new MacGyver webisodes

[lolmac]

The webisodes for the 'new MacGyver adventure' are now online.  I also posted this to LOLMac, but if you haven't seen them yet:

MacGyver and the Citan

So, tell me!  What did you think?  I was a bit disappointed, but even a little MacGyver is definitely better than none.

Comments

[thothmes]

I have broadband, but not particularly fast or efficient broadband, so watching these was a little frustrating as the audio came in little chunks, making it a bit frustrating to follow. Unlike a YouTube video, they made it hard to replay it so that the already loaded video runs smoothly.

Yeah, some is better than none. But -

"That's an email, Dad."????! Seriously? For RDA, definitely. He admits he's not tech-savvy. For Jack O'Neill, well maybe. He isn't getting all his memos, but he's pretty culturally aware, and now that he's in D.C. it has to be an important job-related skill. But Mac? Nuh-uh. Mac was demonstrably computer savvy in 1985 when not so many were. I can't imagine he'd let that all slide into oblivion. Fail!

And what was with the bit with chasing around on the ceiling? Did Caitlin reverse the polarity on the anti-gravs before she passed out instead of shutting down the A.C.? I mean, I know that they were probably rushing the film editing in order to meet the go-live deadline, but this seems more than a bit unprofessional. I tried to see an artistic purpose for it, but I came up empty. All I can assume is that it was a colossally embarrassing mistake.

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In an unrelated (except as it relates to MacGyver) story, Beloved Husband was away last weekend escorting his mother back to Houston, visiting overnight with his brother, and returning back the next day. The Whirlwind took it hard. Much weeping, much wailing. It came to dinner-cooking time, and there was nothing to occupy her mind, and she was dwelling in the worst way.

What to do? She is not allowed TV on her own ticket until she reads some (with her attentional problems, she avoids reading like the plague, and needs something to get her over the hump to being able to do it with enough fluency that it's fun), but she's allowed to see what others choose to watch.

There was nothing I could bear to watch on the satellite dish. Nothing. Stargate? Nope. She likes it too much, because it has Sha're, and Sam, and Cassie, and Janet. Not Lois & Clark, there's Lois. With Remington Steele there's Laura Holt. Movies come in NOT SUITABLE (mostly Middle Daughter's), Incomprehensible to The Whirlwind (mostly ours), and Kids' (a bit too much of a hard sell that I'd want to watch it myself). Original Trek? It gives her the screaming meemies for some unfathomable reason. Okay, MacGyver is it. Provided I avoid the one where the little girl falls down into the Amish well (which she has seen and loved), it's fast paced, she'll probably watch it, but not filled with women and little girls to make her think it's made just for her.

Ooops! Wrong. For the very first time ever in her 10 years, she is absolutely swept up by something with a male protagonist. The Whirlwind is now officially a woman of taste and discernment, and MacGyver is her show. Mac is very, very smart. He knows what to do. He always saves the day. He's almost as cool as Daddy, and she tells me over and over "Thank you for having movie night so I could forget I was missing Daddy. I love MacGyver! A fan An addict is born!

[lolmac]

Re the webisodes: Yeah, I kept seeing RDA and his daughter, not Mac. I visualize Mac running his own home server and keeping up with hackerdom. (See Reverb.) In fact, I think I had two real issues: one was that the style of filming was not good storytelling (upside down, how artful!), and the other was that the story seemed to wander between Clever Mac and Dumb Jack Rick.

* * *

Meanwhile, in TangentLand . . .

I personally think it's wonderful that the Whirlwind has joined the Cult of Mac! And I can't help wondering . . . is there any MacGyver fanfic that might tempt her to reading? I'm thinking of Lothi's stories, which might not be too intense/scary/violent. I'd offer my own, but I'm sure it's all too long and adult/complex, even if I were to clean up the adult language.

[thothmes]

the other was that the story seemed to wander between Clever Mac and Dumb Jack Rick.

Yes, exactly! It was a Generic Richard Dean Anderson Character, instead of being pure Mac. I was left with the feeling that Mac had really lost his edge over the years. And you're right that it's not really Jack either. Jack plays stupid, but inside is a very bright guy who has no drive to apply that to academics or winning notice for how bright he is. With Carter it's intellectual curiousity and need for approval, with Daniel it's a need to find the truth, with Teal'c it's a need to survive, and with Jack it's a need to win. I get the feeling that it's more a case that he can't not. His high-revving mind just pops out with these things, and he's a little puzzled by why other people don't just see it like he does, but he's become accustomed to the fact that it is so by now.

I think RDA is probably very bright, in view of the fact that he has plenty of interests and a quick wit, and got through high school handily while living semi-away-from-home, and pretty clearly has massive ADHD (he has repeatedly asserted that he has a notably brief attention span and "this crazy energy", and there is a certain je ne sais quoi which is pure Whirlwind). He just focuses his life on humor and getting the most out of the moment, not on focused use of that brainpower.

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As for the Mac fic, I'll think about that because it's a good idea, but right now we are concentrating on trying to get her to take the leap from reading picture books (which she will happily read, since they take only a few minutes) to reading chapter books. She's a pretty good reader for her age, who reads with expression and decent fluency, but she hasn't yet reached the point where she can get lost in the world before her and stop concentrating on the mechanics of reading. She's really bright, but I've had 3 separate educators with 30 year careers in elementary ed, all of whom had kids of their own with ADHD, 2 of whom are special educators, tell me that she is "the worst case of ADHD I've seen in my career".

On the upside, a high proportion of Beloved Husband's patients who are C.E.O.'s or small business owners have adult ADHD. They provide the energy, spark, and direction, and hire people (or have spouses) to handle the follow through and the details. So there's that.