To each his own, but in my opinion it doesn't hold a candle to the original. Guess I'm just old. The words over everything he touched was so annoying. His hacks were reminiscent of a junior high school science fair. Just plain cheesy. I'm sure there will be huge following for this new generation Mac, but I'll stick with RDA... Now get off my lawn, damn kids!
shareThis is bloody terrible.
Mac is now a cocky bugger, who is banging his "analyst". He now makes weapons instead of finding smart solutions and, of course, he's a martial arts expert.
Jack Dalton went from lovable scoundrel to stereotypical Delta Seal Team Ranger Force meathead killing people. First two minutes, flachback, Jack kills at least 3 people.
MacGyver is now just another stereotypical, dumb action show.
Hell, it's basically Chuck, without anything good.
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Sorry Knight, I swear I'm not stalking you, but again, you're bang on. When they threw the text up during everything he was doing it actually caused me to do a, "What the *beep* out loud even though I was watching by myself!
MC Confusing: There's more blood than a rubber hose bottle of footshare
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Nice! I was about 12 when MacGyver started. We used to try and dissect many of Mac's old tricks. Some were easy, some were downright disastrous! Now that I think back, I'm amazed that we all still have our limbs intact! hahaha
MC Confusing: There's more blood than a rubber hose bottle of footshare
Haha. Well written, sir.
Punk kids and their damn rock music!
Yeah, I have to agree BUT I will give this a chance. As a MacGyver geek I can appreciate what they tried to do with this pilot, which does try to take elements (MacGyverisms) from the original (the fingerprint ID was originally from MacGver season 2, episode 1 - The Human Factor)but some elements I REALLY need to get used to ie: Jack Dalton, lovable rogue and con man now ex CIA badass. Would have preferred and 2 hour pilot (things happen without time to develop the characters more) and did find this episode predictable (the big reveal wasn't a surprise).
Lucas Till, I actually did like him in the role, though found his portrayal a little cocky, and a bit of a womaniser (which the original wasn't) AND HE DRINKS!
The other thing that through me was the new musical arrangement of the theme, which I thought was horrible (I do wish TV shows would go back to the orchestrated music, I missed hearing Dennis McCarthy and others).
All-in-all I think it's too early to tell, through the pilot felt like a VERY generic prime time show that I feel will end up like the 2008 Knight Rider reboot, basing a concept on nostalgia than focusing on a great show.
The other thing that through me was the new musical arrangement of the theme, which I thought was horrible (I do wish TV shows would go back to the orchestrated music, I missed hearing Dennis McCarthy and others).
Yes, you are right, Randy Edelman's theme was sythesised but for actual episodes only did a few (the first four episodes then some in season two). Dennis McCarthy, Ken Harrison and William Ross the additional episodes. Sorry for the misunderstanding.
shareI really wanted to like it but they focussed to much on reboot and forgot to adapt to the times. Since the original aired we were introduced to 24(spy), Strike back(action), CSI everywhere(science) and Mr Robot(hacking) so they should have made it more realistic.
Mac used to be an anti-bond, a geek with a mission who couldn't fight, hated killing, etc and this is just Nerd Bauer. Henchmen killed, torture, this new mac has no issues with that.
Just in the pilot we have mac making a parachute from canvas, fingerprint trick, sabotage airplane from the original series but the real story could fit on a napkin.
Mix that in with all the clichés they can find and this is not worth watching. This is 2016, couldn't they make mac's best friend not a black man working in fast food talking ghetto who is clueless to the truth. The hacker is ofcourse a streetrat from prison that can run face recognition on a laptop finding a guy on 8 (eight!) watchlists in under 5 minutes, the CIA guy is the comic relief and a mouth breather and the boss is an iron lady.
I couldn't help but quote the most recent episode of Red Dwarf "you really are into hackneyed cliches aren't you"
This x1000!
shareI agree, basically this show should be called "How to ruin a good serie"
They basically turned Macgyver in american 007 and jack dalton in Steve Seagal.
