Young MacGyver was a planned spin-off of the MacGyver TV show. The story would follow the exploits of the original Angus MacGyver's nephew, Clay, as he followed in his uncles footsteps working assignments for the Phoenix Foundation.

It was scheduled to start in the fall of 2003. The pilot episode was filmed, but never aired.

Watch the Pilot episode below

Well we've briefly touched on this before in this topic but for me I can't really get past the whole "MacGyver had no living family so how can this kid be his nephew?" thing. Also in the intro he says his uncle has taught him how to get out of any situation, that kinda goes against the grain with me too.

If you haven't already found it we've got a Young MacGyver section on the site (which I've just noticed needs some work on the videos), but it has some interesting news clips plus a synopsis of the pilot and screen captures.

Exactly Rocky. Like I said in my video, If they are not going to respect the history then don't do it at all. It should have focused on Sam. However, it was pretty cheesy anyway from what I saw and RDA agreed so I'm glad nothing came of it.

If it was cheesy, doesn't that just mean it was true to its roots? I mean, I enjoyed MacGyver, but come on, we're talking about a show that had:

1. A madman locking Pete in a cage over a pit of fire (not to mention the rock-opera opening of that episode.)
2. Another madman locking Mac in a booby trapped mansion, while said madman laughed maniacally like a comic book villain
3. Mac getting chased by feeble-looking robots while doing a security check in an underground lab
4. Penny Parker
5. An Scooby-Doo inspired episode in which Mac hunts down bigfoot only to discover it was a guy in a costume ("And I would have gotten away with it if it wasn't for you pesky kids!" ZOINKS!)
6. An episode in which Mac travels back to King Arthur's Court.
7. "Harry's Will"
8. Footage "borrowed" from movies because of budgetary restrictions

etc, etc, etc.

I never saw Young MacGyver, but if its fault was that it was cheesy, it sounds like it fits right into the MacGyver tradition! lol.

I think there is a big difference between being corny/cheesy and being light hearted. MacGyver was very sincere in everything they did unlike Young MacGyver that was written and acted badly and insulting to the audience.

As far as the referances made I would defend them by saying the Murdoc examples are what made him so scary. The fact that he took such creative joy in torturing people made him twisted and a cause to haunt my dreams.

As far as Penny Parker and the people in Harry's Will I would say that I have met people in my life just like them from time to time. It makes life interesting:)

The robots: Very much like what we have seen on the Science Channel. The bigfoot thing was one of the darker episodes and I still jump whenI see him smash that window. Watch Dateline I.D. or any of those crime shows to hear about some of the crazy dark schemes people have done to commit a crime or torture people. That also works towards the Murdoc stuff. Fact is stranger or as strange as fiction. I could give spec examples of what I've watched but you get my drift.

Don't pick on the guy who had to deal with the budget. They did a great job with what they had in my opinion. Either way it would,at worse be, unfortunate not corny.

Bottom line is that the writers never treated the show like it didn't matter. Those unique things gave MacGyver things to struggle against in exciting ways. The pilot for Young MacGyver was painful to watch for so many reasons starting with the fact that the writers/producers didn't even care to pay attention to the facts estabished by the legendary show.

the difference is that MacGyver is only cheesy now.. because it's old and that was the way they made TV back then.

Young MacGyver was cheesy because of the MacGruber attitude they had.

I didn't actually think the Pilot was too bad. I watched it quite happily, but there are certainly things in it that made me cringe. One good example was the elevator scene which goes along the lines of, he introduces himself as Clay and the guy said "no man. Your like Young MacGyver man." and then there was a short back and forth between the two as Clay tried to correct the guy "No I'm Clay" and the guy kept telling him "No your Young MacGyver." *shakes head*

Yeah unlike Young MacGyver which gave off a very "ho-hum just sign my check" sort of attitude. Which is glaringly obvious from the moment he says he's Angus MacGyver's nephew.

LOL I was going to mention the elevator scene!!! I see what you're saying about the age/filming difference thing but I always thought of it as unfortunate not cheesy:)

Never really liked Young MacGyver the fact they tossed out MacGyver's history of

family made Young MacGyver not a good watch, instead of going with his long lost

nephew they should of put his son in that place, it would of made it much better to

watch. also the storylines was just crap. as far as MacGyver haveing any brothers

or sisters that part wasn't put in the MacGyver show, if by chance they do make

the movie and then put MacGyver haveing a brother or sister will shock the crap

out of me and many fans.

I wish they gave it a shot... It'd have paled against the original but at least it'd have been something... just an opinion, please don't hurt me.

