I was looking at the The script for "The Stringer" the other day and saw it had more than one title. It has formally known as “Malloy” in the first couple of pages and then when talking about cast and crew it talks of “Circle of Blood”. I guess it must have been written as “Circle of Blood” then changed to "Malloy" and then to “The Stringer”.

I remember from this thread (originally posted by Stevendyg) – http://www.macgyveronline.com/forums/index...?showtopic=2680 That some episodes have working titles and even broadcast with different titles in different countries with the episode “The Ten Percent Solution” being renamed in some places as “Out of The Past”.

MacGyverGod mentioned (in the thread above) that in Belgium “The Spoilers” got renamed as “Earthquake” and “Ma Dalton” was called “Mothers Sons” and that “Passages” was named “Coma”. Astra mentioned "Friends" became "Memories" in Germany. Was the name displayed on screen changed as it was for Stevendyg?

I was just interested if there were anymore alternative titles, whether its working titles or for a different country, for any more episodes that anyone knows.

I've also seen "Every Time She Smiles" alternately referred to as "Together Forever".

Some of the episodes in script stage had a different name until they got the name we're familiar with. "The Human Factor" was at first known as "Labyrinth" and "Final Approach" was formerly known as "Fire Mountain".
In the background book it gives a description of these episodes in their formative stage, along with some others that weren't made.
http://www.macgyveronline.com/pages/bible.html

They write the German title instead of the English one. They write it just over it. When the English title is longer than the German one the rest gets blacked out. So we never see the English one, but then the names of the guest actors and authors and everything.

And it's not only for "MacGyver", that's the usual way with dubbed series. Only for "X-files" it was somehow different, I wondered for quite some time why I never saw the sentences "The truth is out there" at the end of the opening credits till my friend told me that at this place always the titles came so I never would be able to see that. And I thought I had missed something important since everyone was talking about!

Sometimes they translate the original title word by word, but often enough they come up with an own title instead, which sometimes contains massive spoilers so that only by reading the title you already know what will happen! Fans are very angry about that!

And on top of that, apparently the people that "invent" the titles work for more than one series which means that chances are good that they will re-use a title several times when it fits so that you will have the same title for three different episodes for three different series which is very confusing


Shall I re-translate every MacGyver-title? That could be fun comparing them!

Actually in Belgium Ma Dalton was called 'Mother Sons and Others'. And The Spoilers indeed Earthquake and Passages Coma.

I'm beginning to think that every episode has more then one name! I wonder if the writers get miffed when others change the name of their scripts.

there are ideas for episodes that weren't made! Have you read the descriptions? Sound any good?

You have the same region 2 DVD's as were released in the UK don't you? So, for some the first time you know the "original" (kind of! ) title is from the dvd's? That could be confusing!

would you? I'd find it interesting to see what the people who make up the names that aren't direct translations felt they should call the episode in Germany.
I know its not the same because I wouldn't be trying to translate but I wonder what I would call the episodes if I was told to rename them.

I do have an episode guide from a journal for a few years now where I can find everything I need to know, such as both titles, writers, actors and summary. But of course I'm a lot more familiar with the German ones and had to struggle at first when I joined MOL. But as soon as someone describes a scene I know what the others are talking about

Unfortunately I don't own the DVDs yet, I intended to buy them but then I read at some thread here that there might be missing scenes in the region 2 version and now I'm not so sure about it anymore. I certainly don't want to spend a lot of money to something that is incomplete! So I'm waiting... don't know for what, exactly! For new boxes with lots of behind-the-scenes-stuff maybe? Yeah, dream on! And in the meantime I'm suffering badly from MacGyver-withdrawal since I didn't even tape it the last time it was showed at TV...


As for the list, I will come back once I finished it, it surely will take some time but I'm looking forward to do it!

