The Remote Island : MacGyver

TV Soundtrack: Theme Song Covers to Make Your Friday

Lindy Parker — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 20:00:00 GMT

True story: one of our proudest moments ever from high school was buzzing in with the most correct answers during a school-wide "Name that TV theme song" contest. Even now, years later, we're still basking in the glow of that victory (that sophomore couldn't even get South Park!) so you can imagine how thrilled we were with Best Week Ever's compilation of outstanding youtube theme song covers.

Here's a couple of our favorites including Baywatch, MacGyver, The Simpsons and a folk-rock version of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air...

Baywatch...

It's not so much the song itself that we love, but more that inexplicable creepiness of this shirtless guy with the impossibly serious expression.

MacGyver...

This is awesome! How does he do that? It's like the first time we ever saw someone on Sesame Street playing the spoons on his leg.

The Simpsons...

The crush we have on this guy right now is not small.

The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air...

Okay, we know that Best Week Ever panned this chick, but we have to say, we're kind of into it. It's like on American Idol when someone does something crazy that doesn't really sound that good but you still have to applaud the fact that they didn't just do a karaoke version. We're not saying we'd buy her CD or anything, but it made us laugh on a Friday afternoon. Not unlike Will Smith in that way.

For BWE's full selection click here.

Previously:

TV Soundtrack: Band From TV Performs on The Tonight Show

TV Soundtrack: Oprah Debuts "America's Song" By will.i.am

TV Soundtrack: Erin McCarley

MacGyver, The Movie?

Jake Kalish — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 20:44:00 GMT

It appears a MacGyver movie may be coming, made with film, dental floss, and chewing gum. And this news has Entertainment Weekly none too happy. We can't say we totally disagree; we all may be beating this pop-culture reference to death. On the other hand, MacGyver, in addition to being cheesy and extremely spoofable, is kinda pretty damn cool, if we're willing to admit it. No stars have committed to the project yet. Of course, no MacGyver movie announcement could ever be made without a wacky MacGyver joke (Yes, we're guilty too; it's unavoidable):

"We think we're a stick of chewing gum, a paper clip and an A-list writer away from a global franchise," said New Line spokesman Richard Brener.

An A-List writer? In Hollywood? We're not sure if even MacGyver can pull that off.

PREVIOUSLY:

MacGyver's Entire Tool Kit

Top Ten Reasons To Bring Back Tom Selleck As Magnum P.I.

"Burn Notice" Season Two Premiere: The Text Message Review

MacGyver's Entire Tool Kit

Jake Kalish — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 21:44:00 GMT

A quick sight gag, from us to you, the American television viewing public. (Thanks, Sebastian!)

Top Ten Reasons To Bring Back Tom Selleck As "Magnum P.I."

Bryan Christian — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 21:23:00 GMT

It's time to bring back everyone's favorite island investigator. Meet us after the jump for our reasons why.

1. 'Cause everyone else is already doing it...

As we mentioned the other day, Burn Notice is kind of like Magnum crossed with MacGyver. And those two shows share a similar structure to many many other shows today: stranger comes into quirky main character's life and asks for help; main character helps out and solves a crime; bad guys get locked up; stranger and main character part ways, leaving main character to his many personal quirks. See what we mean? Heck, forget Burn Notice! You got your Monks there, and your Psychs, and a few CBS shows, including the freaking Ghost Whisperer. Sure, we could go one step further back and say "Well, they're all children of Rockford, aren't they." And yeah, they are. But you think David Chase is gonna put any of that Sopranos money into putting James Garner into a Pontiac Firebird again? Seems unlikely. On the other hand, Donald P. Bellisario, the creator of Magnum, maintains an active relationship with CBS to this day, producing police and investigation dramas like NCIS and many others, and we just know he'd be up for it Tom Selleck was. Which brings us to...

2. ... but no one's doing it with Tom Selleck.

We remember exactly the moment we realized Tom Selleck was the bomb. Sure, we always knew that he could action it up, and looked good without a shirt and stuff, but that moment for us was when he was on Friends, and we were like "Hang on; he's handsome and he can do comedy and he doesn't seem out of place with people 20 years younger than him?" And he didn't. Put it this way: CBS spent 5 years making us think Don Johnson wasn't a grody old drunk with Nash Bridges. Think of what they could do with Tom Selleck at it again! Plus, wouldn't he like to take a little break from playing self-destructive gumshoe Jesse Stone?

