‘MacGyver’ Fans Upset After Season 4 Premiere Delayed

When CBS’ primetime line-up returns Friday night with new episodes, there will be one show conspicuously missing. The MacGyver reboot, starring Lucas Till in the title role, will not be debuting its fourth season between new episodes of Hawaii Five-0 and Blue Bloods. Instead, CBS will air Magnum P.I. as the meat to the Friday night sandwich, angering some MacGyver fans on Twitter.

Hawaii Five-0 will kick off its 10th season at 8 p.m. ET Friday, followed by the Magnum P.I. Season 2 premiere at 9 p.m. ET, in MacGyver‘s old slot. Blue Bloods will start its 10th season at 10 p.m. ET.

The decision to move MacGyver to midseason was never fully explained by CBS. It means the show will likely not debut until January 2020 at the earliest, depending on when a slot opens elsewhere on CBS’ schedule.

The MacGyver reboot experienced a big change last season, when former CSI star George Eads’ character Jack Dalton left MacGyver’s team in a February episode. He was replaced by Levy Tran’s Desi Nguyen character, who was promoted to the main cast. Former Lost actor Henry Ian Cusick also joined the cast as a new character named Russ.

According to Deadline, Cusick’s character is an Oxford-educated ex-military man who specializes in manipulation, making him a skilled popagandist and human lie detector. He is wealthy and does not avoid using the wealth he earned from war to buy up flashy things.

When the show was renewed in May, it also got a new showrunner. Craig O’Neill left, and was released by Terry Matalas (12 Monkeys), who will work with creator/executive producer Peter Lenkov.

The rest of the MacGyver cast includes Tristin Mays as Riley Davis, Justin Hires as Wilt Bozer and Meredith Eaton as Matty Webber.

MacGyver is not the only major show CBS held to midseason. The long-awaited, 10-episode final season of Criminal Minds was also held back.

Photo credit: CBS