Lately I've been watching reruns of Macgyver. I hadn't seen the show in years so I was curious whether it had stood the test of time. I mean, I remembered that it was pretty good back then when I was a kid but I wasn't sure what the grown up me would think about it now.
Fortunately, at least in my opinion, Macgyver is totally awesome even today. Or should I stay that it's totally awesome especially today. The show is idealistic, entertaining, well acted and well written, unlike the shows that we have on air nowadays. It's kinda shocking to see difference between now and then and how things have changed for the worse.
It's pretty difficult to say exactly why Macgyver was such a good show but one of the reasons for that has to be that everyone involved apparently really believed in what they were doing. These guys obviously weren't there to make a quick buck. They didn't come up with excuses why something supposedly couldn't be done. They did it anyway, no matter how hard it must have been.
That's basically also what the show was about. Macgyver got himself in trouble in every episode but he never took the easy way out. He never used guns, never lost his hope and most importantly never judged people. He was always there to find a solution to make things right, whether it meant coming up with macgyverisms or talking to people to change their attitudes.
One of the best things about Macgyver was that the show had such memorable characters. Like Pete Thornton, the always reliable partner and a father figure to Mac. Or Jack Dalton, the lovable conman who always got himself and everyone around him in trouble. But most of all, the show had the most amazing villain in Murdoc, Macgyver's arch enemy who never seemed to die, even when he faced a seemingly certain death.
Of course the most important part of Macgyver was Richard Dean Anderson who played our hero with no first name. I have to give it to him because he was completely believable as Mac. He was funny, serious and optimistic at the same time. He kinda did what Tom Hanks did to Forrest Gump. I don't think anyone else would have pulled the role off. He even did all the stunts by himself.
There are so many good episodes that it's hard to tell which ones are my favorites. Nevertheless, the episodes with Murdoc were always something to look for. I also didn't have a problem with the episodes in which Mac was trying to make the world a better place. Furthermore, one has to give credit to the fact that they didn't shy away from showing Dana Elcar's (Pete) real life illness that gradually made him blind.
It's really a shame that they don't make shows like this anymore. It takes talent and idealism to make a show like Macgyver. In a way I can't help but to think that Hollywood doesn't have what it takes anymore.
