TUESDAY NEWS DAY - THE NEXT MACGYVER?

So the University of Southern California’s Viterbi School of Engineering has teamed with Washington's National Academy of Engineering and the MacGyver Foundation to run this contest in hopes there's somebody out there with a fantastic idea for a new version of 'MacGyvver'.  And the creator of the orginal series, Lee Zlotoff, is fronting the project.

Here's how CinemaBlend summed up the competition:

Create an idea for a show that revolves around a female protagonist that will motivate generations of TV viewers with her engineering skills; it doesn’t have to resemble MacGyver in the least, and can fall into technically any genre. And since MacGyver was a spy whose skillset involves engineering, the main character doesn’t have to be an engineer per se. But it does have to be compelling to middle school and high school audiences, since inspiration is key.

Come up with a title, a logline, a pilot synopsis, and brief descriptions for future episodes, and send your ideas to The Next MacGyver website. The contest ends on April 17, at which point twelve finalists will be named. The finalists will be whittled down to five, with each winner earning $5,000 and the chance to talk with a Hollywood producer and a distinguished engineer. At this point, the winners would develop a story outline and write a final draft of a pilot script. Judges will then decide which one is the best, and assuming everything goes splendidly, the pilot would go into some form of production.

I'm hoping that "form of production" would still mean that it shows up on television.  And I'd prefer some kind of connection to the original series.  Rob Buckley of "The Medium Is Not Enough" suggested she should be the daughter of Richard Dean Anderson as MacGyver and I second that idea.  He must have had plenty of opportunities in the past to get somebody pregnant......

I wonder if we'll hear by the end of the year about the status of the project.....

BCnU!