The MacGyver Season 1 Finale has aired. Fans don't have to be sad, though: Filming for Season 2 should start in July in Atlanta.
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| LA Wrap Party Collage |
(SPOILER ALERT: You will get spoilered about the Season Finale and storylines in Season 2 by reading this post and its comments or by clicking on the links provided!)
It's a wrap! Again?
Although cast
and crew had already celebrated the official wrap party in Atlanta back in March, there was another wrap
party in LA on April 22. Together with some cast and crew members of Hawaii Five-0, Executive Producer Peter Lenkov took his people bowling. They all seemed to have a good time. Justin Hires posted several Instagram Live videos (e.g. with Lucas Till, Tristin Mays or Meredith Eaton). In one of the videos, Lucas revealed that he had mostly caught up on sleep since last seeing Justin in Atlanta. David Dastmalchian shared selfies of him with Lucas and with Joe Dante who had directed Episode 4 (Wire Cutter). Meredith posted pictures of her posing with Lenkov and Henry Winkler and with Tristin. Tristin uploaded a video of Lucas preparing for his next strike. Lucas was seen shaking hands with Hollywood Legend Hal Holbrook.
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| Episode 21: Cigar Cutter (via SpoilerTV) |
Premiere of the Season Finale
The ratings for the last three episodes have also been the lowest of the season. Although they made an effort for some additional promo for the Season Finale, Episode 21 (Cigar Cutter) had the second lowest ratings of the season so far with 6.57 million viewers (along with a 0.9 rating in the 18-49 demo group).
Interestingly, last week’s rerun of Episode 10 (Pliers) still managed to pull in 5.13 million viewers (with 0.7 in demo).
Interestingly, last week’s rerun of Episode 10 (Pliers) still managed to pull in 5.13 million viewers (with 0.7 in demo).
Nonetheless, the Season 1 ratings are good. All episodes included, the show had 7.73 million live-viewers per episode, along with a 1.08 rating in the 18-49-years demo group. The reruns (10 episodes so far) had 4.45 million live-viewers per episode (with 0.7 in demo).
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| Season 1 Premieres and Reruns Ratings so far |
(It's worth noting that it wasn't just "MacGyver" losing almost a million viewers on the most recent episodes, but other Friday shows like Hawaii Five-0 or Blue Bloods as well.)
Season Finale Promo
On Season Finale day, we got a lot of promo interviews and articles - so much that I didn't manage to cover all of it in my last Update.
Tristin Mays did an appearance on Good Day LA. Lucas did a short Q&A on Instagram for AmazonVideo. Just before the Season Finale Premiere, CBS did a live-interview on Facebook with Tristin and David Dastmalchian; including another exclusive clip and their one word to describe the Finale (devastating by David, outrageous by Tristin).
Because of the DVD-Release of Monster Trucks, Lucas had additionally been doing promo for his movie that week. In a video interview with SideWalksTV, he also talked about MacGyver and the work load, how his fan encounters changed due to the show and what's it like to work with the cast.
A while ago, there was a Boy Scouts Sweepstakes with Jake Goltzman winning the grand prize. He was invited to visit the set during the filming process of the Season Finale. Back in March, his father Randall had already uploaded many pictures onto Facebook. (You can see some of the pictures in this blog post.) On premiere day, CBS Austin aired a segment of Jake talking about his experience.
Additionally, cast and crew shared some more pictures of Episode 21 on social media; e.g. David Dastmalchian of Murdoc and Matty or Justin Hires of Bozer and "Dr. Zito". Stunt Coordinator Jeff Wolfe posted a picture of him with Mark Sheppard and a BtS pic of him having fun with Lucas while preparing to do a scene with "suffering" Bozer. Kirk Riley shared a BtS picture of the scene in Siberia.
Because of the DVD-Release of Monster Trucks, Lucas had additionally been doing promo for his movie that week. In a video interview with SideWalksTV, he also talked about MacGyver and the work load, how his fan encounters changed due to the show and what's it like to work with the cast.
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| some set visit pics (via Randall Goltzman) |
A while ago, there was a Boy Scouts Sweepstakes with Jake Goltzman winning the grand prize. He was invited to visit the set during the filming process of the Season Finale. Back in March, his father Randall had already uploaded many pictures onto Facebook. (You can see some of the pictures in this blog post.) On premiere day, CBS Austin aired a segment of Jake talking about his experience.
