# It turns out I really like Richard Dean Anderson. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 9, 2014, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-turns-out-i-really-like-richard-dean-anderson/706717 "2014-12-09T02:49:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2014, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-turns-out-i-really-like-richard-dean-anderson/706717/1 "2014-12-09T02:49:46Z")
Not in a Patty and Selma manner, of course, but inspired by a recent reminder in these august pages of the _Simpsons_ episode in which they kidnapped him I looked to YouTube for the pilot of _MacGyver_, which I had not watched when it was on the air. Then to _Legend_, of which I had forgotten. They might have _Stargate SGI_, but I saw most of them in first run so I won’t be looking for a good, long while. Sure, his characters are all the same, just him being charming, affable, funny, and a bit hammy, but he makes it work well enough that I haven’t grown tired of him. Not yet, though I have seven seasons of _MacGyver_ ahead of me. And _MacGyver_ was also worked on by _Doctor Who_’s Terry Nation! ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2014, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-turns-out-i-really-like-richard-dean-anderson/706717/2 "2014-12-09T22:26:28Z")
He’s all right. ---
**Author:** ![Coriolanus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/coriolanus/32/18769_2.png) [@Coriolanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coriolanus)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2014, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-turns-out-i-really-like-richard-dean-anderson/706717/3 "2014-12-09T22:43:54Z")
I like Richard Dean Anderson, and Richard (Norman) Anderson: Oscar Goldman on the Six Million Dollar Man and the Bionic Woman. As to Macgyver - who knows his first name (no Googling or Wiki’ing) Difficulty: Same name as the lead guitarist of AC/DC 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2014, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-turns-out-i-really-like-richard-dean-anderson/706717/4 "2014-12-09T23:12:04Z")
It’s McMurphy, right? McMurphy Macgyver. ---
**Author:** ![Coriolanus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/coriolanus/32/18769_2.png) [@Coriolanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coriolanus)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2014, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-turns-out-i-really-like-richard-dean-anderson/706717/5 "2014-12-10T00:04:07Z")
Nope, actually Macguyver’s first name was **bobot!**. I kid. It’s ancient trivia. I doubt Mr. Dean Anderson would know. **dropzone** would probably know his first name. It’s Angus. A damn fine name. That was a good show. A rubber band, a paper clip, perhaps some sulfur, charcoal and saltpeter - save the world! I don’t think he ever made gunpowder - it was a kid-friendly show. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2014, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-turns-out-i-really-like-richard-dean-anderson/706717/6 "2014-12-10T00:48:52Z")
The only guy to ever look good in a mullet. ---
**Author:** ![Barking\_Dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Barking\_Dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barking_Dog)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2014, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-turns-out-i-really-like-richard-dean-anderson/706717/7 "2014-12-10T01:05:59Z")
It turns out, so do I. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2014, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-turns-out-i-really-like-richard-dean-anderson/706717/8 "2014-12-10T01:10:27Z")
I see him as another Jimmy Stewart or Jim Garner. They all slid through their careers by being likeable. It’s not like any of them could act for beans. They didn’t have to. They played the same characters, delivered their lines with a wink to the audience, and made people feel good. The writers wrote for them, which helped, like songwriters wrote for Astaire’s vocal range. ---
**Author:** ![Sarabellum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sarabellum/32/3492_2.png) [@Sarabellum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sarabellum)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2014, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-turns-out-i-really-like-richard-dean-anderson/706717/9 "2014-12-10T01:19:49Z")
I always loved him in Stargate SG1, and thought the show went way downhill when they switched him from starring to recurring status. The show never really recovered, in my opinion, though it limped along for several more seasons. The best episodes from the last few seasons were invariably the ones where he made an appearance. I am old enough to remember him in MacGyver as well, though it didn’t make much of an impression on me. Just enough that when I saw him in Stargate, I thought, hey! it’s MacGyver! ---
**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2014, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-turns-out-i-really-like-richard-dean-anderson/706717/10 "2014-12-10T01:33:41Z")
He’s no MacGruber. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2014, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-turns-out-i-really-like-richard-dean-anderson/706717/11 "2014-12-12T20:39:32Z")
> [@Coriolanus](#): > > That was a good show. A rubber band, a paper clip, perhaps some sulfur, charcoal and saltpeter - save the world! Don’t thank him - thank the moon’s gravitational pull. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2014, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-turns-out-i-really-like-richard-dean-anderson/706717/12 "2014-12-12T21:00:57Z")
The guy’s name has always annoyed me. Largely because my first and middle names are “Richard Dean”, and in high school jazz band, the alto sax player who sat next to me was named “Dean Anderson”. “Richard Dean Anderson” just makes a confusing knot in my brain.