Okay, here we go (German for starters )


No. – title / German title (translation)

season 1

1 – Pilot / Explosion unter Tage (Explosion in the Underground)
2 – The Golden Triangle / Goldbroiler MacGyver (Broiler Chicken MacGyver)
3 – Thief of Budapest / Die Diebin von Budapest (The Thief of Budapest)
4 – The Gauntlet / Schnappschüsse mit Folgen (Snapshots with Consequences)
5 – The Heist / 60 Millionen Dollar an der Angel (60 Millions of Dollar at the Fishing-hook)
6 – Trumbo’s World / Der Ameisenkrieg (The Ant’s War)
7 – Last Stand / Kleine Fische, große Fische (Small Fishes, big Fishes)
8 – Hellfire / Fackeln (Torches)
9 – The Prodigal / Der verlorene Sohn (The lost Son)
10 – Target MacGyver / Zielscheibe MacGyver (Target MacGyver)
11 – Nightmares / Sechs Stunden bis zur Ewigkeit (Six Hours till the Eternity)
12 – Deathlock / Ein unsichtbarer Gegner (An invisible Adversary)
13 – Flame’s End / Alte Freundschaften (Old Friendships)
14 – Countdown / Wenn Bomben ticken (When Bombs are ticking)
15 – The Enemy within / Spitzel aus den eigenen Reihen (A Spy in the own Lines)
16 – Everytime she smiles / Liebe kennt keine Grenzen (Love knows no Borders)
17 – To be a Man / Ein einfacher Auftrag (A simple Mission)
18 – Ugly Duckling / Das hässliche Entlein (The ugly Duckling)
19 – Slow Death / Halt auf freier Strecke (Stop at open Route)
20 – The Escape / Die Flucht (The Escape)
21 – A Prisoner of Conscience / Hinter der Mauer (Behind the Wall)
22 – The Assassin / Ein Killer mit tausend Gesichtern (A Hitman with thousand of Faces)

season 2

23 – The Human Factor / Der tödliche Computer (The deadly Computer)
24 – The Eraser / Killer im Ruhestand (Hitman in Retirement)
25 – Twice Stung / Betrogene Betrüger (Cheated Cheaters)
26 – The Wish Child / Das Wunschkind (The Wishchild)
27 – Final Approach / Der Bewährungshelfer (The Probation Officer)
28 – Jack of Lies / Der Meisterlügner (The brilliantly Lyer)
29 – The Road not taken / Ein Rosenkranz für alle Fälle (A Rosary for every case)
30 – Eagles / Adler in Not (Eagles in Danger)
31 – Silent World / Warnende Träume (Warning Dreams)
32 – Three for the Road / Mord an einem Cadillac (Murder of a Cadillac)
33 – Phoenix under Siege / Phoenix in Gefahr (Phoenix in Danger)
34 – Family Matter / Familienangelegenheiten (Family affairs)
35 – Soft Touch / Tödliche Worte (Deadly Words)
36 – Birth Day / Klapperstorch auf Abwegen (Stork at wrong ways)
37 – Pirates / Piraten (Pirates)
38 – Out in the Cold / Wintersport ist Mord (Winter sports is homicidal)
39 – Dalton, Jack of Spies / Der Spion aus dem Sarg (They spy in the coffin)
40 – Partners / Totgesagte leben länger (The condemned live longer)
41 – Bushmaster / Die Befreiung (The Liberation)
42 – Friends / Erinnerungen (Memories)
43 – D.O.A.: MacGyver / Blackout (Blackout)
44 – For Love or Money / Gefährliche Freiheit (Dangerous Freedom)

season 3

45/46 – Lost Love 1&2 / Eine tödliche Liebe 1&2 (A deadly Love)
47 – Back from the Dead / Schatten der Vergangenheit (Shadows of the Past)
48 – Ghost ship / Das Geisterschiff (The Ghostship)
49 – Fire and Ice / Wer zuletzt lacht, lacht am besten (Who laughs last, laughs loudest)
50 – GX-1 / GX-1
51 – Jack in the box / Wozu sind Freunde da (That’s what Friends are for)
52 – The Widowmaker / Schwindelnde Höhen (Dizzy Hights)
53 – Hell Week / Hindernisse (Obstacles)
54 – Blow Out / Das Attentat (The attempted Assassination)
55 – Kill Zone / Gefahr aus dem Weltall (Danger from the Universe)
56 – Early Retirement / Der neue Boss (The new Boss)
57 – Thin Ice / Riskantes Spiel (Risky Game)
58 – The odd Triple / Das Gangstertrio (The Gangster Trio)
59 – The Negotiator / Mord auf Bestellung (Murder to Order)
60 – The Spoilers / Giftmüllbeseitigung ganz modern (Modern Toxic Waste Removal)
61 – Mask of the Wolf / Die Wolfsmaske (The Wolf’s Mask)
62 – Rock the Cradle / Ein millionenschweres Baby (A Millions worth Baby)
63 – The Endangered / Wilderer auf Menschenjagd (Poachers at Hunt for Humans)
64 – Murderer’s Sky / Der Letzte der Familie Chung (The Last one of the Family Chung)

