Phoenix Foundation - A MacGyver Podcast

ORIGINAL AIRDATE: March 12th, 1986 —

MacGyver rescues a teen hacker from terrorists and feds [SPECIAL GUESTS: Rob Paulsen and Darcy Marta!]

MISSION: A gifted student helps her professor to solve a glitch in a government weapon, but soon finds herself the target of an ODI investigation and a terrorist wishlist. MacGyver intends to protect the girl from both teams.

This week’s highlights include:

This week, a conversation with the incomparable Rob Paulsen, voice of a thousand characters, and many of your favorites whether you realize it or not. In addition to his prolific voicework, Mr. Paulsen hosts his own brilliantly entertaining podcast Talkin’ Toons (with a focus on voice acting and voice actors). If you haven’t already, I insist you give it a listen. His efforts can also be supported through his Patreon site here.

Above all else, Mr. Paulsen is a champion of several charities including the Wounded Warrior Project and Operation Smile. If you have a moment, please take a look at each of these worthwhile organizations.

This week, we chat with Darcy Marta who played Kate Lafferty in this episode. Since her MacGyver days, Darcy has taught acting for stage and screen. In this podcast, she’ll share her many entertaining memories of the shoot.

Here’s a look at the Tacoma Narrows bridge collapse mentioned in this week’s episode.

Triangulation (Geometry)

Contrary to popular belief, triangulation has nothing to do with murdering shapes. In trigonometry and geometry, triangulation is the process of determining the location of a point by measuring angles to it from known points at either end of a fixed baseline, rather than measuring distances to the point directly (trilateration). The point can then be fixed as the third point of a triangle with one known side and two known angles.

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

ORIGINAL AIRDATE: March 5th, 1986 —

MacGyver crash lands in Afghanistan and escapes with help from Ahmed Naga… naga… na-gana-live-here-anymore anyway!

MISSION: MacGyver’s hopes to infiltrate the mountains of Afghanistan to retrieve part of a U.S. government satellite, but is quickly pursued by Soviet forces. With help from a local village boy and the boy’s recently-widowed mother, MacGyver will return the government property to America.

This week’s highlights include:

The dangerous wildlife that inhabit Ahmed’s village.

Mankiewicz family (Film History)

The Mankiewicz family is a well-known family of screenwriters and authors. It seems we misdescribed Don’s cousin Tom Mankiewicz as his uncle. Don’s actual uncle Joseph Mankiewicz is also a well-established screenwriter.

As it turns out, Don actually passed away 3 weeks ago and our thoughts are with his family.

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

ORIGINAL AIRDATE: February 19th, 1986 —

MacGyver and his new friend Penny Parker had better get steppin’ before Stepan gets them!

MISSION: Smuggling a microfilm out of Bulgaria becomes even more complicated when aspiring actress Penny Parker plants the crown jewels of Hanover in MacGyver’s carry-on. A whirlwind chase ensues.

This week’s highlights include:

Here is a link to the Gold Ring Scam we mentioned in the episode. It seems local to Paris.

The most incredible carousel scene that will probably ever be filmed (from Hitchcock’s Strangers on a Train.

You can also check here for operating hours of the Griffith Park Merry-Go-Round.

Bulgarian lev (Currency)

The lev is the currency of Bulgaria. It is divided in 100 stotinki (стотинки, singular: stotinka, стотинка). In archaic Bulgarian the word “lev” meant “lion”, a word which in the modern language became lăv (IPA: /lɤv/) (in Bulgarian: лъв).

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

ORIGINAL AIRDATE: February 12th, 1986 —

MacGyver sniffs out a DXS mole with fellow agent Craig Bannister [SPECIAL GUEST: Michael Goodwin!]

MISSION: A DXS leak has resulted in the deaths of several agents. A Soviet informant is used to lure the mole into the open where MacGyver and Craig Bannister intend to catch the spy red-handed.