3. 'Cause mustaches need to come back.

OK, maybe we're partial, but really: it's time for real mustaches to return. Not little hipster ones, we're talking about here, but big ones. Manly ones. The kind that would jump off a face, rub themselves down with shoe polish, sneak into a lagoon hideaway and un-kidnap a beautiful island princess. Exactly the kind worn by Thomas Goddamn Magnum.

4. 'Cause if you think about it, Thomas Magnum is pretty much The Big Lebowski's The Dude for Republicans.

You don't believe us? You got your white guy sports enthusiast of indeterminate income and perhaps-overly-eventful Nixon-era biography, hanging out in sunny climes and bumping into people in trouble, helping them shambolically out of their jams with the assistance of their wacky friends, and then moseying on along with their lives. Huh? Right? They're basically the same guy. We couldn't make this stuff up, people! Don't right-wingers deserve a Dude too?

5. Because others have already kind of done it but not all the way.

Supporting characters RIck and TC appeared on Las Vegas a few years ago -- yes, after Tom Selleck had replaced James Caan. OK, so, they weren't exactly the same guys. But they had similar names, similar professions, and were played by the same cats, so basically they were thinly veiled versions of the original guys hanging around Tom Selleck. Subtle, right? And there have been a couple other Magnum references on Las Vegas as well...

... but come on! Did they go all the way with it? No. Sadly, they kept to their 90210 in a casino schtick -- which, we admit, we kind of loved, but it ain't no Magnum. So, maybe it's time for the real deal?

6. Because it probably means we'd get a Quantum Leap revival too.

Among the other programs that Mr. Bellisario has been responsible for over the years was the '90's time-travel drama Quantum Leap. In fact, at one point, a crossover episode was planned with Leap star Scott Bakula jumping into Magnum's body and giving his trademark eyebrow-raise thingy -- but the footage was never used. Now, as some of you may know, Bakula's character Sam Beckett (nerd spoiler alert!) never found his way home in the final episode of the Leap. Maybe after we check in with Magnum, we can get Sam some closure too?

7. Because a successful TV revival will hopefully put an ixnay on the inevitably bloated, shamefully unfunny Hollywood version.

According to Wikipedia, "it was reported Matthew McConaughey would play Magnum, with Steve Zahn as Rick, Tyrese Gibson as T.C., and William H. Macy as Higgins in an adaptation "to be released in 2009." Now, that was supposed to be written and directed by the guy that did Dodgeball, which, you know, fat chance now. But still: a successful reboot of the original series would probably go a long way towards inoculating it from the satirical eye of whatever Stiller/Apatow acolytes might come a'sniffin'.

8. Because we'd like to see Thomas Magnum get right with what happened to him in Vietnam.

Even just a little! Magnum thought that his wife had died during the final pullout in VIetnam. Now that relations with Vietnam are fairly good, and guys formerly stationed there revisit the country fairly often, it'd be great to see him tackle something similar. We're not asking for much here: no evil twin sister that pops out of the woodwork or anything. Just, you know, a little scene of him playing with kids on the beach, and someone going "Hey, where's that," and he goes "Nha Trang. It's still beautiful," and that's it. Little moments, you know?

9. Because Lost ain't gonna film forever.

Did you guys know that Magnum PI was created in part because CBS still had a bunch of filming facilities on the island of Oahu following the run of Hawaii-Five-O? When Jack and the rest of the castaways on Lost finally burn through their planned hundred-episode arc in a couple years, are you gonna let Hawaii go show-less? We didn't think so. Another possible Lost connection: Lost producer Carlton Cuse created Nash Bridges and The Adventures of Brisco County Jr. before hitting it big on The Island. You see where we're going here? Nash Bridges + Brisco County Jr. + Hawaii + Tom Selleck = STELLAR!!!

10. Because, dude, seriously: Tom Selleck is the shit.

He's still got it! Check him out, he grows avocadoes and had permission from his wife to have "coffee" with Sophia Loren! WIN!

"Burn Notice" Season Two Premiere: The Text Message Review

Bryan Christian — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 15:29:00 GMT

And now the latest in what intelligence experts assure us will someday by blowing our cover and stranding us in warmer climes (hooray!): text message reviews of new and returning tv shows. After the jump, this week's review of Burn Notice, USA's buzz-heavy Magnum P.I./MacGyver/CSI Miami/Jason Bourne mashup.

brn ntc? ok, but NOT ENUF 6! we wuz robbed!