I just purchased a copy of Lee David Zlotoff's 90-minute pilot script for the MacGyver pilot. My first question is: was there ever an actual 90-minute version of the pilot. I thought perhaps it was cut down to 60 minutes before airing, especially after viewing one of the cut scenes on this site. I did a little research and learned that every other pilot that kicked off a one-hour series on ABC that fall was either 90-minutes or two-hours long. Just wondering why MacGYVER would have been the exception since they had a script that would run 90-minutes.

My second question is whether Thackary Pallor is a real person. I looked this name up on IMDB and there is only one other credit besides MacGYVER. Nor does it say that it's a pseudynm for anyone. Either way, I cannot understand why Pallor received the sole writing credit for the MacGYVER pilot. After reading Zlotoff's script, just about every character, scene, and piece of dialogue that appears in the broadcast pilot originally appeared in Zlotoff's script. The exception being the short segment involving the observatory and Shavar Ross's character. At the very least, Zlotoff deserved a shared teleplay credit. I'm sure the Writer's Guild would have agreed. Does anyone else have an opinion or have more information on the matter. Thanks.

The reason why the Pilot was cut to 60 minutes is probably because they only wanted stand alone episodes. With exception of Lost Love, Legend of the Holy Rose and Good Knight MacGyver. To me it always sounded like a lost opportunity in grandness of episodes.

Thackery Pallor is a real person as far as I know. There were more people whose career just existed out of one appearance in MacGyver. The episode director Alan Smithee isn't a person just an alias.

The cut scenes you probably saw were just the scenes that were cut out of the dvd release for probably some ridiculous reason. The original opening credits for the Pilot were cut and Mac's briefing in the Pentagon were cut out. Also in Thief of Budapest was something cut and in The Heist they actually added something. Before the end of the third act or so you see a woman running out of the casino. After the fade out you see that again.

Now that Zlotoff resurfaced with the whole MacGyver movie thing. I find it hard to believe that he never looked back after he wrote The Pilot. Okay, maybe he trusted everyone with it. I don't know.

They probably didn't think he deserved a teleplay credit because he was already the creator of the series.

That's all I know.

Hi Doug,

No. The 90 minute pilot was written by Lee Zlotoff and was rewritten/edited down to 60 minutes, which is the version we're all familiar with. I've never heard or even read speculation on why they would have gone with a 60 minute instead of the standard 90 minute pilot. Although I wonder if it had something to do with most pilots are made to sell the station or studio on the product, but if the studio was already sold on the product, then they didn't need to go through the process of making a pilot, and could just start straight out with episodes.. this is purely speculation on my part though.

The missing scenes your talking about (assume you mean the pentagon scene?) were part of the original 60 minute pilot episode and were shown on European television, but apparently cut from US airings, probably for advertising space - to allow the correct number of commercials to be aired as required by ABC network at that time.

Have no idea.

This actually makes sense to me. The process would go that someone comes up with the original idea and writes a teleplay as a base idea, then it would be passed to a writing team who would refine it, edit it, and in this case cut it down from 90 to 60 minutes.

Lee doesn't strike me as the kind of person who looks for recognition, choosing to do things because he likes too rather than because it will bring him fame and/or recognition, so the writing credit probably never even crossed his mind. And in any case, what more recognition could you want then to be listed as the creator of a successful TV show.