This week’s highlights include:

This week, we chat with Michael Goodwin, who plays DXS agent Craig Bannister, the only person to serve as an agent of DXS AND the Phoenix Foundation besides Mac and Pete. We discuss MacGyver’s almost-hidden cast, how the brake-line/power-steering stunt came together, and a particularly silly MacGyverism that haunts Goodwin to this day. Also, keep an eye out for the release of a film he recently starred in opposite MacGyver’s own Cuba Gooding Jr. called Freedom.

A must-see for any fan of this episode, 1962’s Manchurian Candidate.

Adipic acid (Chemistry)

Adipic acid is the organic compound with the formula (CH2)4(COOH)2. From an industrial perspective, it is the most important dicarboxylic acid: About 2.5 billion kilograms of this white crystalline powder are produced annually, mainly as a precursor for the production of nylon. Adipic acid otherwise rarely occurs in nature.

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

ORIGINAL AIRDATE: February 5th, 1986 —

MacGyver is cruising for a bruising with Captain Carole Tanner [SPECIAL GUEST: Ellen Bry!]

MISSION: An anonymous terrorist calling himself Viking demands payment in exchange for instructions on how to defuse a series of bombs on board a luxury cruise liner. DXS reaches out the MacGyver and his old Vietnam War bomb defusing partner Charlie Robinson to get the job done, but soon MacGyver must teach Captain Carole Tanner the ropes as more bombs are discovered and one goes off.

This week’s highlights include:

This week, special guest Ellen Bry chats with us about how she was able to parlay doing her own stunts in an episode of Kojak into a full-fledged stuntwoman background that culminated in her doubling Margot Kidder’s Lois Lane in Superman! She’ll also tell with us about her recollections from the MacGyver set and share some historical perspective on a national tragedy that occurred while this episode was coming together.

Here’s more info on the Vistafjord / Saga Ruby / Oasia.

UPDATE (5/9/2015): Listener (Chief Officer) Kosta Dinos passed along the following info regarding Carole’s official title:

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Just thought I’d add a tiny input: being a Chief Officer myself in the merchant marine, the character of “Captain Carole Tanner” is that she was the Chief officer (1st Officer) and then takes on the role of Captain as that’s what is done in an emergency situation if something happens to the Captain (Master) of a vessel. He/she as the Chief Officer is then the next in command. Also “Captain Carole Tanner” has Three stripes on her uniform indicating that she is the Chief Officer.

Although for promotion to a full time Captain, the relevant time of sea service plus going back to school and passing examinations is required in order to obtain the Master’s license and then finally be promoted to work as a Captain by an employer. The same applies for promotion to Chief Officer, 2nd Officer and so on.

For the scenes in the engine room, you were right about the engines or engine not running but still you would have an “ear piercing” noise by the vessel’s power generators which always run non-stop, regardless if the vessel’s main engine is running or not.

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Thanks much, Kosta! If anyone else has information relevant to an episode, like this, please send it along for us to include on the blog!

Midway Atoll (Geography)

Midway Atoll is a 2.4-square-mile (6.2 km2) atoll in the North Pacific Ocean. As its name suggests, Midway is roughly equidistant between North America and Asia, and lies almost halfway around the world longitudinally from Greenwich, UK. It is near the northwestern end of the Hawaiian archipelago, about one-third of the way from Honolulu, Hawaii to Tokyo, Japan.

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

ORIGINAL AIRDATE: January 29th, 1986 —

This week, MacGyver ditches a date to visit an ex-girlfriend and things go nuclear

MISSION: A former flame of MacGyver’s nearly meets her end at the hands of a pair of uranium thieves in a nuclear power plant.

This week’s highlights include:

Here’s a link if you’re interested in buying a MacGyver-style hockey table. (Link courtesy of the MacGyverOnline.com store.)

Oh look, the first MacGruber sketch.

Robin Pearson Rose (MacGyver’s two-episode landlady) was not available to chat with us for this week’s episode but she sent along this nice message as a consolation prize.

Film badge dosimeter (Physics)

The film badge dosimeter, or film badge, is a personal dosimeter used for monitoring cumulative radiation dose due to ionizing radiation.

