Sometimes I search MacGyver on Twitter to see what people are saying about the reboot or to see if there's any news about it, and other than the massive wall of negativity, I get the vibe people just don't take the concept seriously at all. To them, MacGyver is just some joke about making nuclear bombs out of bubblegum, something Patty and Selma are obsessed with, and the source material to MacGruber, which they often add is the thing they want to see a show about over an actual MacGyver show. They think MacGyver has about eight fans and that Hollywood must be scraping the bottom of the barrel because apparently MacGyver is the last thing in the world deserving of any attention beyond a stupid bubblegum or paperclip joke.

MacGyver wasn't Shakespearean by any means, but was it honestly any worse than any other 80s action series? What's the most galling is the people laughing at the fact that they're rebooting MacGyver have probably never watched the show and think all those MacGyverism jokes are things that the show actually did.

Anyway, I think that's something to consider when you look at all the negative reactions. Many are not really well thought out criticisms of the trailers. More often than not, they're either people who hate all reboots or they hate MacGyver and think the character is a joke. If there's one thing I hope this reboot does is fix the joke reputation MacGyver has due to all these years of people who never watched the show making jokes about bubblegum.

It wasn't any worse than the other shows, and I'm sure if there were plans to reboot any of those other shows, the reaction would be equally mocking. If they announce tomorrow that they're rebooting Magnum P.I., I doubt people would embrace it.

As for all the mockery of MacGyverisms, I never really see it as particularly negative. Sure, people make jokes about him building a bomb out of a paperclip, but those jokes mostly seem good-natured.

I don't think we're supposed to take it seriously, though, are we? Even RDA said it was often done with tongue firmly planted in cheek. There were some serious episodes, sure, but there were also plenty of really campy/silly episodes, and plenty of simply fun episodes. Overall, I think it was just meant to be a fun adventure show, and the cast and crew seemed well aware that some of the solutions Mac came up with were a bit over-the-top (like the Ultralight plane.) And that's perfectly fine. Knight Rider wasn't meant to be taken seriously, either. Neither was the A-Team or Magnum P.I or Airwolf. These were all just fun action-adventure shows. Honestly, when MacGyver DID start trying to be taken seriously, I enjoyed it less.

Also, people on the internet just love to be negative. Regardless of what the article is about, you can always scroll down to the comments section and see people complaining about it. I think it makes some people feel superior if they can act like they're too good for something.

I think reboots and the lack of creativity are a strong influence on the general public.

I personally feel that the young generation of Hollywood wield their power without actually thinking. The volume of solid storytelling as opposed to the past is far less.

People are angry. It's like our past is facing a firing squad to be shot with each memory or creation getting its turn. And when your number comes up to something you loved dearly, you protect it. It's understandable.

Reboots are the modern book developments. In the 80's the books were better than the movies. (They still are!)

Nowadays the original show or movie is better than the reboot.

The concept was great, the backdrop intriguing, and the score compelling in the original. The script writing/screenplay in many of the episodes, however, often had gaps, and thus left the show/character ripe and exposed for parody/ridicule which happened often and eventually on a professional level. Also many macgyverisms were above and beyond the average viewer's technical capacity and this lack of comprehension can also lead to mutiny/anarchy/malaise ..... joking.

The main issue of getting out of 'situations', dangerous or not, nobody laughs at and everybody on the planet would love to have those skills. But how they were portrayed, regardless of the research and technical authenticity that went into each & every macgyverism, was not always as theatrically dire as the seriousness of the situation conditioned one to believe.

There are some reboots, yes, but I don't think there's a lack of creativity out there. We're living in a time when the overall quality of storytelling on TV is quite high. If you compare recent shows like Walking Dead, Game Of Thrones, Breaking Bad, Homeland, American Crime, House Of Cards, etc, etc, to shows that we had in the past, there is so much more depth to the stories we're getting these days. Character development is much stronger these days, and story arcs are more fully fleshed out.