I suppose i just miss the show so bad i'll bite into anything current that vaguely resembles it. that is, until i get my box set. i'm saving up for it.

Have you seen Burn Notice? it has a lot of similarities to MacGyver.

The lead character says "Guns make you stupid. Duct tape makes you smart."

Well, like I said, I never saw Young Mac. That elevator scene does sound pretty painful. But I think any claims that the original series wasn't cheesy is simply seeing the past through rose-colored glasses. It WAS a cheesy show many times (not every week, but there were plenty of cheesy episodes in most seasons.) I'm not holding that against it, because, heck, cheese can be fun. I'm sure the writers and actors all knew it was cheesy (I think RDA has even said as much.) The difference, of course, is that most of us were kids when Mac was on TV, so we accepted it, same as we accepted the Batman & Robin tv series, which was the epitome of camp. Now that we're older, we see it differently. For the most part, Mac was a kids' show, though, so it's appropriate that they made something that appealed more to children than adults (I still enjoy it, but on a different level now.)

Murdoc started out as a somewhat scary character (for kids, at least), but ever since Cleo Rocks, he became a cartoon character, no more threatening than Wyle E Coyote or Tom from Tom & Jerry. They all relied on overly elaborate traps, and they all consistantly failed, and they all somehow survive falling off cliffs.
I'm not saying I don't love Murdoc-- he was one of the best comedic characters on the show, with some great one-liners, delivered perfectly by Michael Des Barres-- but he was more funny than scary. I'd say Dr. Zito was scarier. It's a shame he only showed up twice.

Like I said I completely disagree but to each his or her own.

If it was cheesy, doesn't that just mean it was true to its roots? I mean, I enjoyed MacGyver, but come on, we're talking about a show that had:

1. A madman locking Pete in a cage over a pit of fire (not to mention the rock-opera opening of that episode.)
2. Another madman locking Mac in a booby trapped mansion, while said madman laughed maniacally like a comic book villain
3. Mac getting chased by feeble-looking robots while doing a security check in an underground lab
4. Penny Parker
5. An Scooby-Doo inspired episode in which Mac hunts down bigfoot only to discover it was a guy in a costume ("And I would have gotten away with it if it wasn't for you pesky kids!" ZOINKS!)
6. An episode in which Mac travels back to King Arthur's Court.
7. "Harry's Will"
8. Footage "borrowed" from movies because of budgetary restrictions

etc, etc, etc.

I never saw Young MacGyver, but if its fault was that it was cheesy, it sounds like it fits right into the MacGyver tradition! lol.

Wow, a few of those on your list made me literally laugh out loud Miasma- thanks haha

How could I have forgotten this classic moment of gourmet cheese:

Pete Thornton lying in a coffin in that episode where Jack gets brainwashed. We think he's dead and then (HORRORS!) his red-rimmed eyes pop open! I was watching that episode with my girlfriend a few weeks ago, and she literally fell off the couch laughing at it.
Campiness at its finest.

Ok, Ya got me. I have to ask: How is that Cheesy or Corny? Are you sure we're think of the same definition? I'll admit that the previous moments you mentioned could have been in that catagory had they been executed poorly, which they never were imho, but this one I don't see at all. Unless Pete jumped out and did a show tune. I think it captures the weight of the moment like it should for a nightmare about a friend. Let me say also that I've long admired Dana Elcar for being able to deliver lines honestly and brilliantly that other actors couldn't pull off without sounding cheesy. I'm refering to those moments when he says things similar to: "MacGyver, what are you doing with that thing" or "MacGyver, What are you doing in there?" After years of rewatching these episodes I've grown a great respect for his delivery.


"The Backstroke Pete."....I had to finish it:)

Red-rimmed cheese? It's another fine example of "tongue firmly planted in cheek" that RDA often referred to in his interviews.

I come back to the point (I think) I made earlier, Young MacGyver seemed to be trying to be serious and failing, the Original MacGyver never took itself too seriously.

Red-rimmed cheese? It's another fine example of "tongue firmly planted in cheek" that RDA often referred to in his interviews.

I come back to the point (I think) I made earlier, Young MacGyver seemed to be trying to be serious and failing, the Original MacGyver never took itself too seriously.

