Top 10 Most Absurd MacGyver Inventions

When you watch MacGyver, you are probably in it for his crazy ideas. The ‘bomb out of a paper clip, a comic book and a houseplant’ type of inventions. After all, that’s the signature theme of the series.

Most of us grew up with MacGyver and we all wanted to be him or marry him.

The series starred Richard Dean Anderson as the mild-mannered secret agent with a never-ending supply of ingenious weapons. Drawing on a vast practical knowledge of science and some way out creative thinking, MacGyver uses everyday objects to create unorthodox solutions to the most bizarre problems.

Instead of relying on high-tech weapons and tools, he only carries a pocket knife and duct tape.

Here are 10 of the most epic MacGyver moments:

1. The Flying Car – “The Heist” (Season 1, Episode 5)

The scenario: MacGyver is trapped in a plane.
Materials used: Jeep, cargo plane and parachute
Result: MacGyver attaches the parachute to a car, drives it out of the back of a plane and lands it safely. He even took safety precautions and puts on a helmet.

2. Basement Torpedo – “The Secret of Parker House” (Season 4, Episode 1)

The scenario: MacGyver is trapped in a basement room.
Materials used: Sticks, rocks, rags, pipe and a boiler
Result: MacGyver takes a pipe bolted onto the wall and turns it into a torpedo that blasts right through the wall, creating his escape route.

3. Fire Extinguisher Bomb – “Jack of Lies” (Season 2, Episode 7)

The scenario: MacGyver is in a low-flying plane, pursued by bad guys in Jeeps.
Materials used: Fire extinguisher, metal hooks, tape and some bungee cords.
Result: MacGyver manages to build an improvised bomb using a fire extinguisher and metal hooks. He launches it, slingshot-style, at one of the Jeeps. When the vehicle hits the extinguisher, the hooks puncture the canister and it explodes.

4. The Electric Gum Wrapper – “Hellfire” (Season 1, Episode 8)

The scenario: MacGyver needs to rescue a damsel in distress.
Materials used: Gum wrapper.
Result: In this episode MacGyver fixes a blown fuse by joining the two contacts with the foil wrapper. He even offered the gum to the gal he was helping — what a guy!

5. Egg White Radiator – “Bushmaster” (Season 2, Episode 19)

The scenario: MacGyver is stuck with a car that won’t start.
Materials used: Egg whites and water.
Result: MacGyver repairs the gash in the car’s radiator by grabbing an egg out of a nearby chicken coop. Once he gets the water in the radiator hot, he pours egg whites into the water and uses them to plug the hole as they cook.

6. Sun-Powered Laser Beam – “The Legend of the Holy Rose” (Season 5, Episode 4, Part 2)

The scenario: MacGyver finds himself in a situation in which he needs to bore through some solid rock.
Materials used: Crystal-tipped rods, ruby set in a gold ball and a mirrored bowl.
Result: The materials are a little more sophisticated than MacGyver is used to, but so are the impressive results: he built himself a laser! By waiting for the sun to line up just right, he is able to use a laser beam to cut through solid rock.

 7. Gold Rush” – (Season 4, Episode 14)

The scenario: MacGyver is trapped in the body of a plane buried by an avalanche.
Material used: Sleeping bag, vodka and a tank of oxygen.
Result: MacGyver wraps an oxygen tank in a sleeping bag and puts it in a bucket of vodka. Not just any vodka, mind you! The authentic Russian vodka.  The kind that can strip paint! He uses the sleeping bag string as an ignition fuse and buries the contraption in the snow. It explodes and blasts him a way out.

 8. To Be a Man” – (Season 1, Episode 17)

The scenario: MacGyver is being pursued by communist sheiks on the Afghanistan/Pakistan border.
Materials used: A fallen US intelligence satellite, and old parachute and duct tape.
Result: MacGyver turns the piping and plastic from the satellite and its parachute into a factory-quality hang glider.

9. “Deathlock” – (Season 1, Episode 11)

The scenario: MacGyver is stuck in a booby-trapped house by a British madman bent on revenge.
Material used: Batteries, electric mixer, rubber band, serving cart and half a suit of armour.
Result: MacGyver creates a decoy to get past heat-seeking guns lining the perimeter. He fixed the upper part of a suit of armour to a small kitchen cart. Then, by using the electric mixer and a rubber band to get the cart’s wheels moving, he uses the decoy to attract gunfire while he escapes.

10. “The Prodigal” – (Season 1, Episode 9)

The scenario: MacGyver and another guy have barricaded themselves in an attic by piling up furniture against the door as bad guys with guns try to catch them.
Material used: Cleaning fluid, a telescope, moth balls, rope, some handle bars and a pulley that all happen to be lying around the attic.
Result: MacGyver creates a spear gun that fires a rope to a tree outside. Then he and his sidekick zipline over vicious dogs and a tall fence to safety.

Now viewers looking for a bit of nostalgia have the chance to go back to the old days and watch this popular show. CBS Action (DStv Channel 133) is bringing back the award-winning series MacGyver on weekdays at 11:50 and 17:40.