Can a Telescope Help you See Stars During the Day?

Can a telescope help you see stars during the day?  The short answer is yes and no.  This is a bad science moment in many movies and TV shows.  In fact, just the other day I was watching the pilot episode of the MacGyver TV series.  I loved watching MacGyver as a kid and now with Netflix I can watch it again as an adult.  I didn't remember this from when I watched the show as a kid, but apparently MacGyver lives at a telescope observatory?!?!?!  That in itself is odd since MacGyver does not have the necessary astrophysical background to be working at a facility such as this, but I'll let that one slip.  In the very first episode, MacGyver is looking at objects in the sky with a large telescope...during the day!!!!

It is possible to see some of the very brightest objects (planets, a few bright stars, etc.) during the day, and of course you can observe the Sun with a solar filter during the day.  In this particular MacGyver episode he is looking at Venus.  Again, you can see Venus during the day, but this scene gives the impression that telescopes are commonly used during the day to look at objects other than the Sun.  You can look at a few objects during the day with a telescope (visible light), but nearly all visible light observing is done at night when the Sun's light is no longer interfering with the light from the stars/planets/other objects.  It's at night when the best visible light observing is done.  

Of course, as I continue my way through MacGyver episodes, I could probably write an entire book on the Science of MacGyver!!!