Found this old interview in which Vince Gilligan, the creator of Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul, says MacGyver was kind of an inspiration for Breaking Bad:
https://gointothestory.blcklst.com/written-...ad-def9455de7ceVG: I did always like the idea that this would be a cable TV version of MacGyver. That was not first and foremost when I was coming up with the idea. First and foremost to me, the show is a character study about a man who is undergoing a radical transformation. He?s transforming himself from a protagonist to an antagonist. The whole show, in that sense, is an experiment to continue chemistry analogy. But there was always an element that I thought we could have fun with is the MacGyver aspect, as it were and the idea of using [Walt?s] knowledge to get him out of a jam every now and then. And I have to confess, as much fun as we have with that stuff, the show has taken so many dark character turns as he progresses from a good guy into a bad guy that of it goes by the wayside, although not intentionally. But those moments you speak of were a lot of fun to come up with and a lot of fun to write, and I?m hoping we?ll find a way to insert more of those moments as the season progresses.Which got me thinking, imagine what he could do with a reboot of MacGyver? Gilligan definitely knows how to create/write compelling characters and drama, and there are several instance in BB and BCS where we see what are essentially MacGyverisms being done, and he doesn't rush them the way the actual Mac reboot did. Dare I say it, I think his reboot would have the potential to surpass the original series by quite a bit. Of course, it will probably (definitely) never happen, but it's fun to imagine.