New 'MacGyver' stars are fully aware of the spoofs

Lucas Till, 25, was just a toddler when the original MacGyver finished its run on ABC in 1992, but he says the clever, inventive hero is on the radar for younger viewers.

"I think you'd have to live under a rock to not know who MacGyver is," says Till, who will play Angus "Mac" MacGyver in a new version of the adventure drama due on CBS Sept. 23.

Co--star George Eads, who joined Till for an interview with Paste BN at San Diego Comic-Con, marvels at MacGyver, who can scientifically transform ordinary household items into life-saving devices or powerful weapons. He also understands how an iconic character can be a rich target for parody, as evidenced by Will Forte's self-detonating MacGruber, who earned his own feature film despite — or more likely because of — blowing himself up in every Saturday Night Live sketch.

"Since there have been so many spoofs of that original TV show, it was kind of hard to watch it without a giggle. It also made me excited to reboot something where you're going to get a giggle but it's going to be dark humor and you're really taking a dramatic ride," he said. 

Time changes perceptions, too, especially when it comes to a show that premiered in 1985, when TV drama and state-of-the-art technology were very different.

MacGyver "was cutting edge at the time. I think the idea holds up and it's timeless," Eads says. "Again, it's not a criticism, but when I went back and started watching it, I started laughing. I thought the music was funny. I thought the costumes were hilarious. One of the characters was dressed in a cowboy duster. It was his kind of garb."

The household items manipulated by the original MacGyver (Richard Dean Anderson) were different, too.

"I started to watch an old episode where he had zip ties around his hands and he deconstructed an old wall heater and uncoiled it and got it to turn on to melt his zip ties," Eads said. "What cracked me up was I can't remember the last time I saw an old wall heater like that."

In the end, he said, it's great to be anchored by an inventive concept known to so many fans, young and old. "I'm excited for this idea that's still so genuine, to really give it a polish and a new cut," Eads said.