Additionally, cast and crew shared some more pictures of Episode 21 on social media; e.g. David Dastmalchian of Murdoc and Matty or Justin Hires of Bozer and "Dr. Zito". Stunt Coordinator Jeff Wolfe posted a picture of him with Mark Sheppard and a BtS pic of him having fun with Lucas while preparing to do a scene with "suffering" Bozer. Kirk Riley shared a BtS picture of the scene in Siberia.
Character and Storyline News
On April 8, Peter Lenkov tweeted that he and Producers Craig O'Neill and David Slack had discussed the story about how Jack met MacGyver - and teased that we'll have to wait until next season for that.
As mentioned in the
last Update, Peter Lenkov revealed that next season will see Riley and Bozer having relationships with other
people. So we might be introduced to new recurring characters soon; maybe even
in the Season 2 Premiere.
I've been wondering if they've already filmed the entire Cairo backstory for continuity and why they haven't already done so while filming the pilot. Breaking down the Season Finale cliffhangers with Entertainment Weekly, Lenkov stated that "The idea is that next season we’ll get to see another piece of that story, how they got out of that part of Cairo." He also revealed that we will discover at the end of the season who MacGyver's father is. I'm really curious who they're going to cast in this role.
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| BtS of Episode 21: Cigar Cutter (via Kirk Riley) |
I've been wondering if they've already filmed the entire Cairo backstory for continuity and why they haven't already done so while filming the pilot. Breaking down the Season Finale cliffhangers with Entertainment Weekly, Lenkov stated that "The idea is that next season we’ll get to see another piece of that story, how they got out of that part of Cairo." He also revealed that we will discover at the end of the season who MacGyver's father is. I'm really curious who they're going to cast in this role.
What's going to happen now?
Kevin
Marshall (Stand-In for George Eads) was still shooting inserts on a Villa-with-Pool-Location on March 31. So far, we don't know what these scenes were for - unless the MacGyver Reboot has a crossover with the new show "Dynasty" or the overworked crew confused their social media hashtags.
For now, most of the cast is probably enjoying some free time. Meanwhile, Lenkov is busy preparing for the Finale of Hawaii Five-0 and the crew in Atlanta is working on other TV show pilots.
Note that there is a strike of the Writers Guild of America looming on the horizon. It's unclear yet how a strike would influence the production of the reboot. The last time this happened (in 2007/08), production ceased for all scripted television programming for months. Many TV shows had shortened seasons due to a lack of scripts, were postponed, cancelled or had to switch to non-union writers in order to resume production.
For now, most of the cast is probably enjoying some free time. Meanwhile, Lenkov is busy preparing for the Finale of Hawaii Five-0 and the crew in Atlanta is working on other TV show pilots.
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| via Randall Goltzman |
Note that there is a strike of the Writers Guild of America looming on the horizon. It's unclear yet how a strike would influence the production of the reboot. The last time this happened (in 2007/08), production ceased for all scripted television programming for months. Many TV shows had shortened seasons due to a lack of scripts, were postponed, cancelled or had to switch to non-union writers in order to resume production.
I hadn't heard another strike was a possibility. I certainly remember the last strike in 2007-2008, which I originally shrugged off as unlikely but right in the middle of the season it happened and it drug on about four months. Pretty much everything on TV from January to April 2008 reverted to reality show programming during the scripted series hiatus. There was a brief writers' strike in the spring and summer of 1988, which is why "MacGyver" and almost all other shows got off to a late start that fall. Do you know exactly when the deadline is for the next strike?
ReplyDeleteAs for the late season ratings' slump, I think it's typical that network ratings decline in the spring. That certainly was the case back in the 80s and 90s, where "MacGyver" did best in January and February and then slumped a little in the spring months, partly because so many series sprinkle in reruns with the original episodes that time of year. Beyond that, it could just be that a lot of fans of the original are finally starting to give up on the remake.
Apparently, the current contract expires on Tuesday (May 2nd). According to Variety, the WGA received a 96.3% backing from its members for a strike authorization on April 24 - but they also state the "tenor of the talk" is "less aggressive" than back in 2007, so there's hope.
DeleteI thought it was weird to put the Season Finale on Good Friday. In Switzerland, this day is quite an important holiday - all shops are closed, most people don't need to go to work and there's a special TV schedule. No channel airs the usual TV shows; especially not a Season Finale.
DeleteGood Friday is a religious holiday and the US is a secular country, so it's not recognized by most institutions here, except for religious-affiliated companies, groups, and schools. It's not that big of a deal here and they definitely don't shift around the schedule for TV shows because of Good Friday. They used to do it a little for Easter but they don't even really do that anymore.
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