Saturday, January 05, 2013

#138. or, Who's MacGyver?

 So, the other evening, we were sitting watching TV. But we weren't really watching. Because honestly, I can't seem to find anything that holds my attention on the TV anymore. And I think that's the case for most of our family, as more often than not, while we ARE there, and the TV is on, my wife is usually playing some sort of video card game, Little Son is on his ipod, (or new phone now) and I'm trying to catch up on missed blogs and commenting on my phone. (or new tablet now!)

  Anyways, I don't remember why, but on this particular evening, my wife and are are just chatting, as the TV plays in the foreground, and at some point in the conversation, I mention MacGyver. This prompts Little Son to look up from killing zombies on his ipod, or whatever the heck he's playing, and ask, "who's MacGyver?"

  OH. MY. GOD!

  Who's MacGyver? Are you kidding me? I know that I don't have to explain who MacGyver is to you, but if any of my kids has to ask, "who's MacGyver?", then I think that I may have possibly failed at being any sort of father figure to them.

  MacGyver is possibly the coolest, mulleted, TV character to exist. EVER! Even though the show ended over 20 years ago, he is permanently ingrained into our culture. Even today, if anyone finds a way to make something broken, work using things other than what you would use to fix that thing properly, it's considered MacGyver-ing it. And for a dude, it's like a badge of honour to be able to do that. MacGyver made duct tape, paper clips, and chewing gum into things greater than what they were originally intended to be. He's the reason that at almost 45 years old, I have a Swiss Army Knife in my pocket. And when I use that knife to do something like tighten the screw on a loose handle on a drawer or something, the MacGyver theme song plays in my head while I do it.

  But then, that might just be me. If I have to squint to see something off in the distance I still hear the, doot doot doot doot, Six Million Dollar Man, bionics are now operating, sound effect in my head. It used to be that way when I lifted something heavier than I had any business lifting as well. But, doot doot doot doot, CRICK!, ARRRGHHH, MY BACK!, is not all that manly. I try to avoid the heavy lifting now.

  I think that TV is pretty influential. When I was a kid, my dad and the neighbour put up our new TV antenna, which meant we got 3 channels instead of 2, and I got to see Star Trek for the first time. I probably spent 6 months walking around all stoic, quoting Mr. Spock. I'm not sure why, but those shows stirred my imagination and molded me, in a way, into who I am. I suppose its the same for the generation my kids are growing up in, If you ask them who Steve Austin is, they say he's a wrestler. To me Steve Austin will always be an astronaut/test pilot/bionic man.

  I worry for my kid. The popular shows today seem to be, Here Comes Honey Boo Boo, which I refuse to watch, or Duck Dynasty. Now I've never claimed to be anything but average. I need a calculator to do long division, and it takes me at least 6 months to read a novel. (which is more a time thing than an inability to read thing.) But in the portion of the Duck Dynasty episode that I did try to watch, it felt like my brain cells were beginning to liquefy, slide down through my nasal cavity and form on the corner of my mouth as drool. I just don't see the appeal of those shows.

  I am tempted to buy some episodes of McGyver to educate Little Son on how he should be proud to fix things in an "off the cuff, half-assed" manner. But I'm a bit scared, that if I watch an episode now, it may be completely idiotic, and the magic of MacGyver may be destroyed.

  ..........That being said, I did YouTube a clip from The Six Million Dollar man last night, and old Steve Austin still looks pretty manly with his hairy chest, doot doot dooting across a grassy field in shorty shorts and white knee high socks. Of course the Bionic Woman was running beside him, so she may have stolen the bulk of my attention.







This week, I'll be joining up with the other Dudes at Dude Write, with this post. I encourage you to pop over and read what the guys bring to the table. You can get there by clicking on THIS LINK





Just a note to add here. I'd like to thank the fellows at Dude for voting me into the Members only Diamond Club for this post for the week of 1-8-13. Thanks Guys!




37 comments:

  1. They were great shows my friend. But they did not age as well as us. They are stuck in the past and no longer quite so cool.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Kait,

      I think you might be right? But MacGyver just might be timeless. However, I do remember watching a few of the things he did, back in the day, and thinking, that would never work! We did age pretty well, didn't we? ;)

      Delete
  2. MacGyver? The Bionic Man? Just FYI, you're becoming a geezer.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Debra!

