Phoenix Foundation - A MacGyver Podcast

ORIGINAL AIRDATE: January 4th, 1988 —

MacGyver must help cover up an ecological outbreak caused by a renegade Phoenix Foundation scientist.

MISSION: MacGyver must locate a virus that mutated in space and prevent the outbreak from causing anymore damage than it already has. The scientist responsible thinks the ends justify the means in her quest to end world hunger.

This week’s highlights include:

Bushwhacked (Film)

Bushwhacked is a 1995 comedy, action and adventure film starring Daniel Stern, Jon Polito, Anthony Heald and Brad Sullivan. This was Greg Beeman’s last theatrical film before he moved on to direct television movies for Disney Channel. This also marked Sullivan’s last theatrical appearance before his retirement in 2000 and his death in 2008. It was originally planned to be a spin off film to the Home Alone franchise with Daniel Stern reprising his role as Marv.

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

ORIGINAL AIRDATE: December 21st, 1987 —

MacGyver must protect Nikki from a terrorist she accidentally witnessed bombing a post office

MISSION: MacGyver intends to track down a team of terrorists setting bombs all over the city and calling for the release of a fellow terrorist. When Nikki accidentally encounters one of them, she finds herself in their collective crosshairs.

This week’s highlights include:

Mythbusters tested the cement bomb in a mailtruck MacGyverism for their final season premiere just three weeks ago!

Eucalyptus (Plant)

Eucalyptus is a diverse genus of flowering trees and shrubs (including a distinct group with a multiple-stem mallee growth habit) in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae. Members of the genus dominate the tree flora of Australia. The more than 700 species of eucalyptus are mostly native to Australia, and a very small number are found in adjacent areas of New Guinea and Indonesia. One species, Eucalyptus deglupta, ranges as far north as the Philippines. Only 15 species occur outside Australia, with just nine of these not occurring in Australia. Species of eucalyptus are cultivated widely in the tropical and temperate world, including the Americas, Europe, Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East, China, and the Indian subcontinent, though most species do not tolerate frost.

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

ORIGINAL AIRDATE: November 23rd, 1987 —

A college physics contest turns sour when an overbearing professor pushes his son too far

MISSION: MacGyver returns to one of his many Alma Maters to judge an annual physics competition, but things turn ugly when a student contestant cracks under the pressure of his professor father’s judgement.

This week’s highlights include:

The Hall of Presidents (Education)

The Hall of Presidents is an attraction located in Liberty Square at the Magic Kingdom in the Walt Disney World Resort. The attraction is a multi-media presentation and stage show featuring Audio-Animatronic figures of all 43 individual U.S. Presidents. It opened on October 1, 1971, along with the rest of the Magic Kingdom and Walt Disney World. It is housed in a building that resembles Philadelphia’s Independence Hall.

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

ORIGINAL AIRDATE: November 16th, 1987 —

In the wake of a friend’s death, MacGyver’s attacked by a familiar (heavily-scarred) face.

MISSION: A climbing accident causes the death of a close friend of MacGyver. In his mourning, MacGyver is preyed upon by the returning master of disguise, Murdoch!

This week’s highlights include:

Graboid (Science fiction)

The Graboid is a fictional species of sandworm that acts as the primary antagonist of the Tremors franchise. The creature made its debut in the 1990 film Tremors (although the name “Graboid” was only mentioned briefly), and reappeared in its four sequels and the Tremors television series.

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

ORIGINAL AIRDATE: November 9th, 1987 —

MacGyver is baited down to Smiley, Arkansas by another of Jack’s many get-rich-quick schemes.

MISSION: When MacGyver learns Jack has been incarcerated in Arkansas, he sets off to bail him out, only to learn Jack was captured on purpose for a chance at finding buried treasure in a corrupt prison camp.

This week’s highlights include:

John Draper (Hacker)

John Thomas Draper (born 1943), also known as Captain Crunch, Crunch or Crunchman (after Cap’n Crunch breakfast cereal mascot), is an American computer programmer and former phone phreak. He is a legendary figure within the computer programming world and the hacker and security community. Draper has long maintained a nomadic lifestyle; as of May 2013, he resides in Las Vegas, Nevada.

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

ORIGINAL AIRDATE: November 2nd, 1987 —

MacGyver and Nikki Carpenter must destroy an experimental military plane downed behind enemy lines.

