MacGyver? Slightly O.T.

[Jolonar]

No way Jose

I have heard the rumors about a Young Macgyver and can't see another playing the part but RDA. Now granted the premise is he's younger its whether you can find an actor that can pull it off. All of us youngin's out there that lived through MacGyver when it first ran liked the way RDA played the role and there is no one that can replace what he gave to the role.

I do not at all think Corin Nemic would be suitable for the role, as he just doesn't fit the MacGyver persona and in my opinion not really good looking. Michael Shanks is a possibility, but he'd really have to work with RDA to get his mannerisms down. Have they considered any other actors outside of the Stargate cast?

I've heard that there are two things in the works, Young MacGyver and another series that involves his son where RDA will make guest appearances. Does anyone know about the 2nd one?

 

[Anni]

RDA is an attractive man, but not conventionally good-looking. I don't think they necessarily have to have a younger more good looking guy to carry the role of a younger McGyver. More to the point....why would anyone want to make a sequel to McGyver? Of course it was one of the funniest shows on TV a few years ago. I remember watching a film of McGyver as well, something to do with Atlantis and my family laughed so much all the way through it nobody could eat their meal. Hopefully John Rhys Davies and RDA were deliberately playing it for laughs. It would be awful if they were being serious and it was so hilarious.

 

[summershake]

I can remember watching this particular movie, but I think in total there are three McGyver movies out there.
The Atlantis one and two others...okay, I admit it, I was a major McGyver fan. Should have all three movies somewhere on video collecting dust...lol
Anni, I think - as far as I can remember - the Atlantis movie was intended to be funny and usually that's what you can expect when John Rhys Davies is on board. Thinking about Indiana Jones III here...John was perfect for that one.

About a new McGyver: Everybody who's trying to step into RDA's shoes will have a very hard time. I just can't see anybody playing Mc despite RDA - for most people he *is* McGyver (or the other way round: McGyver *is* RDA).
Now the idea of a movie about his nephew/son/whatever seems much more plausible.

Anyway, I'd love to see somebody trying.

 

[webmouse]

If RDA *is* McGyver, then how can he also *be* Jack O'Neill?

Perhaps because he is an actor. And there are other actors out there, just as talented. You might give them a chance.

While it may be hard to envision anyone else playing a role made by RDA, there are others who can do it. Once we have gotten used to it, we won't be able to envision anyone else in the role.

I wasn't sure how I would take to actors other than KR and JS in the title roles of Stargate SG1, but accepted that the movie actors would not be interested in doing the TV series. So I let RDA (whom I remember as McGyver) and MS (whom I had never heard of) take me from one planet to another. In the end, I had no problem because the talent of the production and my trust in their abilities.

 

[summershake]

Webmouse, all I was saying is that right now I can't imagine anybody else as McGyver. RDA played that role for so many years he made it more or less his own.

When I started watching Stargate the series it took me quite some time getting used to the new faces and RDA's portrayal if Jack, aswell as Michael's portrayal of Daniel (although Michael did a fabulous job imitating James Spader's Daniel...I think it wasn't until season two/three Daniel really became his own).
But now I can't imagine anybody else as Jack and Daniel. That's just my point of view and I seem to have a problem getting used to other actors taking over characters that others have established over years.

I still have this little problem watching SG the movie and then watching SG the series or the other way round. It's just a little weird for me.

And as I said: I'd love to see somebody else trying to take over the role of McGyver. Because despite the fact it'd take me some time getting used to the new face I love comparing different portrayals of the same character.

Some actors take over a role, but you never get this feeling: He/she *is* that character...if you get what I mean....lol
Like RDA *is* Jack or McGyver for me, other actors never manage to really leave a personal stamp on characters they portray (that english? lol).
I guess that's the difference between good and not so good acting.
And of course you can't compare a movie character with a series character.
While JS and KR had two hours with their parts, RDA or MS had 100+ hours with them. So I guess it'd be easier to take over a movie character than an established series character.

It's like with the Bond movies. While Sean Connery and Roger Moore made this character their own for as long as they had with him, Timothy Dalton or even Pierce Brosnan never had this special 007 *snips with her fingers* for me.

That's just a personal point of view.

 

[webmouse]

We all have our own personal abilities to accept a character or a performance. My adaptability in this area may come from watching a lot of Shakespeare on stage, film and TV. After seeing a dozen variants of "Hamlet," at least 5 versions of "Othello" (including the live performance by Patrick Stewart in a race-reversed version), and many others -- I can no longer say that a role *belongs* to a particular actor.

Each medium is different -- some actors belong on stage, others in film, others on TV -- and a few can do it all. Harrison Ford was a perfect Indianna Jones, but I was just as happy watching Sean Patrick Flannery in the TV series.

Then again I was happier with Alex Baldwin as Jack Ryan and never accepted Harrison Ford in the role. At some point I'll see Sum of All Fears and see how Ben Afleck handles the part.

Try to keep an open mind and an open heart. That's all any actor can hope for in the audience, and it is what they deserve from us.

