Phoenix Foundation - A MacGyver Podcast

ORIGINAL AIRDATE: October 27th, 1986 —

MacGyver protects a group of juvenile delinquents from rattlesnakes, mountain lions, and each other

MISSION: MacGyver is assigned to take over as scout leader for a group of teenaged gang members sent on a wilderness hike for rehabilitation. Can they learn to work together to survive in the wild?

This week’s highlights include:

Theodolite (Topography)

A theodolite is a precision instrument for measuring angles in the horizontal and vertical planes. Theodolites are used mainly for surveying applications, and have been adapted for specialized purposes in fields like meteorology and rocket launch technology.

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

In our first Twofer Tuesday edition of Phoenix Foundation, we chat with Piedra the Assassin! [SPECIAL GUEST: Anthony De Longis!]

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.

If you’re interested in checking out the website he mentioned in our interview, you can find it here: http://www.delongis.com.

Also keep an eye on the latest updates for the Blood Trail trilogy by following their facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Blood-Trail/144024102308207.

Mr. De Longis’s awesome whip demo can be seen below.

ORIGINAL AIRDATE: October 20th, 1986 —

MacGyver is asked to babysit a 14-year-old boy from Santa Monica, not the mists of antiquity!

MISSION: When MacGyver offers to pick up Lisa’s little brother from a birthday party, he probably doesn’t suspect he’ll be interrupting a Wish Child hustle.

This week’s highlights include:

This cost Threshold Entertainment $45 million dollars to make… think about that.

Here is a link to James Hong’s Acting Workshop as mentioned on the podcast.

Relic Hunter (Television)

Relic Hunter is an anglophone Canadian television series, starring Tia Carrere and Christien Anholt.

It centers on Sydney Fox who is a professor but primarily a globe-trotting “relic hunter”, looking for ancient artifacts to return to museums and/or the descendants of the original owner. She is aided by her linguistic assistant Nigel and occasionally by her somewhat air-headed secretary Claudia. She often ends up battling rival hunters seeking out artifacts for the money. The series includes fantasy and science fiction elements, with many of the relics featured having genuine supernatural powers or being pieces of unusually advanced technology.

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

ORIGINAL AIRDATE: October 6th, 1986 —

MacGyver, Pete, Joanne, and their swindled friend Kelly conspire to out-bunco Mr. Bunco himself!

MISSION: When Phoenix Foundation employee Kelly is tricked out of his life savings by a confidence man, MacGyver and Pete set about scamming the money right back.

This week’s highlights include:

Watch Pete lecturing Johnny Hooker in the film that inspired this episode.

Metrication in the United States (Law)

Illegal drugs and controlled substances are often measured in metric quantities. The federal law prohibiting them defines the penalties in metric masses.

In everyday use within its subculture, marijuana is sold using a combination of metric and American customary units. At small scales the basic unit is the gram (or fractions thereof), but for larger orders fractions of ounces and pounds are used generally starting at ⅛ ounce, which is often defined in turn as 3.5 grams and referred to simply as “an eighth.” The term “kilo” is used quite commonly by those in law enforcement to describe the amount of drugs (in kilograms) seized during a drug bust. A kilo of illegal drugs (in particular cocaine) is often referred to by the slang term “key”.

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

ORIGINAL AIRDATE: September 29th, 1986 —

MacGyver thinks reuniting gangster Jimmy with his son will be a hit… he’s right

MISSION: MacGyver is tasked with tracking down an American spy running an East German technology pipeline. Unfortunately for him, mafia hitman Jimmy “The Eraser” Kendall has the same orders.

This week’s highlights include:

Here’s a trailer for that Wes Craven movie Richard recommended. Apparently Papa Chuck Banning’s granddaughter plays some small part in this.

NavCom-24 (technology)

NavCom-24 is not just any piece of hardware. Once valued at three-quarters of a million dollars, it is perhaps the most sophisticated navigation system ever developed.

Check out the article on wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NavCom-24

ORIGINAL AIRDATE: September 22nd, 1986 —

Once again, MacGyver must rescue a scientist from an underground lab in a season premiere

MISSION: MacGyver is invited to test an underground lab’s automated security program. An unfortunate glitch in the system makes things a bit more difficult.

This week’s highlights include:

Here is a trailer for The Eraser, which we mentioned on the show. I miss Don LaFontaine.

Dalek (Science Fiction)

The Daleks are a fictional extraterrestrial race of mutants principally portrayed in the British science fiction television programme Doctor Who. The Daleks were conceived by science-fiction writer Terry Nation and first appeared in the 1963 Doctor Who serial The Daleks, in the shells designed by Raymond Cusick.

