Parents' Guide to

MacGyver

By Joyce Slaton, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 13+

Cheerfully dumb throwback has science, heaps of violence.

TV CBS Drama 2016
MacGyver Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this TV show.

Community Reviews

age 11+

Based on 5 parent reviews

age 10+

Horrible!

The acting is completely devoid of any level of skill. Example: They are guiding a teammate via video chat on how to open a crate that has a nuclear bomb in it. The enemies storm in the room, subdue their female teammate, and kill her while they watch. Their reaction is a very mellow “Ugh, now they have a nuclear bomb” Then they move forward without another word about her and discuss their next plans. People get shot all the time without a trace of blood. Shots sound effects sound like muffled cap guns. Most of the “on the spot” inventions are very inaccurate. The sad thing is, I really tried to get into this, and this review is me holding back. I’ll just sum it up with this: I’m very OCD in the way that when I start a series, I end up finishing it whether I like it or not. This may be one of only 3-4 times in my whole life that I’m stopping before finishing it, and this time it’s not even halfway into the first season.
age 11+

Clean show for families

The new Macgyver is a fun action show that pays tribute to the original, but stands on its own. The first two seasons are a lot of fun as you watch the adventures Macgyver and Jack Dalton go on and the messes they get themselves into. The third season was decent. After Jack leaves, the show started to lose momentum. However, I just finished the fourth season and the story has picked back up and I feel that they are bringing it back to the pace they had in the beginning. There is a lot of action that may frighten younger viewers, but the language is almost non-existent. I actually can't recall any language off hand is how minimum it is. I know a lot of people have a hard time with all the reboots, but it is fun to see some of these shows come back. Their originals were good, clean, and fun. So are these. So if you are looking for something that is fun for the family and offers action, laughs, and heart. Macgyver is for you.

This title has:

Great messages
Great role models

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (5):
Kids say (8):

This cheerfully dumb remake of the classic 1980s action series excels at fun capers, but it's a bit too violent for the comfort of many modern parents. It's too bad that MacGyver and his cohorts have to take out so many tuxedoed men on boats, faceless hooded minions, and blank-faced soldiers while fighting crime, because much of the series is actually pretty amusing and would be fun for parents to watch with tweens as well as teens. The show's best gimmick is putting explanatory titles on-screen so we know just what materials MacGyver is using to make his bad-guy-foiling improvised gadgets.

And gadgets he does make, and bad guys he does foil. For example: In the show's very first episode, MacGyver: 1). gets a fingerprint from a party champagne glass using soot and adhesive tape; 2). makes a magnet out of an iron door hinge and copper wire from an electrical cord and disrupts a guard's security earpiece with it; and 3). sets off a fire alarm with fake "smoke" made from two types of cleansers and tinfoil. And so on! MacGyver is always able to fight his way into the secret guarded back room where the weaponized virus is being kept in a glowing blue tube in the center of a mysterious chamber -- because why would you hide such an important item? Dumb fun, though keeping a lid on the violence would have made it better whole-family fare.

TV Details

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