Every time I dig through my stash of MacGyver-Reboot-related folders, I stumble over material about the Unaired MacGyver Reboot Pilot, filmed in Spring 2016. I’m trying to put all the necessary information together for interested readers – especially since many of you accidentally landed on my blog after looking for information about it by using search engines.
If you missed Part 1 (about the Unaired Pilot’s Origins), you can read it here. If you want to read Part 2 (about the Unaired Pilot’s promo material), you can find it there. The post with the first part of BtS photos is to be found here.
BtS Photo of the Unaired MacGyver Pilot 2016 (via Scott Klein)
(Note: If there’s no link to the photos I’m writing about, that means either the account has been set to private / been disabled or the photo/video has been deleted from social media.)
Hiding in Plain Sight
Of course, we were mostly interested in what “New MacGyver” would look like. Since we knew that Lucas Till had been sporting long hair before they started filming, there were different opinions if he would (or should) wear something similar to Original MacGyver’s mullet or not.
We never got to see a photo of Lucas on set while the filming process was still going on – although he had been in a short Twitter video uploaded by Hope Ayiyi, hiding in plain sight: While many assumed the guy at the podium was either Lucas or his look-alike-Stand-In, it turned out that Lucas had been sitting right next to it.
Lucas Till on set of the Unaired MacGyver Pilot (via Hope Hundredz)
(I hadn’t realized before watching some of Lucas’ promo duties for X-Men: Apocalypse a few weeks later that he had still been sporting long hair during filming. All the other photos in this blog post have been found or uploaded online AFTER the Official Stills and the Teaser Trailer had been released.)
Lucas Till in the Unaired MacGyver Pilot 2016 (via Hope Ayiyi)
In a BtS photo (uploaded by Hope Ayiyi on the same day), you can see Lucas in character at the podium. This scene was also briefly featured in the Teaser Trailer. There had been some tweets on that day of Extras being cast as reporters, but they never provided any photos, holding up the no-photos-order for Pilot Season.
The Characters Until a few weeks ago, I’ve never been able to find BtS photos of the other cast members in costume on set. We do have semi-official studio photos of the guys in costume, though – curtesy of Costume Designer Eileen Cox Baker and her website.
Lucas Till and George Eads as MacGyver and Lincoln (via Eileen Cox Baker)
There’s both Lucas and George as MacGyver and Lincoln (before his character’s transformation into Jack Dalton in the rebooted Pilot), but also one of Joshua Boone as Mac’s friend and roommate Hunter (before the character’s transformation into Wilt Bozer).
Joshua Boone as Hunter (via Eileen Cox Baker)
Interestingly, in both this studio photo and the official portrait used for promo at the LA screenings, Lucas Till keeps his long hair “hidden” in a ponytail, contrary to the Teaser Trailer and the Official Stills.
Also, Unaired Pilot MacGyver’s costume and stance reminds Original fans of “Comic MacGyver”, a drawing of MacGyver that had been released by Lee David Zlotoff’s before the MacGyver Comics came out (and is still used as an icon on Zlotoff’s social media accounts). The drawing resembles RDA’s MacGyver, contrary to the drawings done for the comics. It is possible that the Costume Designer had taken some inspiration from this early version.
Comic MacGyver vs. New MacGyver (via MacGyverOnline)
Sadly, I couldn’t find anything about the costumes for the female characters. Either someone else took care of their costumes or Eileen Cox Baker didn’t put them up on her website. There is also a photo of the Rebels (or the Mazari, according to the storyline description by SpoilerTV) in costume.
The Mazari (via Eileen Cox Baker)
The clothes look good, but the beards are not very convincing.
The Sets
We’ve seen some BtS photos of the locations used for the Teaser Trailer that was released just before the Upfronts in May 2016. A few weeks ago – when picking up the research again for Unaired Pilot stuff – I finally stumbled over the first “official” set photos, curtesy of Production Designer John Mott.
Mac’s Home; built on Location (via John Mott)
One is of MacGyver’s home, built on location. We can see Mac’s friend and roommate Hunter (Joshua Boone), MacGyver and Mickey (Addison Timlin), plus an unknown character on the left. Interestingly, this home looks very different from the one used for the new pilot directed by James Wan (1×01: The Rising). MacGyver’s home used for the rebooted pilot is cluttered with stuff as well, but this one has more of an “antique” and old-fashioned feel to it; a bit like for Indiana Jones.
MacGyver’s home (via Meghan Lyvers)
It’s possible that MacGyver’s home had belonged to his father or grandfather. It doesn’t seem that plausible why MacGyver and Hunter (both in their mid-twenties) would live in such a place otherwise.
Meghan Lyvers had provided another photo of MacGyver’s home on Instagram back in April 2016. In the background, you can see the chemistry supplies that were also featured in one of the Official Stills.
Secret Lab; built on Location (via John Mott)
The other photo by John Mott is of MacGyver kept hostage in a secret lab. The container being held by the villain reminds me of the one used for the rebooted Pilot Episode. Judged by this photo and the parts of the storyboard I’ve seen, I’m assuming that there might have been a bio-weapon as well in the storyline for the Unaired Pilot.
Lucas on Location
There’s only a handful of photos of Lucas Till on location, but let’s take a look at them. There’s one of Lucas with Executive Producer James Wan, Producer Michael Clear and other crew members during a night shoot; provided by Adam Michna.
Jeanette Francis, Lucas Till, James Wan, Michael Clear, Adam Michna on set of the Unaired MacGyver Pilot 2016 (via Adam Michna)
There’s another one of Lucas posing with Micahveli Shakur. (Since the complete cast and crew list is nowhere to be found, I don’t know what his job on set was.)
Lucas Till on set of the Unaired MacGyver Pilot 2016 (via Micahveli Shakur)
Another BtS photo shows Lucas with his Stunt Double Peter Wallack. This scene was part of the Teaser Trailer as well, when MacGyver escapes from the Mazari’s hiding place.
Peter Wallack and Lucas Till on set of the Unaired MacGyver Pilot 2016 (via Peter Wallack)
Another photo was taken during the scene filmed at the abandoned shopping mall (Hawthorne Plaza). It can be found in the gallery of Costume Designer Eileen Cox Baker’s IMDb site. Interestingly, it looks like the bad guy driving the car survived the explosive arrow that had been MacGyvered to stop him. (It had been one of the major complaints by Original MacGyver fans about the Teaser Trailer that it looked like New MacGyver had killed someone.)
Lucas Till in the Unaired MacGyver Pilot 2016 (via Eileen Cox Baker)
The End
Production wrapped on May 5, only two weeks before the CBS Upfronts. (The Upfronts are events where the networks announce their TV schedule for Fall and provide more info about their new TV shows to the press.)
For now, it looks that visual material of the Unaired Pilot is still kept under wraps. Let’s hope that people involved in this project will provide us with more photos and videos one day.
Every time I dig through my stash of MacGyver-Reboot-related folders, I stumble over material about the Unaired MacGyver Reboot Pilot, filmed in Spring 2016. I have written about it before in various blog posts, but usually only a bit here and there. I’m trying to put all the necessary information together for interested readers – especially since many of you accidentally landed on my blog after looking for information about it by using search engines.
If you missed Part 1 (about the Unaired Pilot’s Origins), you can read it here. If you want to read Part 2 (about the Unaired Pilot’s promo material), you can find it there.
Unaired MacGyver Pilot (2016) Production Office (via Jennica Schwarzman)
(Note: If there’s no link to the photos I’m writing about, that means either the account has been set to private / been disabled or the photo has been deleted from social media.)
Hunting for Treasure The Unaired Pilot was filmed in April and May 2016. Because of the lack of info due to the secrecy surrounding most pilot projects plus the misinformation about the filming initially happening in Portland, we had missed practically the whole filming process.
BtS photo of the Unaired MacGyver Pilot 2016 (via MJ London)
It wasn’t until around mid-April that I found the first photos on Twitter – that were soon deleted again after bringing them over to the MacGyverOnline Reboot forums. (Note: It’s been clear that for several weeks, people involved in the production have been perusing the forums; making sure to delete the source material. The same is happening at the moment in the reboot-related threads over at Magnum Mania.)
BtS photo of the Unaired MacGyver Pilot 2016 (via Kris Manning)
Of course, it’s a lot more difficult to find more material when filming is already over. Also, in my naivety I never took a screenshot of the IMDb page; assuming it would stay up as it’s own project once filming is done (regardless if the pilot would be picked up as a series or not). Instead, they transferred the page; adding the rebooted pilot cast and crew while deleting others. This made it tricky to sort out who had been involved in the Unaired Pilot project and who hadn’t and to find related social media accounts to check for more material.
BtS photo of the Unaired MacGyver Pilot 2016 (via MJ London)
The Locations
The first few pictures were provided by “MJ London” and showed a variety of different locations. The photos disappeared pretty fast and even the Twitter account soon wasn’t valid anymore. It’s possible the photos had been uploaded by Meg London-Boche (personal assistant to director David Von Ancken), but I guess we’ll never know.
BtS photo of the Unaired MacGyver Pilot 2016 (via MJ London)
The first photos provided us a look at the “bad guys” and at the new production logo – which was pretty well received by Original fans.
Meg London-Boche would later provide an “official” photo of the logo on her official social media accounts, confirming that filming had begun on March 30. (Both her Twitter and Instagram profile are set to private now, so I can’t provide you with the links to the pictures.)
Production Logo for the Unaired MacGyver Pilot 2016 (via Meg London-Boche)
Most of MJ London’s photos had been taken while filming the last few scenes for production in and around a cave near Griffith Park in LA; also known as the “Batman Cave”. One photo was taken while filming inside Hawthorne Plaza, an abandoned shopping mall. (FunFact: The pilot episode of Rush Hour with Justin Hires had also been filming there – I immediately recognized the location when watching the episode.)
