Dear friends,

I’m John Potter, and I had the great pleasure to be one of the technical advisors for the “MacGyver” series. I also created all of Prof. Janos Bartok’s futuristic, 1876 gadgets for Richard Dean Anderson and John De Lancie in “Legend”. I have worked with Lee Zlotoff and Tony Lee on the recent graphic novel and look forward to contributing to upcoming issues and to other projects. I was honored by one of Rick’s comments to me, at the production offices at Paramount. “Potter”, he said, “I really enjoy the crazy situations you put me into but I have to confess that I am a technical illiterate and really don’t know what I’m doing.”

I am an engineer and a partner in a company that designs and builds cleanrooms for healthcare and for scientific research. This is a very interesting profession, and my projects always keep me on my technical toes. I live with my wife and three dogs in Dutchess County, in the Mid-Hudson Valley north of New York City. I am happy to correspond with MacGyver fans around the world.

Working with the writers, producers and props people, I got MacGyver into and out of a number of dire situations, including a lava pit in medieval Scotland, a ticking atomic device in the “Countdown to Doomsday” TV Movie in 1994 and by having him and his long-lost son contrive “rocket packs” to escape from the hold of a ship in the series finale. I also had the opportunity to read many letters, some forwarded to me, from people who were truly inspired by MacGyver, and it made me proud to be a part of that wonderful adventure.

Let’s suppose that the Phoenix Foundation were to give their troubleshooter, and his global fans, their greatest challenge- reducing global warming.

1. Like MacGyver, we care about nature, maintaining the biosphere, reducing water and air pollution and preserving our green resources.

2. Like MacGyver, we want to save energy and invent and develop renewable energy sources.

3. Like MacGyver, we are anxious about how coastlines are deteriorating and natural barriers against storms are being destroyed and not rehabilitated.

4. Like MacGyver, we know that CO2 and hydrocarbon levels in the atmosphere are causing atmospheric warming, with the loss of polar ice and changing climate patterns.

5. Like MacGyver, we want to save energy, in both simple and in ingenious ways. We understand that burning fossil fuels to keep the lights on only increases the threat to our planet.

What would MacGyver do? Well, first, he would say “Oh, man!”, and then he would dig in, using science, his wits and his natural creativity. Let’s help him out. Please post your serious thoughts, ideas, anxieties, anything, and see what, as a Planet, we can do for ours.

Best regards to you all,

John Potter

Welcome to the site John. And may I say a huge Thank You for your involvement in the show. It was the MacGyverisms which really hooked me, and I know many others, into the show and made it stand out. It's also those same MacGyverisms which created and hold the iconic status the show now has. So again Thank You for your role in making our favorite show so special.


Where you involved in the series from start to finish?

You pose so excellent questions which I will respond to after having a bit of a think on them. In the mean time I hope you don't mind questions being asked about your role in the show.

Hi John and welcome to the site.

I'll have a look at your questions when I have the time for it.

How cool it is to have someone on the "inside" as a member of this forum!

Welcome John!

Welcome to the forum, John

My biggest concern, and what I see as the biggest hurdle, is that the people who can switch off global warming.. i.e. the government and big industry won't do anything more than showboating and that scares the hell out of me.

It seems that no-one is willing to take on environmental issues unless they can make money from it. Just look at how the price of anything goes up when it has an environmental sticker on it. The whole environmental situation is being looked at as a way to make money and as such it's more profitable for them to not solve it so they can keep selling their products which claim to help. Meanwhile we're hurtling towards the point of no return, at which point even if everyone went back to living in caves it would be too late to fix the problems that we - the humans - have made.

It's a sad fact that I've spent more of my adult life being ashamed of being human than I have being proud.

Welcome to the website John.

Education! Humans need to see and understand the repercussions of the (real & potential) long term problems they are causing. Borders seem to further divide values/vision and there seems to be more and more lines drawn on this world in recent decades. The good news is that the internet and Cyberworld has the potential ability for the common person to reach the masses in away that was not possible before.

As an example the youtube video 'Gangnam Style' has acquired a billion hits, recently. With that in mind, I think the 2013 MacGyver might harness his techie computer know how in a honest, mischievous and yet very, very persuasive way - to enlighten the decision makers and powers that be on this planet and make them see the wisdom in making more intelligent choices for the sake of our future generations.