| Dept. for Recycling |
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| RETURN OF THE MAC? "Young MacGyver" - Hot Dish or Rewarmed Leftovers? by The Doc |
| The 80ies revival doesn�t stop at anything. We have cloned pop groups swamping the charts with uninspired covers of 80ies hits (I'm still pretty sure Brittney Spears' version of Joan Jett's 'I love Rock'n'Roll' could be considered a breach of the Geneva Convention), and it�s just a matter of time till the fashion designers will revive Adam Ant�s stage outfit. And now we can expect recycled MacGyver. Oh joy. Now, I could tell you that I�ve always been a MacGyver fan and devotee of the show - but that would be a lie. I confess, MacGyver ranked in my personal yuck-list of TV-shows in the top ten, somewhere behind �The Waltons� and �Little House on the Prairie�. Today I enjoy the show, despite all its flaws, plot-holes and Mac�s, at times, almost unbearable goodness, but back then � uuuh boy. My dad liked the show; I don�t know what kind of teenager you�ve been, but I disliked everything my dad liked, just for the heck of it. Also, Mr MacGyver woke in my dad the wish to be �Mr Fix-It� as well, which resulted in a couple of do-it-yourself attempts on his part around our house which almost lead to a divorce (my mum went as far as hiding his tool-box in the basement). |
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| Mac Jr. - a chip off the old block ..? |
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| TV creatives have obviously run out of ideas. How else could you explain the news of a possible MacGyver feature film or the planned TV series titled �Young MacGyver� by Paramount? Well, one could say that, as MacGyver, even on its 27th rerun, still garners impressive ratings, the idea to start up a new series in the slipstream of a successful predecessor is close at hand. I�m very sorry, but this project gets my thumb down. Stephen Downing, former Mac executive producer and now also involved in �Young MacGyver�: "Young MacGyver centers on the adventures of MacGyver's nephew, who is brought into the fold of Phoenix Foundation, a 'think tank' dedicated to righting wrongs and defeating bad guys throughout the world." If we leave the fact aside Mac doesn�t have a nephew, I doubt anybody will be able to catch the spirit of the original series. MacGyver has become a pop icon; like most people don�t know Leonard Nimoy, but Mr Spock, Richard Dean Anderson is not a world-wide household name, but MacGyver is. The series and the name are so closely connected to the actor, and the series so popular also among a younger audience, that I just can�t imagine the success of the original will transfer on the new one. And MacGyver without Pete? Unthinkable. Instead of putting millions of dollars into cloning TV shows (which, like in case of �The Munsters� or �Knight Rider� usually go down the drain, anyway), the industry would be better off coming up with new ideas and original concepts, and support off-the-path writing � and not kill inspired TV shows off, like what happened to �Farscape�. Young? You want young? Good � how about finally rejuvenating the top floor? The executive producers? The authors? THAT�S where �refreshing� has to start. Not to talk about my increasing annoyance with Hollywood's "youth mania". We all get older. Accept and live with it. Downing: �We want a new show, with a new star, but we want the show and the star to resonate the DNA of the original. I promise you that we will do everything in our power to bring you a great show that sings with the stuff of the original. Let the fans know that." Ok, one fan here: I don�t want a new show. I don�t want a new star. The old one is superb. The old star can�t be topped. Thank you very much. Good luck for the show, you�ll need it. |
| And as for E-Online�s Joal Ryan, who concluded that Richard Dean Anderson �(�), is 52, and presumably considered ineligible to star in a show with the word "young" in the title (...)": there is no �young� MacGyver. There is no �old� MacGyver. There is just �the� MacGyver: Richard Dean Anderson. Coming soon to a TV screen near you: "Young Roseanne" featuring Tori Spelling, "Young A-Team" featuring N-Sync and "Young Golden Girls" with Michelle Trachtenberg as Sophia. D'oh! |
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