I think a lot of you have forgotten MacGyver wasn't always out surveying swamp land and forests and taking teens on hiking trips. Other than having a team behind him, the pilot could have easily been a script for the first season of the original, when he was a cross between James Bond and Indiana Jones but without any gun play. I will agree that they got Jack wrong. MacGyver was mostly accurate though.
shareI loved Macgyver and I had hopesbut as I have sat and thought about the show I find I am not happy with it they killed the jack dalton character I loved jack it woukd have been better if George Eads chacter had a differnt name .but this nac is way to young and not talanted enough to play Macgyver they botched it I doubt I will watch it for long tyats sad it could h as ve been a good show
I could only get through the first half hour before I bailed.
First of all, every time a MacGyver trick was done, they printed the ingredients on the screen, and it was if the show stopped for a science lesson. It was just jarring. In the original, Mac's tricks were integrated smoothly into the story.
Also, what's with Mac calling people "son of a bitch"--at least twice in the half I saw. I don't remember MacGyver ever using any type of profanity, even the mild kind. Just seems out of character for him.
I didn't enjoy the show. It seemed like the typical action show with the typical action team, with MacGyver reduced to one of the bunch.
Thing I kept going back to was, that wasn't MacGyver. He didn't act like MacGyver, he didn't speak like MacGyver, he was too cocky, and from the scene I saw with the woman, too much of a ladies' man. Not to mention, he's too young.
Maybe they might have pulled off some type of mediocre action series with this, but calling it MacGyver was just wrong. It doesn't have the feeling or spirit of MacGyver. And that's the problem for me. If they're not going to be true to the original, then call it something else.
MacGyver was originally a ladies' man and yes a bit cocky too. Remember that GX-1 episode where he had the Swiss blonde in the hot air balloon and Nikki mocked him for dating a bimbo? He was never as bad as Bond but neither was Lucas Till's MacGyver.
shareI've just watched most of the first season of the original MacGyver over again, and he is definitely not a ladies' man--and in the later seasons even less so than in the first. I guess we have different definitions of what a ladies' man is. In any event, this MacGyver just seems like a different type of character than the original. And that's fine, if you're just going to make a new action-adventure show. As I've said before, just don't call it MacGyver.
I swear they had Mac get shot just so we could have a shirtless scene. Like they felt they were losing the female viewers so they were tossing us a bone. :-/
shareMacGyver fan here too. Mac and cub/boy scouts were a huge influence over me as a kid. I actually get called some version of MacGyver once or twice a year, cause I jump at opportunities to MacGyver the $%^t out of whatever I can. It's just fun.
Anyway, I saw the pilot episode, and I too was disappointed. I think the hacks and presentation of the hacks were a bit hasty and familiar... too many 'spy' or 'thief' TV shows or movies have shown the same tricks, over and again. A child may not know them today, but most adults who enjoy these genres would.
At the same time I appreciate that they actually borrowed a lot directly from the original. Except for the updated tech, a lot of those hacks were used by the previous MacGyver... just not all in the same episode.
Even the scene where he carried the missile over his shoulder was meant as a nod to the original.
Anyway, I expected the pilot to be a lame duck, but there's a lot of material for them to work with, and a lot of new tech and science for them to use while creating an updated version... so I expect it to get better.
What I'm most disappointed with is actually the childish behavior of 'all' the characters so far. The original MacGyver was definitely a ladies man, but he was charming and mature and reasonably serious, and I always assumed those were lifelong character traits. In this pilot the humor and conversations were far more shallow and lowbrow. It was like watching a bunch of drunk frat boys at a college party, playing table tennis with nukes.
I watched the original with my mum, when I was still in cub scouts, but I'd never watch this new version with any kids that age.
To say the least. It is the usual bs try to use eye candy to supplement good writing. It deserves to die quickly, please please die quickly... So that there is a chance in 5 years someone else can make a reboot that actually is as good as the original, or better...
shareIn the first ten mins I thought to myself, they're going after a fairly small and ephemeral target audience...13yr old boys.
By the end, I realized I was wrong....the target audience was 12yr old boys.
Not good...and goodbye.