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

ORIGINAL AIRDATE: May 7th, 1986 —

MacGyver must protect an archbishop from a new arch-nemesis [SPECIAL GUEST: Anthony De Longis!]

MISSION: DXS has uncovered an assassin’s plot to kill an archbishop and MacGyver is tasked with interrupting the attempt with the help of a call girl out for vengeance.

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.

If you’re interested in checking out the website he mentioned in our interview, you can find it here: http://www.delongis.com.

Also keep an eye on the latest updates for the Blood Trail trilogy by following their facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Blood-Trail/144024102308207.

Mr. De Longis’s awesome whip demo can be seen below.

Curare (Botany)

Curare is a common name for various plant extract alkaloid arrow poisons originating from Central and South America. These poisons function by competitively and reversibly inhibiting the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR), which is a subtype of acetylcholine receptor found at the neuromuscular junction. This causes weakness of the skeletal muscles and, when administered in a sufficient dose, eventual death by asphyxiation due to paralysis of the diaphragm.

Check out the article on wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curare

ORIGINAL AIRDATE: April 30th, 1986 —

MacGyver learns the hard way that, in Soviet Russia, Cuckoo’s Nest flies over you

MISSION: Pete flies off to Russia to evacuate the daughter of a recently assassinated anti-government activist, only to learn her father is alive and captive in an asylum for political prisoners. Pete and Mac pose as doctor and patient to infiltrate the asylum and break the activist out.

This week’s highlights include:

Here’s a link to the Mythbusters filament lockpicking test.

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn (History)

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn was a Russian novelist, historian, and critic of Soviet totalitarianism. He helped to raise global awareness of the gulag and the Soviet Union’s forced labor camp system. While his writings were long suppressed in the USSR, he wrote many books, most notably The Gulag Archipelago, One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, August 1914 and Cancer Ward. Solzhenitsyn was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1970, “for the ethical force with which he has pursued the indispensable traditions of Russian literature”. He was expelled from the Soviet Union in 1974 but returned to Russia in 1994 after the dissolution of the Soviet Union.

Check out the article on wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aleksandr_Solzhenitsyn

ORIGINAL AIRDATE: April 16th, 1986 —

MacGyver gets arrested to free the brother of a desperate woman. [SPECIAL GUEST: Kristina Wayborn!]

MISSION: MacGyver must crash a North African prison to help bust out Brian Ashford at his sister Sara’s request. As luck would have it, there is more to the story than MacGyver is informed.

This week’s highlights include:

Kristina Wayborn gave us a call to discuss the role of Sara Ashford, but of course we couldn’t NOT talk about James Bond with Magda herself! Ms. Wayborn shares stories from the set of MacGvyer, Octopussy, and some behind the scenes drama from one of her earlier films “The Silent Lovers” in which she portrayed the great Greta Garbo. We thank Kristina again for sharing her time with us.

Boer War (History)

The Second Boer War was fought from 11 October 1899 until 31 May 1902 between the United Kingdom  and the South African Republic and the Orange Free State. The British and Irish war effort was supported by troops from several regions of the British Empire, including Southern Africa, the Australian colonies, Canada, Newfoundland, British India, and New Zealand. The war ended in victory for the British and the annexation of both republics. Both would eventually be incorporated into the Union of South Africa in 1910.

The conflict is commonly referred to as simply the Boer War, since the First Boer War is much less well known.

Check out the article on wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Boer_War

ORIGINAL AIRDATE: April 2nd, 1986 —

Bandits hijack a train seeking justice from MacGyver and other innocent bystanders  [SPECIAL GUEST: Pamela Roylance!]

MISSION: On a train to India, a group have passengers see their plans derailed by a gang of bandits seeking vengeance on a pair of businessmen who sold their village bad medicine.

This week’s highlights include:

Pamela Roylance chats with us this week about the set of MacGyver, working with Frances Bergen, an extra scene shot separately from the rest of the episode, and a theme park sign with an accidental cameo that caused problems behind the scenes. For more of Pamela’s work, please check out the Social Network clip and FunnyOrDie video “Previously On Point Dume” embedded below!

Check out The MacGyver Project’s Interview with Xahra Gilbert here.

Also, the TV Guide article written on this set can be found transcribed here.

Polygraph (Technology)

A polygraph (popularly referred to as a lie detector) measures and records several physiological indices such as blood pressure, pulse, respiration, and skin conductivity while the subject is asked and answers a series of questions.

Check out the article on wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polygraph