Wednesday, April 15, 2015

A To Z Challenge M is for Magnum P.I MASH MacGyver and MISSION IMPOSSIBLE

One of my favorite Action Adventure series was Magnum PI.  This series never took itself all serious, there were many times this series was humorous, and yet it could be very dramatic.  Best thing was it in its own way paid positive tribute to the Vietnam vets, a group who until Magnum PI had not really had any positive images about themselves.  Great cast and to think John Hillerman, an American actor played a British character so well; or was he a British actor who played an American so well?  We may never know.


Perhaps one of the most heart felt episodes of MASH was one where Hawkeye was trying to reach his father because of a letter he had received.  This episode gave Charles a chance to really shine and be more than the boorish Bostonian he had been in most of the episodes prior.  So here's a treat 1/2 an episode with some of the best dialogue and acting in the series.  Do you have a Father or a Dad?

In 1973 A movie came out that no one knew ar the time would lead to a television series that would last 12 years, far longer than the war that the series was set in.  The movie and T.V. series of course were M*A*S*H*  It had a rotating cast of remarkable actors, perhaps one of the best was David Ogden Steirs who played Boston Blue Blood Charles Emerson Winchester.  Here is the opening theme and a surprise



My favorite spy series for many years was one, where the principal character was not always a spy.  That being MacGyver.  What is amazing is that the Myth Busters tried to bust several MacGyver innovations and failed, also this series created the term a MacGyver or MacGyverism to show you had created something out of what you had available and succeeded.  Still love seeing this in syndication.

                                   
Two T.V. series and 5 movies proves how successful this franchise has been.  Although as a T.V. Series it had only one good season and that was the first with Steven Hill as Dan Briggs as team leader.  When Peter Graves came on board it tanked until the Tom Cruise movies.




2 comments:

  1. Used to watch M.A.S.H., Magnum, and MacGyver all the time. My best friend earned the nickname MacGyver because she could always fix her dad's car with whatever was on hand until they could afford the real part. I still tear up on some of the M.A.S.H. episodes especially now that I'm older.

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  2. I've been called MacGuyver by friends of mine due to figuring out how to use what was at hand to accomplish what I needed to accomplish.

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