It’s been a weird year for CBS fans. Some heavy hitters are going away, including NCIS: New Orleans as well as the long-running sitcom Mom. Now MacGyver is being added to the growing list. CBS dropped the news this week that the Lucas Till starrer is also being axed after five whopping seasons on the Eye Network, and now several of the show’s leads have reacted to the news.
Lucas Till has been in the acting business since he was a kid and had even been in X-Men: First Class before landing the lead in MacGyver. However, it’s worth noting that the CBS series is the one that made the actor a household name. Now that MacGyver has been officially cancelled by CBS it seems as if it’s difficult for Till to even know how to begin his post for the fanbase.
Where to begin? The past five years have been what I will look on later as THE most formative years of my life. Lots of tough, lots of love. I made life long friends, actually no, family. I learned to push myself to new limits, breaking through and through and through. Was nervous to take up the mantle of an icon and you guys allowed me into your homes and accepted me. I’m like the Roger Moore of MacGyvers now thanks to your support. Lol. But this is also a love letter to my cast and crew, to those who have been with us since day 1 or day 1000, through those oppressive summer days in the Georgia heat, where the humidity envelopes you like a warm sweater to the below freezing winter days where the worst part about it is that no one believes you when you say it gets cold in Georgia.
Serious eye roll about the getting cold in Georgia cutesy-ness, but I’m absolutely here for the rest of the post on Instagram, which also touches on "what it means to be a real cinema team" and how a post like his can't really do his experience "justice." He wasn’t the only series lead to respond, either, as Justin Hires -- who plays Wilt on the series -- also commented after CBS made the call. On Twitter, he also made sure to mention how well the show was doing in its current slot.
All good things must come to an end. An amazing 5 years with an incredible cast and crew! Thank you to the loyal and committed fans who watched and supported this show. And HUGE thank you to CBS for employing me for 6 years now haha. We’re still #1 in views in our time slot.
Let’s unpack that comment a little bit. MacGyver has been in a Friday slot on the calendar for a bit, where it’s done alright for Friday night TV. However, it’s worth noting that the show saw a reasonable drop in viewership between Season 4 and Season 5, averaging over five million total viewers an episode for Season 4 and averaging in the four million plus range for Season 5. So, even if it’s winning its timeslot, viewership is down. It’s also worth pointing out that the ratings have slowly bled off since George Eads exited MacGyver during Season 3.
It’s unclear what CBS’ plan for Friday nights will be in the wake of MacGyver, which only ever tied in OK with Blue Bloods and Magnum P.I. on Friday nights in my opinion. But the Eye Network has been making some intriguing moves both on its mainstay service and its parent streaming Paramount Plus. This has included working on new ideas for some longtime properties such as CSI and even Criminal Minds -- which only recently cancelled its flagship property.
For now, MacGyver still has a few weeks of episodes to air, so if you are a fan, there will be plenty of time to get adjusted to the idea of changing your TV schedule next season. In the meantime, get excited because the team is going to dive into Italian car culture this week. MacGyver will still air -- for a little while -- on Friday nights at 8 p.m. ET only on CBS. For more about what’s headed to TV this spring, check out our full TV schedule.
