It seems that the MacGyver movie is finally gaining some traction and that it has a good chance of being made. What some fans may not know is that this wasn’t the first time a new version of the classic show has been attempted.
Back in October 2002, it was announced that Paramount had made a deal with the fledgeling WB network to produce a pilot for a new MacGyver series. But, rather than focusing on Richard Dean Anderson’s character, the new series would revolve around his twentysomething nephew, Clay. Young MacGyver follows the young hero as he leaves school and, on a lark, winds up joining the Phoenix Foundation — the good-guy organization his uncle belonged to. Once there, he discovers that he’s adept at stepping into his Uncle MacGyver’s shoes.
Carolyn Bernstein, WB’s senior VP of drama development, said of the project, “Our MacGyver will be a little more irreverent than the original. It will have a lot in terms of the same elements of the original series, but with a brand-new cast of characters and updated for present day.”
