Phoenix Foundation - A MacGyver Podcast

ORIGINAL AIRDATE: January 8th, 1990 —

Wild West MacGyver has a territory dispute with Pete Thornton and gunslinger Murdoc is summoned

MISSION: A wild west daydream lands MacGyver in trouble with local rancher by the name of Pete Thornton. A nefarious gunman is hired to scare MacGyver off what Mr. Thornton considers his land.

This week’s highlights include:

The Reivers (Film)

The Reivers (also known as The Yellow Winton Flyer in the UK) is a 1969 Technicolor film in Panavision starring Steve McQueen and directed by Mark Rydell based on the William Faulkner novel of the same name. The supporting cast includes Sharon Farrell, Rupert Crosse, Mitch Vogel, and Burgess Meredith as the narrator.

Check out the article on wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Reivers_(film).

ORIGINAL AIRDATE:December 18th, 1989 —

A magical homeless woman teaches MacGyver and friends the true meaning of Christmas… sort of…

MISSION: MacGyver interrupts the harassing of an older homeless woman by a pair of hoodlums and transports her to the Challenger club. At the same time, a statue of the Madonna has gone missing from a local church.

This week’s highlights include:

Cloak & Dagger (Film)

Cloak & Dagger is a 1984 spy adventure film directed by Richard Franklin starring Henry Thomas, Dabney Coleman, and Michael Murphy. It was originally released in a double feature with The Last Starfighter on July 13, 1984 and then released separately on August 10, 1984.

Check out the article on wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloak_%26_Dagger_(1984_film).

ORIGINAL AIRDATE: December 11th, 1989 —

A friend of MacGyver’s has been the target of a series of death traps

MISSION: MacGyver touches base with an old friend who fears for her life. Worse yet, she suspects the mastermind behind several murder attempts is her identical twin sister.

This week’s highlights include:

B-25 Empire State Building crash (History)

The B-25 Empire State Building crash was a 1945 aircraft accident in which a B-25 Mitchell bomber, piloted in thick fog over New York City, crashed into the Empire State Building. The accident did not compromise the building’s structural integrity, but it did cause fourteen deaths (three crewmen and eleven people in the building) and damage estimated at $1,000,000 ($13,000,000 in 2015 dollars).

Check out the article on wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B-25_Empire_State_Building_crash.

ORIGINAL AIRDATE: November 20th, 1989 —

Stolen art dating back to World War 2 puts MacGyver hot on a politician’s trail

MISSION: When the rightful owner of a painting stolen by Nazis during World War 2 interrupts a live auction, MacGyver makes it his business to track down the painting’s nefarious journey.

This week’s highlights include:

Check out the MacGyver Project’s quick conversation with Mr. Persoff here.

The Ghost Club (Paranormal)

The Ghost Club is a paranormal investigation and research organization that was founded in London in 1862. It is widely believed to be the oldest such organization in the world. Since 1862 it has primarily investigated ghosts and hauntings.

Check out the article on wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ghost_Club.

ORIGINAL AIRDATE: November 13th, 1989 —

MacGyver follows Billy Colton to a rhino reserve where a poacher is becoming the poach-ed?

MISSION: Pete informs MacGyver that the youngest of the Colton boys has stolen a file on an infamous African poacher and booked a flight to track him down. In tracking Billy down, MacGyver entangles himself in the investigation and looks to end the poaching of Black Rhinos to extinction.

This week’s highlights include:

Here is some info on an awesome plan to curb poaching.

Pembient (Biotech)

Pembient is a biotech company in Seattle, Washington, United States that was founded with the goal of creating bioengineered wildlife products to fight poaching around the world.

Check out the article on wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pembient.

ORIGINAL AIRDATE: November 6th, 1989 —

A Chinese student smuggles secret evidence of the Tiananmen Square massacre into MacGyver’s house boat

MISSION: A girl claiming to be a friend of MacGyver’s shows up at his door and stashes evidence of a foreign atrocity in his home. When she disappears into the Chinese embassy, it’s up to MacGyver to reveal the hidden information and rescue the girl.

