[Deadra requested this one (so I hope you read it, girl!).]

We all know MacGyver. Or at least I hope we all know him. The man with the worst haircut. The man Patty and Selma love (yes, even Patty). The man, who can build an airplane out of gum and paper clips [although Chuck Norris can roundhouse-kick his head through a wall and take it].

We all know he’s great. But do we know why, I mean, exactly? Now, we can.

For those people, who don’t know all the episodes by heart, there’s the List of Problems Solved by MacGyver. It only goes to Season 5, but maybe you want to complete it?

First, I need to shatter your expectations. MacG never built an airplane [unless you count: “MacGyver builds an ultralight airplane with bamboo poles, heavy duty garbage bags, a cement mixer engine, and duct tape.” – Season 5, episode 1]. But he does this:

In order for the damaged plane to take off, MacGyver creates a JATO (Jet Assisted Take Off) unit with two RPGs (Rocket Propelled Grenades, called ‘Vipers’). He ties the RPGs to the skis of the plane and wires the igniters from the rockets so that they are placed inside the cockpit. The RPGs are ignited by a sharp impact, which in this case is a hammer. [Season 4, episode 4.]

Also, he never actually uses gum. But he does this:

MacGyver repairs a blown fuse using the aluminium wrapper of a stick of chewing gum to bridge the blown fuse. [Season 1, episode 8.]

MacGyver helps a girl trying to fish by making her an effective lure out of a chewing gum wrapper. He notes that fish are attracted to shiny things, and attaches the wrapper to her line. [Season 1, episode 12.]

Before you lose your faith in humanity, he does use paper clips.

MacGyver defuses a highly advanced nuclear warhead using a paper clip to short circuit the timing device. [Pilot.]

MacGyver rigs a pair of dice by rounding some of the edges with a shoe buffer with an abrasive added so that the chance of rolling a ‘7’ is increased. In order to create a distraction to swap the dice at a craps table, using some string and a paper clip, MacGyver fastens the string to the paper clip then attaches it to the dress of a woman who is walking nearby and steps on the string, pulling down her dress thereby creating a distraction and allowing him to swap the dice. [How naughty! Season 1, episode 7.]

Trapped in the driver’s seat of a car with bazookas pointed at him, MacGyver needs to get out of the car and disable the bad guys all in one move. He removes his shoelaces and ties a lasso, using it to rope the gas pedal. He slips a paper clip onto the lace, secures it in a monkey wrench, and manipulates the wrench so it is braced between the floor and the brake pedal. This situates the lace so that when pulled on, it will pull down the gas pedal. Finally he routes the lace around the steering wheel on ties it to the door handle. The result is that when he gets out of the car, it will lurch forward and crash into the bad guys. [Season 2, episode 18.]

You notice how they limit their use of each item? They didn’t want it to get boring (as if that was possible). The also achieved this by asking the fans to write them their own ideas. At least one of those was used in the series.

With an old, bullet-ridden Jeep his only means of escape, MacGyver must patch up the Jeep’s radiator to get it working again. Remarkably, he does the job with nothing but water and egg whites. First he dumps some water in the radiator and jump-starts the Jeep, causing the water to heat up. A few minutes later, he dumps in the egg whites, which the water cooks. Once cooked, the egg whites naturally plug the holes in the radiator, making the Jeep temporarily usable. (This technique was deemed Plausible in an episode of The Discovery Channel’s MythBusters.) The trick was suggested by a fan of the series. [Season 2, episode 19.]

Speaking of MysthBusters: they have looked at at least six of MacG’s tricks and deemed 3 (and a half) actually plausible. I think that’s pretty impressive.

Okay, I can go on and on here. Best would be, if I stop right here and you go on, watch the series and read the article.

Just one last thing: Chocolate is a real life saver.

MacGyver plugs a sulfuric acid leak with chocolate. He states that chocolate contains lactose and sucrose (chemically C₁₂H₂₂O₁₁), which are disaccharides. The acid reacts with the sugars to form elemental carbon and a thick gummy residue. [Season 1, episode 2.]