 

[Rowan]

Movies

There were two movies: Treasure of Atlantis and Trial of Doomsday, both shot after the series ended.

I admit to being a serious MacGyver fan and RDA is Mac in my mind. But I will certainly hold out and see who they bring in and how they make it work.

Row

 

[Anni]

I only saw the Atlantis one and we all rolled around laughing at it. Mind, the few episodes we saw of McGyver series had us all in fits as well. It was like Blue Peter meets James Bond. "And here's one I made earlier!"

Sorry couldn't resist that....for all of those who never saw Blue Peter, they were forever creating these innovative things out of a couple of toilet rolls and a length of sticky backed plastic!

:evil:

I guess that I can't really comment on who would play McGyver if RDA didn't do it. I often wonder whether RDA wishes he hadn't done it, but probably not. After all it kept him in jelly babies and hairstyling for a good while!

:evil: :evil:

Unlike Summer, I can easily separate an actor from a part. Changeovers don't particularly bother me at all.

 

[summershake]

Hairstyling? lol
I still have to laugh when I see his hair nowadays in re-runs...

Although I have a problem when a character is taken over by another actor, I don't want you to think I can't distinguish between the actor and the role he plays.
It helped me a lot going to conventions, because until then, I never actually met any actor and could see for myself that for expample MS has almost nothing in common with Daniel Jackson. He talked differently, walked differently, even his mimic was totally different from Daniel's. It was fun to realize what good a job these people do.

And I'm going off-topic now...lol
*slaps her own fingers*

 

[Penguin]

MacGyver will broadcast, as repeats, on TVLand, starting in January 2003. Check out www.tvland.com for further information (not that there's much there).

 

[Rowan]

'New' Mac vrs' Mac Classic'

Well... it looks like there'll be something for everyone now. Thanks for the info on the reruns, Penguin.

Row

 

[Jolonar]

When Stargate first came on it took me a little bit of time to accept RDA in his new role as Jack O'Neill because of watching him for 5 years on MacGyver. I was used to his character and the one area that threw me off for a long time when I started watching SG1, was the fact he carried and used a weapon. As we all know Mac despised guns. But with anything Mac is a character and the person who acts plays different roles. Now I am completely cool with RDA portraying a character with a weapon. I am also thinking that the transition went along smoother because right after MacGyver retired from TV, RDA did Legend, which in my opinion, was not at all good.

What made it the most easiest though to accept his roles which moved from one end of the spectrum to the other is RDA himself. He has always played the role with keeping his true personality in how he portrays the character. I don't know about you guys, but RDA is a scream. He is the only one that makes me crack up by some of the one liners he does, even though they are sometime cheesy.

As Anni said in a email somewhere, he isn't the greatest actor. Well maybe not and maybe he hasn't won an oscar for some block buster $100 million grossing movie, but he is/was in some of the most highly successful and remembered TV programs. I don't think whether you've made Movie Theatre movies makes you any more successful than doing TV. I think its the quality of how you affect an audience and there are alot of fans of RDA that have been affected by his contributions and the fact he has never sold out to the typical hollywood fame.

 

[Anni]

You're right I did say that, and I still believe he isn't the greatest actor in the world. But that doesn't really matter. It's what YOU think of him that counts, not what I or anyone else thinks.

The impact he has had on McGyver and then Stargate fans is immense and can't be ignored. It doesn't make his acting talent any better, but it does make him almost a household name and yes....he hasn't sold out to Hollywood. He has my admiration for that without a doubt.

 

[keltikkitty]

Vote for Macgyver

Vote for Macgyver to come out on DVD

For those of you who would by the DVD if it came out, Vote for it to come out. You have to register first but it's free and it doesn't take that much time. And of course you can vote for other shows you wouldn't mind adding to your collection.

Originally posted by ysm
That's what's wrong with this society today. Always throwing away anyone over 40!

Most of my favorite actors are over 40 if not over 50. Which makes it really hard to discuss with anyone why their cute. But I do agree. Most people do forget about the older actors except for character roles.

keltikkitty:aliengray

 

[Rowan]

Thanks!

Thanks for reminding me aboyt this vote keltickitty. it also gives me a chance to vote for one of my new favorites: "Firefly".

Rowan

 

[webmouse]

Used to be that women in Hollywood played the romantic lead up to their early 30s, then played the mother role (and mothers never have sex). Once they were too "old" for the mother, but too young for the grandmother, they disappeared until they looked suitably elderly.

Now, women like Susan Sarandon and Michelle Pfeiffer who are well-past 30 are still doing sex scenes, and Amanda Tapping (who is in her mid-40s as I recall) is a sexy love interest. None are required to play mother/grandmother roles.

Much of this never really applied to men, of course. Different biological clock, but there was a period in classic Hollywood tradition where a man was too old for the romantic lead and too young for the grandfather. Now actors like Sean Connery, Michael Caine, RDA make great romantic leads and have women still sighing over them.

What a wonderful world for those of us with a touch of grey.