MISSION: Mac and Nikki are racing against a soviet psychic to find and destroy a downed experimental plane to prevent the technology from being stolen.

This week’s highlights include:

Zener cards (Parapsychology)

Zener cards are cards used to conduct experiments for extrasensory perception (ESP), most often clairvoyance. Perceptual psychologist Karl Zener (1903–1964) designed the cards in the early 1930s for experiments conducted with his colleague, parapsychologist J. B. Rhine (1895–1980).

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

ORIGINAL AIRDATE: October 26th, 1987 —

MacGyver teams up with a deceased friend’s sister to track down the jewel thief responsible.

MISSION: After a friend is killed, MacGyver vows to track down whoever is responsible and in the process is paired up with Nikki Carpenter, much to his chagrin.

This week’s highlights include:

Here’s a link to our friend in the diamond business.

Diplomatic immunity (Law)

Diplomatic immunity is a form of legal immunity that ensures diplomats are given safe passage and are considered not susceptible to lawsuit or prosecution under the host country’s laws, although they can still be expelled. It was agreed as international law in the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations (1961), though the concept and custom have a much longer history. Many principles of diplomatic immunity are now considered to be customary law. Diplomatic immunity as an institution developed to allow for the maintenance of government relations, including during periods of difficulties and armed conflict. When receiving diplomats—who formally represent the sovereign—the receiving head of state grants certain privileges and immunities to ensure they may effectively carry out their duties, on the understanding that these are provided on a reciprocal basis.

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

ORIGINAL AIRDATE: October 19th, 1987 —

During a routine mission for the Department of Interior, MacGyver is attacked by Bigfoot.

MISSION: Investigating an abandoned ship in the Pacific Northwest, MacGyver comes face to face with the grandfather of cryptozoology himself.

This week’s highlights include:

The MacGyver Project site had a chat with this episodes producer Calvin Clements Jr. which can be found here.

Cryptozoology (Pseudoscience)

Cryptozoology is a pseudoscience involving the search for animals whose existence has not been proven due to lack of evidence. The animals cryptozoologists study are often referred to as cryptids, a term coined by John Wall in 1983. This includes living examples of animals that are otherwise considered extinct, such as non-avian dinosaurs; animals whose existence lacks physical evidence but which appear in folklore, such as Bigfoot and Chupacabra; and wild animals dramatically outside their normal geographic ranges, such as phantom cats (also known as Alien Big Cats).

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

ORIGINAL AIRDATE: October 5th, 1987 —

Jimmy “The Eraser” Kendall reappears publicly, much to the dismay of MacGyver and witness protection.

MISSION: When the Banning family encounters photographic evidence of The Eraser’s presence in their town, MacGyver is dispatched to intercept his old friend and prevent yet another mafia hit.

This week’s highlights include:

United States Federal Witness Protection Program (Government)

The United States Federal Witness Protection Program, also known as the Witness Security Program or WITSEC, is a witness protection program administered by the United States Department of Justice and operated by the United States Marshals Service that is designed to protect threatened witnesses before, during, and after a trial.

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

ORIGINAL AIRDATE: September 28th, 1987 —

MacGyver’s lost love is held hostage in exchange for a priceless Chinese relic.

MISSION: The Phoenix Foundation has been placed in charge of security for a priceless Chinese relic. Meanwhile, MacGyver learns a former flame he thought was dead is now married to a baddie from Mac’s past. Now she is being held hostage in exchange for the relic and MacGyver must circumvent a security system of his own design.

This week’s highlights include:

Anthony De Longis is more than just the awesome villain of MacGyver’s first season finale (not to mention his reappearance in season 3). He’s a weapons specialist and all-around nice guy. Hear us chat about his experiences on the set of MacGyver, acting and helping to choreograph fight scenes. We also discuss his various weapon skills and his experiences teaching iconic characters like Harrison Ford’s Indiana Jones and Michelle Pfeiffer’s Catwoman how to properly use a whip on set.

Arnold Palmer (Golf)

Arnold Daniel Palmer (born September 10, 1929) is a retired American professional golfer, who is generally regarded as one of the greatest players in professional golf history. He has won numerous events on both the PGA Tour and Champions Tour, dating back to 1955. Nicknamed “The King”, he is one of golf’s most popular stars and its most important trailblazer, because he was the first superstar of the sport’s television age, which began in the 1950s.

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