MacGyver Reboot

[tvero80]

OR it would be fun as a voice-over in an opening gambit...it wouldn't be MacGyver yet everyone would recognize his voice ...a 'clin d'œil' as we say in France.

But maybe people would think he was consulted and agrees with the new version (which isn't the case as he told us ) .So if it's a flop...better safe than sorry.

[CMac]

Oh, it will definitely be a flop, mark my words. If I were RDA, I would be insulted that they didn't consult me, but then again he has always said that he wanted to move on and try other things.

[KateR]

I don't know how reliable "TV Series Finale" is as a source, but I was sent this link the other day that supposedly gives details about the new rebooted series:

http://tvseriesfinale.com/tv-show/macgy ... boot-pilot

The MacGyver pilot is moving forward at CBS, and there are new details about the series now available. It has been revealed that the series will be a prequel to the series that starred Richard Dean Anderson and aired for seven seasons on ABC.

Spoiler TV has released the character descriptions for the new series. These descriptions could change, but this is what has been released so far. Check out those descriptions below.

“Angus MacGyver – 25 years old. A resourceful yet troubled young man. He joined the army and eventually became a bomb tech to make money to pay off his degree, however he was captured by the Mazari. After being saved he was deemed an American Hero, but found a lot of his memories blacked out. Including how he was captured and what happened to the other prisoners. As he tries to return to normal life, he begins to see the Mazari everywhere…but no one will believe him.

Lincoln – A 55 year old war vet who doesn’t miss a thing. He believes that the Mazari really are on American soil. His sister leads a group, an unofficial department of Homeland Security that investigates these conspiracies that no one believes in and stops them before the public finds out. Was in the army with MacGyver’s father and tried multiple times to rescue him from the Mazari without success.

Mickey – 25 years old, MacGyver’s high school sweetheart. Very pretty and smart. Dating Gunner. Assists Macgyver with readjusting to civilian life.

Gunner – 25 years old, MacGyver’s best friend from high school. Dating Mickey. While Macgyver was captured he pretty much took over his former life. Works as handy man and dreamed of becoming an American Hero.

Zwickey & O’Neill – Prisoners MacGyver met while captured by the Mazari. They have yet to be rescued, a fact which still haunts MacGyver."

Wow. First of all, a true prequel to a 30-something hero in the 80s would be a 20-something hero in the 70s, not modern day. So if you are going to change his era, his background, his character, and his acquaintances so drastically, what is the point of even making it MacGyver?

Why not just create a modern-day 20-something hero that is a clever role model with his own name and personality?

Kate

[tvero80]

My first reaction : who imagined the names of the protagonists? Lincoln ? Mickey (Mouse ) ? Gunner (a fan from the soccer team Arsenal I presume?) and last but not least Zwickey ? I didn't know such a name even existed. Not to mention O'Neill ,with two lls...

Ridiculous (sorry...).

[bftlovesRDA]

I don't know how reliable "TV Series Finale" is as a source, but I was sent this link the other day that supposedly gives details about the new rebooted series:

http://tvseriesfinale.com/tv-show/macgy ... boot-pilot

The MacGyver pilot is moving forward at CBS, and there are new details about the series now available. It has been revealed that the series will be a prequel to the series that starred Richard Dean Anderson and aired for seven seasons on ABC.

Spoiler TV has released the character descriptions for the new series. These descriptions could change, but this is what has been released so far. Check out those descriptions below.

“Angus MacGyver – 25 years old. A resourceful yet troubled young man. He joined the army and eventually became a bomb tech to make money to pay off his degree, however he was captured by the Mazari. After being saved he was deemed an American Hero, but found a lot of his memories blacked out. Including how he was captured and what happened to the other prisoners. As he tries to return to normal life, he begins to see the Mazari everywhere…but no one will believe him.

Lincoln – A 55 year old war vet who doesn’t miss a thing. He believes that the Mazari really are on American soil. His sister leads a group, an unofficial department of Homeland Security that investigates these conspiracies that no one believes in and stops them before the public finds out. Was in the army with MacGyver’s father and tried multiple times to rescue him from the Mazari without success.

Mickey – 25 years old, MacGyver’s high school sweetheart. Very pretty and smart. Dating Gunner. Assists Macgyver with readjusting to civilian life.

Gunner – 25 years old, MacGyver’s best friend from high school. Dating Mickey. While Macgyver was captured he pretty much took over his former life. Works as handy man and dreamed of becoming an American Hero.

Zwickey & O’Neill – Prisoners MacGyver met while captured by the Mazari. They have yet to be rescued, a fact which still haunts MacGyver."

Wow. First of all, a true prequel to a 30-something hero in the 80s would be a 20-something hero in the 70s, not modern day. So if you are going to change his era, his background, his character, and his acquaintances so drastically, what is the point of even making it MacGyver?

Why not just create a modern-day 20-something hero that is a clever role model with his own name and personality?

Kate

Thanks for those details that have been put out there so far about the MacGyver reboot. I totally agree with you - "Why not just create a modern-day 20-something hero that is a clever role model with his own name and personality?"

The information sounds interesting re: the main character - but it doesn't even sound like MacGyver we all know and love. I suppose the creators realize that most "old" fans of MacGyver will not want them to try to redo the original exactly. But, as you say, they should have just done a totally unrelated new series if they were going to go for a totally unrelated main character.

[CMac]

They can't fool us!

By the way, that sounds more like a Mac fanfic than a full-fledged show--and there is nothing wrong with fanfic. Some of it is superbly written and very creative. But this concept, without having a Pete character or Phoenix Foundation or anything that we normally associate with MacGyver--you're right. Why can't they just come up with a new show and leave our beloved MacGyver out of it?

It also sounds a little bit like the Bourne series, which I love, but come on--memories blacked out? People taking over his former life? Please...it's been done.

[PamK1950]

I can see it now. Angus and O'Neill are searching the area around Cheyenne Mountain for some suspected Mazari hiding places. They came across what appeared to be the entrance to a cave in the base of the mountain that had been covered by giant boulders. The guys manage to clear enough space for them to squeeze into the cave........ (you know the rest)

[CMac]

At least on paper, this idea also sounds like it will lack some of the warmth and humor that RDA brought to MacGyver. Sure, the show had a lot of action and could be serious, but somehow he always managed to inject just enough of his delightful and quirky personality to keep it light to some extent--and to make Mac more human and three dimensional as a character. To this day, a part of me still thinks Mac is real, just based on his performance. I believed him as an actor. I just can't picture any other actor or any other scenario that these people come up with working the magic of the show as well as he did.

[Captainvale]

Yes i get tired of remakes. I think cgi ( computer generated graphics) would appeal to the generation now buying animae books and films. They are used to the very popular and realistic figures. Otherwise, i'd like it if they redigitized the origi al RDA work for hdtv, with captions.

[themacgyverproject]

At some point soon I'm planning to do a blog post about this, but in short my thoughts are that I'm more open to a reboot than most other fans. I don't expect the show to be good (because I think tv generally is not very good in today's day and age), but I'm willing to risk it on the 5% chance that it actually is a good, enjoyable show. And no matter how bad it is, it won't ruin the original for me at all. I feel the same way about the proposed movie.

All that said, I saw the article with the proposed characters, and that sounds like a disaster to me. I agree with Kate and BFT -- if you're going to make a show with a character that sounds nothing like MacGyver, just call it something different. I worry that the creators are just thinking of MacGyver as someone who makes something out of nothing, and they're not being aware or respectful of all the other things that made MacGyver unique and special.