The badge consists of two parts: photographic film or dental X-ray film, and a holder. The film is removed and developed to measure exposure. The film badge is used to measure and record radiation exposure due to gamma rays, X-rays and beta particles.

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

ORIGINAL AIRDATE: January 22nd, 1986 —

Trick or treat! It’s April Fool’s! Time for some Quayle hunting in Greystone Mansion!

OPENING GAMBIT: MacGyver escapes from behind the iron curtain once again. This time with the help of the greatest MacGyverism of all-time, a coffin-turned-jetski!

MISSION: MacGyver is invited to hand over sensitive information to Pete in a DXS safe house. Unfortunately for them, the house has been infiltrated and booby-trapped by the deranged criminal Quayle.

This week’s highlights include:

Recognize any of this trailer?

The fictional Cavitt-Tingloff tower (filmed at the actual Westin-Bonaventure Hotel) is a popular LA staple that makes regular appearances in film and television.

Not to be outdone, the DXS safehouse as played by the historic Greystone Mansion is an even more iconic bit of LA architecture. Most important (at least to us) are its appearances in The Big Lebowski, the original Spiderman trilogy, There Will Be Blood (the bowling alley scene that ends the film), The Muppets (Kermit’s Mansion), Death Becomes Her, and others.

Oh, and here’s that songified Chuck Testa clip we mentioned… 

Heterodyne (Technology)

Heterodyning is a radio signal processing technique invented in 1901 by Canadian inventor-engineer Reginald Fessenden, in which new frequencies are created by combining or mixing two frequencies.

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

ORIGINAL AIRDATE: January 15th, 1986 —

MacGyver’s poisoned by spies and seeks help from runaway Lisa Allen [SPECIAL GUEST: Tammy Lauren!]

MISSION: Enemy agents inject MacGyver with a deadly serum and withhold the antidote until he returns sensitive military information he has stolen. He has six hours to get word to DXS where the information is hidden and to get the antidote before the toxin becomes incurable. Luckily, he happens upon the assistance of runaway Lisa Allen.

This week’s highlights include:

This week, special guest Tammy Lauren (Alexandra Amberson from Wishmaster, Detective Maggie Sullivan from The Young and the Restless), puts in a call to the Foundation, Urgent 101! She tells us about her early career joking around with Robin Williams as a kid, and getting teased on the MacGyver set by Mr. Dean Anderson himself.

The S.S. Lane Victory’s film credits can be found here! (Featuring two Tammy Lauren projects and one Patrick O’Riley project.)

Magnetostriction (Physics)

The alignment of magnetic domains determines the strength and polarity of a given magnet. This magnetism can be amplified and altered in several ways, for example: banging a pole against a fire hydrant while pointing it exactly magnetic north.

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

ORIGINAL AIRDATE: December 22nd, 1985 —

A team of world-class hitmen set their sights on MacGyver and his only relative.

OPENING GAMBIT: MacGyver rescues a Lady General from a few anonymous henchman in a Malibu beach house.

MISSION: In response to MacGyver bombing a Middle Eastern nuclear facility, an assassin is dispatched to kill him. To avoid almost certain death, he hides out with his maternal grandfather Harry, but the hit squad tracks them down anyway.

This week’s highlights include:

Axminster’s unforgettable cameo in John Hughes’ Weird Science.

Dust Explosion (Chemistry)

A dust explosion occurs when air is saturated with particles and is ignited.  When there is a high surface area to mass ratio and a source of ignition, even non combustible materials can explode.  Granaries and flour mills were known to explode and precautions against such conditions are still taken in warehouses and plants that deal with that danger.

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

ORIGINAL AIRDATE: December 8th, 1985 —

MacGyver takes sides against the family, escorting a mafia informant to his dying mother

MISSION: MacGyver protects star witness Frank Bennett from mafia hitmen and Marshall service custody to deliver a final goodbye to Frank’s dying mother.

This week’s highlights include:

This is how Riker sits down?

Editor’s note: You can totally rent tow trucks.

Melting Lead (Chemistry)

Lead melts at approximately 600.61 K ​(327.46 °C, ​621.43 °F). At this temperature, coffee exists only as a gas.

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