Shapiro, Ben - Primetime Propaganda by Shapiro Ben

Author:Shapiro, Ben [Shapiro, Ben]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

MACGYVER (1985–1992): A MOD SQUAD OF ONE

With the spectacular failure of the movie MacGruber, it’s sometimes difficult to remember that its source material, MacGyver, was a highly successful series for ABC, wherein the main character made internal combustion engines from gum and paper clips. The creator of the show was a former Hill Street writer, Lee David Zlotoff. Zlotoff went to Brooklyn Technical High School, where he became an expert in pre-engineering; his dad was an engineer. Hence MacGyver’s invaluable mechanical skills.55

But as executive producer Vin DiBona told me, there was more to the show than that. The show, he said, had a liberal sensibility to it. “Oh, absolutely. Yeah, that was the whole premise of the program, that MacGyver used his brain power and skill of stuff and science, and he solved all the difficulties through ingenuity. . . . No guns, no knives.” DiBona told me that MacGyver was also active with respect to the environment and racial equality. “Absolutely,” he said. “[MacGyver was a] good guy.”

DiBona, who also said that he was “happy” that Hollywood was completely liberal, said that the point of television was “finding what the common man needed to know and give that information out in an entertaining fashion that makes it get the message across.” Certainly MacGyver fit that bill.56

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