The scene filmed in the shopping mall is prominently featured in the Teaser Trailer that was released at the CBS Upfronts in May 2016. We later got more photos of the overturned car via Clint Buckner and Natty D.
BtS photo of the Unaired MacGyver Pilot 2016 (via MJ London)
Although Hawthorne Plaza is locked up for the public, there are hundreds of photos on social media; uploaded by people who like to visit “abandoned places”. Some people also illegaly shoot material for music videos or film themselves exploring the location (often on a skateboard).
Some crew people provided photos while they were filming; e.g. hairstylist Kristine Tack (stating it was very dusty) or security guy Michael Alexander. If you look closely at Kristine Tack’s BtS photo, you can see Lucas Till (or his stunt double) standing on top of the stairs. She also revealed that they had actually set off the sprinkler system during one of the explosions.
BtS photo of the Unaired MacGyver Pilot 2016 (via Kristine Tack)
Otherwise, I don’t know much about the locations used for filming. The only official location address provided was 2632 E. Washington Bl, Pasadena; adding the info that George Eads had been filming scenes there on April 8 (2016). The building residing there is the former St Luke’s Medical Center. Other shows and movies using this location include “Rush Hour 3”, “Kill Bill” or CBS shows like “CSI” and “Criminal Minds”.
BtS photo of the Unaired MacGyver Pilot 2016 (via Clint Buckner)
Another location used – found with the help of Google – was an empty office building on 5551 East Katella Blvd in Cypress (California). The building can be seen in the Unaired Pilot Teaser Trailer and also in one of the Official Stills. According to Jeremy Schonwald, it used to be a toy company’s headquarters and is mainly used as a filming location now.
BtS photo of the Unaired MacGyver Pilot 2016 (via Jeremy Schonwald)
For the Unaired Pilot, they put a “K” onto the atrium floor, probably symbolizing the company’s logo (it stands for “Kresson”). If you’re interested in this location, you can find 171 pictures of the interior including offices and bathrooms (and find the contact address to rent the property) here.
The Production Office
It was difficult to find anything on Pre- or Post-Production. We got a few production signs photos with the red logo on an almost neon yellow background. The shorthand direction signs spelled “MAC” (which was later changed to EYE for filming in Atlanta; probably because CBS uses an eye-sign for their logo).
Sript Title Page for the Unaired MacGyver Pilot 2016 (via Anita Kalathara)
Kristine Tack revealed what they used as “bathroom humour” in the production office bathroom.
Cast member Anita Kalathara provided a look at the yellow revision script title page – sadly, we don’t know anything about her role as “Neha” and if she was MacGyver’s friend or foe. Contrary to the rebooted Pilot Script (The Rising) written by Peter Lenkov that is circulating around, the script for the Unaired Pilot seems to be a well-hidden treasure.
(More in Part 4, coming soon. You can also check the MacGyverOnline forum for more BtS photos, promo material and info about the Unaired Pilot or visit the MacGyverOnline Facebook page for photos.)
Every time I dig through my stash of MacGyver-Reboot-related folders, I stumble over material about the Unaired MacGyver Reboot Pilot, filmed in April/May 2016. I have written about it before, but it was usually a few bits and pieces here or there. I’m trying to put all the necessary information together for interested readers – especially since many of you accidentally landed on my blog after looking for information about it by using search engines.
If you missed Part 1 (about the Unaired Pilot’s Origins), you can read it here.
Unaired MacGyver Pilot Logo (via CBS)
Rebooting the Reboot The Unaired Pilot was filmed in April/May 2016. Production wrapped on May 5, only two weeks before the CBS Upfronts – THE event for the networks to announce their TV schedule for Fall and to provide more info about the upcoming TV shows.
On the 13th of May, Variety confirmed that the Reboot had been picked up and ordered to Series by CBS – with Peter Lenkov as an Executive Producer. The Hollywood Reporter hinted that the script might be tossed out and stated that the secondary cast members were “unlikely to return”. Deadline added that Lenkov would write a new script with the general premise of the series remaining the same; confirming that the supporting cast was not coming back.
Official Still of the Unaired Pilot (Ron P. Jaffe/CBS, via NY Times)
Of course, this was exciting, yet also concerning news. What had exactly happened, and was this project doomed now that they rearranged everyting, but still wanted the show to premiere in Fall? What would this mean for the quality of the show, if the showrunner had to not only find a new cast, but also a new crew and new locations in time to start filming in Summer? Why had CBS picked up the show for Fall if they didn’t like the pilot, the script or the cast in the first place? Did they care for MacGyver at all or only for the promise of making money with a well-known brand that had the potential to be turned into a franchise? And wasn’t Peter Lenkov already busy enough with Hawaii Five-0?
The move also left a bit of a bitter taste since it looked like the secondary cast members got the news at the same time as us – via the internet.
Official Still of the Unaired Pilot (Ron P. Jaffe/CBS)
Official Stills that were not meant to stay
Despite the Pilot Episode being scrapped and just days before the CBS Upfronts, we got the first Official Still of Lucas Till and George Eads in character on May 16 via NY Times. (The article itself was not about the Reboot per se, but about the nostalgia leading to resurrecting old TV shows.)
The reactions were mixed. Many felt that MacGyver looked too young, but were quite happy to see that both chemistry and physics still seemed to be an important part of the show. Others made fun of rebooted MacGyver’s hairdo; deeming him as one of the “Hanson Brothers”.
Social Media Header (via MacGyver On CBS)
On May 18, they released two new Official Stills just before the Upfronts. The tweet by Eric Goldman reveals that a lot of the talk revolved around MacGyver’s hair again:
MacGyver 2016 has no time for haircuts! He’s gotta make a thing out of a thing!
The third Still had rebooted MacGyver walking to his next mission. About the same time, CBS revealed the new social media pages for Facebook, Twitter and Instagram; revealing another look at the pilot and the new logo. (Little did we know that only hours later, the Stills would be deleted; alongside all material on the social media pages.)
The logo – featuring an SAK forming the letter “v” in the show title – was very well received among the fans. Even 30 years after the original series, everyone associates the SAK with MacGyver, so the logo was pretty clever and easily recognizable.
Official Still of the Unaired Pilot (Ron P. Jaffe/CBS)
The description for the show provided by CBS read as follows:
A secret agent unlike any other, MacGyver escapes perilous situations with nothing but a paperclip, his trusty Swiss Army knife and his wit. A dynamic reimagining of the hit television series, this action-packed origin story follows the young MacGyver as he returns from war, a hero with an idealistic vision of saving the world. He and his late father’s best friend partner to form the clandestine Phoenix Foundation. Using his scientific know-how and resourcefulness, MacGyver – alongside his intrepid team – undertakes missions to save lives and change the world.
CBS also revealed that the show was scheduled to air on Fridays, which had some fans worried since Friday used to be a “death slot” for years until CBS had managed to turn it around for them.
Presentation of the Unaired Pilot Promo Material at the CBS Upfronts 2016 (via Twitter)
The Teaser Trailer that disappeared At the Upfront Events, usually both Art Work and Teaser Trailers for the new Fall shows are being released. This not only to tease the potential audience, but also to attract international buyers. Since we already knew that the Pilot Episode would be scrapped along with most of the cast, we were wondering if CBS would even dare to show a trailer.
The trailer soon hit social media accounts all around the world. To watch it, the fans had to do a bit of MacGyvering themselves since the trailer was geo-blocked outside the USA. It didn’t take long for other countries to post and revierw it as well, though. Let’s just say it wasn’t that well received – or the positive reviews got buried under the amount of negative comments and down-votes. Many Original fans found rebooted MacGyver too cocky or too violent and not very distinguishable from any other action show. And of course, the comments about his hair were never-ending.
Unaired Pilot Teaser Trailer Screenshots
Some of the fired cast members (e.g. Addison Timlin) were not happy either; tweeting statements like “I wish network television would quit firing me but putting me in their promotions anyway”.
In the Teaser Trailer, they created the tagline that they would later use for the rebooted Pilot Episode again: Mac is Back. The trailer clearly marked the show as a one-man-show like the Original, with MacGyver as the lead hero in the centre.
Unaired Pilot Teaser Trailer Screenshots
According to Deadline, a 20-minute-cut-down of the pilot episode had sparked a lot of interest among international buyers. Nonetheless, CBS declared the trailer soon to “promo non grata” and erased all their former tweets, posts and Official Stills concerning promo for the discarded pilot from their social media accounts.
The LA TV Screenings
A few days later, Peter Lenkov posted a photo on Instagram that showed a promo poster in form of a character portrait with Lucas Till. Interestingly, they used yet another font for what seemed like the new MacGyver logo, but the writing style was used for posters for other CBS shows as well. Since Lenkov was on holiday, he didn’t attend the event and neither did the (remaining) cast members.
Usually, there are cast photos and interviews being made at the LA TV Screenings, but with the imminent rebooting of the reboot, we didn’t get to enjoy any of that.
Promo Poster at the LA TV Screenings (via Peter Lenkov)
(More about the BtS photos of the Unaired Pilot in Part 3.)
Every time I dig through my stash of MacGyver-Reboot-related folders, I stumble over material about the Unaired Pilot. So, since you’re not getting one of my usual Updates today, why shouldn’t I write a blog post about the Pilot Episode that – according to CBS, at least – shall not be spoken of?
