'MacGyver' people, like most people, are not that excited about 'MacGruber'

For pure kitsch value, MacGyver is the gift that keeps on giving. The action adventure show, which aired on ABC from 1985 to 1992, birthed the handy catch phrase "I MacGyvered it," meaning, I used bubble gum and rubber bands to fix something. It launched a thousand fantasies for man-hungry Simpsons characters Patty and Selma (they love them some Richard Dean Anderson) and inspired a recurring Saturday Night Live skit, "MacGruber," that recently starred Charles Barkley and his "acting" skills. Now, though, a legal scuffle is starting between the original MacGyver rights holder—the creator of the TV series—and Relativity Media, which is preparing to open a big-screen MacGruber on April 23.

MacGruber is a parody, obviously, which could protect it against copyright lawsuits or injunctions that may be filed against it. (It has Kristen Wiig in it, for crying out loud.) But New Line Cinema and MacGyver mastermind Lee Zlotoff are pressing the issue because they want to make their own movie and think the tongue-in-cheek version would take the wind out of their sails/sales. A couple thoughts about this hubbub: 1) If Hollywood can turn The A-Team into a major motion picture (coming this summer), why not MacGyver? 2) Not since Wayne's World has anyone really bothered to see a movie based on an SNL skit. There will probably be plenty of money left for the taking even after MacGruber comes and goes. Wonder if Robert Pattinson knows his way around needle nose pliers, duct tape and nitro glycerin. UPDATE: MacGruber, which stars Will Forte, Ryan Phillippe and Val Kilmer, will get its world premiere at the SXSW Film Festival next month.

—Posted by T.L. Stanley