Tuesday, April 25, 2006
The Handy Man - James Taylor
Pete Thornton: His name is MacGyver. He can fix anything. He could fix a computer with a hairpin and a piece of duct tape.
After preparing my sandwich, i rumaged thru my bag and fished out my duck tape. I used it to seal back the pack of ham i bought. Michael was incredulous! He exclaimed "You actually brought that all the way here (Paris)????"
I smiled.
Old habits die hard. Everywhere i went, i'd have my swiss army knife and some sticky tape, be it duct tape or masking tape. Yeah, it's the thing that happens to you when you grow up watching MacGyver!
Pic obtained from mcgyveronline.org
A couple weeks ago, i couldn't believe it when i found out someone on campus had the complete MacGyver Season 1!!!!! Woohoo! Everything else was put aside as i sat down immediately after i got me grubby hands on the pilot and i started watching.
It was excellent! :-)
OK - the quality left a lot to be desired - but hey, this was the 80s and methinks the people who came out wif the DVD din really do a good job in transferring it.
But it was MacGyver!!!
Wold you believe it that after watching the brilliant opening gambit of the pilot episode (you know, the one where he rescues the pilot - pun intended, hehehe. Interesting trivia - this was the ONLY episode in all 7 seasons that Mac actually fires a gun!), when the credits started and the familiar theme song came on, i found tears welling in my eyes! Really!
I was totally transported back in time, so long ago, when MacGyver was the highlight of the week and we would gather together to watch it. I was a kid all over again! Man, i was so young back then - that explains how easily influenced i was!
But Mac has always been a good influence. One of the reasons why the show lasted so long was because of him! Even when the storyline of each episode became quite lame at times, yet you'd still watch it cuz mac is such a likeable fella.
When faced with a difficult situation, he calmly uses his brains - and perhaps, some chocs, or a discarded can, or piece of cloth. He is selfless and most important of all, he's witty! ;-P
In today's world, he won't last. People want to see a "flawed" hero, one who wrestles wif his demons, preferably one who knows 3 kinds of martial arts, handles the state of the art weapons and shots first before asking questions, impulsive and emotional. Sigh...
Mac was why people wanted to watch TV last time. It's entertaining, it's educational, it's fun (clean fun, mind you) - pure escapism!
And everybody wanted to be MacGyver. Everyone started carrying swiss army knives. and when we left school, everyone let their hair grow into a "mullet" like Mac. I confess that i even tried to dress like him before!!!!
Well, i've gotten over that phase. But MacGyver has left a much deeper impact in my life. Whether or not it helped shaped my values i dun know for sure - altho i would like to think that i share the values that Mac would be pleased wif. But one thing i know is that MacGyver will always have that part in my life history that i'll never forget. Watching it brough back memories of the frens i had back, the things we used to do, the girl who i had a crush on...
Rumour has it that they are coming out wif a movie version of MacGyver soon. I hope not. It just won't work. And either it will be some young pretty boy punk as MacGyver - or a really old Richard Dean Anderson!
Don't leave home without them!
After preparing my sandwich, i rumaged thru my bag and fished out my duck tape. I used it to seal back the pack of ham i bought. Michael was incredulous! He exclaimed "You actually brought that all the way here (Paris)????"
I smiled.
Old habits die hard. Everywhere i went, i'd have my swiss army knife and some sticky tape, be it duct tape or masking tape. Yeah, it's the thing that happens to you when you grow up watching MacGyver!
Pic obtained from mcgyveronline.org
A couple weeks ago, i couldn't believe it when i found out someone on campus had the complete MacGyver Season 1!!!!! Woohoo! Everything else was put aside as i sat down immediately after i got me grubby hands on the pilot and i started watching.
It was excellent! :-)
OK - the quality left a lot to be desired - but hey, this was the 80s and methinks the people who came out wif the DVD din really do a good job in transferring it.
But it was MacGyver!!!
Wold you believe it that after watching the brilliant opening gambit of the pilot episode (you know, the one where he rescues the pilot - pun intended, hehehe. Interesting trivia - this was the ONLY episode in all 7 seasons that Mac actually fires a gun!), when the credits started and the familiar theme song came on, i found tears welling in my eyes! Really!
I was totally transported back in time, so long ago, when MacGyver was the highlight of the week and we would gather together to watch it. I was a kid all over again! Man, i was so young back then - that explains how easily influenced i was!
But Mac has always been a good influence. One of the reasons why the show lasted so long was because of him! Even when the storyline of each episode became quite lame at times, yet you'd still watch it cuz mac is such a likeable fella.
When faced with a difficult situation, he calmly uses his brains - and perhaps, some chocs, or a discarded can, or piece of cloth. He is selfless and most important of all, he's witty! ;-P
In today's world, he won't last. People want to see a "flawed" hero, one who wrestles wif his demons, preferably one who knows 3 kinds of martial arts, handles the state of the art weapons and shots first before asking questions, impulsive and emotional. Sigh...
Mac was why people wanted to watch TV last time. It's entertaining, it's educational, it's fun (clean fun, mind you) - pure escapism!
And everybody wanted to be MacGyver. Everyone started carrying swiss army knives. and when we left school, everyone let their hair grow into a "mullet" like Mac. I confess that i even tried to dress like him before!!!!
Well, i've gotten over that phase. But MacGyver has left a much deeper impact in my life. Whether or not it helped shaped my values i dun know for sure - altho i would like to think that i share the values that Mac would be pleased wif. But one thing i know is that MacGyver will always have that part in my life history that i'll never forget. Watching it brough back memories of the frens i had back, the things we used to do, the girl who i had a crush on...
Rumour has it that they are coming out wif a movie version of MacGyver soon. I hope not. It just won't work. And either it will be some young pretty boy punk as MacGyver - or a really old Richard Dean Anderson!
Don't leave home without them!
# posted by imissw : 7:59:00 am
