Welcome Richard Dean Anderson! It's great to have you here!
Thanks! It's great to be here.
Were you surprised by the birthday present you
received from the MacGyver mailing list? We love you!
Thank you for doing this chat!
Your welcome. Yes I was. I work with a group, it's
a recreation center. We've been trying to raise money
to build a refuge for inter-city kids. A group of
MacGyver fans donated money and bought a brick to be
a part of the recreation center. It shocked me. It was
one of the nicest gestures.... The fans really
understand what I'm about.... It makes doing what I do
worth it. It was a really great moment. Thank you.
Have you ever gotten injured on the job?
Yes, I've gotten injured a lot! The nature of
MacGyver, I wanted to do all of my stunts... as many
as they would let me. I've had back surgeries, broken
noses....everything... One of my first jobs was as an
Entertainment Director, and I wrote a show about
whales, and I wrote a part for me that was a exciting.
I had to hold a mackerel up and let a whale jump up
and get it from me. Now I have a bad taste for mackerel!
Are you married? If so, to who?
That would be "whom." Sorry, bad habit. No, I'm
not married, but I do have a girlfriend. And we're
having a baby in July. I just turned 48 and I've been
doing some reflecting. It is time to take this road...
this new adventure. It's going to take some adjusting,
but I couldn't be happier. You hear people talk about
it....on talkshows....and you think "who cares?"
Until you have the experience, and then it changes
everything. I've always been a selfish person, so
this has really altered my consciousness. I'm a
little concerned about losing my freedom. But right
now, I couldn't be happier. Don't be heartbroken!
Do you miss doing MacGyver?
I don't even want to go there! Not so much, really. We were just honored
by the Radio and Television History Museum. There are
aspects that I miss because it was so much fun to do
that show. It was a lot of work....and it took me
away from a real life. It's kind of like 7 years is
long enough.... people have to move on. MacGyver was
definitely an 80's show. I was screening the show in
front of an audience, I had to ask them to forgive
the style of it. It's so typical 80's.
Were you a musical guest on the Dinah Shore show?
Oh my god! You saw that?! My apologies please.
There was a period in my life when the Dinah Shore show
was on. Before you were born, I was hanging out
with one of the cast member's sons... he asked me to
sing with them some time. We started rehearsing
together. So we were invited on the Dinah Shore show...
. Yes I was a musical guest, if you want to call it
music!
Do you feel that Macgyver was your best show
ever, or do you think that you just keep getting better?
This person doesn't know me at all! I have really
low self-esteem. I don't think that MacGyver was the
best show that I ever did. I was on a show called
Legend once that was a period western, the show didn't
succeed. But the character that I played that I had
the most fun with. And did the best work that
I've done. On a real network, the show might have stood
a chance. I've been trying to see if a network would
like to do a special based on the character. You
can't ask me qualitative questions!
When can we expect the new season shows to
start?
That is a Showtime question! We filmed 22
episodes last year. We have all the shows assembled
from last season. I thought it was unfair for Showtime
to hold them back, but it was a programming strategy
to bank a whole bunch of shows. So we'll have the tail
end of last year's episodes and then the new stuff.
I don't know when the launch date is, but Showtime is
continuing their sci-fi Friday bank of programming. I
think they're going to launch the first episode of Star
Wars too. I don't know, but I don't know what the
launch date is. I understand your frustration. So my
apologies. Call up Showtime and ask them what's going
on? My mom asked the same thing!
How long does it take to finish one Stargate
SG-1 show?
Many moons. It's all budgetary. Everything is
dictated by the dollar. And then we have a second unit
that shoots about 2 days of special effects and
residual scenes. When we shot MacGyver, I was a part
of the whole process. Because there are so many special effects, it
takes over a month to get an episode finished...edited
and scored. So it takes a while.
Dear Richard: Loved you as MacGyver, and now
as Jack O'Neill. Is STARGATE SG-1 shot in Vancouver,
BC? If so, are there studio/set tours available?
Yes it is shot in Vancouver. There are several
reasons why there are no tours. It's a very modest
studio that you could see in about 5 minutes. There
are also insurance reasons why we can't give tours.
There are special circumstances, where you can see the
set. But since people can get hurt on the set, they
don't do it.
Any chance you'll ever do a guest appearance
on X-files?? (PS.... Happy Belated Birthday)
Why thank you! I don't know. I met Chris Carter
about 6 or 7 years ago. I didn't know who he was at the
time. I haven't been asked. I'm a little busy though.
Chris called me and asked me advice because I made a
bad comment about the weather in Canada. I told him
that you were just talking about the weather and not
he culture. But I don't know about The X-Files.
I think it's great that you love dogs.
How is Zoe's training coming? P. S. I LOVE STARGATE SG-1.
I love dogs! She's got me heeling now and I don't
chase cars anymore. I had just went away, and she was
at doggy camp. She's an Australian shepherd. I
discovered that she's my breed. I've had 3 of them.
And they all have jumped out of the litter and jumped
on me. They choose me for some reason.
Hello from GERMANY! Was it difficult for
MacGyver to play the military guy? :-)
No, it wasn't difficult.
Now that you have established your character in Stargate SG-1, do
you think you will do an episode where you make fun of your old MacGyver
persona? Like with the gum and building bombs :)
We actually already have. We referenced it on the pilot. The captain was
looking at some machinery and trying to MacGyver it. I like throwing little
references in it. The Simpsons always reference it. The Simpsons is my favorite
show! I thought my life was complete when my name was a clue in the TV Guide
crossword puzzle. Mad magazine also made fun of it. But the fact that The
Simpsons are great.
What do you think of Patty & Selma's (Simpsons) obsession with
MacGyver?
I think it's great! It makes my life complete!
Richard, how is it that you scheduled this chat during a Kings-Red
Wings game?
Here's the answer.....I didn't schedule this! I had to do this when I could do
this. We're in Los Angeles. Who is winning?
Do you have a computer and if so have you ever checked any of the
Stargate SG-1 sites out?
I do have a computer. The new media makes my head spin. I have the same
attitude about computers as I have about skis. I can't get involved until things get
settled down. I have an e-mail address, but I'm sheepish about using that. I will go
into chat rooms as soon as I learn how to. I think it would be fun.
Will there be a tech manual for all of SG-1 equipment and worlds?
The executive producers can answer that question! As far as
merchandising, I honestly don't know. I have a hard time understanding science
fiction and technology. So I ask the really naive questions. The executive
producers are great about it, because they then try to simplify things for the
audience.
Richard, I loved you in MacGyver. I am one of you biggest fans. You
are great in StarGate SG-1. My question is: I heard that you are really clumsy in
real life, is this true??
Very good question. I'm very athletic. I've done everything that I've wanted
to do. I race cars, ski, and play hockey. Part of what made MacGyver charming
was the clumsy factor. It made him very human. In Legend, I used my physical
awareness. It takes a coordinated person to act clumsy. I space out and run into
things because my mind tends to wander. But one quality that I think I perpetuate
is a general awareness. So that I can react and interact with what's around me. But
yeah, I'm kind of clumsy!
Richard, thanks for being here and sharing all your Stargate SG-1
knowledge with us.
Thanks for inviting me....
Good luck on the show and we all look forward to seeing the new
episodes!
Thanks....now how do I get out of here?
Good bye everyone and thanks for joining us and chatting live with
Richard Dean Anderson!
Chat with RDA
By: America Online & Entertainment Asylum
March 1998
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