season 4

65 – The Secret of Parker House / Das Geheimnis des Hauses Parker (The Secret of the Parker’s House)
66 – Blood Brothers / Blutsbrüder (Blood Brothers)
67 – The Outsiders / Neue Wege (New Ways)
68 – On a Wing and a Prayer / Raketen für die Rebellen (Rockets for the Rebels)
69 – Collision Course / Sabotage auf der Rennbahn (Sabotage at the Race Course)
70 – The Survivors / Überlebenstraining (Survivor Training)
71 – Deadly Dreams / Der Mann im Hintergrund (The Man in the Background)
72 – Ma Dalton / Mutter Dalton (Mother Dalton)
73 – Cleo Rocks / Cleo Rocks
74 – Fraternity of Thieves / Die Fünferbande (The Gang of Fives)
75 – The Battle of Tommy Giordano / Kein Kinderspiel (No Child’s Play)
76 – The Challenge / Druck (Pressure)
77 – Runners / Schuldgefühle (Guilty Feelings)
78 – Gold Rush / Goldrausch (Gold Rush)
79 – The invisible Killer / Der unsichtbare Tod (The invisible Death)
80 – Brainwashed / Gehirnwäsche (Brainwash)
81 – Easy Target / Gelähmte Stadt (Paralyzed Town)
82 – Renegade / Das Sicherheitsrisiko (The Security Risk)
83 – Unfinished Business / Der Skorpion (The Scorpion)

season 5

84/85 – Legend of the Holy Rose 1&2 / Die Legende der heiligen Rose 1&2 (The Legend of the Holy Rose)
86 – The Black Corsage / Die schwarze Perle (The black Pearl)
87 – Cease Fire / Waffenstillstand (Ceasefire)
88 – Second Chance / Der ungewollte Vater (The unwanted Father)
89 – Halloween Knights / Das Tal des Todes (The Valley of the Death)
90 – Children of Light / Die Kinder vom Tienanmen-Platz (The Children of Tienanmen-place)
91 – Black Rhino / Erbarmungslos (Merciless)
92 – The Ten Percent Solution (No German title because it never was aired here)
93 – Two Times Trouble / Rock gegen Drogen (Rock against Drugs)
94 – The Madonna / Die Madonna (The Madonna)
95 – Serenity / Im Wilden Westen (In the Wild West)
96 – Live and learn / Die Schule des Lebens (School of Life)
97 – Log Jam / Kampf um den Wald (Fight for the Woods)
98 – The Treasure of Manco / Mancos Schatz (Manco’s Treasure)
99 – Jenny’s Chance / Die Geldwäscher (The Money Launderer)
100 – Deep Cover / Vertrauen ist gut... (Confidence is good...)
101 – The lost Amadeus / Von Geigen und Ganoven (About Violins and crooks)
102 – Hearts of Steel / Herzen aus Stahl (Hearts of Steel)
103 – Rush to Judgement / Die Vogellady (The Bird’s Lady)
104 – Passages / Fähre des Jenseits (Ferry to the Beyond)

season 6

105 – Tough Boys / Gewalt gegen Gewalt (Violence against Violence)
106 – Honest Abe / Ein Akt der Menschlichkeit (An Act of Humanity)
107 – The Gun / Eine Waffe mit Vergangenheit (A Gun with Past)
108 – Twenty Questions / Falsche Freunde (Wrong Friends)
109 – The Wall / Die Mauer (The Wall)
110 – Lessons in Evil / Die Lehre des Bösen (Lessons of the Evil)
111 – Harry’s Will (No German title because it never was aired here)
112 – MacGyver’s Women / MacGyvers Traumfrauen (MacGyver’s Women of Dreams)
113 – Bitter Harvest / Im Wein liegt Wahrheit (In the Wine lays Truth)
114 – The Visitor / Besuch vom anderen Stern (Visit from the Stars)
115 – Squeeze Play / Ein schöner Treffer (A nice Strike)
116 – Jerico Games / Heiße Liebe (Hot Love)
117 – The Wasteland / Das tote Land (The dead Land)
118 – Eye of Osiris / Das Auge des Osiris (The Eye of Osiris)
119 – High Control / Schöne Freunde (Nice Friends)
120 – There but for the Grace / Der stumme Zeuge (The mute Witness)
121 – Blind Faith / Blindes Vertrauen (Blind Faith)
122 – Faith, Hope & Charity / Die Lacey-Sisters (The Lacey-sisters)
123 – Strictly Business / Geschäft ist Geschäft (Business is Business)
124 – Trail of Tears / Der schwarze Strom (The Black Stream)
125 – Hind-Sight (Lektion in Sachen Freundschaft (A Lesson in Friendship)