This week’s highlights include:

Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 (History)

The Tiananmen Square protests, commonly known in Chinese as the June Fourth Incident (六四事件)[a] were student-led demonstrations in Beijing in 1989. More broadly, it refers to the popular national movement inspired by the Beijing protests during that period, sometimes referred to as the ’89 Democracy Movement (八九民运). The protests were forcibly suppressed after the government declared martial law. In what became widely known as the Tiananmen Square Massacre, troops with assault rifles and tanks killed at least several hundreds of student demonstrators trying to block the military’s advance towards Tiananmen Square. The number of civilian deaths has been estimated at anywhere between hundreds and thousands.

Check out the article on wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiananmen_Square_protests_of_1989.

ORIGINAL AIRDATE: October 30th, 1989 —

When Murdoc’s sister is kidnapped, he turns to his only friend for help… MacGyver

MISSION: Murdoc’s ex-employers HIT have taken his sister hostage. He tricks MacGyver into rescuing her from the depths of HIT headquarters in exchange for bringing the organization down.

This week’s highlights include:

That Lovecraft story we spoiled was actually The Outsider not The Visitor. See more info below.

Here’s a link to the MacGyver Project interview with Murdoc’s sister.

The Outsider (Literature)

“The Outsider” is a short story by American horror writer H. P. Lovecraft. Written between March and August 1921, it was first published in Weird Tales, April 1926. In this work, a mysterious man who has been living alone in a castle for as long as he can remember decides to break free in search of human contact and light. “The Outsider” is one of Lovecraft’s most commonly reprinted works and is also one of the most popular stories ever to be published in Weird Tales.

Check out the article on wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Outsider_(short_story).

ORIGINAL AIRDATE: October 16th, 1989 —

MacGyver and Jessie Colton head to Thailand to help transport sick kids to America

MISSION: While on a humanitarian mission in Thailand, Jessie Colton learns from MacGyver that Jessie has a son in the region.

This week’s highlights include:

Here is a clip of Barry Bernal singing.

Amerasian (Ethnicity)

In its original meaning, an Amerasian is a person born in Asia, to a U.S. military father and an Asian mother. The term has sometimes been used to describe a person in the United States of mixed Asian and non-Asian ancestry, regardless of the circumstances.

Check out the article on wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amerasian.

ORIGINAL AIRDATE: October 9th, 1989 —

MacGyver is framed for an assassination attempt and a teenager helps clear his name.

MISSION: The Phoenix Foundation is hosting peace talks between warring nations when a failed assassination attempt points to MacGyver as a suspect. A teenage girl encounters MacGyver on the run helps him prevent further attempts on the President’s life.

This week’s highlights include:

Gondola lift (Transport)

A gondola lift, as opposed to a cable car, is a means of cable transport and type of aerial lift which is supported and propelled by cables from above. It consists of a loop of steel cable that is strung between two stations, sometimes over intermediate supporting towers. The cable is driven by a bullwheel in a terminal, which is typically connected to an engine or electric motor.

Check out the article on wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gondola_lift.

ORIGINAL AIRDATE: October 2nd, 1989 —

MacGyver and Frank Colton track down a missing Phoenix operative kidnapped by jewel thieves

MISSION: When a Bulgarian defector goes missing, Pete, Mac and Frank Colton are hot on her trail. Turns out she’s being chased around town by a ring of jewel thieves who think she’s out to steal their prize.

This week’s highlights include:

Here’s an article about that girl who realized living on a train is cheaper than rent.

Chevrolet AK Series (Automotive)

The Chevrolet AK Series truck was a light duty ute sold under the Chevrolet brand, with production beginning in 1941 until 1947. It used the GM A platform, shared with the Chevrolet Deluxe. The AK series was also branded and sold at GMC locations, with the primary visual difference being the Chevrolet had vertical bars in the grille, while the GMC had horizontal bars. The 1941-45 GMC models were sold as C-Series and became the E-Series for the 1946 and 1947 model years (CC-Series / EC-Series for the conventional cab models and CF-Series / EF-Series for the COE ones).

Check out the article on wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chevrolet_AK_Series.