Unaired MacGyver Pilot Logo (via CBS)
I have written about the Unaired Pilot every now and then, but it was usually a few bits and pieces here or there. I’ll try to put all the necessary information together for interested readers – especially since many of you accidentally landed on my blog after looking for information about it by using search machines.
About that Unaired Pilot The idea of rebooting MacGyver has been around for a while – not surprising, since MacGyver is a well-known name all around the world. The Original Show has sold very well overseas and is still aired on TV in many countries. There is actually a Pilot Episode for a spinoff series called Young MacGyver (filmed in 2003, starring Supernatural’s Jared Padalecki as MacGyver’s nephew Clay), but the show never went into production. You can head over to MacGyver Online for more information (including news items, photos and a cast list) about Young MacGyver.
Jared Padalecki in Young MacGyver (2003)
In October 2015, the Hollywood Reporter announced that MacGyver would be brought back as a TV Show for CBS. R. Scott Gemmill (NCIS: Los Angeles) was set to write the script with James Wan (who had been attached for a MacGyver movie in 2012) directing the pilot.
In February 2016, Deadline reported that CBS had ordered a pilot. Apparently not happy with the script they already had, CBS announced that the Pilot Episode would be written by Paul Downs Colaizzo. Only a few days later, Lionsgate announced that they had made a development deal with CBS for a MacGyver movie.
Title Page of the Unaired Pilot Script (via Paul Downs Colaizzo)
The character descriptions – released (or rather leaked) by SpoilerTV – sparked heated discussions among Original fans since they confirmed the rumours that the Reboot would be indeed a Reboot and not a Remake, and also some sort of a Prequel and not a Sequel.
Doing a sequel wouldn’t have been that difficult, especially since the Reboot was meant to be set in present time: In the Season Finale of the Original Show, MacGyver’s son Sam (Sean Angus Malloy or S.A.M.) of about 20 years is revealed. Because the series ended in 1992, MacGyver’s son would would have been about 45 years in 2016. Why not make S.A.M. having a son of his own – or maybe even a daughter? This would have quenched the public thirst for a female MacGyver and also would have opened the doors for several cast members of the original show coming back for cameos as their original character.
Unaired Pilot Character Description for Angus MacGyver (via SpoilerTV)
Also, MacGyver’s background story didn’t quite fit with the Original Show. Many commenters mentioned the story being a bit too similar to Arrow or Homeland and the storyline including the characters not being very original or exciting.
Further details were announced in March by the Hollywood Reporter: George Eads (CSI) would co-star in the show as a character named Lincoln; with David Von Ancken (Code Black) directing the pilot and James Wan (Saw) as Executive Producer. The Pilot was set to start filming by the end of March in Portland.
Unaired Pilot Character Description forLincoln (via SpoilerTV)
Finally, Deadline reported Lucas Till being cast as the new MacGyver with Brett Mahoney co-writing the script and Joshua Boone playing MacGyver’s best friend Gunner. A week later, Deadline revealed Addison Timlin (Californication) and Michelle Krusiec (Hawaii Five-0, General Hospital) as additional cast; the former playing a computer nerd with the latter portraying a secret agent.
Unaired Pilot Character Description for Gunner and Mickey (via SpoilerTV)
In April 2016, a few BtS pictures, tweets and short videos from the set finally emerged on social media – only to be deleted soon after fans had shared and discussed the “treasure” online. As it’s the usual procedure during Pilot Season, CBS tried very hard to keep the production under wraps. While we soon realized that the Pilot was being filmed in LA and not in Portland, there was still not a single BtS picture of Lucas Till (of course, everyone wondered what he would look like; especially what hairstyle rebooted MacGyver would be wearing).
Of course, trying to keep a production under wraps doesn’t stop the curiosity – and inquiring people combing through social media for more. A first glimpse of the new logo font (provided by the director’s assistant Meg London-Boche) and a picture of the pilot script title page kept the discussions going on for days. (I remember most fans of the Original Show liking the font.) A few set pics (e.g. shot in the abandoned Hawthorne Plaza Shopping Mall) promised some interesting action sequences.
BtS picture of the Unaired Pilot (via Meg London-Boche)
The Pilot Script review by Season Zero didn’t read very promising, but it’s difficult to judge a new TV show by a single script review of an episode that hasn’t been finished yet. On the 5th of May, Meg London-Boche tweeted about the pilot being finished. Little did we know back then that the Pilot would be scrapped and reshot, earning the title of being an Unaired Reboot Pilot that got rebooted.
Rebooting the Reboot After that, the Waiting Game started – because as Young MacGyver had taught us: in Pilot Season, a filmed Pilot Episode doesn’t guarantee that the show will be picked up. On the 13th of May, an Instagram post by Peter Lenkov confused us quite a bit. Only a few hours later, Variety confirmed that the Reboot had indeed been picked up and ordered to Series by CBS – with Lenkov being added as an Executive Producer.
Peter Lenkov confirming the MacGyver Reboot being ordered to series at CBS
Surprisingly, the Hollywood Reporter hinted that the script might be tossed out and stated that the secondary cast members were “unlikely to return”. Deadline stated that Lenkov would write a new script with the general premise of the series remaining the same; confirming that the supporting cast was not coming back.
While quite a bit surprising for us people not involved in the TV Show Industry, this isn’t so uncommon during Pilot Season. Sometimes, Pilot Episodes are redone with some cast members being “exchanged” (this happened e.g. with Buffy the Vampire Slayer as well with Charmed), but this seemed quite a surprising move and made us ask a lot of questions: Why ordering a pilot without a script in the first place? Why pick up a show if you don’t like the pilot? Do they care for MacGyver at all or only for the promise of making money with a well-known brand with the potential of turning it into a franchise? Isn’t Peter Lenkov already too 0busy with Hawaii Five-0?
BtS picture of the Unaired MacGyver Pilot (via Ralph Cartel). Who’s Hunter? And will we ever know?
Understandably, former cast members were not happy because some of them actually hadn’t known about this development until the press release.
On May 16, we got the first Official Still of Lucas Till and George Eads in character – despite the Pilot Episode being scrapped and just days before the CBS Upfronts. This was going to be interesting.
MacGyver doesn’t use guns and only resorts to violence when necessary. He uses his brains – mainly his vast science knowledge – to solve problems and catch the bad guys. This was established by the Original Show. It’s also one of the reasons why the show was so successful in the first place, especially overseas.
Original MacGyver Ad (ABC/Paramount)
A Reboot is always tricky. It’s basically a new show that still has to honor the original to a certain extent. There are some things that can’t be touched while some things are a “nice to have”. Of course, not everyone feels the same about these “nice to have”s.
I was happy they put Lucas Till into the brown leather jacket as a nod to the original. But if they had decided that it was too hot in Atlanta to let Lucas run around in it all day and had to let go of it, that would have been fine by me. No need to make an actor collapse due to a heat-stroke just to have another Easter Egg to cross off your list. I love the voice-overs, but I can understand why they stopped doing them after a while. I know others were very vocal about the lack of rebooted MacGyver’s love for hockey, but I got over that pretty quickly.
For me, it would have been nice if the Reboot (and especially the Pilot Episode) had implemented more of the subtleties of Original MacGyver’s character – e.g. the fact that he doesn’t drink alcohol or that he cares deeply about the welfare of animals and the environment. On the other hand, it was very important to me that they keep MacGyver’s aversion toward guns and violence.
Guns, violence and nudity
There is a time and place for guns, violence or nudity in movies and TV shows. While I don’t think it’s necessary tho have this “holy trinity” in a movie or a TV show to entertain me, I don’t mind it if it happens in the right context and serves a purpose. I don’t need it just for the sake of entertainment – because if there’s a good storyline and great acting, you don’t need the big kabooms or naked shenanigans.
Like most fans of the Original MacGyver show, I believe that there’s no need for guns, violence and nudity in a MacGyver Reboot.
The nonviolent aspect is more than a subtlety, it was the core of the show.
Original MacGyver was famous for being a family-friendly show. It was different than its counterparts airing at the same time (e.g. The A-Team). Paramount (who owned Original MacGyver back then) used this also for advertizing, e.g. with he statement in the ad above (You don’t need a weapon when you’re armed with imagination) or for the DVD Cover of Season 2 (His Mind is the ultimate Weapon).
Original MacGyver Season 2 DVD Cover (USA)
Of course, CBS and the showrunners were aware that they couldn’t dare rebooted MacGyver using guns and too much violence. MacGyver is a well-known TV show and a bankable Franchise; they didn’t want to lose Original Fans as potential viewers. Problem is: They wanted rebooted MacGyver as the secret agent of the Original Season 1, not the preachier PSA version of the later seasons. They wanted the big kabooms and car chases and bazookas. They wanted the action. So what did they do? They gave rebooted MacGyver combat experience and a gun-wielding sidekick in the character of Jack Dalton.
I don’t need Jack (or Team Phoenix) to handle it
From a production standpoint, writing Jack Dalton as the character he is was kinda brilliant. Also, George Eads is a delight to watch. (Yes, he’s nothing like Original Jack Dalton played by Bruce McGill, but that’s a topic for another blog post.)
My main problem: Bringing Jack in as a gun-wielding Ex-CIA-Agent and Ex-Sniper with Delta Force makes MacGyver’s unique way of problem-solving kinda void. If Mac can’t do it, there’s always Jack who can get him out by shooting at the bad guys. In the end, Mac didn’t really manage to solve the problem without guns (and unnecessary violence) – he just let Jack (or someone else, e.g. Sarah Adler in Episode 1×02) do it.
