1 / 15
Did you know? All the gadgets improvised and built by "MacGyver" on the show were based on real inventions by actual scientists but were altered slightly so the younger audience members would not be able to emulate what Richard Dean Anderson built on the show...
2 / 15
The numbers: The American television series MacGyver ran for seven seasons and a total of 139 episodes, as well as two TV movies were shot from 1985 to 1992.
3 / 15
From 1989 until 1991, Cuba Gooding Jr., who would go on to win an Academy Award in 1997, had a recurring role in MacGyver as "Billy Colton".
4 / 15
One of Richard Dean Anderson's co-stars on the show was Richard Lawson (right), who is now actually the stepfather of R&B superstar Beyoncé - he married her mother, Tina Knowles, in 2015!
5 / 15
Over the years, there was a lot of speculation about "MacGyver's" past and also his first name! The fans had to wait until the seventh and final season to find out that his first name is actually "Angus".
6 / 15
The first-ever MacGyver episode aired on ABC on September 29th in 1985. After a slow start in its first season, MacGyver became a sleeper hit for ABC in its second season and went on to be the lead-in for the network's Monday Night Football for six years!
7 / 15
Aside from his role on the wildly successful MacGyver, Richard Dean Anderson also had the lead role on Stargate SG-1 as "Jack O'Neill" for 214 episodes from 1997 to 2007.
8 / 15
A MacGyver reboot actually began on CBS in 2016. The role of "Angus MacGyver" was played by the young Lucas Till, and it aired five seasons until 2021.
9 / 15
According to the producers, Richard Dean Anderson got the role of "MacGyver" because he brought a certain humanity to the role - and also because he didn't mind wearing glasses in the audition!
10 / 15
After she acted alongside Richard Dean Anderson in MacGyver, the actress Darlanne Fluegel appeared in movies such as Pet Sematary II in 1992...