      A geezer? GET THE HECK OFF MY LAWN! :)

      Delete
  3. Ha ha, I always tell my friends that I'm MacGyver :). I think from necessity when I was a nanny, and probably Honduras, but I'm pretty decent at fixing stuff. I always feel positively HEROIC when I do, too :) But MacGyver ended 20 years ago? Crap.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hey MacGyver Kianwi,
      21 years to be exact! It's alright though, He will live on forever in our heroic acts of saving the day.

      By the way, I can completely imagine you being heroic! :)

      Delete
  4. I suspect he probably knows who MacGruber is though. (Don't worry about what Debra said above-the bionic man is a timeless legend.)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh my goodness, unfortunately he does know who MacGruber is. Despite my best efforts to shield him from that travesty.

      a timeless legend! gotcha!

      Delete
  5. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09UlB17cgKw

    Just for you Ken. I watched it and risked ruining my entire childhood hero just for you. He's still my hero, the show is still awesome, you may watch in the assurance that what was fantastic then is just as spectacular now.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Rachel!

      I had completely forgotten about the internal dialog! Thanks you the link!

      Here's a quick story, In my tractor, the seat has a switch in it that won't let the tractor shift into gear unless you are sitting in that seat. I was in the field, baling hay or something, and the switch broke and left me there, unable to make my tractor go. Luckily, I found a small piece of wire, that could have easily been a paper clip, found the wiring connection to the seat switch, jumped the terminals, and saved the world in the process! Well, maybe not the world, but I did get to finish baling. :)

      Delete
  6. Friend!
    First of all - ME TOO!!! I can not take TV! I rarely, if ever watch it, and I struggle to understand how folks have a set of particular shows they follow and such. At any rate, I am finding myself drawn to older shows too (geez, am I getting old?). I turned on something the other night for some mindless diversion, and I couldn't stomach it. I just couldn't. It was pure trash and like you said, my brain cells were weeping and wailing in protest.

    I certainly know about MacGyver, but I was partial to the show, Wonder Woman. I wanted to be her, with the boots and everything.

    Thank you for making me chuckle - I love this post!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hello, My Friend!

      I don't have any show that I have to watch every week. There's just nothing that appeals to me anymore. I think that the reality show phenomenon has pretty much killed television.

      For a while, I had a bit of interest in shows where they built things, like in competitions. But it always seems they need to bring in needless drama and that always turns me off.

      Wonder Woman! I remember that show. Linda Carter was fabulous in that outfit. However, as good as she looked, I always wondered why she didn't pick something a little more functional to fight crime in? But I'm not complaining. :)

      Delete
  7. I sympathize with your nostalgia for TV programs from the past. I even wrote a post this week about the Twilight Zone so we're both thinking along the same lines. I never saw a MacGyver episode but he sure became part of the culture. Fun post.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Stephen,

      I only got to see the Twilight Zone in reruns. Unfortunately, I was pretty young and it scared the bejeezus out of me!

      Yet, I remember Rod, smoking a cigarette while he did his set-up. Classic! I doubt that's something you will ever see again.

      Delete
  8. Ah, the Bionic Woman....Jaimey Summers....sigh.

    Ok, I'm back...so long as we don't talk about Wonder Woman or Charlie's Angels we should be alright.
    I used to watch Love Boat every week with my family. Before the it was Mutual of Omaha presents Wild Kingdom and the Muppets.

    I did like MacGyver until it got political....ok maybe that was later in life when I watched reruns. Give me a tube sock, some duct tape and a balloon....

    WG

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. What's wrong with Wonder Woman?

      And WHAT will you be making with a tube sock, duct tape and balloon?

      :) Inquiring minds want to know!

      Delete
    2. I don't think he's saying anything is wrong with her, I think he's saying she would prove to be a distraction :)

      But oh, the Love Boat! My parents wouldn't let me watch it, because they thought it was inappropriate, but my grandma was oblivious and let me watch it, along with her Soaps :)

      Delete
    3. A tube sock, duct tape, and a balloon, Oh my goodness, the possibilities are endless!

      MacGyver was political? I don't remember that part?

      Wonder Woman, The Bionic Woman, and Charlies Angels did provide some distractions, I'll say that!

      It's funny, the YouTube clip that I watched with Steve and Jamie running bionicly through a field, he was wearing only shorts and socks, she had jeans and a sweater! The only thing exposed was her hands and head?

      Love, exciting and new
      come aboard, we're expecting you
      Love, life's sweetest reward
      Let it flow, it floats back to you

      What's so risque about that?