Episode 1×01: The Rising (via SpoilerTV)
There is a specific scene in the Pilot Episode that was the main reason for fans of the Original Show turning their backs on the Reboot early on. It was also one of the main reasons for the massive amount of backlash on social media while the episode aired (not only in the US, but also in Germany, France or Italy): MacGyver is trying to defuse a bomb (presumably in Afghanistan) with the bad guys closing in. He asks for Jack’s help who promptly shoots them. Sniper-style. Funny quip (Who loves you, baby?) included.
The scene was partially written as an Easter Egg for fans of Hawaii Five-0 and to establish the possibility of a future crossover episode: In a deleted shot of this scene, the word ALOHA can be seen on Jack’s sniper rifle. It’s a nod to the shared history with H50 main character Steve McGarrett (played by Alex O’Loughlin).
Deleted Shot of Episode 1×01: The Rising. Photo by Guy D’Alema (via TVLine)
If the show wasn’t a Reboot of MacGyver, this scene wouldn’t be a big problem, I guess. There is not much to say against the realism of it. The problem is, as Kate stated in the RDA forums:
[MacGyver] didn’t have a back-up team – he WAS the back-up team.
It’s a fine and difficult line to turn the lone-wolf-character of the Original Show into a member of a team without making him appear helpless at times. So far, the Reboot hasn’t quite mastered it yet; especially in the first episodes of Season 1. Since the show is named after a main character, this character should be able to do a mission without having others to bail him out all the time – especially with the help of over-the-top technology (via Riley) or guns (via Jack).
Regarding Mac not using a gun in this — It sometimes ends up just making him look like the least efficient member of the team.
In the Pilot Episode, Mac uses a MacGyverism to create smoke to trigger the fire alarm. So why not just activate the fire alarm by hitting the button? Why not just burn a piece of paper in a bucket? There was no MacGyverism (and therefore no MacGyver) needed here because anyone else could have thought of that and done it. The MacGyverism was just for show.
Episode 1×01: The Rising (via SpoilerTV)
To be fair, this happened in the Original Show as well sometimes. But now that MacGyver is surrounded by a team, such unnecessary MacGyverisms are even more obvious. They needed a distraction that could have been delivered by Riley or Jack as efficiently – and faster, without wasting any chemicals.
Also, the fact that CBS chose to send MacGyver on missions as a secret agent instead of traipsing around and finding himself in trouble while trying to help others creates another problem: If they are sent on missions planned in advance with Riley bringing her laptop and Jack bringing his gun, whey don’t they take their spy-kits (with night-vision-goggles and other useful stuff) with them as well? They would still need to improvise every now and then, but they wouldn’t need to start from scratch every time.
The reason that MacGyver takes on missions by the government without any gear can’t be explained that easily in the Reboot as in the Original where he didn’t have a team.
I don’t need no guns You might remember Original Episode 5×06: Halloween Knights, where Murdoc enlists MacGyver’s help to rescue his sister from former employer HIT (Homicide International Trust).
It would have been an easy and lazy way for the writers to let Murdoc bring his deadly tools. But MacGyver made following deal with Murdoc: No guns or I don’t help you. Of course, Murdoc found a way to cheat on the deal, and yet MacGyver still didn’t use the deadly tools in the way Murdoc had intended. It was the core of the episode (and the original series) to catch the bad guys without the help of guns and bombs (or only using them as distraction devices).
Episode 1×01: The Rising (via SpoilerTV)
In a video interview with ET Online (September 29, 2016), Lucas Till said about the role of Jack Dalton: “He uses the guns, because MacGyver famously doesn’t use guns.” Yes, that’s right. But the writers didn’t really get the point, did they?
See Episode 1×02 (Metal Saw) for example: What’s the point using a MacGyverism instead of a gun if there’s a gun (or two, maybe even three with Thornton on board) at hand anyway? Instead of throwing the net onto the bike to stop the bad guy, they could have kept shooting at the tires with the same effect. Original MacGyver is known for using guns as a tool; but if rebooted MacGyver accepts a gun-wielding posse around him anyway, he could have just asked them to shoot at the tires. Or shoot at the tires himself.
There is a reason why MacGyver avoids guns. And it’s not because it looks way more interesting if he doesn’t use them.
Back when Executive Producers Peter Lenkov and James Wan attended ComicCon in July 2016, I was actually pleasantly surprised that they really intended to keep Mac not using guns. I never expected the Reboot to be as strictly anti-gun as the original; and I’m pretty sure we’ll never see episodes like “Blood Brothers” or “The Gun” like we did in the Original Show – but those interviews back then gave me hope.
So of course after watching the first few episodes, I was very disappointed how this topic was handled. Fact is: Original MacGyver doesn’t just not use guns (unless it’s as a wrench or another tool) – he condones them. He hates them with a passion. And he insists on people leaving their gun behind if they want him to help. As soon as they made Jack a gun-wielding Ex-CIA-Agent, they kinda eliminated one of the core points (or maybe even THE core point) of the original.
I don’t need the bad guys to get killed
The other problem I have with the ALOHA-Scene: Original MacGyver would never work with someone who regularly kills people to protect him. Knocking them unconscious or incapacitating them in another way yes, but not kill them. He also wouldn’t tolerate said someone to be so cavalier about it.
Let’s be honest: The Original Show was cheesy and quirky and not very realistic when it came to bad guys getting knocked on the head. John Kendrick (played by Vinnie Jones) in the Pilot Episode of the Reboot is a bad guy who would have fit in well in an original episode – especially the way he’s captured: MacGyver drops an Escape Ladder on him. Realistically, Kendrick should have been dead. But he doesn’t even appear concussed, and that’s fine with me.
Episode 1×01: The Rising (via SpoilerTV)
So why didn’t they do this for other bad-guys-scenes as well, e.g. in the boat chase: The goons see the empty boat coming at them. Why not let them jump off the boat before it crashes into them and explodes? It’s exactly what would have happened in an Original Episode.
The Anti-Handgun-Stance of the Original Show
The Original Show was very anti-gun, specifically anti-handgun. I wasn’t aware that this was kinda unique for an US TV-Show until I grew older. As a kid, in my opinion only bad guys carried guns – unless they were police officers or soldiers.
Growing up in Switzerland, I never came in contact with guns until my first boyfriend had to join the military service at the age of 18. And it wasn’t until I started watching TV shows in their original language that I realized how the use of guns, violence and sexuality differentiates in the US compared to Europe.
Sean Wohland and Richard Dean Anderson in a Promo Photo for Original MacGyver Episode 4×02 (Blood Brothers)
Original MacGyver Episode 4×02 (Blood Brothers, 1988) had impressed me back then when I first watched it as a kid – and it’s still one of my favorite episodes. In Blood Brothers, MacGyver returns to his hometown to find himself haunted by the memories of a fatal shooting accident when he was a kid. (Mac had brought a gun to make shooting excercises at beer cans with his friends. When Neil tried to shoot at a bird, MacGyver prevented him from doing so, ending with Jesse getting accidentally shot in the chest and dying.)
On November 18 in 1988, Richard Dean Anderson talked about the story behind this episode on Good Morning America and how the NRA (National Rifle Association) had managed in Paramount making the producers drop the message they had wanted to add at the end of the episode.
In Episode 6×03 (The Gun, 1990), a gun used to assassinate a presidential candidate years ago is found, leading investigators to accuse MacGyver’s friend from the youth center of shooting a cop.
Before the episode aired, Co-Executive Producer Stephen Downing (an ex-officer in the LA Police Departement) talked with the Los Angeles Timesabout the problems they had been facing two years ago:
“The result of that story was a lashing out of us by the NRA. Since that time, we have been on their hit list. They have been encouraging people not to watch us and boycott our sponsors. We try to do a decent job of really saying why a gun is dangerous and they choose to boycott us and put us on their hit list.”
(Co-Executive Producer Stephen Downing for LA Times, October 1990)
Don’t get me wrong: I’m aware that opinions in “TV Show Life” and real life aren’t always the same. Original MacGyver Richard Dean Anderson and many of the cast and crew were very anti-handgun themselves. It’s one of the reasons why episodes like “Blood Brothers” or “The Gun” exist. That doesn’t mean that all people working on the show had the same opinion about this topic.
I also know that this doesn’t reflect the opinions of everyone working on the Reboot. I’ve seen pictures of crew members showing off their gun collections (and no, they weren’t always prop guns) on social media. I’ve seen pictures of Lucas Till going hunting with his extended family and I’ve read interviews with George Eads stating he had gone hunting with Lucas on the weekends.
This is all BtS stuff that we probably wouldn’t even know about if not for social media. But that doesn’t mean they can’t address the topic in the Reboot and handle it in a similar way as the Original did. After all, they knew that a certain amount of expected anti-gun and anti-violence stance would come with the package; no matter if they made a reboot (instead of a sequel, a prequel or a remake).
It’s getting better…
I’ve been complaining a lot, haven’t I. I have no problem to admit that the show DID get better concerning the use of guns as the series progressed.
It’s just a pity that within the first episode, they had already lost a lot of potential viewers – mainly fans of the Original Show. And mainly due to the fact how they had handled the use of guns and violence.
Overall, the show felt a bit like a compromise to me: They had the order by CBS to reshoot the Unaired Pilot and to keep the Ex-CIA-Agent as the bromance-buddy. There wasn’t much time left because the premiere date wasn’t to be changed. So Peter Lenkov turned Lincoln into Jack Dalton; therefore keeping the action-buddy AND an Easter Egg (and the chemistry between Lucas Till and George Eads that had already been established). But that also meant there would always be a gun present in MacGyver’s vicinity and that turned out to be a problem.
