''MacGruber'' is an American

action comedy Action comedy is a genre that combines aspects of action and comedy. The genre is most prevalent in film with action comedy films, though several TV series fit this genre. Film The action comedy film is a film genre that combines aspects of act ...

television series based on the recurring ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock. Michaels currently serve ...

'' sketch of the same name, a parody of the action-adventure series ''

MacGyver Angus "Mac" MacGyver is the title character and the protagonist in the TV series ''MacGyver''. He is played by Richard Dean Anderson in the 1985 original series. Lucas Till portrays a younger version of MacGyver in the 2016 reboot. In both po ...

''. Produced as a sequel to the 2010 film of the same name, the series stars

Will Forte Orville Willis Forte IV ( ; born June 17, 1970) is an American actor, comedian, writer, and producer. Forte is known for being a cast member on ''Saturday Night Live'' (2002–2010), a recurring character on the show leading to a feature film ada ...

as the title character, who goes up against Brigadier Commander Enos Queeth, a villain from his past.

Kristen Wiig Kristen Carroll Wiig (; born August 22, 1973) is an American actress, comedian, screenwriter, and producer. Born in Canandaigua, New York, she was raised in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and Rochester, New York. She moved to Los Angeles, where she joi ...

Ryan Phillippe Matthew Ryan Phillippe (; born September 10, 1974) is an American actor. After appearing as Billy Douglas on the soap opera '' One Life to Live'', he came to fame in the late 1990s with starring roles in films including '' I Know What You Did L ...

Sam Elliott Samuel Pack Elliott (born August 9, 1944) is an American actor. He is the recipient of several accolades, including a National Board of Review Award, and has been nominated for an Academy Award, two Golden Globe Awards, two Primetime Emmy Aw ...

Laurence Fishburne Laurence John Fishburne III (born July 30, 1961) is an American actor. He is a three time Emmy Award and Tony Award winning actor known for his roles on stage and screen. He has been hailed for his forceful, militant, and authoritative charact ...

Billy Zane William George Zane Jr. (born February 24, 1966) is an American actor. His breakthrough role was in the 1989 Australian film ''Dead Calm'', a performance that earned him a nomination for the Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Most Promi ...

, and

Timothy V. Murphy Timothy Vincent Murphy (born 5 April 1960) is an Irish actor based in Los Angeles. His notable 2015 roles have been on ''The Bastard Executioner'', ''Grace and Frankie'', and ''True Detective''. He played Galen O'Shea for three seasons on the ...

also star. Co-produced by

Universal Television Universal Television LLC (abbreviated as UTV) is an American television production company that is a subsidiary of Universal Studio Group, a division of Comcast's NBCUniversal. It serves as the network television production arm of NBC; a predec ...

and

Broadway Video Broadway Video is an American multimedia entertainment studio founded by Lorne Michaels, creator of the sketch comedy TV series ''Saturday Night Live'' and producer of other television programs and movies. Broadway Video also held the rights to m ...

, filming took place in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The series was released on

Peacock Peafowl is a common name for three bird species in the genera ''Pavo (genus), Pavo'' and ''Afropavo'' within the tribe Pavonini of the family Phasianidae, the pheasants and their allies. Male peafowl are referred to as peacocks, and female pea ...

on December 16, 2021.

Cast

Main

as MacGruber *

as Vicki St. Elmo *

as Dixon Piper *

as Perry, MacGruber's father *

as General Barrett Fasoose *

as Brigadier Commander Enos Queeth

Recurring

* Joseph Lee Anderson as Major Harold Kernst *

as Constantine Bach *

Marielle Heller Marielle Stiles Heller (born October 1, 1979) is an American writer, director, and actress. She is best known for directing the films ''The Diary of a Teenage Girl'' (2015), '' Can You Ever Forgive Me?'' (2018), and ''A Beautiful Day in the Nei ...

as MacGruber's mom *

Maya Rudolph Maya Rudolph (born July 27, 1972) is an American actress, comedian, and singer. In 2000, she became a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy show ''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL''), and later played supporting roles in the films '' 50 First Dates' ...

as Casey * Stephanie Czajkowski as Bex Dawson * Ella Ayberk as Irina Poliskaya * Mac Ericsson as Eli' MacGruber * Vartan as Baker Jaxx * Ryan Kendrick as Mac's Dad * Angel Rosario Jr. as Chance Tucker *

Landon Ashworth Landon Ashworth is an American actor, producer, television, movie and musical writer, film and commercial director, pilot, and golfer who is a notable celebrity in the autism spectrum disorder community. Landon is a graduate of Embry Riddle Aero ...

as Rodney

Episodes

Production

MacGruber ''MacGruber'' was a recurring sketch on the NBC television series ''Saturday Night Live'', first appearing on the show in January 2007. The sketch is a parody of the 1985–1992 adventure series '' MacGyver''. The sketch stars Will Forte as spe ...

