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MacGruber.... The movie?!

Trekker4747

Trekker4747

Boldly going...
Premium Member
So, on Saturday Night Live there's a series of sketches referring to the 80s TV series "MacGyver" about a mulleted jack-of-all trades "agent" who solves problems by rigging up solutions from discovered items.

Ummm... How can SNL get away with this? Sure, copyright restrictions don't apply to parodies but I think the parody in this case is pretty damn clear-cut and I would think would be treading on some very, very shaky ground.

It could also be argued, I'm sure, that the parody movie could be seen as harming the copyright holders' future potential for making a MacGyver movie (you know they're planning on it.)

So what's the deal here? How does an un-funny, one note, series of sketches on SNL get away with such a blatant and shameless parody movie?
 
This may actually be a good thing for the copyright holder. I know that when SNL started airing the MacGruber sketches, my wife and I started talking about MacGyver and even picked up season 1 on DVD. The parody puts the original in the minds of the people who see it, and has the potential to draw more attention to the original production thus, increasing interest and sales of the DVDs. If they actually make a McGyver movie, I'll probably go check it out. If one came out now and MacGruber hadn't come out to get me interested in the original series again, then I'd probably be 50/50 on whether I'd go see it.

That said, all of these SNL movies suck. I suppose Wayne's World is the one exception, and that hasn't aged very well.
 
Oh, fabulous. Another 3 minute joke gets stretched out into a 2 hour movie. :rolleyes:


I'll pass, thanks.
 
Trekker4747 said:
So, on Saturday Night Live there's a series of sketches referring to the 80s TV series "MacGyver" about a mulleted jack-of-all trades "agent" who solves problems by rigging up solutions from discovered items.

Ummm... How can SNL get away with this? Sure, copyright restrictions don't apply to parodies but I think the parody in this case is pretty damn clear-cut and I would think would be treading on some very, very shaky ground.

It could also be argued, I'm sure, that the parody movie could be seen as harming the copyright holders' future potential for making a MacGyver movie (you know they're planning on it.)

So what's the deal here? How does an un-funny, one note, series of sketches on SNL get away with such a blatant and shameless parody movie?
Click to expand...

Parody is protected free speech. So, there's no shaky ground.
 
Trekker4747 said:
So, on Saturday Night Live there's a series of sketches referring to the 80s TV series "MacGyver" about a mulleted jack-of-all trades "agent" who solves problems by rigging up solutions from discovered items.

Ummm... How can SNL get away with this? Sure, copyright restrictions don't apply to parodies but I think the parody in this case is pretty damn clear-cut and I would think would be treading on some very, very shaky ground.

It could also be argued, I'm sure, that the parody movie could be seen as harming the copyright holders' future potential for making a MacGyver movie (you know they're planning on it.)

So what's the deal here? How does an un-funny, one note, series of sketches on SNL get away with such a blatant and shameless parody movie?
Click to expand...
Satire and parody are protected as free speech, IIRC.
 
cardinal biggles said:
^The Blues Brothers, however, stands the test of time.
Click to expand...

Awesome movie, but it's hard to count Blues Brothers as an SNL movie since they only performed music on SNL and didn't perform any comedy skits which were later expanded into a movie.

MacGruber will go down with the Roxbury brothers, It's Pat, and that Catholic school girl who smelled her armpits movie. Ugh...
 
I agree that parody and satire are protected speech, but I also think there are some valid questions about the movie being such.

Clearly the SNL sketches are because they focus specifically on Macgyver situations but have MacGruber fail due to his own mental problems/shortcomings - a direct opposite from the always successful, boyscout Macguyver.

From what I have seen, the movie is less clear cut. Take away the name and the (sorta) mullet and I don't see where MacGruber is a parody of Macgyver at all. He just seems like a dumb, cowardly action hero who manages to save the day like we see in many other movies. Of course, until we see the whole movie, it would be hard to determine if it is parody or really just riding the coattails of an established property for money. I think Macgyver's owners are justified in asking a judge "look at this property and tell us if you don't think they are just infringing on us to make a buck".
 
Richard Dean Anderson appeared in some of the MacGruber shorts. I think he's in the movie as well? I actually like the MacGruber shorts and I don't care for anything on SNL outside the headlines, digital shorts, and opening political sketch.
 
Ometiklan said:
I agree that parody and satire are protected speech, but I also think there are some valid questions about the movie being such.

Clearly the SNL sketches are because they focus specifically on Macgyver situations but have MacGruber fail due to his own mental problems/shortcomings - a direct opposite from the always successful, boyscout Macguyver.

From what I have seen, the movie is less clear cut. Take away the name and the (sorta) mullet and I don't see where MacGruber is a parody of Macgyver at all. He just seems like a dumb, cowardly action hero who manages to save the day like we see in many other movies. Of course, until we see the whole movie, it would be hard to determine if it is parody or really just riding the coattails of an established property for money. I think Macgyver's owners are justified in asking a judge "look at this property and tell us if you don't think they are just infringing on us to make a buck".
Click to expand...

The name, the mullet, the last-minute inventions, hell his overall dress is all MacGyver-esque.

And while parody falls under free-speech and fair-use, I think there's precedent there that says if the parody detracts from the source material it's no-longer protected. And it could be argued that the McGruber movie goes beyond parody.

The sketches are one thing, but to make full-fledged movie strikes me as fracturing some good-will and the bounds of how parody is protected.
 
Treker4747: Have the trailers shown Macgruber inventing something at the last minute? Maybe I didn't see that particular trailer, but what I have seen is mostly generic action/comedy bits.

He does mention that he doesn't "use guns, so I make bombs with common household materials" (pretty much straight from the SNL sketches) and then he blows up his own van. I haven't see him doing any improvisational activities at all. He also goes on to use guns several times in the trailer. I could see this being parody ala RDA in Stargate SG-1 loving guns, but from the inconsistency in the trailer I don't know how this will play out. Does he actually not like guns and is forced to use them, or is the whole not using guns statement the parody and he really does like them, etc?

I guess my interest in this movie has just gone downhill since seeing the trailer. I don't think it really should have gone downhill compared to the poor SNL source material, but I guess I was unreasonably hopeful when it was first announced because I thought it might be a good parody (like Galaxy Quest) that might reflect well on a real Macgyver movie.
 
My girlfriend has told me she wants to see this. To which I asked how much the penalty would be if I declined. Yeah....I got that type of sarcastic answer in regards to this, a MacGruber movie.

Man, they will play that card any time.
 
'MacGruber' redband trailer

New Poster and Red Band Trailer for 'MacGruber'
They sure are selling the fact this is rated R

MacGruber hits theaters on May 21 and has already been rated R for strong crude and sexual content, violence, language and some nudity.
Click to expand...
video trailer 2:25 length
http://www.ropeofsilicon.com/article/new-poster-and-red-band-trailer-for-macgruber

Looks like Hot Shots or something. Action/comedy genre. Explosions look good.
Val Kilmer is not looking good.

I won't be seeing this even on Netflix.
They should've made a 1 minute trailer and not given away the good stuff in a long trailer.
 
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