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Re: The MacGyver Timeline

Posted: Sun Aug 05, 2018 8:01 pm
by tvero80
MacGyverGod wrote: Sun Aug 05, 2018 4:18 pm That's it for the timeline. Sorry, it took so long. There were probably other ways to do this. But now, I wanted this to be done. I worked two years on this and it took me nearly a whole year to post it. I'm just glad I'm rid of it. I will not change anything about it anymore. I also will never take another challenge like this. You will always have inconsistencies all the time. I just wanted to see for myself if I was able to straighten everything out so it would make some sense. Now, I just want to have some fun again with MacGyver. Still even if it took some time, I finally got back into writing fanfiction and I am continuing my latest fanfic: Children of the United Nations. Wrote a whole new chapter and am working on the next. I think I got the writing bug back and I'm planning on doing two rewrites of previous stories and hopefully writing some new ones as well. Despite the very long run, I do hope you enjoyed reading the timeline and I'll be catching you later on a next writing-adventure.

Yes , we did ! Thank you for sharing the last part with us today , MacGyverGod ! And , please , keep on writing fanfiction , you've chosen the right girlfriend for Mac , I couldn't agree more ;) :)

Re: The MacGyver Timeline

Posted: Mon Aug 06, 2018 12:47 am
by KateR
Thank you for your timeline, MacGyverGod. I can tell what a tremendous amount of work you put into it, and I can certainly understand wanting to see it finally done. :)

I'm still working my way through the Lexicon, which will take years, and I'm curious to see, as I organize my own notes from each episode, if I will come to the same conclusions you did for some of the timing conflicts. Frankly, I think the best way to avoid the conflicts is just not to look too closely. :lol:

Feel free to share your future writing. :)

Kate

Re: The MacGyver Timeline

Posted: Mon Aug 06, 2018 11:16 am
by MacGyverGod
Thanks TVero and KateR.

Kate, feel free to share your notes as well. My timeline is my own interpretation. I had to rearrange episodes to make some things fit like having The Negotiator take place in 1987 while it was aired in 1988 when Deborah claimed she spend two years in prison in Unfinished Business in 1989. I had to find an explanation on how Phoenix was able to hire Frank and Jesse to hunt down Ladysmith two years before Mac and Pete even met The Coltons. On the other side I'm pretty convinced on MacGyver's actual birthday which is March 23 1952, despite what fans may think: 1950, 1951. They changed Penny Parker's birthday as well. If you hold in account what was said in Phoenix Under Siege and Passages, it adds up. I discount what was said in Runners because A: it was written by one-time writer and B: if you follow that theory a lot of other stuff doesn't add up anymore. Jerico Games for example was a tough break on that. The yearbook clearly states 1968. But again if you follow that road, the other stuff doesn't add up anymore. You really have to puzzle it out and try to make it fit. Otherwise, I think the timeline might be a source of inspiration, especially in the references to assignments or events the show only mentioned.

I will keep you guys posted on my future writings.

Woohoo: this is my 200th post. :D

Re: The MacGyver Timeline

Posted: Mon Aug 06, 2018 3:27 pm
by KateR
MacGyverGod wrote: Kate, feel free to share your notes as well.
My notes are just the raw form of all the information I draw from the episodes as I watch them. But then I use those notes to write up the individual Lexicon entries, so that's where you'll see all the information in final form as I upload each episode.
My timeline is my own interpretation. I had to rearrange episodes to make some things fit
I can avoid most of those conflicts by just using the references in the Lexicon entries without actually trying to pinpoint specific years. So, for example, when I get to Unfinished Business, I can simply say that Deborah spent two years in prison without trying to make those years fit into a timeline.

The exception, of course, would be things that are actually given specific dates, like MacGyver's or Penny's birthdays. The way I'm handling that for the moment is just including the information in the "Notes" section of the Lexicon for that episode. So the "Every Time She Smiles" episode page shows their birth dates from their passports. When a later episode conflicts with that, I will indicate it again in the Notes section for that episode, and so on. That way I can point out inconsistencies without trying to make them all fit as they arise.

Then, later, I piece all of those clues together as I write up the individual entries for each character, and that's when I try to come up with the best logical summary. You'll notice that right now recurring characters like Penny or Pete are only updated as of the episodes I have completed, and MacGyver's entry hasn't been written at all. I'm waiting for later.

Many years ago, I narrowed down what MacGyver's birthday should have been, but now I sort of forget my conclusion at the time. I know I did include the clue from Thin Ice, where he gives his age during the 1960 Olympics, which would have been in February and therefore could have impacted whether his birthday was in January or March.

Of course, those passports would have been the work of the Art Department, not the writers, so they carry a little less weight than the scripts. But then again, even though he signed his resignation on March 23rd (also the work of the Art Department) while they were having his birthday party, it doesn't necessarily mean that his birthday was ON the 23rd. After all, he just got back from a mission and could have been travelling on the actual day. Maybe his friends just scheduled a gathering on a day that was close to the actual date when they knew he'd be in town?

It's all just speculation, after all. Like you, I like details to match, but writers don't always have that same obsession. Maybe they should have hired US back then to help them keep things straight! ;)

Kate

Re: The MacGyver Timeline

Posted: Mon Aug 06, 2018 5:01 pm
by MacGyverGod
You are right. I always just assumed whatever the episode claims what is, is and whatever came first is true. But then you have something like Everytime She Smiles but later it's something totally different and seemingly even more important. It all depends on the importance of the episode. The Secret of Parker House is a great example of that. Just as Passages is. Not only Mac confirms he was ten at the time despite what he said in Runners it also adds up to what was said in Phoenix Under Siege and the 25th anniversary. Count back from then you end up in 1962, count back another ten years and Mac's born in 1952. So Runners is completely wrong but.

Thin Ice sort of depends of what angle you're looking at. In my timeline and actually in reality as well the Winter Olympics took place in February, a month before his birthday. I think most people will say the age they become in a certain year, whether or not an event takes place before their birthday.

I think indeed back then writers didn't care that much about details but sometimes they're so far off. Mostly with the two year marker. Deborah, Mr. Denmark who claims he remembers Frog from the block party, but even with the original intended airdate of The Coltons it wouldn't have added up so that's why I moved The Coltons episode way in the beginning of season 7 set before Honest Abe. On the other hand I'm not sure on how or even if the writers were able to go back and track things down to keep everything in order. I even think they weren't at all since MacGyver mentions Sister Margaret in Hind-Sight while he was supposed to say Sister Clara.

All we can indeed do is speculate and sometimes it's indeed even better of not trying to fit it in in a timeline.