MovieChat Forums > MacGyver (2016) Discussion > I liked it, but I never saw the other sh...

I liked it, but I never saw the other show.

posted 8 years ago by CindyH
11 replies | jump to latest

The original MacGyver interfered with something else I watched back when it was on. Probably life as a whole since I was married, going to nursing school and having children. I didn't have time for television.

To be fair, that could be why I like it. I don't know the original back story and so naturally I don't know how true it is to the original. I hate it when they do remakes and change everything.

I can totally identify with that. I was really nervous about Lethal Weapon (which I'll call LW here on out). I'm a serious LW fan girl who knows everything about those movies. I have them memorized and am a total nerd about them. I even wrote a post about its reboot here: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5164196/board/thread/261659849 Note that it may have some spoilers, but I blackened out the big ones.

The thing was, I was prepared to hate the new show but I was not just pleasantly surprised, I actually loved it! I was prepared to not even watch it but I was glad I did. Just be sure that if you're hating Mac because it shouldn't be remade, why not rethink that? Instead, give it a whirl. The worst that can happen is it'll confirm how you feel. The best is you may actually enjoy it!

I do want to point out a couple of things first, in no particular order.

1. I saw that some said hacking shouldn't be part of the show, but realistically these are the Generation Y and Z years and hacking is simply a reality.
(If you're curious about Generations: http://socialmarketing.org/archives/generations-xy-z-and-the-others/)
2. Mac is definitely not gay. I had that same worry about LW but thankfully I was wrong.
3. This has nothing at all to do with the show but is fun to see anyway: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v16/MagnoliaSoutherly/SideBySide/TillPadalecki_zpstomu9ttw.jpg (no, I don't watch Supernatural but my Gen-Y daughter does and asked me to make this side-by-side).

Finally, I'm glad to see George playing a bad as* for a change.

In the end, I found it fun, engaging and cute. I look forward to watching this on a regular basis.

--Random Thoughts: http://goo.gl/eXk3O

[–] memayse1701 8 years ago

Watch the original. They might as well have called this GCS: Generic Crime Show.

[–] EvilMentor 8 years ago

It doesn't have to be true to that from which it draws its premise. If it were, that would be a boring retread exhibiting no originality and possessing no potential to grow into something new.

[–] livvy7 8 years ago

Based on your post, you would definitely understand why a fan of the original show would not be thrilled about this one. They changed the MacGyver character too much. It's too jarring.

But if you've never seen the original show, you owe it to yourself to watch at least one episode so you can understand the difference and evaluate the criticism fairly.

CBS actually has several free episodes of what they're calling "Classic MacGyver" up on its website. Take a look at the Pilot (Season 1,, Episode 1). Here's the link to the CBS website, which is www.cbs.com

Click on "Shows" and then "MacGyver Classic." Then just scroll down to click on the Pilot episode on the page.

Pilots are not the most representative episodes of a series, but at least this is free. You just have to put up with the ads.

Hope you'll check it out. :)

[–] lauriegonzalez11 8 years ago

I'm a long-time MacGyver fan. Watches every original episode, watched reruns multiple times over the years. I have memorized characters and dialogue.

When Hollywood reboots a show you have to separate the two otherwise you will just hate the new one. If you can do that, you can like the old show and the new one.

I will always love the original MacGyver. I'm giving the new one a chance because I know it's not the same and I don't expect it to be. I like the new one.

[–] livvy7 8 years ago

I gave the original a chance by watching the first episode, lauriegonzalez. I didn't like it enough to go back for a second look he following week.

I don't think the new show has to be exactly like the old MacGyver. The stories are obviously going to be different. The universe is slightly different. But you have to retain the essence of the character from the 80s show, or else it's not MacGyver. In that case, they should have just created something new loosely based on MacGyver and called it something else.

[–] memayse1701 8 years ago

That's why the show shouldn't be called MacGyver

[–] rjiwatra 8 years ago

The original Macgyver show hasn't aged well. I remember loving it as a kid; but then when my sister got me the Season 1 DVD set as a gift in my 20s, I tried re-watching it, and it was just to corny for me to enjoy it. I don't know if the later seasons got better and ages better, but I didn't want to ruin my childhood memories of Macgyver, a show which I loved, and even carried a swiss army knife with me everywhere I went.

[–] blackflag01609 8 years ago

That's my opinion. I can sit down and watch the Murdock episodes and 1 or 2 others (when they occasionally appear on The Esquire Network) but for the most part it's too much a product of the 80's and that environment to hold my interest now. I can see where it's outdated too easily to enjoy it.

[–] livvy7 8 years ago

My opinion is just the opposite. With all this MacGyver talk, I went and re-watched the first season just last week. I loved it. I thought it was great, and I thought it held up quite well. Of course, the clothing styles, the cars, and the technology are from the 80s. But the character remains fresh, and the situations he finds himself in are still exciting and the way he finds his way out still clever. I didn't look at all the seasons--although I intend to watch all of them again. But Season 1 as a whole, it travels very well IMO and is still fun to watch.

[–] memayse1701 8 years ago

Look...Richard Dean Anderson said the show was of a certain time...the 80s and wouldn't necessarily work now. This new show doesn't resemble it at all...or even have the original's personality and moral compass...so why bother? It should just be another generic crime show.

[–] Rics-EQ2 8 years ago

1. I saw that some said hacking shouldn't be part of the show, but realistically these are the Generation Y and Z years and hacking is simply a reality.

Not only that, but it'd also be impossible in 2016. In 2016 can you think of anything that isn't ran by a computer? MacGyver has to either have a hacker (team) or be a hacker himself, because the 80's approach he used to solve things would only work on things purely mechanical. There are even tons of things in cars that can't be hacked mechanically like he would have done in the 80's.

Anywho, criminals guys are not the same now as the were. They hack, and money is digital, and they steal identities and social security numbers, and the control bombs with computers and code. Unless MacGyver only dealt with street level crime, hacking has to be a part of the show.

I'm so hip I have trouble seeing over my pelvis.