According to what viewers tweeted about it, reboot!McGuyver:
- copies a Mission Impossible heist in the intro - uses gimmicky split screens, annoying mansplainy voiceovers, & freeform captions for the DIY scenes - quotes the 1st few bars of the original music theme, then substitutes a new brass orchestral theme - relies on the Women in Refrigerators trope 11 minutes in - hired American Sniper as Mac's bodyguard - pats itself on the back for including one Black woman as the stereotypical l337 h4x0r - doesn't have RDA (I wonder what part they offered him that was so insulting that he refused unequivocally?)
I don't think they offered RDA a specific part -- hell, they probably said "Just come do a cameo and everyone will know we're just great!" But he's become a regular on the con scene, and I would guess that he knew damned well that the reboot was nothing about the existing fans, except for the small vocal minority of 20 and 30something entitled white fanboys. They aren't the ones who've been putting their money where their hearts are for years, but just try getting Hollywood dudebros to realize that
( ... )
I'm convinced that old Hollwood dudebros wanna believe they're still "as hip as 20 something dudebros", so they Gary Stu themselves into a lot of the series they produce to impress women. "Hey babe, I don't wanna brag, but that character's love of aviation is actually based on me."
The original MacGyver theme is cheesy discoballs, but AMAZINGLY catchy. I can see why opting to not have theme music gives more time for storytelling, but it also gives up that all-important mimetic BRANDING.
I've seen split screens work, but the few minutes I watched of "McGuyver" looked more like screen fillers, as though it had been shot with a cell phone held portrait, not landscape, and they had to fill in the blank space.
> he's fine with his dudebro buddy shooting and torturing, > as long as Mac himself isn't actually doing the dirty work
This is the definition of a supervillian + hired thugs! No wonder RDA washed his hands of the reboot.
Even worse is the staggering ethical void. This title character has no problem with body count -- he's cool with blowing up the bad guys. Worse, he's fine with his dudebro buddy shooting and torturing, as long as Mac himself isn't actually doing the dirty work. WHUT?!?
That sounds horribly familiar. The total ethical void has been readily apparent in both the new "Hawaii 5-0" and the new "Ironside". It just about works in H50, as there are other main (ish) characters who aren't like that, but it killed "Ironside" right out of the gate. It's likely to look just as bad here too if there's nobody to off-set it. And, as we all know, it's Mac himself who should be doing that in the first place!
I think everyone involved has watched MacGyver -- hell, they all think they're big-time fans! And they are. But they don't understand why the show worked. Remember the loud fanboys on MOL who all thought they were MacGyver? Just picture them as the showrunners.
I give them a solid point for the jacket; it's definitely Mac's. The haircut is okay also. Give the kid 10 years and he might be ready for the role . . .
"NO FIXING THIS ONE: And then there’s CBS’s plodding, pallid reboot of MacGyver, with the durable character reimagined as a resourceful young hunk. Angus “Mac” MacGyver is now being played with zero personality by Lucas Till, who looks like a justifiably forgotten Winchester brother from Supernatural."As adept, though not as charming about it, as Richard Dean Anderson was back in the day at fashioning makeshift weapons and gizmos, this MacGyver is more like a baby Bond. He’s assigned to perform dangerous missions with the help of a team that includes CSI’s George Eads as his muscle, chirping witless banter like “You go kaboom, I go kaboom” to show that he’s got the kid’s back. There’s also a female hacker (Tristin Mays) on board, because everyone’s got to have one these days, even if she kind of makes MacGyver’s skills seem redundant
( ... )
Although I was never a big MacGyver watcher, even I remember that he didn't kill people, and he frequently kept even the other good guys from killing people. What I'm reading here doesn't sound right, not at all. That's a shame.
Mac was absolutely anti-gun, and RDA willingly took heavy flack from the NRA about it. They did two or three episodes that were anti-gun PSA eps. This kid -- maybe the producers are afraid of the NRA? The #1 Buddy has the specific job of shooting (or torturing) people on Mac's behalf. The only concession the show made was that, at one point when Mac is handed a gun, he hits someone with it instead of shooting the guy.
Then he rigs a lethal explosion that kills that guy and at least one other . . . but hey, they're bad guys and therefore had it coming.
And he and Jack blew up the boat with four bad guys in it. If that had been truly MacGyver, he'd have disabled the boat so it died and left them to swim back to shore.
Comments 52
- copies a Mission Impossible heist in the intro
- uses gimmicky split screens, annoying mansplainy voiceovers, & freeform captions for the DIY scenes
- quotes the 1st few bars of the original music theme, then substitutes a new brass orchestral theme
- relies on the Women in Refrigerators trope 11 minutes in
- hired American Sniper as Mac's bodyguard
- pats itself on the back for including one Black woman as the stereotypical l337 h4x0r
- doesn't have RDA (I wonder what part they offered him that was so insulting that he refused unequivocally?)
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The original MacGyver theme is cheesy discoballs, but AMAZINGLY catchy. I can see why opting to not have theme music gives more time for storytelling, but it also gives up that all-important mimetic BRANDING.
I've seen split screens work, but the few minutes I watched of "McGuyver" looked more like screen fillers, as though it had been shot with a cell phone held portrait, not landscape, and they had to fill in the blank space.
> he's fine with his dudebro buddy shooting and torturing,
> as long as Mac himself isn't actually doing the dirty work
This is the definition of a supervillian + hired thugs! No wonder RDA washed his hands of the reboot.
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That sounds horribly familiar. The total ethical void has been readily apparent in both the new "Hawaii 5-0" and the new "Ironside". It just about works in H50, as there are other main (ish) characters who aren't like that, but it killed "Ironside" right out of the gate. It's likely to look just as bad here too if there's nobody to off-set it. And, as we all know, it's Mac himself who should be doing that in the first place!
Yuck. :(
Come on, modern telly. Grow up.
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I still like Eads. I think there's a chance he might have watched at least one epiosde of TRT (the real thing)
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Where did he steal that jacket from?? Dean Winchester??
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( ... )
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From TV Insider:
"NO FIXING THIS ONE: And then there’s CBS’s plodding, pallid reboot of MacGyver, with the durable character reimagined as a resourceful young hunk. Angus “Mac” MacGyver is now being played with zero personality by Lucas Till, who looks like a justifiably forgotten Winchester brother from Supernatural."As adept, though not as charming about it, as Richard Dean Anderson was back in the day at fashioning makeshift weapons and gizmos, this MacGyver is more like a baby Bond. He’s assigned to perform dangerous missions with the help of a team that includes CSI’s George Eads as his muscle, chirping witless banter like “You go kaboom, I go kaboom” to show that he’s got the kid’s back. There’s also a female hacker (Tristin Mays) on board, because everyone’s got to have one these days, even if she kind of makes MacGyver’s skills seem redundant ( ... )
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Then he rigs a lethal explosion that kills that guy and at least one other . . . but hey, they're bad guys and therefore had it coming.
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It looked like he DECAPITATED someone!!! (Offscreen.)
WTF?! It was a bad remake of Burn Notice, NOT Macgyver.
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