Consider MacGyver (since we're on a MacGyver board)... He was a character who never evolved at all. No matter how many times he was betrayed, or how many times he'd been roped into bad situations, he pretty much always remained the good-natured white knight. And that was fine in the 80s because that's pretty much how all shows were done. Everything was meant to be neatly wrapped up in one hour, and everything was intended to kind of feel safe. But these days, shows are allowed to develop characters and situations a lot more, and I think that's a good thing.

I don't really understand the protective mentality, though. The original shows still exist for anyone who wants to watch them. There are DVDs, Netflix, syndication, etc, etc. Nobody is erasing the original shows, so the urge to "protect" them doesn't make sense to me. And in some cases, reboots are quite good. Hawaii 5-O is a quality show. The Mission Impossible movies are very well made, too. Of course, there have been some dreadful reboots over the years... "Munsters Today" comes to mind. But when that happens, the reboot is quickly forgotten, and people still remember the original show fondly, so again, there's no need to get angry or protect anything. If you say "The Munsters" to somebody, nobody thinks of "Munsters Today." They just remember the original. Same thing with "Knight Rider."
So if this new MacGyver turns out lousy, it will fade away quickly, and people will just remember the original. This reboot will then just be an interesting conversation piece, like, "Hey, do you remember they once did a reboot of MacGyver?" "Oh yeah! I totally forgot about that. Man, that sucked." No big deal.

Yes and no. Bad rehashes of a current remake can tarnish the reputation of a franchise. Even though the original remains untouched, the possibility of future attempts can be challenged when those who wish to see it done properly will never get their day. Look at Knight Rider for example. There's no sign of ever seeing a decent remake of that.

Despite production values raised in today's entertainment, people still question the morality behind a lot of shows you mentioned. Back in the day it was safe to leave the TV on for our kids to watch. Nowadays we have to moderate the content being streamed or shown. Although a show like Game of Thrones is popular, many feel uneasy having shows like this airing.

It actually reminds me of the 1970's when the "Video nasties" were released. These were available without any censorship getting bestowed on these releases causing a huge uprising from the general public and forced a complete barring on a lot of shows and movies. Due to the freedom of speech / Right to see all / humanitarian rights of today's society, these censorship have dissolved kleaving much to be questioned on what is shown on tv. But i guess that is another topic altogether.

I don't really understand the protective mentality, though. The original shows still exist for anyone who wants to watch them. There are DVDs, Netflix, syndication, etc, etc. Nobody is erasing the original shows, so the urge to "protect" them doesn't make sense to me.

I think he meant that people are wanting to protect the original idea, so there would not be remakes.

Ah, ok. I see your point.
Yeah, if you're concerned about what children can watch, I agree that the choices are significantly fewer these days. I think the problem today is kind of the opposite of the problem we saw in the past. In the past, there were too many kid-friendly shows, and not enough shows aimed at adults. These days, most shows are aimed at adults, and it's hard to find quality shows for the kids.

For me, it worked out fine, since I don't have kids. TV matured as I matured. But if you're a parent, I can understand why the current situation is problematic. Ideally, they'd keep making all these great quality shows for adults, but also introduce some good family-friendly shows, too (and they could make room for those by scrapping all the stupid shows like The Bachelorette, etc.)

No kidding! I'm 14, and I get practically seven channels on our tv, and yet 5 of that seven are inappropriate.... its really not fair but I hope the reboot of MacGyver is ok....

I have a feeling it will be more.... how should I say this?.... sexual than the old one
no offence to anyone!!

But you have to admit that it's true, even when you watch a movie based on a book its always more violent and sensual than the book actually is... do you see my point?? So I'm afraid they're going to make Mac into that and not only would the show be ruined, but all loyal Mac fans would be crushed.....

(But if you want my opinion the new one won't be very good..... how can it be good when your Jack Dalton is bald?!? And when your Murdoc is female?!?)

Hey! I'm balding! Watch what you say about us guys who are, um, follically challenged! haha.
(Besides, Thornton in this show has a lot more hair than Thornton in the original show did, so it all evens out.)

As for Murdoc being female... did I miss something? When was this announced?

Well, like my brother-in-law always says (in Swiss German, of course): A beautiful face needs its space! So the hair has to retreat some day...

