Since there seems to be quite a lot of skepticism and negativity about the new show, I figured it might be good to start a positive thread about things that the new show MIGHT actually do better than the original.
Obviously this is all speculation, but then again, so is the negativity, and I figure this board could use a little boost....

So, I'll get it started:

1. No "Public Service Announcement" episodes. I seriously doubt in this day and age that we'll get episodes about the dangers of teenage drinking & driving, or any of the other preachy topics that MacGyver sometimes got bogged down with.

2. Larger supporting cast. Whether or not this is good will, of course, depend on the supporting cast, but I always thought the original series was at its strongest in Season 3 when Niki, Jack, and Pete showed up most frequently. I didn't care so much for Mac's random "best friend that we never met before" or the endless stream of ex-girlfriends that popped up out of nowhere. I suspect we'll get less of that sort of thing.

3. More consistent back-story. The original series was all over the place with Mac's backstory. Maybe that was typical of 80s shows... I can't remember. But these days, I notice that shows tend to be a bit less random about this sort of thing, so hopefully MacGyver 2016 will be more consistent.

4. More multiple-episode story arcs. This is subjective, since maybe some people prefer stories that are neatly resolved in a single episode, but I'm a fan of larger stories that span multiple episodes (perhaps even entire seasons, or the entire series), and I think it's likely we'll get more of that with this reboot.

5. Better acting. Let's be honest, in the original series, there was some REALLY bad acting, particularly by the guest stars. RDA was good (especially after Season 1), and both Pete and Jack and the other regulars were all good, but the random weekly guest stars were sometimes cringe-worthy. I really don't see such bad acting on television these days, even from random guest stars, so I expect this reboot to be better in that department.

6. No recycled actors. I doubt we'll be seeing the same actors playing different roles in different episodes anymore.

7. Better production values and cinematography. Television has come a long way since the 80s in terms of production values and cinematography, so hopefully that will be the case with this reboot.

Any more?

8 - New Macgyverisms

Behind the scenes Extras on the DVD release!!

9. CGI. I'm not a real big fan of it, particularly if it's overused. But the old MacGyver ied/pyrotechnics were often
so predictable (same intensity, same location, same sized puff of smoke etc.) that it was more than a bit humorous. With strategic implantation, this could really assist the macgyverisms and overall ambiance of the production.

I love this thread


All 9 so far I agree with

a few to add

10. New adventures. Mac is back people

11. New version of the theme song

12. A strong spy based thriller version of MacGyver (at least that is what they are promising)

13. hopefully more merchandise (books, Video games cds etc will come out due to the show)

14. Mac finally get to enjoy women (remember that whole embargo on mac having a relationship because women didn't want Mac to kiss another woman yeah more then likely that is going out the window.)

Great thread & some great points everyone! I for one am happy Mac is finally coming back!

I'd like for the producers/writers to do some kind of online Q&A after the pilot to interact with the fans. A lot of shows do stuff like this now, interacting on Facebook and so on, and with this being a reboot it would be good to get the chance to have an opinion on what does, and doesn't work about it early on.

That way, as your title suggests, it MIGHT be better.

That could be interesting, but I think doing it after the pilot might be a bit premature since it's hard for anyone to really judge a show after just its first episode. I think it would be better for them to keep an eye on fan reactions throughout the first season, and then take those reactions into consideration as they start to work on season 2. (Or, perhaps they could do it midway through the season, like they did with The Muppets, which got retooled after the first ten episodes or so, when they realized that fans weren't so happy with the show.)

Yep that would be good, but when has CBS ever listened to MacGyver fans?

While I don't mind Mac having a girl by his side, I really don't want them to focus on that too much; at least not in the beginning. Male heroes rarely have a steady relationship / marriage on TV-shows; it would be boring (not to mention that the most interesting characters / heroes on TV always have severe issues and aren't really steady relationship material). If the TV protagonist gets into a happy relationship in the first season, show makers think it gets boring; so they add heavy drama into the scripts.

If I watch an action show, I want to see action and interesting characters and bad guys, not too much relationship drama (and/or everyone sleeping around). Since this is a MacGyver reboot, I want to see action and MacGyverisms mainly in the pilot. Save the pretty girls for the second half of the first season... or season two. Although - now that we now the main cast for the pilot, we can already guess who will be Macs love interest

Right on Dash!!

Although the relationship thing has worked extremely well in CASTLE?

Perhaps we should see (over time), the character move on and settling down and have a baby.

It could be good to see the various lengths Mac must go too, to do what he does, while protecting his family at all costs?

Just a thought?

Here's a question....

What shows have ever been successfully rebooted where the original show was discarded or the original history was forgotten about with new backstories etc being created?

