HOLLYWOOD, California (Reuters) -- The man who can short-circuit a nuclear missile with a paper clip and stop an acid leak with a candy bar is back -- but this time in the guise of "Young MacGyver."
The WB has made a production commitment with producer Paramount Network Television to pick up a new version of the action drama "MacGyver." But the new version of the series will focus on MacGyver's nephew. The original series starred Richard Dean Anderson and ran from September 1985 to August 1992. The WB is a unit of AOL Time Warner, as is CNN.
"Young MacGyver" will follow the twentysomething hero as he leaves school and winds up joining the Phoenix Foundation -- the good-guy organization his uncle belonged to -- on a lark. Once there, he discovers that he's incredibly adept at stepping into Uncle MacGyver's shoes.
"Our MacGyver will be a little more irreverent than the original," said Carolyn Bernstein, senior VP of drama development at the WB. "It will have a lot in terms of the same elements of the original series, but with a brand-new cast of characters and updated for present day,"
WB and Paramount plan to start casting for the new "Young MacGyver" shortly. It is targeted for a 2003 bow.
The original "MacGyver" was the last show to pop a solid number for ABC in the pre-"Monday Night Football" time slot. Indeed, Paramount first approached ABC about the "Young MacGyver" project, but the network passed.
"Young MacGyver" comes on the heels of another franchise that the WB reinvented with a young slant -- the teenage Superman of "Smallville."
"We would never look a gift horse in the mouth, if given a familiar, adored franchise that came our way and we could age down to make it appealing to our audience," Bernstein said.
---- As a past fan I would watch the show to see how they work out all the nuances of Young MacGyver as his first experiments I imagine won't work as well as the original series and how he learns from experience and all that. Let's see what happens.
I yearn for the days when television networks actually tried. I mean seriously, it seems like every new show you hear about is either a rehash of an old show updated to make it "hip" or the remake of a wildly succesful British show. Why even bother if all you're going to come out with is the same old shit, recycled with a shiny new package.
I think network execs may have just given up. The realize that they're losing too much of their audience to cable and just don't give a damn anymore. Of course, if say ABC picked up "Unwrapped" from the Food Network and NBC picked up "Trading Spaces" then their ratings would be substantially higher.
(Shows selected from cable at random, though Unwrapped rocks the casbah)
Why can't anyone come up with more shows like The Larry Sanders Show? TV has turned me into a DVD addict.
These commercials are superfine because they pay for the production costs of putting CHRIS MOTHERFUCKING BENOIT on my GODDAMN TV SCREEN! I will GO GREYHOUND! I am thinking OUTSIDE THE BUN! – Dean Rasmussen 8/1/2002 Smackdown Workrate Report
The original "MacGyver" was the last show to pop a solid number for ABC in the pre-"Monday Night Football" time slot. Indeed, Paramount first approached ABC about the "Young MacGyver" project, but the network passed.
HOLD UP. Why is Paramount trying to force this show on ABC anyway. Dont they have their OWN network where I'm sure they could put on whatever damn show they want??
Originally posted by GrimisI yearn for the days when television networks actually tried. I mean seriously, it seems like every new show you hear about is either a rehash of an old show updated to make it "hip" or the remake of a wildly succesful British show. Why even bother if all you're going to come out with is the same old shit, recycled with a shiny new package.
I think network execs may have just given up. The realize that they're losing too much of their audience to cable and just don't give a damn anymore.
Yeah, you'd think they could at least give us another show about cops, doctors or lawyers. That's what the people want!
(Alternately, a funny sitcom about a wacky family and their home life.)
PMMJ
"Nothing remains interesting where anything may happen." -H.G. Wells "Show me the country in which there are no strikes and I'll show you that country in which there is no liberty." -Emma Goldman
Don't you know that it's in the best interests of the networks to keep us accustomed to crap? If we're willing to accept watching crap (and judging from the ratings of stuff like According to Jim, a lot of people are), then there is no incentive for the networks to work harder to make the quality shows.
I was born in a manger, like that other guy. You know, he wore a hat?