After watching the first few episodes, I had made following statement in the MacGyver Online Forums:
The story still has to work if there wasn’t a gun involved. Let Jack’s gun disappear (lost, taken by the bad guys, running out of ammo) and see what happens. Does the storyline hold up? Do the MacGyverisms still work? If not, that’s not a MacGyver story.
It’s interesting that storywise, two of my favorite episodes are actually episodes where Jack doesn’t have immediate access to his gun. In Episode 1×10 (Pliers), Mac and Team travel to Mission City in their free time to accompany Mac who’s finally agreed to give a chemistry lesson at his old high school. As far as I know, Jack hadn’t taken his gun with him since this wasn’t an official mission.
Episode 1×13: Large Blade (via SpoilerTV)
In Episode 1×13 (Large Blade), Jack loses his gun right at the beginning. He gets it back later into the episode, but never really gets to shoot it.
…but there’s still some work to do.
While the writers sure will honor MacGyver not using guns in the upcoming second Season as well, I think they really need to address the reasons more explicitly soon.
There’s actually an easy way to explain rebooted MacGyver’s aversion towards guns: When it’s revealed in Episode 1×02 that Mac’s mother died when he was 5, I immediately thought she had been shot and that this would turn out as the backstory for a flashback episode.
BtS with the prop gun for Episode 1×08: Corkscrew (via Lucas Till on Twitter)
Problem is: In Episode 1×08 (Corkscrew), rebooted Murdoc invades MacGyver’s home. Bozer asks MacGyver why he didn’t have a gun like Jack. If Mrs MacGyver had died at the hand of a gun, wouldn’t Bozer as Mac’s best friend know that? And shouldn’t he already know that MacGyver would never want to carry a gun, despite him being in the military for several years?
Personally, I would hate this backstory for rebooted MacGyver. Because it would make MacGyver a victim only. In the original version, it’s revealed that it was a young MacGyver that had brought the gun that killed one of his friends. He was partially a complice in Jesse dying and never got over feeling guilty about it. Which might have formed and festered the need in MacGyver to help others and save other people’s life.
Guns should also be a controversial topic between Mac and Jack – or at least they should have been when they started working together. There’s no way that MacGyver was able to join the military and a secret government agency without having to fight about his right not having to handle guns in the past.
So please, dear MacGyver writers! Take on this hot topic and turn it into something fruitful. This shouldn’t be ignored and I think there’s a big possibility to add even more value to this show by finally handling it properly.
Author’s Note: I wasn’t trying to make a political blog post here, but as you maybe noticed: I’m strictly anti-gun. Always have been. I’m willing to discuss this topic in a civil manner, but you won’t change my mind. And I won’t try to change yours. Just saying what I think about the use of guns and violence in the first Season of the MacGyver Reboot and why it should have been handled differently.
I’ve been planning to write this post for ages, but somehow I kept procrastinating this specific topic. Maybe because I’ve written already so much about it way back when in the MacGyver Online Forums?
Alas, I’ll give it another try.
Back in February 2016, when news outlets like Deadline announced CBS had ordered a pilot for a MacGyver Reboot, the social media buzz was intense. The questions most often asked were probably these: Who will be the new MacGyver? What will he look like? What will his hair look like? Will he still have his SAK?
Besides MacGyver’s hair (about which I’ve also written a blog post recently), the Opening Title Sequence has always been something “holy” that isn’t to be touched upon; especially the Opening Title Theme.
Even people who have never watched a single episode of Original MacGyver recognize the theme. Together with the Opening Title sequences, TV shows can form a memory in people’s minds that they will always associate with that specific show, even if they don’t watch it regularly. Think about Baywatch. It’s basically just people in red swim suits running along the beach and smiling at the camera. Not that exciting, isn’t it? You get used to it after seeing it for more than one season. But still – think about what would have happened if they had changed the music or the opening sequence too much…
So it wasn’t a surprise that after the first hubbubb about Lucas Till’s casting as the main hero had ebbed down, the next questions being discussed were: Will they keep the iconic title music of the Original Show? What will the Opening Credits look like?
Back in April 2016, I wrote following statement in one of the MacGyver Online threads: I wouldn’t mind the old theme back or a variation of it. But I don’t think this will happen; I think they will go with something new…
I’ve changed my mind a few days later; especially after comparing the original and the rebooted version of the Opening Title Sequence for Hawaii Five-0, Executive Producer Peter Lenkov’s other show.
I was convinced the opening theme would be a recognizable reincarnation of the original – in the same way it’s been done for Remakes and Reboots in the past.
Of course, there was the risk of not having an opening sequence at all – because most modern TV shows don’t. The newer CBS shows (e.g. Limitless, Pure Genius, Code Black, Bull) don’t have one, either. But we all agreed that they surely wouldn’t dare to do this with a Reboot of a TV show like MacGyver that had such an iconic Opening Title Theme.
I didn’t think about the scenes themselves that much, to be honest. I just assumed it would be the actors in some action scenes. Probably not MacGyver eating ice cream like in the original, but maybe jumping over things and running from the bad guys, surely? The Original Opening Title Sequence is over a minute long, although there’s only two actors being credited (Richard Dean Anderson and Dana Elcar). So the rebooted sequence would have to be as long as the original one if they had to fit at least 5 people in there?
On September 13, the official MacGyver Reboot Facebook Account by CBS uploaded a video of the Pilot Episode set where the Opening Theme was playing. I liked the music, but it was not really what I had expected.
For one, it was too short – just about 40 seconds. Second, the part with the Original Theme wasn’t that recognizable. Not at all like the rebooted version of H50 which sounds just like the original version.
Five days later, Peter Lenkov uploaded a video of the orchestra recording it onto Instagram. I was very happy it was still played by a real orchestra and I thought it sounded great, just… not what I had hoped for. It didn’t affect me in the same way as the original theme, but I was ready to accept it.
It’s difficult to judge a theme without the Opening Title Sequence that goes with it. It sounded more dramatic than the original version, as well; so I was curious if the tone for the show had changed. Also, I was happy that it didn’t sound like the promo videos they had made for the premiere of the pilot, because those had featured mainly Hip Hop.
On September 20, Yahoo! TV uploaded a “fanmade” version of the rebooted Title Sequence. It features scenes from the first two episodes plus from the Unaired Pilot Trailer while recreating the Original Main Titles and using the Original Theme. Because people had tweeted about it without sourcing it correctly, many fans (and News Outlets) had assumed it was the real one.
I have to say it’s a well-made version of an Opening Title Sequence for the Reboot – probably one of the best I’ve seen so far!
Fanmade Opening Title Sequence (via Yahoo! TV)
Only a few hours later, Entertainment Weekly finally released the new Title Sequence. This time, it was the real deal. The reactions were – varied. Some loved it, some hated it, some were disappointed.
I don’t remember exactly anymore how I felt about it back then, but I remember that I would have preferred the one by Yahoo! TV. On the other hand, I don’t think you necessarily have to see the characters’ faces in the Opening Title Sequence.
I actually liked that you see MacGyver doing MacGyverisms (even though these are not Lucas Till’s hands which is a missed opportunity). It gives an inkling to new viewers what MacGyver is about.
I’m not sure if the MacGyverisms could have been appointed to the characters in a better way – like cutting up the bullet in the Screenshot below would maybe make more sense if it was George Eads’ name appearing with it (since he’s the gun-wielding sidekick).
The Opening Title Sequence Shots were done by Picturemill. Sadly, they never shared more than one single collage of BtS shots on Facebook. I hope we get to see some kind of Making-Of one day.
They could have gone the “easy” way and just edit scenes from the Pilot Episode together – but they did something new for it, so I think it could have been promoted as some kind of “Extra” that could have been posted onto YouTube and other social media accounts by CBS.
They also solved the problem of changes in the main cast beforehand – they didn’t need to cut anything new together. They just had to exchange Sandrine Holt’s name – for one or two episodes, the slot stayed “empty” before it was replaced with Meredith Eaton.
Overall, I think they chose some good everyday objects – a battery, a paperclip, a lightbulb and so on. I like the colors as well. The texts appearing are also interesting – although they dropped the descriptions after the first five or six episodes (which I think was a necessary step), it works actually pretty well in the Opening Title Sequence.
Also, they made adjustements for other countries; e.g. in Germany (see below) or France they appear in German or French (while e.g. Italy kept the English descriptions).
One puzzling thing that I’m still wondering about: The “logo” is different. It fits better with the Original Show, but they use a different one for the official social media accounts and on Official Stills.
German Opening Title Screenshot
On Premiere Day (September 23rd), SlashFilm released an interview with Peter Lenkov and James Wan. The interview – done at the TCAs back on August 11 – also featured questions about the Theme Song:
Are you able to use the theme song in an age where they’ve cut theme songs out of shows entirely? Lenkov: One of the big things in television these days is there’s no main title sequence anymore. One of the things that I was really adamant about doing the show, and they signed off on it, was doing a main title sequence and actually having a theme song. Incorporate some of the original theme from the original show and a little bit of a new theme. So it’s a combination of the two but I didn’t want to do the show without a main title sequence. I feel like this show needs that. Very much like that original show.
On Hawaii Five-0 you got the theme song down to 30 seconds. Similar thing for MacGyver? Lenkov: I think right now it’s 21 seconds. It keeps getting shorter every time we do a redo, but I’ll tell you one thing. That’s a big battle to win, to be able to do a main title sequence and a theme song these days. That’s not something network television does anymore. Wan: Because it eats up ad space? Lenkov: Yeah and they feel like maybe it’s a little retro but I like that. Wan: It sets the tone.
That sure sounds like we should be happy we got a Theme Song and an Opening Title Sequence at all, huh?
So… what’s coming for Season 2? I’ve been wondering today if they might change the Opening Title Sequence, but I doubt they will.
