cross-posted from: https://lemmy.zip/post/70086414

Given Lemmy’s leftward sociopolitical skew, the appreciation for Star Trek makes perfect sense, but what do we think of “MacGyver”? I specifically refer to the 85-92 Richard Dean Anderson show; I know there’s a reboot but I haven’t seen it yet.

Let’s see…

-Leftward Socio-political Commentary, including environmental activism and anti-authoritarianism

-Male protagonist with actual outward sensitivity & feelings

-“Open-source”; makes his own tools/gadgets from whatever’s available instead of relying on a corporate supply chain.

Sounds right up this platform’s alley.

I’m halfway through season 2 and it’s pretty damn good; it’s basically James Bond as an overgrown Boy Scout and that’s actually rather endearing.

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[–] 13 points 16 hours ago (1 child)

​I watched the original RDA version as a kid. It probably had a bigger impact on my morals than my mother did (which a lot of people should be thankful for).

​Later in life, I realized some of his improvised tricks were complete TV logic or exaggerated for safety reasons, but a surprising number of those basic principles actually hold up in a pinch. I’ve noticed a few things where my own politics diverge from the show’s commentary over the years, but overall, it was a great series. A huge reason I got into Stargate SG-1 later on was simply because I loved RDA in MacGyver.

​As for the reboot, I made it about three minutes in before shutting it off. They had a scene with people blathering on about tech, and literally nothing they said made a lick of sense. It felt like watching 90s "Hackers" tropes forced into a modern setting. The writers clearly had zero clue how actual technology works - which you could get away with in in the 80's and 90's, but comes across as lazy and cringe-inducing today.

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