Exactly, and in doing so they broadend the range of emotions and spectrum of story telling. I think the fact that they never took themself too seriously(just like on SG-1) freed each moment to do what needed to be done. Instead of trying to be dark and moody all they time it reflected life and odd moments. Had they demended to be taken so serious it would have forced all the moments mentioned to clash with the intent and thereby makeing it corny/cheesy. Instead, it allowed for Mac to be the straight man reacting to the odd/obserd moments and deal with them as a rashonal person would. Face it, when you live an exciting/exploring life you come across all kinds of odd yet true things and people.

By the way, Over the years I've noticed RDA has mastered a way to do interviews. His self-deprecating humor and light hearted response has been used to side step him having to defend all of these types of questions the way we have. It's better to smile and avoid a deep philisophical descussion on your work or personal views when you only have 3 mins in an interview. Once or twice I've heard/read him get a little deeper when allowed to and he's quite deep on these types of subjects.

Maybe my understanding of the word "cheesy" isn't quite right? Maybe I should be saying "campy." I'm not sure about the difference.

The show was DEFINITELY campy. I think we can all agree on that at least, right?

Regarding Pete in the coffin:

You would fall off your couch laughing if you had a nightmare about your friend dying? It was a campy moment, not a weighty moment. In fact, that whole episode was campy (remember the funhouse at the end? The hall of mirrors? Jack pouring a bucket of water over his head?) Again, I'm not faulting the show for this-- it often tried to be campy, and it was.

I personally disagree. Also, I've never laughed at the thought of my best friend dying.

I think Young Mac might have been promising, at least a cult hit like the original, but I just couldn't get past the screw-up with the basic storyline (ie, Mac was an only child, so how could he have had a nephew? If they had done it with Sam it might have worked.) I think the sarcasm element was a little overdone. Also, I had issues with the new Phoenix Foundation set. I could see the Foundation's offices looking like that fifty to seventy-five years out, but ten or fifteen? Please.

As for the campy element, yes, the original could definitely be campy. How about the "Bigfoot" episode? "The Visitors" was a bit campy, too. And of course, Murdoc and Quayle. Smart enough to be scary, but dumb enough to be outmaneuvered with a little ingenuity.

I forgot about "The Visitor"... yes, that's a prime example of a campy episode!
Another fine example is "Faith, Hope & Charity," which was basically a Mac version of "Home Alone"... 100% camp.

Then there's "The Fountain Of Youth"... the opening of that episode may well be the most cringe-inducing campy moments of the series (followed by some of the worst acting out of RDA.)

Wow! Now you've hit a new low.

The lead character? You mean Michael Weston? A guy who shoots something about every 5 minutes in that show, and has a gun/bomb crazy girlfriend who used to be an IRA terrorist?

That lead character?

I agree that they shouldn't have introduced a nephew. They must have thought that Sam was too old.

But: This is pretty cool! I would have watched the series.

I've just had a reply back from CBS Paramount and they are being very reasonable about the whole thing.

They've explained that they own Intellectual Property Rights to elements of the show and that's the grounds for their objection. They haven't specified which elements but they agreed to retract their copyright claim in return for us agreeing to not re-post the video anywhere online.

SO there we have it. They own the Intellectual Property Rights to Young MacGyver.

I'm glad CBS Paramount agreed to retract the copyright claim, so I had the chance to see it. I only found it this morning exploring this site (better late than never, right?)

I'm glad that it never aired, because MacGyver must remain only the original. RDA was so perfect as MacGyver! I simply don't like the idea of someone else in that part.

Anyway I must admit that Jared Padalecki wasn't so bad, but he should have been as Sam, not as a nephew come out of nowhere. I like him better than Dalton James.

And I also didn't like the scores/soundtrack very much. If they aired it I probably would have watched only the first episodes and then got bored.

I think many of us are thrilled it did not see the light. Still, another actor playing the part is a very high possibility with the upcoming movie.

It's just a matter of getting the right person.

I know they think about the movie, but I don't think it's so easy to get the right person, because it's not an easy part. He must be both sweet and strong at the same time.

Besides the actor knows that everybody will compare him to Richard Dean Anderson and he'll never be better than him, so there's little chance that the movie will be a success.

But if they really find the person, then I hope it will be Jared Padalecki at least.

Jared had his turn and it will not be likely to see him make a comeback. There are many charming actors that can take on the role. RDA was one of a kind, yes but it's like Bond.

You get those who will always love Connery & those who prefer Moore. RDA's movie counterpart will have to match up but the movie will & script will also work for the star. It's success depends on it's creators.

Maybe so, but if I'm not wrong they're talking about this movie for some years now and they're not finding the actor.

I might be wrong, but one thing is for sure, I won't spend my money to watch a movie that will most probably get me disappointed.
We'll see what happpens