Trumbo’s World

Episode:  006

Production No.: 40191-005

Airdate:   10 November 1985

Director:  Donald Petrie

Writer:    Stephen Kandel

Gambit Director:  Lee H. Katzin

Gambit Writer:  Stephen Kandel

Nielsen Ratings:  15.6 rating / 22 share / 2nd (31st overall)

 

OPENING GAMBIT

“WHITE WATER”

In the Pyrenees Mountains, MacGyver sneaks into a camp where a US geologist is being held captive. Using an overheated shower as a distraction MacGyver and the scientist make their escape; however, they are spotted by the captures and chased over a cliff and onto white water, where they eventually escape thanks to a line of razor wire.

 

MAIN EPISODE

MacGyver heads into the Amazon jungle with his anthropologist friend on an expedition to find out what’s scaring all the animals out of their habitat. Unable to find a guide they seek help from Lucien Trumbo, a local Cocoa plantation owner, who offers to guide them himself. As they travel deeper into the jungle, they find the source of the animal disruptions to be an army of soldier ants cutting a path through the jungle directly toward Trumbo’s plantation. With Charlie’s death from the ants fresh in their minds, Trumbo and MacGyver set about trying to stop the ants from destroying the plantation.

 

CAST

Richard Dean AndersonMacGyver
David AckroydLucien Trumbo
Peter JurasikDr. Charles Alden
Will GotayLuiz
Maurice Sherbanee
(as Maurice Sherbanée)
Governor Santos
Melinda PetersonDr. Andrea Gates
Vincenzo Gagliardi (as Enzo Gagliardi)… The cook
Branscombe Richmond
(as Ranscombe Richmon)
… The guard
Simone Boisseree (as Simone Boisseríée)… Yana
Hal John Norman (as Hal Jon Norman)… The old man
David Cadiente… The Non-Com

 

MACGYVERISMS


Used knife on a piece of thread
to hook a towel off a clothesline.

Placed water pipe on fire to
overheat the shower water.

Used a log as a lever to lift a
locked door off its hinges.

Lit kerosene soaked rope so bad guys
wouldn’t follow them down the cliff.

Ran razer wire across a river to
puncture and sink pursuing rafts

Made an arc welder using
jumper cables, a generator, and
two half-dollar coins.

Twisted a rope with a bamboo
pole to winch a heavy canoe off
a trapped woman.

Made a flame thrower from a
garden hose, pipe, and gasoline.

Made Nitromannite explosive
from nitrate fertilizer, plant
cellulose, and acid.

Made a protective suit from
melted garden hose spread on
netting and sealed with Duct tape.

 

 

TRIVIA

  • This episode borrows its plot from the Carl Stephenson short story “Leningen vs. the Ants
  • Much of the killer ant, plantation, and flooding footage in this episode is from the movie The Naked Jungle, starring Charlton Heston.
  • The filming location for Trumbo’s cocoa plantation was also used as the orphanage in the season 2 episode “The Road Not Taken”
  • Although this episode only identifies it’s location as the Amazon jungle, the TV Guide specified the location as Brazil.

 

QUOTES

  • My mom was one of the great kitchen experimenters. Japanese soup, Italian pasta, a terrific Basque stew. This one didn’t even come close. – MacGyver
  • That’s usually when I get a call when somebody’s in trouble and needs rescuing. – MacGyver
  • Here be tigers and unknown beasts – MacGyver
  • You know you’re the only person in the world who calls me Charlie? – Charles Alden
  • Last time I saw Trumbo, he took a shot at me. – Governor Santos
  • You got that one Trumbo. Trouble is, a couple of billion of his relatives are coming to his funeral. – MacGyver
  • Power of the American dollar; half dollar actually. – MacGyver
  • I don’t know how good ants are at swimming, but I’d be willing to bet a good fire would get their attention. – MacGyver
  • Personally I like a little variety and some good people to share it with – MacGyver
  • It’s a shame to see a nice piece of machinery like that just ruin itself – MacGyver

 

NIT-PICKS

  • When MacGyver starts using his makeshift flamethrower, his position on the wall changes back and fourth with the camera angles.
  • In the opening gambit, MacGyver covers the rope with kerosene, splashing some on his hands. Then later he climbs down the kerosene-covered rope. At the bottom, he lights the rope on fire and the flames cover his left hand momentarily, and yet the kerosene doesn’t set him on fire.

 

FILMING LOCATIONS

Amazon River
Baldwin Lake
Los Angeles County Arboretum
Arcadia, CA
Meeting Spot on Porch
Queen Anne Cottage
Los Angeles County Arboretum
Arcadia, CA

 

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