It’s not like CBS will grant us more time for the Opening Title if Peter Lenkov already had to fight to even have one. There will be more recurring characters next season, but there’s enough space left to fit in more actors’ names.
So far, it’s 33 days left until the premiere of Season 2 but there’s no indication that Picturemill or Composer Keith Power are working on something new. On the other hand, there’s been no promo so far.
We will know soon enough.
BtS of the Opening Title Sequence (via Picturemill)
Disclaimer: My original guest-post was first published on The MacGyver Project on September 30, 2016. I made some minor changes (e.g. grammar or source corrections, link corrections, additional pictures) before re-posting it on my own blog for safe-keeping.
The Premiere of the MacGyver Reboot generated negative comments and reviews, but also great ratings and heavy traffic on social media. It also inspired people to create fan art.
via Briana Lamb
(Spoiler Alert: To avoid spoilers, I won’t post any too revealing pictures, but you will get spoilered by reading this post or by clicking on the links provided!)
Working on four Episodes
While promo continues and reviews and ratings are piling up, cast and crew are filming episodes 6 and 7 while working behind the scenes for episodes 4 and 5.
An Instagram picture by James Grabowski revealed information for Episode 7 – it’s titled “Can Opener” and will be directed by Omar Madha (Scorpion, Grimm). According to IMDb, the still untitled Episode 6 is directed by Alec Smight (CSI: Las Vegas).
We also got some more information about the jobs being done behind the scenes; e.g. by Picturemill while creating the opening sequence or by Kevin Marshal Pinkney (Stand-In for Justin Hires). Aina Dumlao revealed on September 29 that she’s doing post work (probably ADR) back in California for Episode 4. Briana Lamb, Stand-In for Sandrine Holt, started “MacGyverMonday” to teach us some more about her stand-in work.
Executive Producer Peter Lenkov shared another editing picture; this time from Episode 5. He also treated us with pictures and clips from Episode 4.
Premiere of the Pilot Episode
Despite the many negative and critical reviews of the pilot episode beforehand, people sure were curious to check it out for themselves. Almost 11 million people had been watching the premiere; making it Friday’s most watched show. Another 5.4 million had been tuning in for the rerun on Sunday.
The premiere was also a 4-minute-long topic on the Late Late Show with James Corden (extra Spoiler Alert!), practically overshadowing the presidential debate.
Let the Promo continue: Stills and Press Releases
SpoilerTV provided us with official stills and/or press releases for Episode 2 (Metal Saw), Episode 3 (Awl) and Episode 4 (Wire Cutter). The stills and press releases don’t reveal too much, but they sparked interest. It seems the reboot will continue to resemble first season storylines of the original show.
Let the Promo continue: Sneak Peeks and Previews
We got several previews and sneak peeks for Episode 2 – the official preview that aired after the pilot episode, one by TVLine, one by The Wrap and another one by MSN. I guess the last one has the scene where George Eads accidentally got punched for real (as had been revealed during promo cycle).
Someone at CBS had been a little over-excited and uploaded the first preview for Episode 3 on the official YouTube-Account on September 29. The video was deleted only hours later, but not before some fans had already seen and shared it.
Let the Promo continue: Interviews
During the days before the premiere, several interviews had been posted online. An interesting interview by Slash Film had Peter Lenkov and Pilot Episode Director James Wan talk about the new theme song. Most modern TV shows don’t have opening sequences anymore and Lenkov revealed that they practically had to fight for an opening sequence and a theme.
Cast, Crew and Character News Central Casting Georgia has made a casting call for guards and inmates. Artist LeShae Nash posted pictures of the interior set and the fire pit in MacGyver’s home she’s been working at.
Another old aquaintance from the original show will make his appearance on Episode 6: Charlie Robinson from Episode 1×14 (Countdown). Emerson Brooks tweeted a first picture of him on September 28, wearing a bomb defusal suit.
Girls Rock Science
Will Riley Davis do more than just hacking in later episodes? Tristin Mays visited the “Girls Rock Science” weekend at Pittsburgh’s Carnegie Science Center. Besides learning more about water pollution at the exhibits, she also posed for fan pictures.
Disclaimer: My original guest-post was first published on The MacGyver Project on July 24, 2016. I made some minor changes (e.g. grammar or source corrections, link corrections, additional pictures) before re-posting it on my own blog for safe-keeping.
The MacGyver Reboot has been filming the pilot episode for its second week – and stopped by for a visit at the ComicCon in San Diego!
via Instagram
(Spoiler Alert: To avoid spoilers, I won’t post any revealing pics, but that doesn’t mean you won’t get spoilered by reading my posts or clicking on the links provided!)
Aloha from Set During the second week of shooting, Executive Producer Peter Lenkov and several crew members continued to grant us a look inside the production. On July 18, Stunt Coordinator Jeff Wolfe posted a video of a stuntman climbing on a military truck driving along the highway with a helicopter following behind the truck. Pretty cool!
On the same day, Lenkov posted several pictures of George Eads in full military gear, looking like a sniper trying to take out the bad guys. Lenkov included a picture with “Aloha” written on the rifle; therefore sending a “little love letter” to his crew filming Hawaii Five-0. On the same day, he posted a short video of Lucas Till as MacGyver cutting some wires while wearing a protection suit. Looks like he just saved the day again by defusing another bomb!
Peter Lenkov introduced us to “Team MacGyver” by posting a picture with Lucas Till (MacGyver), George Eads (Jack Dalton), Sandrine Holt (Patricia Thornton) and Tristin Mays (Riley Davis). Composer Keith Power has started scoring – and apparently needs lots of coffee while doing it.
via Peter Lenkov
Tanks, Helicopters and Bikini Babes
On July 19, we got several pictures of a tank on set. A tank that soon got invaded by bikini-clad women in heels while carrying weapons. Hmm. SkyDroneCinema called it a “hot hot day on set” while Lenkov asks the same question that fans have been asking on the MacGyver Online Forums and on the MacGyver Online Facebook Page: “What does this have to do with #macgyver???”
Chris Payne Gilbert sure had fun with this scene, as did George’s StandIn Mikey Leo and model Teresita Vicente (although she later deleted her Instagram picture stating she had been shooting Ninjas all day with a machine gun while wearing a bathing suit). While some fans were as happy as Lucas and George snagging Ninja-Shooting Bikini Babe India Batson for a picture, others were either confused or disappointed; stating that “Baywatch With Tanks” wasn’t the image the show should be going for. I’m still guessing at what this scene should be. Opening Gambit? Weird Dream? Fantasy? Music Video for the Soundtrack? We’ll see in September.
CBS had announced before that they would hand out a new version of the “MacGyver Multitool” and that fans would have the chance to take free rides in electric cars. Lucas and George got to enjoy a ride while doing interviews. It didn’t take long for visitors at Comic Con San Diego to share pictures of their paperclip, most of them complimenting the advertizing.
Interestingly, the MacGyver logo on the electric cars and on the shirts of the Multitool-Promo-Crew is different: The SAK is gone. In the meantime, it has also disappeared from the logos on the official social media accounts. Let’s hope it doesn’t get replaced by a paperclip somehow, because I really liked the old logo. To be honest, I’m a bit disappointed about the change – partly because THIS is the only tool MacGyver really needs, but mostly because being from Switzerland, I was always very proud of a Swiss product so prominently featured in the most favorite TV show of my childhood. Thanks to MacGyver, until my former male classmates had to join the military service at the age of 18 I believed that the official SAK at that time was red (it was actually silver until 2008; now they’re handing out a very different model in green).
via CBS Watch! Magazine
MacGyver at Comic Con: Panel and Roundtable Interviews
Besides Lucas Till and George Eads, both Peter Lenkov and James Wan attended the panel and did several interview rounds.
Watching the 30-minutes-panel, the team seems to work very well together and the chemistry between Till and Eads is great (they already turned the people behind the Keysmash Blog Twitter Account into shippers). If you’re interested in the video, you can check it out here. (Sadly, the additional two short video clips they showed have not been made public yet.)
Especially Peter Lenkov and James Wan managed to ease a lot of the worries weighing on us fans. Wan acknowledged that MacGyver is “such a different hero from what we see on TV these days” and stated that they want to retain that spirit of a great role model blessed with intelligence and humanity.
Lenkov promised to include lots of Easter Eggs for fans of the old show. He revealed hoping to involve cast members of the original version and reaching out to Richard Dean Anderson. This admission led to dozens of online articles popping up even before the panel ended; e.g. by Variety, Deadline or the Hollywood Reporter. While it is still unclear what kind of role they would offer to him, an appearance of RDA sure would draw in many fans still wary of a reboot.
While the producers want to honor the legacy and won’t turn Angus MacGyver into some kind of Jason Bourne or James Bond, Lenkov also said that they will update some of the techniques, meaning different shooting styles and editing techniques. Additionally, MacGyver won’t be a “lone wolf” anymore but more of a team player (which has become a standard in almost every modern tv show, but I’m still not sure if this is always a good thing).
via Hollywood Reporter
In the Roundtable Interview posted by Seat42F, Lucas Till admitted having catched some reruns in his youth, but not being an avid fan back then. He’s currently on Season 2 for research purposes. George Eads stated feeling the pressure and the tiring shooting schedule, but also feeling very proud being part of this project. Seat42F shared another Roundtable Interview with Lenkov and Wan, where Lenkov confirmed that they would keep the Opening Gambits. Regarding the challenges about setting the reboot into 2016, Wan and Lenkov stated that while today’s world is very much digital and so many problems are solved with computers,MacGyver still thinks in analog ways. Wan always liked that MacGyver only turned to violence as a last resort; and while the show is set “in a modern world that is so violent“, he wants the hero to keep using his brain for creative problem solving.
