would say 'MacGyver used to live here!'

I'd say so too. In the last scene of the Pilot when they are in the kitchen you can see a bedroom. Of course the question is, is it really in there or is it in a studio?

Exactly!

Yes, it is the same with all the lofts, apartments... in all seasons. Maybe they shot inside of them, but also in studios. So some rooms can be ficticion, and other can be real, for example in the Houseboat.

I think in the first season, the Venice apartment was shot in the exterior, but maybe the interior was a set of a studio. It would be interesting to know someone who was in the TV show or lived close to the houses in that time, so could tell us about all these questions.

In this web page: http://www.lalife.com/ you can know details of homes in L.A.

The Apartment of the 1st season was built in 1981, and in the 7th season was in 1991. So when was shot the last season the home was really new.

Some pics of the Observatory

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nice photo's of the outside.

I never think of Mac as having lived in the observatory. Somehow, I don't really consider the pilot episode to be "canon." I guess it's because it feels so different-- Mac firing a gun, Pete being some guy named Andy, Mac having a different boss, etc.

Actually, a lot of Season 1 feels a bit different from the rest of the series. In some ways, I think the Mac we got to know throughout the series kind of started with Season 2.

yeah you could say the whole first half of season 1 was a pilot in a way.


In the very first scene with MacGyver and Reggie, we hear the following conversation:

Reggie: "I've had big brothers before. Non of em lived in a place like this."
Mac: "well it's comfy, I call it home."
Reggie: "I thought you had to be real normal to be somebodies big brother? I mean this ain't a normal place to live. This is weird."

So we know that MacGyver was living in the observatory, but my original question was, was it suppose to be the Griffith Observatory in the show, or did they just not cover the name up?

I know in real life it was the Griffith Observatory, but was it suppose to be called that in the episode?