      Delete
    4. Aaaahhh - I got it! I re-read and picked up on that afterward...there's my DUH moment!

      The Love Boat? Funny!

      Delete
  9. LOL I loved how just by writing doot doot I could hear the song magically as if I had been watching the show right here!! or it just maybe I watched both shows so many times that even 10 yrs. ago I could quote some of the great episodes not now though the stupid reality shows have made the mind turn to mush LOL good post ","

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hey, HeY J!

      Those sound effects are forever stuck in a section of my brain. Likes the pssht sound whenever a door opened on the Enterprise.

      And Theme songs! There's so many I can still sing, Fact's Of Life, Different Strokes, Dukes of Hazzard, I know then all! I tried so hard to memorize the opening sequence of The Six Million Dollar Man, but never quite got all of that one.

      The only show that comes to mind with a memorable theme song from recent times, is the theme to Friends. But I didn't really watch that show.

      Delete
  10. Sometimes I will watch old movies I loved as kid now, as an adult. (Usually when I can find them in the five dollar bin.)Yeah, sometimes they are better then I ever remembered like Black Beauty and the Secret Garden. Other times, well, lets just say some movies should never have been re-released.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Holly,

      I think you're right. I believe that it's usually the shows with the special effects in them that seem so lame now. Yet, they were awesome when the effects they used were cutting edge.

      I think anything with a decent story stands up.

      Delete
  11. I loved Macgyver. In the mid 1980's had gone to BC to see my sister and we were on the ferry to go to the island and the cast from the macgyver show was on the ferry. That is how they went to get to the islnad to make the show. I actually sat next to Dana Elcar. He smiled and let us take a picture of him and he signed a paper for me which over the years got misplaced. As we were talking to the crew the plane carring Richard Dean Anderson or Macgyver flew over. Was a cool experience.. I wish I still had the picture and the paper.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Shirley,

      WOW! That's a cools story! I don't think that I've ever bumped into a celebrity.

      I'm trying to remember, I don't think that all of the seasons were shot in BC, were they?

      If I remember, the earlier ones were better, the one's shot in Canada, not quite as good?

      It was the same thing with Airwolf. The later episodes that moved to Canada to save money, were a bit stinky?

      Delete
  12. MacGyver also had one of the best TV themes! It's one I always stop and watch/listen to when I see it on. One of those odd cable stations plays MacGyver all day every Monday. Cloo or some weird station like that.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hey P.J.,

      I mentioned a few comments earlier, on how I thought that the theme songs from past shows are way more memorable than anything today.

      A station that plays MacGyver, all day, every Monday! I must search this station out! :)

      Delete
  13. That is indeed tragic. McGuyver. How can you not know that???

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hey Becky! I know, right?

      When my Middle Son was about 5 or 6, The Six Million Dollar Man used to come on in the middle of the night on some station in reruns.

      I'd get him up, and we would watch them together. He still remembers that, and who The Six Million Dollar Man is.

      Unfortunately, I never found any reruns like that to teach Little Son.

      Delete
  14. Like Stephen Hayes, I have never seen the show. It was from my generation and I am very familiar with what it is, but never watched it for some reason.

    When I have gotten excited about TV shows from my childhood and tried to show them to my kids, it has always been a disaster. Usually, I even find the shows to be stupid now. Some of my favorite shows:

    Dukes of Hazzard
    The Incredible Hulk
    The A-Team
    Quantam Leap


    They are ridiculously stupid. My kids look at me with wide eyes, "You thought that was good. I hang my head in shame.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi, Brett,

      I remember all of those shows that you listed. And I remember that there were awesome, just like you.

      I guess those are some that don't stand up. Quantum Leap? Really? That was an incredible show!

      I guess I will try to leave those in my memory, rather than have then destroyed in my imagination.

      Delete
  15. That is why we must take them under our wing and teach them about the past,

    .....so they never forget. :)

    ReplyDelete
  16. It is hard to find a TV show. I still lean more toward the animal/nature ones. The ones with people are scary!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi McGuffy Ann,

      I watch quite a bit of the Discovery channel, but they seem to want to show those dreaded reality shows more as well. I've pretty much lost all faith in television?

      Delete
  17. I've a shameful confession to make: I've never heard of MacGyver! But then again, I'm an Englishman.

    ReplyDelete
  18. I think that shows like that are timeless. Definitely buy it and watch it with him, it sounds like a great bonding experience.

    ReplyDelete