MacGyver: What You Didn’t Know About The Classic Show

The Pilot Was a Total Flop

Considering how successful MacGyver became, it’s surprising to hear that the pilot was borderline disastrous. The pilot was so bad in fact that executive producer John Rich told the Archive of American Television that the 90-minute episode was “dreary.” He went on to say, “It was no good…it was an hour and a half of dreadful.” To make matters worse, director Jerrold Freedom went as far to have his name removed from the credits. If you notice the name “Alan Smithlee” in the pilot credits, it’s simply a general pseudonym.