In the press junket interview posted by sandwichjohnfilms, Lenkov promised that we will see why Lucas Till is the perfect MacGyver. Lenkov is aware that people are very sceptical of this reboot and wants to retain the soul of the old show while introducing it to a new audience. For Wan, it doesn’t matter what type of film he’s making (action, horror or comedy; low-budget or blockbuster), because for him it’s all about the characters and if the chemistry is right, then “the action and the set-pieces are just the cream on the cake that makes it all the more tastier“.
The article by USA Today confirms that the show will keep the voice-overs. During a video interview with ET Online, Lucas had joked about his stunt guy sitting on the sidelines – and he already paid the price for it, as the article reveals: Till (…) has persuaded producers to let him perform a number of MacGyver’s tricky stunts. He sports a band-aid on his finger from a cut suffered grabbing the side of a serving tray at the end of a complicated kick-and-catch move. Let’s hope he realizes that having a stunt person is actually a good thing, no matter how much fun it is to do the stunts yourself – otherwise, RDA might explain (and show) it to him.
Cast and Crew News During last week, Central Casting Georgia has made several casting calls; e.g. for Ninjas, Korean workers and soldiers, Caracas guards or Asian hackers. They’re also looking for old cars and mopeds and for a hand double – judging by the provided picture, probably for Lucas Till.
Singer George Lott announced on July 19 that he will have a featured cameo role in the show – maybe even for the episode called “Baywatch with Tanks”?
Peter Lenkov shared the information that it’s only 5 more days with James Wan until moving forward onto the next episode. So far, we don’t know yet its title or its director – but the casting calls indicate an Asian setting. Brian Durkin is back on the studio lot writing new episodes, so there will be more casting calls soon.
Back Home
Several times, Peter Lenkov had already posted pictures of the Griffith Observatory back in LA – MacGyver’s home in the original pilot. The speculations and hopes of many fans turned out to be true when Pilot Episode Director James Wan posted a picture on July 23 of the crew shooting at Griffith Park in front of the observatory. New MacGyver is definitely going back to his roots.
Disclaimer: My original guest-post was first published on The MacGyver Project on July 17, 2016. I made some minor changes (e.g. grammar or source corrections, link corrections, additional pictures) before re-posting it on my own blog for safe-keeping.
Shooting for the Pilot Episode 2.0 has officially started. Contrary to the unaired pilot episode that shall not be named, we’re getting TONS of goodies; even official ones! The days of lurking the internet for a tiny glimpse of the set or the cast (or even a prop or location) are finally over.
(Spoiler Alert: To avoid spoilers, I won’t post any revealing pics, but that doesn’t mean you won’t get spoilered by reading my posts or clicking on the links provided!)
via Camera Operator Tiko Pavoni
Getting Ready
On July 9, Executive Producer Peter Lenkov shared pictures on Instagram of some bonding time with Lucas and Justin. The next day, he gave the fans more reasons to speculate and discuss by posting pictures of a call sheet, a sign with the words “cover blown” and one of a leather jacket. THE brown leather jacket of our favorite hero. How great is that?
Big Shanty Antiques posted on their Facebook page on July 10 that their parking lot was used as the crew base camp. On the same day, Lucas “showed off” by posting a picture of his “ostentatious” character name plate on his trailer door. Good to know that MacGyver 2.0 also likes to keep it simple.
Aaaaaaand Action!
Lenkov kept posting appetizers for the whole week. He shared several pictures of the main cast on Instagram; mainly pictures of Lucas and George, but also from their stunt doubles and other cast members, e.g. Tristin Mays.
One picture shows Lucas already shooting some ADR scenes, which might hint at the reboot keeping the MacGyver voice overs from the original show.
via Lucas Till
Other crew members like Set Lighting Technician Mike Collins also posted very nice set pics (although they are much harder to find); e.g. by “Mike J Neal” from the boat scene in Stone Mountain State Park or by Location Scout Gonzo Rey from a night shoot in the forest.
Grounding a Plane
Eric Heaf had already shared a picture of the crew shooting at McCollum Airport. On July 12, CBS posted a first Behind-the-Scenes-Video from this set; including Lucas and George giving short statements and Lucas acting a scene by hanging off an airplane while trying to ground it with his SAK.
In general, fans were very happy about MacGyver’s improved look with the new haircut and the brown leather jacket. Also, George and Lucas seem to get along very well, hinting at an established “bromance” between Jack and MacGyver.
So many Cars
Filming at the Swan House included a scene of an estate party with expensive cars and rich party attendees. Peter Lenkov posted a short video of MacGyver getting out of a beautiful vintage car while wearing a tux. Oh, we all remember MacGyver’s love for wearing a tuxedo (ahem), so fans are already curious what our hero is doing at this party (presumably taking place in Italy since all the cars have Italian license plates).
Understandably, crew members and extras couldn’t get enough of posting pictures of the set; especially the cars (or themselves in front of the cars). Several crew members referred to James Bond for this scene; e.g. Gonzo Rey (James Bond? Or MacGyver? Who knows…) or Meghan Lyvers (#macgyvermeetsbond).
Interestingly, Lucas Till’s father and his stepmom have a cameo in this scene. Lavonda Till tweeted a lovely BtS pic of the three in costume.
Cast and Crew News
Peter Lenkov had already shared a picture of possible new cast members on July 12. Besides Tristin Mays, also Vinnie Jones and Tracy Spiridakos were on set (we still don’t know what characters they will play).
Stunt Coordinator Jeff Wolfe (who recently got an Emmy nomination for his work on the CBS series Rush Hour) tweeted his involvement in the Reboot on July 10.
While several more casting calls were made (e.g. for hotel patrons and pool ladies), the IMDb page slowly filled up with some minor roles of guards and pilots, with extras and crew members. It seems like Keith Power (Hawaii 5-0) will be the composer (at least for the pilot episode). Since the music played an important part in the original show, expectations are very high and fans are still hoping for the original theme and musical cues to make an appearance.
via CBS
On July 15, Variety announced Sandrine Holt (House of Cards) being cast as series regular. A lot of fans are not happy about this – not because of the choice of the actress or the decision to turn a former male into a female character, but because Holt was cast in the role of MacGyver’s boss, an ex-field agent turned director of operations named Patricia Thornton. It seems that Pete Thornton is being replaced and won’t show up at all in the reboot. We all know that Pete wasn’t just some series regular and that his relationship with MacGyver was an important part of the show, so we’ll see how this change will hold up and how different the dynamic will turn out. It probably also depends on how they’ll construct New MacGyver’s background story (e.g. losing his father at a very young age and the age gap of more than 20 years made the father-son-type-relationship with Pete in the original show very plausible and played into many story plots).
Sightings
Peter Lenkov doesn’t get much rest between set days and night shoots. He shared a picture of his laptop screen, showing a page of the script for Episode 1×03. But a hard working crew needs a break every now and then. Between night shoots, they got to enjoy a ball game together before filming again on Sunday morning (July 17).
via Peter Lenkov
They probably have to shoot some scenes in advance as Lucas, George, Lenkov and pilot episode director James Wan will attend the MacGyver panel at ComicCon SanDiego on July 21, where the fans get to enjoy an exclusive sneak peek.
Disclaimer: My original guest-post was first published on The MacGyver Project on July 1, 2016. I made some minor changes (e.g. grammar or source corrections, additional pictures) before re-posting it on my own blog for safe-keeping.
Special Thanks to Nicholas Sweedo for inviting me to write a guest post about the MacGyver Reboot. I’m very honored because while I’ve been blogging for years, this is my first guest post ever! English is not my native language, so let’s start real quick before I get anxious…
Why rebooting MacGyver?
The answer is pretty simple: MacGyver was a successful show, has an interesting and pretty unusual main hero and the potential to tell many more stories.
Also: MacGyver is a known “brand” with the potential for a modern franchise. Even people who have never seen a single episode know who MacGyver is and what he can do. The term finally made it into the OxfordDictionary last year and is used all the time on social media.
What has happened so far?
The idea of rebooting MacGyver has been around for a while now. There was a pilot for a spinoff series called “Young MacGyver” (starring Supernatural’s Jared Padalecki), but the show never went into production.
In October 2015, the Hollywood Reporter announced that MacGyver would be brought back as a tv show for CBS with R. Scott Gemmill (NCIS: Los Angeles) writing the script and James Wan (who had been attached for a MacGyver movie in 2012) directing the pilot.
In February 2016, Deadline reported CBS ordering a pilot. Apparently not happy with the script they already had, the pilot episode would be written by Paul Downs Colaizzo instead. Only a few days later, Lionsgate announced that they had made a development deal with CBS for a MacGyver movie.
Many fans were displeased by the idea of a reboot in the first place. Additionally, the leaked character descriptions by SpoilerTV sparked heated discussions – the article confirmed that the reboot would be a prequel, but MacGyver’s background story didn’t quite fit with the original show.
Further details were announced in March by the Hollywood Reporter: George Eads (CSI) would co-star in the show as a character named Lincoln; with David Von Ancken (Code Black) directing the pilot and James Wan (Saw) remaining as executive producer. The pilot was set to start filming by the end of the month in Portland. Finally, Deadline reported Lucas Till (X-Men) being cast as the new MacGyver with Brett Mahoney co-writing the script and Joshua Boone playing MacGyver’s best friend. A week later, Deadline revealed Addison Timlin (Californication) and Michelle Krusiec (Hawaii Five-0) as additional cast; the former playing a computer nerd with the latter portraying a secret agent.