There are plenty of successful reboots / re-imaginings -

Hawaii 5.0 for a start, by CBS (makers of MacGyver)

Sherlock and Doctor Who, both for the BBC

James Bond (Specifically, Daniel Craig reboot)

Spiderman (3 times, some more successful than others)

I could go on, but I'll let others comment on this further.

"Keep the faith...trust CBS" - could be a new slogan for them.

Those are all continuations of the original stories.

I specifically asked...

"What shows have ever been successfully rebooted where the original show was discarded or the original history was forgotten about with new backstories etc being created?"

Casino Royale ignores the films before it and builds a whole new universe complete with a new bond M etc. same with Batman Begins or man of steel. It's a reboot ignoring what came before and building new stories based on characters/ideas from the source material similar to this as far as we can tell. Macgyver based on the leaked character descriptions/script reviews is very much still Macgyver. Is he in our timeline instead of the Vietnam War vet/1980's time line yes but other than that the character still reads the same as far as I can see and so I am nervous/excited about the future like I said if after three shows it isn't for me so be it.

I think it will be better in that it can't possibly be as insecure in the plot department. The original series had an identity crisis and felt they needed to clone pop film/tv de jour in order to survive. They didn't have to. How many times as students did we get our fingers wrapped for plagiarizing a few sentences out of an encyclopedia for a school assignment without due credit? Plenty. It's a lesson most of us will take to the grave. And then only to see this kind of calculated, grey area 'borrowing' all the time in the real world. It was really the dark side of the original series, unfortunately, and one I don't expect to see at all in the reboot.

I can understand that this version will have some similarities and some differences. but I truly hope they keep the essence of the character intact.

Mr duct tape, I would share your concern...if Zlottoff wasn't attached.

The fact he is, of course I'm sure...he would agree with you and echo the same sentiment.

Let's wait and see.

I don't see how Zlotoff being attached means the show will still have the "essence" of the original, as after creation, he had very little to do with it.

Going back to Kiwi's question...I don't think there are any successful shows were the original has been disregarded.

I don't see that Sherlock, or indeed Bond are examples to prove differently. Think about the question again? Kiwi said were the original was disregarded, as in ignored. The BBC DID NOT ignore Sherlock Holmes "essence" at all.

He still has Watson as a sidekick, he still has Mrs Hudson as a housekeeper, he still lives on Baker ST, he still has the same nemesis in Moriarty, and he still solves crimes using his superb skills of deduction and wit. Some of the stories were even revamps of the Conan Doyle ones. So no, it most certainly doesn't ignore its roots! I was a fan of Basil Rathbone, and can still be a fan of Cumber batch because it still HAS the heart and soul of the original.

It's the same with Bond and everything else that was quoted. Think about it. Craig took over, yes, but he was still Bond, he still had Q and M, he still is a spy, he still likes shaken not stirred, he likes his woman ,and we even got to see the original Aston as a shout out in Skyfall. How can that be disregarding everything about the original? It's not.

THIS is what true MacGyver fans are afraid of - that the show will be so far away from what we know that it really isn't Mac at all.

If you're saying take those show's quoted as "how it should be done" however, than that it was I would go with. We want new, we want different, but it also MUST have the heart and soul of the original as in no guns etc.

I don't think he's having very much input, if any, into the day-to-day stuff, but I would think he would have been involved in the initial planning and development stages, so that's where his input would have been made.

He has a vested interest to protect his franchise so he'll be making sure it stays within certain boundaries I would think.

Fair points.

The thought that prompted me to even ask was that I was thinking about how the most successful series contain their stories within the same universe...
Star Wars, Star Trek, James Bond, Spiderman, Batman have all been rebooted or retold several times and each time, although they have some differences, the key elements to the story are always kept in tack. In cases like star wars and star trek all the stories, including spin offs, have been kept within the same universe and timeline. So it will be interesting to see how much of MacGyver is being kept and what's been changed.

So far we know MacGyver is keeping the DXS which is a key element from the first season - a good start. Beyond that who knows what else will come back. I'd really like them to stay within the existing timeline, but that doesn't sound like it's happening, but hopefully they haven't strayed too far from it.

To be fair it would probably only be us die-hard-fans who will pick up the differences. So as long as they keep the main premise of the character and the show is actually good, it should do ok.

Exactly.
For the vast majority of the audience, as long as this new MacGyver has an inventive mind, an aversion to guns, a Swiss Army knife, and a desire to do good, he'll be sufficiently like the original character. And with this being a "re-imagining" (not a prequel) it gives the writers a lot of leeway in regards to everything else.

Don't forget the aversion to violence. One of the key factors to why he chooses to out think his opponents.