MacGyver is not a joke. And in recent years I heard more references to MacGyver and often on a positive note than after the shows cancellation and the time I went to school.

Problem is indeed, peoples are complaining more and more on social media that it's getting sad. We are so called to be free and democratic but we are extremely unhappy with everything going on around us and ourselves. You can't deny that.

Television has changed since 24 and their season-length storylines. The idea of weekly new episodes with a different storylines belong in the 80's and 90's. Also our watching behaviour has changed.

Frankly I don't mind what the differences are. I still like the shows with smiling actors in the opening credits but I also like on what we get now. Yes, I like Game of Thrones, I like season-length storylines and am not bothered at all by the nudity, the swearing or the violence.

On what we got on MacGyver, it all depends on how you look. What's the joke? That everything just happen to lie around for a MacGyverism? That was the whole point and the creators knew that. And than you have that typical MacGyver-music ambiance in it. And yes there is some bad acting in it and MacGyver is always right and on time and saves the day in the end. And yes it was a little cheesy but the best thing is they all know and they actually didn't care to change it either. That was their way to go and despite it might not have been taken seriously or there is a comic undertone, I consider MacGyver as a serious show. I consider this an action/adventure/drama. Comedy was never their main goal in my opinion, with a few exceptions in some episodes and than it was pretty cheesy as well.

With Magnum PI, that is something different. I would add the comedy there as a main goal. A guy with no structure in his life at all living in paradise is bound not to be taken seriously. But despite that there is a very dark side to Magnum in the action and drama. Of course it's different and I have seen things happening in Magnum that would've never happened let alone be allowed to happen in MacGyver. I think Magnum had other competitors to deal with than MacGyver.

One of the odd things about MacGyver was that its tone was all over the place. There would be a serious episode, followed by a comedy episode, followed by a straight-up action episode, followed by some weird supernatural episode, etc, etc.
I'd be really surprised if the reboot jumps around like that. These days, I think it's pretty rare for shows to do that (can you imagine if they threw a few comedic episodes into 24? haha.)

It's about being spontaneous. I think back to Joss Whedon's Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The vibe was usually the same which comprised of humor, horror & drama but you occasionally got shocker episodes that literally dropped your jaw followed by a musical? Since those days, many have copied his ideas such as Grey's Anatomy, The Goldbergs etc..

But its about not knowing what to expect in every episode. THAT is what made it exciting. Even to the point that each episode would be directed differently. Touched sensitive matters, heck, they even killed the main character at one point! But it kept you glued to your seat all the same.

Now that you mention it Denizen, there seemed more variation in the episode genres. Mac is a good example of that. Also Xena was good in that. Episodes could start lightly and than dropped into severe drama.

My God, You're 14 and You are a fan of the tv show form the mid of 80's and 90's ?

There is still hope for humanity!

I agree!!

Me too! Nice to have you here by the way MurdocFan!

I wasn't exactly sure where to stick this article... I just kinda found it by chance, and thought I'd share it.

http://decider.com/2016/08/24/cult-corner-macgyver/

My favorite line by far is: Richard Dean Anderson’s Mac is a brilliant swashbuckler, but he’s also an earnest dork who wears pom pom hats.

XD

Nice post Jedi....thanks for sharing! I like the pom pom reference too

He he he that is funny.

Well, like my brother-in-law always says (in Swiss German, of course): A beautiful face needs its space! So the hair has to retreat some day...

Dash, post the Swiss German.....I have to use it on my father in law!!

Well, Swiss German isn't a written language and every region has it's own dialect.

But if I wanted to say "A beautiful face needs its space" in Swiss German, I would say: Es schöns Gsicht bruucht Platz!

Vielen Dank meine Freund! My father in law is of German descent, so if I can spring one on him it's a lot of fun! Long ago I took German as my second language in college, but I'm (very!!) rusty.

I had English lessons in school, but I learnt to understand and speak fluently mostly through reading books and watching DVDs.

Maybe he can organise you the MacGyver DVDs with English language/subtitles?