In April, a few pictures, tweets and short videos from the set finally emerged on social media – only to be deleted soon after fans had shared and discussed the “treasure” online. It seemed that CBS tried very hard to keep the production under wraps. Many fans were frustrated; others were left wondering and anxious: What would become of the old show that so many people still loved and cherished? We soon realized that the pilot was being shot in LA instead of Portland, but not a single picture of Lucas Till in character ever surfaced.
Of course, this didn’t stop us fans from combing the internet on a quest for more. The less information, the more time we had to speculate in between the findings. A first glimpse of a new MacGyver logo and a picture of the pilot script title page kept the discussions going on for days. A few set pics made within the abandoned Hawthorne Mall and from an outside night shoot promised some interesting action sequences. The pilot script review by Season Zero on the other hand didn’t read very promising.
On the 5th of May, David Von Ancken’s assistant tweeted about the pilot being finished.
Rebooting the Reboot
On the 13th of May, an instagram post by Peter Lenkov (Hawaii Five-0) confused the fandom quite a bit. Did this mean that we actually had the chance of getting a new MacGyver show after all these years? Thankfully, only a few hours later Variety reported that the reboot had indeed been picked up with Lenkov being added as an executive producer. James Wan soon welcomed Lenkov on Twitter. The Hollywood Reporter hinted that the script might be tossed out and the secondary cast members were “unlikely to return”, while Deadline stated that Lenkov would write a new script with the general premise of the series remaining the same. Deadline also confirmed that the entire supporting cast was not coming back. Understandably, former cast members were not happy and media outlets and fans similarly confused: Why ordering a pilot without a script in the first place? Why pick up a show if you don’t like the pilot; especially if you don’t know what you will get in the end if you toss out all supporting cast including the script and its script writer? What had they actually liked about the pilot? Did they care for MacGyver at all or only for the promise of some money of a well-known brand? On the other hand, Lucas Till staying as MacGyver could only mean that his take on the character must have made CBS very happy.
On May 16, we got the first still of Lucas in character. Cue the discussions online: The hair! (Oh no!) The set! (Mac and chemistry, yay!) The hair! (Oh no!).
The trailer of the unaired pilot episode that shall not be named
The CBS Upfronts on May 18 had many fans almost jumping up and down from excitement: Would CBS dare to show a trailer if the pilot was maybe/probably/eventually going to be redone? Only hours before, CBS had created official social media accounts with a new logo and a header that hinted at some action-packed adventures. New stills had also been posted on the official CBS page (the pictures were later removed).
The trailer soon hit social media accounts all around the world. Let’s just say it wasn’t well received (or the positive reviews got buried under the amount of negative comments and down-votes). Comparisons were drawn to the Ghostbuster reboot (which had also suffered from severe backlash).
While some backlash is always to be expected with a reboot, this much hate probably surprised everyone involved. There was hate for Lucas Till (why not a female MacGyver instead?), his appearance (the hair! too young! he looks like one of the Hanson brothers!), his attitude (too cocky! that smirk!), the action scenes (MacGyver would never do that!), the MacGyverisms (not cool enough!), the trailer music (Inception BAAAAM! what the hell are those lyrics?) and so on… even media outlets joked that MacGyver himself couldn’t fix this “generic-looking pilot with a kid catching bad guys by tripping them with a garden hose”.
According to Deadline, a 20-minute-cut-down of the pilot episode had sparked much interest among international buyers. Nonetheless, CBS declared the trailer soon to “promo non grata” and erased all their former tweets, posts and stills concerning promo for the discarded pilot from their social media accounts.
Pre-production for the pilot episode 2.0
Several articles hinted what further changes might be made – for one, MacGyver would get a haircut and a “love interest that spans the season”. Peter Lenkov talked about his vision for the reboot in a video interview stating that they would rely on the original and the fans wouldn’t be disappointed. He also talked about his idea for the big bad for the first season. Entertainment Weekly revealed the CBS fall 2016 schedule: MacGyver would air on Fridays at 20pm. CBS set up a MacGyver Writers Twitter account with Lenkov promising live tweeting during the show. In June, Deadline announced Justin Hires (Rush Hour) as the first new cast member in the role of Wilt Bozer. Secretly, CBS updated the synopsis of the show: George Eads would now play the character of Jack Dalton.
Variety confirmed a fan’s suspicion (due to an instagram picture by Lenkov that was later deleted) that James Wan would direct the pilot episode. Lenkov also posted a few pictures of the first location scouting in Atlanta and a look at the production office. The premiere date was set for September 23 and finally, there was the first official promo video with Lucas Till as the new MacGyver.
Casting calls for crew members confirmed soon that the production was moving from LA to Atlanta .
What’s going on right now?
As for now, this is the synopsis on the CBS website:
A reimagining of the classic series, [MacGyver] is an action-adventure drama about 20-something Angus “Mac” MacGyver (Lucas Till) who creates a clandestine organization within the U.S. government where he uses his extraordinary talent for unconventional problem solving and vast scientific knowledge to save lives. Joining his team on high-risk missions around the globe is maverick former CIA agent Jack Dalton (George Eads). Under the aegis of the Department of External Services, MacGyver takes on the responsibility of saving the world, armed to the teeth with resourcefulness and little more than bubble gum and a paper Clip.
The pilot episode is called “The Rising” which is vague enough so Peter Lenkov can tease us further and fans can discuss about who or what will be rising (or not). Colossal Trailer Music recently announced that they would lend their music for the upcoming campaign.
At the moment, they’re still casting for extras; for example a young MacGyver, sexy bikini women, FBI agents and luxury cars. Shooting should start on July 10th in Atlanta. George Eads updated his Twitter account and Lucas Till set up an account on instagram. Interestingly, in one of the pictures Lucas is wearing a hat with the old logo of the unaired pilot that shall not be named. In a recent interview with the Hollywood Reporter, Lucas talked about why being the son of a chemist and an Army lieutenant colonel gives him a bit of an advantage taking on the character of MacGyver: “In the pilot, we have to say a lot of chemistry terms. [Producers] were like, ‘You sound like you really know what you’re talking about,'” Till said. “It’s because my mom does not stop talking about it.”
What is my opinion on this?
In general, I’m not a fan of reboots or remakes and I don’t like many of the modern tv shows and movies. In my opinion, they rely too much on CGI. As a girl of the 80s, MacGyver was my favorite tv show. Before I started my first rewatch of the original version (instead of the German dubbed version I had watched as a kid) I thought I had gotten over it after all these years, but boy was I wrong! It’s still one of my favorites, so when the reboot was announced, I was not happy. When I realized the reboot would be a prequel and RDA wouldn’t be a part of it, I got downright sour.
I didn’t really understand the concept of a prequel of an 80s show being set in modern times. But I’ll have to admit it: Over time, I grew curious. By April, I had turned into one of those “annoying” fans perusing the internet for every little bit of information. I posted whatever I found on the MacGyver Online Forums; which probably resulted in some people being advised (or “made”) to delete what they had revealed. Sorry about that, folks… well no, not really. (If you didn’t want us to find it, you shouldn’t have uploaded it to public accounts in the first place, ahem. It’s not like I’m some internet expert – all I did was using the search bar on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.)
On the first viewing, I kinda liked the trailer shown at the CBS Upfronts. But the more I thought about it, the more I started to dislike it. To me, the trailer looks like every other modern fast-paced action show and I wasn’t very happy with the character background stories to begin with. On the other hand, it’s not very easy to judge a pilot of 42 minutes by watching a trailer that’s not even 2 minutes long. I feel that Lucas is a nice guy and could pull it off. I liked George Eads as Nick Stokes in CSI, but I’m not sure if it’s a good idea to turn him into Jack Dalton – especially into a Jack Dalton being a former CIA Agent who’s 20 years older than MacGyver. Alas, I’ve never seen him outside of the show that made him famous. I’ve also never seen any movie or show with Lucas Till or Justin Hires in it, but I’m not convinced MacGyver really needs an ambitious roommate named Wilt Bozer. For now, Justin seems to fill the usual role for some comedic relief when needed.
At the moment, I can’t deny that I’m actually getting excited for this reboot. While I don’t think it will be better than the original, it might succeed in creating a new generation of MacGyver fans who will one day check out the original version. The MacGyver Hashtag is getting quite a buzz on social media lately, and who am I to complain if the reboot converts people all around the world into MacGyver fans and talking about it online? And let’s face it: If I was still in my twenties, I probably wouldn’t mind the casting of a young-looking actor like Lucas Till… I sure didn’t mind staring dreamily at RDA when I was a teenager (to be honest, I still don’t).
I do think a sequel would have been a better option, though. In the finale episode, MacGyver’s son of about 20 years is revealed. Because the series ended almost 25 years ago, he would be around 45 years today. Why not make S.A.M. having a son or even better: a daughter? This would have quenched the public thirst for a female MacGyver and also would have opened the doors for several cast members of the original show coming back for cameos as their original character. And who doesn’t want to see RDA aka MacGyver as a grandparent, teaching his grandkid some great MacGyverisms to get out of trouble?
For now, I’ll wait until the pilot episode before I continue criticizing too much. It would be nice to see opening gambits, but there were legible reasons why they stopped doing them in the original show. I’m still hoping for a character named Pete Thornton, Penny Parker or Murdoc, and also for a nod to the old opening credits and the theme song.
RDA stated several times that he’s not convinced about a modern version; joking about MacGyver just using his smartphone to get out of trouble by googling how-to-videos online. But I’m still hoping RDA pops up in a guest role. Even if he’s just playing a grumpy old guy selling fishing gear in a shop the next door.
Dashboard On Fire 