- Title: MacGyver (1985) – Every Time She Smiles
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Throwback Tuesday takes us back to the original improvisational MacGyver (Richard Dean Anderson) armed only with genius-level intellect, a Swiss Army knife, and whatever he can cobble together to solve the problems of the week. After completing a simple handoff, MacGyver runs into trouble making it out of Bulgaria with microfilm when he runs into Penny Parker (Teri Hatcher) at the airport. Attempting to run off from her inattentive boyfriend (Kai Wulff) who turns out to be the son of the nephew of the Bulgarian Secret Police. While worried about the revolutionists and the microfilm, Stephan and his father are also concerned with recovering the jewelry in Penny’s possession which turns out to be priceless giving the state police two reasons to hunt the pair down (and also mistake Penny for a revolutionary).
This is Hatcher’s first appearance as the ditzy Penny, a character who would pop-up five more times over the series run to get herself (and MacGyver) into trouble. Hatcher is great in the role, while also showing us there’s more to Penny than simply the talkative would-be actress. Notable for Hatcher’s introduction, the episode also gives us a chase through an airport baggage system, escape via merry-go-round, and a race to the border which proves successful thanks to a makeshift oil slick and Penny sweet talking one of the guards.