'' was a recurring sketch on ''

'' from 2007 to 2010, co-created by comedian

and writers

Jorma Taccone Jorma Christopher Taccone (; born March 19, 1977) is an American comedian, director, actor, and writer. He is one-third of the sketch comedy troupe The Lonely Island, with childhood friends Andy Samberg and Akiva Schaffer. In 2010, Taccone co-wro ...

and John Solomon. Forte starred as the title character, an absurdist parody of the ''

'' television franchise. The sketches proved popular enough for a 2010 film adaptation of the character. Though the film was a

box-office bomb A box-office bomb, or box-office disaster, is a film that is unprofitable or considered highly unsuccessful during its theatrical run. Although any film for which the production, marketing, and distribution costs combined exceed the revenue after ...

in its original theatrical release, a growing

cult following A cult following refers to a group of fans who are highly dedicated to some person, idea, object, movement, or work, often an artist, in particular a performing artist, or an artwork in some medium. The lattermost is often called a cult classic ...

in the ensuing years, and continued enthusiasm from the creative team, led to development of a sequel. Focus shifted to a television project when another film was not seen to be financially viable. Following the cancelation of the sitcom '' The Last Man on Earth'', which Forte created and starred in and Solomon wrote and directed, their focus returned to a ''MacGruber'' revival, which was pitched with Taccone to television networks in early 2019. In November 2019, Forte mentioned the possibility of

and

returning to reprise their roles from the film. The ''MacGruber'' series was officially announced on January 16, 2020 when

NBCUniversal NBCUniversal Media, LLC is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate corporation owned by Comcast and headquartered at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, United States. NBCUniversal is primaril ...

, the distributor of both ''Saturday Night Live'' and the 2010 film, revealed the inaugural development slate for their then-upcoming streaming service

. By April 2020, the scripts for all eight episodes were near completion. In August 2020, production was delayed due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified ...

. On August 10, 2020, the series was officially given a series order, with Wiig and Phillippe in negotiations to star. Taccone invited director

Christopher Nolan Christopher Edward Nolan (born 30 July 1970) is a British-American filmmaker. Known for his lucrative Hollywood blockbusters with complex storytelling, Nolan is considered a leading filmmaker of the 21st century. His films have grossed $5&n ...

, who had publicly discussed his enjoyment of the 2010 film, to the initial

table read The read-through, table-read, or table work is a stage of film, television, radio, and theatre production when an organized reading around a table of the screenplay or script by the actors with speaking parts is conducted. In addition to the c ...

for the series. Nolan was unable to attend, but sent an email regarding his anticipation for the project, including that "the world is waiting, the world is watching," which Taccone said was "an amazing way to start the read-through." In June 2021, production began in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and it was confirmed that Wiig and Phillippe would reprise their roles, with

, and

Mickey Rourke Philip Andre "Mickey" Rourke Jr. (; born September 16, 1952) is an American actor and former boxer who has appeared primarily as a leading man in drama, action, and thriller films. During the star of the 1980s, Rourke played supporting roles ...

being added to the cast. By August 2021, Rourke left the series and was replaced by

. Joseph Lee Anderson would join the cast in a recurring role, with

reprising his role from the film. Filming concluded on August 23, 2021. All eight episodes of the first season were released on Peacock on December 16, 2021.

Reception

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

, the series has a score of 64 out of 100 based on 11 critic reviews indicating "generally favorable reviews".

References

External links

* {{Peacock (streaming service) 2020s American comedy television series 2020s American parody television series 2021 American television series debuts 2021 American television series endings American action comedy television series American action television series American sequel television series English-language television shows MacGyver (1985 TV series) Peacock (streaming service) original programming Saturday Night Live Television series based on adaptations Television series by Broadway Video Television series by Universal Television Television series impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic Television shows filmed in New Mexico