Good point.
Also, when he DOES engage in violence, he needs to hurt his fist whenever he punches someone. Little touches like that kept the character relatable.

It's undeniable, that RDA's mannerisms, was a big part of the role of MacGyver.

In the episode Kill Zone - when the organism tried to escape the isolation room.

MacGyver walks over to the screen. Looks around the room. And snaps his fingers, and goes straight into action.

I love that scene, but it is enhanced all the more by the (often un-noticed) incidental music playing in the background. I do hope that they don't over look this key element, in this new pilot.

Also I trust that, Lucas Till as an experienced actor, will draw upon his own mannerisms, when taking on this role.

It will be interesting to see how he expands upon the role and enhances the character (should this pilot go to series), and how he adds new and perhaps diverse qualities to the character.

Scrolling through some Trailer-Reviews, I really liked Angela Korrati's idea for the reboot

(...)

Y’know what I would really have loved to see them do? A new MacGyver show that goes the “sequel” route rather than “reboot”–and has a female lead character rather than a male lead. We’ve seen the “quirkily brilliant guy solves his way out of crises” thing. But I would have adored seeing “quirkily brilliant woman solves her way out of crises” thing.

Particularly if she happened to be Mac’s granddaughter. The original series established in its final episode that Mac did have a 20-year-old son. This much later, it would be totally plausible for that son to now have an adult daughter. Who inherited Grandpa Angus’s smarts. And his Swiss Army knife. I would watch the ever-living *censored* out of that show.

Angharad MacGyver. I can see it now. I even whipped up an intro paragraph for her on Facebook, in the vein of those aforementioned voiceovers the original show used to do.

A lot of girls, when they’re eight years old, get dollhouses or Barbies for their birthdays. My Grandpa Angus gave me a Swiss Army knife. Okay, yeah, I also got a dollhouse. Three hours later, after I took that sucker apart with the knife, my mom tried to explain to me that that wasn’t how you played with a dollhouse. Grandpa Angus just smiled, handed me a roll of duct tape, and told me to see what I could make by putting the pieces back together.

It was also pointed out on my Facebook thread that Mac’s son from the original show could have a whole passel of children by now, too. And I just giggle and giggle imagining four or five MacGyver grandchildren who all inherited Grandpa Angus’s smarts. Thanksgiving at their house would be EPIC. It would be an exercise in “how can we cook the turkey this year and NOT make everything explode?”

Sadly, CBS did not see fit to consult me on the matter.

(...)

via http://www.angelahighland.com/2016/05/19/s...eboot-macgyver/

We actually discussed the possibility of a female MacGyver on a few threads under the House Boat section.

Personally, i thought the idea of a female MacGyver, although different, would have been quite interesting.

Kiwi once mentioned her name could have been Agnes MacGyver. Loved it!

Thanks for the reminder; I might look up the conversation back there.

Agnes MacGyver sounds nice, too

The problem with the female Macgyver is well Sony destroyed the concept in a way with ghostbusters (which I need to Von on record here I have no issue with an all female ghostbusters I do have plenty of issues with a lazily written film that is poorly directed and even more poorly written.... What is worse in 30 minutes I came up with a better plot for an all female ghostbusters movie that would give sony the ghostbusters world franchise they want and would get everyone excited pm me for details)

As for what I would do???

Well this is going to sound confusing but I would kind of have my cake and eat it too in a way. I would have Richard Dean Anderson tell his grand kids the adventures he had in his youth in 2016 in his 20's this way Richard is still playing Macgyver (doing voice over work for most episodes) and giving us a unique take on the character with till providing well the younger version of himself....

But on a whole I like the way the reboot is being done from what I can see and i like that it is a bit more action packed again Macgyver in his 20's should be a bit more reckless and dangerous then how he was in his 30's or 40's

Like Macgyver himself once said "in our youth we seek trouble but as we age trouble finds us"

Sony aren't to blame for the female Ghostbusters. A man called Bill Murray is. He is the one that came up with the idea and pushed for it to happen. Because they could never get him to reprise his role, the production for a third movie went into development hell.

At the end of the day, they were so desperate to make a continuation into the franchise that they ultimately settled on anything. It's not to say that the new Ghostbusters has a poor script or poor direction involved. The movie hasn't even been released yet. It was the original fans that were hanging on a wire for the third movie which never happened and all they got was this. True, the overall opinion of this movie is poor and it certainly won't repeat history like the first movie did back in 1984 but when it comes out, people will still watch it. Because its still Ghostbusters.

It's not to say that the perception of a female MacGyver would fail regardless of the new Ghostbusters.
Strangely, i always thought it would work very well.