season 7

126 – Honest Abe / Agenten in der Karibik (Agents in the Carribean)
127 – The Hood / Mörderische Absichten (Murderious Intents)
128 – Obsessed / Aber die Leiche fehlte! (But the Corpse was missing!)
129 – The Prometheus Syndrome / Der Feuerteufel (The Firebug)
130 – The Coltons / Die Coltons (The Coltons)
131 – Walking Dead / Die Gärten des Todesbarons (The Gardens of the Dead’s Baron)
132/133 – Good Knight MacGyver / Ritter MacGyver (Knight MacGyver)
134 – Deadly Silents / Tödlicher Hass (Deadly Hate)
135 – Split Decision / Der letzte Boxkampf (The last Boxing Match)
136 – Gunz’n Boyz / Der Bandenkrieg (The Gang War)
137 – Off the Wall / Kampf der Spekulanten (Fight of the Speculators)
138 – The Stringer / Tod in China (Death in China)
139 – The Mountain of Youth / Schweres Wasser (Heavy Water)


Lost Treasure of Atlantis / Der Schatz von Atlantis (The Treasure of Atlantis)

Trail to Doomsday / Endstation Hölle (End Station Hell)



So, what do you think? Some seem to fit very well, but others – arrrghh!

I think episode titles always/usually get changed when the show is dubbed.
I've tried to download some eps (yes naughty me, but it was before Mac was out on DVD!) and I found Spanish, French, Italian and German titles. Not to mention the Chinese. (I think they were Mac episodes, couldn't translate them )

In Holland no title has been changed.

Those titles are interesting Astra! Neat!

Some of those titles are priceless! I've always rather thought that some of the episodes of MacGyver were named rather carelessly. I think I like some of these better than the originals!!

Some are indeed completely the opposite of what they are.
Jericho Games becomes Hot Love???
The Stringer, Death in China?
But Passages becoming Ferry to the Beyond, that has a nice ring to it.

Great Astra! Thank you for this.

I like some of these German names. Some I find funny - For the “The Golden Triangle” “Broiler Chicken MacGyver” – Its like they looked at that one scene and named it after that!
“six hours till the eternity” for “nightmares” sounds so dramatic! I like “winter sports are homicidal” for “out in the cold”. “Three for the road” – “Murder of a Cadillac” So it was! Poor car! “Obsessed” = “But the corpse was missing!” oh-no!

I can see were those names came from but I’m a bit confused by some. I think I might have to watch again to see why they wanted to call them that. How is partners “the condemned live longer”? Fire and Ice –“who laughs last, laughs loudest” ? “Deep cover” = “confidence is good…”??

I love how some are so descriptive “The lost Amadeus” = “about violins and crooks”! “The spoilers” = “Modern toxic waste disposal”!

Calling the fountain of youth “heavy water” gives away the story. “Blow out” as “the attempted assassination” is telling everyone there will be an assassination attempt before they watch it.

That's the sting operation as in conning the con.

Yeah, I also like some more than the original ones! "Murder of a Cadillac" for example - so fitting *g* I also think "Pressure" would also fit for "Hell week" because the father pressured the son.

But others - for example I like the original "Second chance" much better than "The unwanted father". I think it is more optimistic, you know?

Yeah, I also like "Ferry to the Beyond" very much. And about "The Stringer" - can please somebody explain me why it is actually named that way? I don't understand what "stringer" means in the context of the episode and I always wondered.

You're welcome! Though I had trouble to translate some of them properly. I tried to stay as close to the German words as I could. If I had only translated the meaning sometimes I would have choosen differently since some are German sayings that can't really be translated actually.

You even can start to learn German with this, since I almost every time put the translated words in the same order as the German were. And if comparing them you'll find that the two languages have a lot in common actually.

