TVSquad

On the heels of news that Paramount will release The Andy Griffith Show as a complete set in May comes news that the same company will release MacGyver as a complete set just a couple of weeks later, on May 22.

The set will include all seven seasons of the show, and the set might also include the two post-MacGyver movies that aired on ABC: The Lost Treasure of Atlantis and Trail To Doomsday.

Maybe studios should just start releasing complete series sets instead of individual seasons. People might stop buying single season sets because they know a complete set is probably on the way. I know I often think that way when it comes to buying DVDs. Of course, if single season sets for a particular show weren't popular they probably wouldn't release a complete set.

"Super bad guys
Try to crush us
Fight for freedom
And for justice."

For some reason, network promos and commercials have been seared in my mind. I remember pretty much all of them, going back to the late 70s. The ABC promo after the jump is completely new to me though. It looks like it's from around 1985 or 86, judging from Richard Dean Anderson's hair and the clips they show of early MacGyver episodes.

But the thing that's interesting about the promo is that they actually use Randy Newman's "I Love L.A." as the promo's theme song! Though it's not Newman singing the song. Listen to the lyrics and you'll see how crazy and lame network promos can be. (The slogan that fall on ABC was "You'll Love It!" Though I'll always have a soft spot for "Still The One!") The announcement that they'll return to The Concorde: Airport '79 is just icing on the cake.

• On the cover: a supergigantic, mega preview of The Emmy Awards, including an interview with host Conan O'Brien.
• Matt Roush calls Vanished "cliche-ridden," but loves Spike Lee's documentary about Hurricane Katrina, When The Levees Broke.
• A guide for parents on how to use the ratings system.
• Richard Dean Anderson talks about Stargate SG-1's 200th episode.
• Ausiello has the scoop on a new cast member joining House.
• In the print edition: a preview of the new season of Prison Break; a Q and A with Shannen Doherty about her new relationship show; and a look at the new Raven sequel on the Disney Channel.

TVshowsonDVD has info about the final season DVD set for MacGyver. The season seven set (14 episodes) will be released on October 24. There was a rumor going around that the two MacGyver TV movies that Richard Dean Anderson made a couple of years after the show ended - The Lost Treasure of Atlantis and Trail To Doomsday - would be included in the set. But that's not the case. No word yet on whether that will be in some later special set (though I would bet yes).

Wow, the final episode of MacGyver aired in 1992? I feel so old.

Taking a page out of the Law & Order and CSI handbooks, MGM Television is considering a third Stargate series to run concurrently with veterans Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis. This is according to MGM TV executive vice-president Charles Cohen.

On the heels of the upcoming 200th episode of SG-1, whose 10th season begins July 14th on the Sci-Fi Channel, Cohen is discussing a feature film derived from the series. That film would then dovetail into a third Stargate show. However, that doesn't mean that SG-1 would end for the movie to appear. In fact, Cohen believes that the movie could run while the series was still producing first-run episodes.

According to Cohen, Stargate SG-1 represents the same sort of franchise on television as the James Bond series does; while it is good financially it also keeps their name in the marketplace. He proves this by putting more money into new episodes, hiring new people such as Beau Bridges, Ben Browder and Claudia Black (both formerly of another Sci-Fi channel show, Farscape), and bringing back old favorites like Richard Dean Anderson's Jack O'Neill.

Ever since MacGyver aired in the late 80s and early 90s there's been an ongoing joke centered around the show about MacGyver's uncanny ability to solve complex problems using random objects. Elevator broken? No problem, just give him a toothbrush and a bike pump. Kitten stuck in a tree? That can be solved using a shoe horn and a fan belt. Well, someone has made a page on Wikipedia which lists a few of the problems MacGyver solved in his seven-year career. The coolest thing about this is that it's Wikipedia, so you can add your own moments of MacGyver-y genius.

[via Brad Sucks]

I've never understood it. Every single year USA Today gets people to rank the Super Bowl ads, and every single year one (or more, usually) of the Budweiser beer commercials get the top spots. Now, if any company bought 4 or 6 or 8 spots during a game, they might inevitably win a top spot too, but the Bud ads themselves are rarely the best ones. That's not to say that they're the worst. They're usually sorta funny, not bad, hitting their demo just right, entertaining. But at the same time, they're kinda predictable and ho-hum.

My favorite ad this year? No contest: the MacGyver ad for Mastercard! I mean, come on, how could you not like that?