I really hope "Improvise!" doesn't become the catchphrase for CBS' new iteration of MACGYVER hitting their network airwaves this fall, as it stood out to be as one of the more formulaic elements of the first look we've gotten off the reboot in action. And that's never good, although one can never tell what the general public will eat up for the primetime evenings in front of the tube.
The second thing that also really stood out to me was how young the casting of the new MacGyver is with X-MEN: FIRST CLASS' Lucas Till in the role. Till is only 26 in real life, but looks like a baby here – a much different approach than we got all those years ago with Richard Dean Anderson. Now that's not to say this is the wrong take, but I thought one of the attributes of MacGyver was that his vast experience helped him pull together some of those crazy contraptions to help save the time time and time again. How does this young kid know what will work and won't work? I get this is a younger version of the character, but meet me halfway with the suspension of disbelief, will you?
MACGYVER, a reimagining of the classic series, is an action-adventure drama about 20-something Angus "Mac" MacGyver, 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 and Patricia Thornton, ex-field agent turned director of operations and Riley Davis, an unpredictable computer hacker with a chip on her shoulder. At home, MacGyver is entertained by his ambitious roommate, Wilt Bozer. 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.