Yeah, they often seem to do it that way! I think some titles are very graphic. But because of that, only by hearing the title, you immediately know which episode it is so it is a good thing actually. And I always have to snigger when reading the "broiler" one *g*

And again it describes it very graphically. You have a chill just from reading this, I think. And he came very close to eternity at the end! *shudder* The thing with the magnet I'll never forget, and maybe some time it will come in handy!

This was one of these that I had trouble with. Actually the saying goes "Sport ist Mord" (which is rhyming) and it is often used by people that don't want to do any sports (me included ) and of course we are right when you see how dangerous it can be with breaking your leg and all. So staying at home is much safer *lol*

Did you all understand the one with the stork at wrong ways? It's because the stork brings the babies, of course *lol*

Oh yeah! Everytime he ripped something off I almost was screaming "Noooooooooo!" But Mac's face with this "Sorry"-look was priceless *g*

But I still have the suspiction that at the end they did not rebuilt the car but filmed the end first and then just destroyed it... so yeah, murder at the cadillac it was! Very fitting!

I assume they mean the corpse of Murdoc with this one. Since nobody believed Mac that he still was alive but they could not prove that he was dead either. Since the corpse was missing.

That's what I meant with titles that just fit everywhere. Maybe they had no better idea and went with something that would fit in any case. I don't like that either.

"Shadows of the Past" is another case of a title you will find in almost every series since it will always fit. And they often seem to use the words "Deadly" and "Dangerous" to make it more thrilling or what.

I wait for the day we have something like "The episode in which Mac took off his pants" ...

"Confidence is good..." is actually only the beginning of a proverb, don't know if you know that too. It goes "Confidence is good, but control is better" - meaning that you should not take something for given unless you checked for yourself. Just like the one that someone posted from the "Who want's to be a millionair" - If you want to have done it right, then do it yourself.

Exactly. That's what fans are complaining about. Some "Stargate" ones are even worse: "The death of Sha're" or "The Return of Apophis" - both actually should be a surprise when watching the episode!

Often English titles seem to have more than one meaning, you can understand them this or that way, they fit for different parts of the storyline and this is completely lost when they only translate one of the meanings literally.

That's the sting operation as in conning the con.

Yeah, as it also would be in "The cheated cheaters" (sorry, could not find a better way to say this) - and sorry for this one too because I just fixed a misspelling, of course it was not "cheated cheapers" *g*


I'm glad you all liked my list!

Rock, if you want to use this somewhere else at the site - just do it.

Hi Astra,
Wow! Thanks for going to all that time and trouble to translate the titles for those MacGyver episodes. I agree, some of the titles you translated sound very different than the episodes themselves like that "Broiler Chicken MacGyver." LOL that was pretty funny! But I guess they were taking it from that scene where they had him tied to that rack and he was lying out in that burning hot sun and he said he was feeling sympathetic to these chickens. LOL So maybe that's where they got that title. Cool! .

About "The Stringer", a stringer is a person who just gets paid by the article for a newspaper and doesn't really work full time for the newspaper. I think that's what a stringer is. They only get paid by the article and don't have a regular salary like regular news reporters do. Hope that helps.

About some of those other titles, I agree, some of them sound better than the English titles, and describe the episodes very well. Like for instance that "Murder of a Cadillac." I agree, that was a good title for that episode. That poor car! By the time Mac got through with that car, there was very little left. LOL

Thanks again, for posting those. Those were really interesting.

Take Care,
Nancy

Yes, MacNancy has the basic idea on a stringer. It's basically another name for a photojournalist like Sam is- but he's not a regular reporter for the newspaper with a column or assigned area. He's a freelance writer who gets paid by the article. (Like Peter Parker as a photographer for the Daily Bugle- except he only does the photos.) Having done a bit of this, this is one area I can speak on with some confidence.

Yes, I can fill in a bit of information for this as I possess two original scripts from that episode, one entitled 'Malloy' FKA Circle of Blood, and the other entitled 'Circle of Blood'. Curiously they are both dated November 20th, 1991. Two days later there would be another Rev. Final Draft with 'The Stringer'. So, it seems they were 'getting the business' in the eleventh hour from the network on this one and that there was a lot of chin wagging going on around these dates. What the heck do we call it? Circle of Blood, a good double entendre but a bit too risqué a title perhaps and for the final episode. Malloy, excellent, cryptic, in that it hides well the big surprise at the end. The Stringer ..... cryptic as well, & a good choice in the end.