Born March 23, 1950 in Mission City, Minnesota (pop. 4532), MacGyver lives on a houseboat [until destroyed in 1991], follows a strict vegetarian diet, loves old western movies, ice-hockey, cycling, rock climbing but surprisingly is afraid of heights. MacGyver's answering machine message says" Hi, this is MacGyver. We all know how these things work, so when you hear the beep...go for it."

In essence, MacGyver is an American James Bond, who like his British counterpart, is a troubleshooter extraordinaire who takes on special assignments - usually deemed impossible - and always accomplishes his mission. But there are some differences between the two.

While Agent 007 often uses a gun (a Walther PPK 7.65 mm) MacGyver abhors guns and refuses to bring one on his missions; he, in turn, relies on his ingenuity and bits and pieces of material he finds at the scene of an encounter (or the Swiss Army knife in his pocket) to solve his dilemmas.

And whereas Mr. Bond, always had his hands on a beautiful women, the mild-mannered, soft spoken MacGyver is not as sexually prolific. But let's not pigeon hole the guy, if romance comes his way he is more than happy to go along for the ride. For example, while defusing bombs in Vietnam, Mac visited the French Quarter with his friend, Charlie Robinson and they reportedly had a very good time...nudge! nudge! wink! wink! Note: Mac does have a problem with commitment.

Also like James Bond, MacGyver drives a special vehicle. But while 007 cruises in a gadget-ladden Aston Martin DB5 sedan, MacGyver prefers the rugged, open-topped reliability of an American-made Jeep Wrangler (license plate: IRJQ104] as well as a yellow (creme) '46 Ford truck (license: 2IAB345) and powder blue '57 Chevy Nomad station wagon (license: 2PEK-186) willed to Mac by his late grandpa, Harry.

Angus "Mac" MacGyver & Peter Thornton

MacGyver's principal employer is the Phoenix Foundation, a privately funded research institute which sends him on assignments around the globe. MacGyver reports to a bald, sometimes sour supervisor named Peter Thornton, the Director of Field Operations. Peter is Mac's close friend and also a former DXS agent. Peter's phone number is ( 53 66 14. His birthday is 12/18/1933.

Another Phoenix Foundation operative who deals with Mac is Nicole Anne "Nikki" Carpenter, a level 6 operative. She occasionally acts as Mac's assistant. Her husband, Adam Carpenter was killed in a Mafia car bombing (meant for her) in W. Virginia on March 14, 1985. This made Nikki commitment shy in the romance department. She lives at 2723 Forest Lane. Her phone number was ( (818) 555-3082.

When trouble arose, MacGyver used his extensive knowledge of chemistry, physics, and machinery to solve his problems. Always cool-headed MacGyver was extremely adaptive in the face of danger. As he once said, "I found from past experiences that the tighter your plan, the more likely you are to run into something...unpredictable." In one predicament, a woman asked "I suppose you can make an explosive out of chewing gum?" and MacGyver replied "Why? Got some?"
 

Here are some examples of MacGyver's improvisational skills (a.k.a. "MacGyver-isms"):

• MacGyver defuses a bomb using pastry tubes, oven cleaner, neon tubes, and low-fat milk.
• Uses cabbage to distract motion detecting machine guns.
• Uses a potato to power an alarm clock.
• Mixes acetic acid and ammonia to create smoke.
• Uses a paper clip to short-circuit a nuclear missile.
• Stopped sulfuric acid leak with milk chocolate candy.
• Made tear gas from alcohol and fire ash in bamboo pipe.
• Turned hose, metal pipe, gasoline into flame thrower.
• Made blow-dart, using reeds & anesthetic-type plant.
• Used bicycle tire's inner tube as sling shot.
• A cannon from muffler, seat stuffing, gasoline, & steering wheel knob
• Scraped Graphite from pencil to make fingerprints show up.
• Created arc welder from car antenna, jump cable, and battery.
• Patched sea-plane gash with lifejacket material.
• Dressed mannequins in perfumed jackets to fool dogs.
• Made explosives from grenade detonator, copper wire, battery.
• Poured alcohol on pine nuts in stove to mimic gunshots.
• Used generator, jumper cables to make a "stunner."
• Reversed vacuum cleaner to shoot hot chili.
• Used compressed nitrogen to freeze, break rope.
• Made poison antidote with eggs and charcoal.
  Mixed soda & vinegar in bag for a fire extinguisher.
  Filled lock with butane, blew it out by smashing light bulb into it.
  Put egg whites in radiator to plug holes
  Used rosary beads to focus sunlight and trigger a slingshot

MacGyver used his Swiss Army knife (Victorinox) in a number of ways, including picking locks, dropping a net on someone, hot wiring an elevator, disarming a bomb, digging out grout seal on a rock, using the corkscrew to pull himself out of a pit, and starting an airplane. And don't get me started on his Duct Tape.

When a gadget won't do, MacGyver is not averse to talking (or bribing) his way out of situation. Like the time he said to a guy "Oh, I'm sorry, maybe you guys don't recognize me. The name's Jackson, Andrew Jackson. You may have seen my picture on the front of the 20 dollar bill. You know what I'm, talkin' about?" When asked "How can you be so sure you'll win. MacGyver says "I'll cheat." 

One recurring bad guy in Mac's life was an assassin named Murdoc who worked for H.I.T. (Homicide for International Trust). He liked to send his employers, a photograph that depicted his victim's moment of death. Try and try again, though, he could never seem to carry out his assignment to kill MacGyver. He once told Mac "Yes, MacGyver, that's why you're so hard to beat. Nobody knows what you're going to do next - including you."

Murdoc supposedly died at the conclusion of each of his failed attempts to kill MacGyver, but he always came back even after falling off a mountain; being electrocuted, drowning, blown up with a grenade, hit by dozens boulders, and felling into a elevator shaft). Murdoc met his final demise when his car drove a Jeep off a cliff (The End?)

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