Magnum, P.I.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
|
| Magnum, P.I. | |
|---|---|
Title card (seasons 3-8)
| |
| Genre | Crime drama |
| Created by | Donald P. Bellisario Glen A. Larson |
| Written by | Donald P. Bellisario Glen A. Larson Chris Abbott Jay Huguely Reuben Leder |
| Directed by | Ray Austin Michael Vejar Ivan Dixon |
| Starring | Tom Selleck John Hillerman Roger E. Mosley Larry Manetti |
| Narrated by | Tom Selleck |
| Theme music composer | Ian Freebairn-Smith (pilot, early season 1) Mike Post Pete Carpenter |
| Composer(s) | Ian Freebairn-Smith (pilot, early season 1) Mike Post Pete Carpenter |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Originallanguage(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 8 |
| No. of episodes | 162 (List of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executiveproducer(s) | Donald P. Bellisario Glen A. Larson Tom Selleck |
| Producer(s) | Tom Greene |
| Location(s) | Oʻahu, Hawaiʻi |
| Running time | 48 min. (excluding commercials) |
| Productioncompany(s) | Universal Television |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | CBS |
| Picture format | Original Broadcast: 4:3 480i (SDTV) Remastered: 4:3 1080i (HDTV) |
| Audio format | Monaural |
| Original run | December 11, 1980 – May 8, 1988 |
| Chronology | |
| Related shows | Simon & Simon Murder, She Wrote |
Magnum, P.I. is an American television series starring Tom Selleck as Thomas Magnum, a private investigator living on Oahu, Hawaii. The series ran from 1980 to 1988 in first-run broadcast on the American CBS television network.
According to the Nielsen ratings, Magnum, P.I. consistently ranked in the top twenty U.S. television programs during the first five years that the series was originally broadcast in the United States. [1] It has had a lasting impact and is currently aired in syndication on Cozi TV.
Contents
[hide]Premise[edit]
Private Investigator Thomas Sullivan Magnum resides in the guest house of a posh, 200-acre (0.81 km2) beachfront estate, known as Robin's Nest, in Hawaii, at the invitation of its owner, Robin Masters, the celebrated-but-never-seen author of several dozen lurid novels. Ostensibly this is quid pro quo for Magnum's services based upon Magnum's expertise in security; the pilot and several early episodes suggest Magnum also did Masters a favor of some kind, possibly when Masters hired him for a case. The voice of Robin Masters, heard only a few times per season, was provided by Orson Welles (one last "appearance" was provided by a different actor, Reid Crandell).
With Magnum living a luxurious life on the Estate and operating as a P.I. on cases that suit him, the only thorn in the side of this near-perfect lifestyle on the Estate, isJonathan Quayle Higgins III (played by Texas-born veteran actor John Hillerman), an ex-British Army Sergeant Major, a (on the surface) stern, "by-the-book" ex-soldier whose strict ways usually conflict with Magnum's much more easy-going methods. He patrols Robin's Nest with his two highly trained "lads", Doberman Pinschers, Zeus and Apollo. Often as a humorous aside during various episodes of the series, Magnum must bargain with Higgins for use of estate amenities other than the guest house and the Ferrari 308 GTS (e.g., tennis courts, wine cellar, expensive cameras). The relationship between Magnum and Higgins was initially that almost of a "friendly nemesis", but as the series progressed over the seasons, an unspoken respect and fondness of sorts grew between the pair, and as such, many episodes dedicated more screen time to this "odd couple" pairing after the relationship proved popular with fans.
A recurrent theme throughout the last two seasons (starting in the episode "Paper War") involves Magnum's suspicion that Higgins is actually Robin Masters since he opens Robin's mail, calls Robin's Ferrari "his car", etc. This possibility is contradictory to numerous references throughout the series' earlier run (e.g., phone calls from abroad; the fact that Robin is recognized by famous people). Although the three of them have been together before, Magnum is convinced that Higgins hired an actor to play Robin Masters (a short rotund guy with an Orson Welles voice, as Magnum puts it).
Aside from Higgins, Magnum's two other main cohorts on the islands are Theodore "T.C." Calvin (Roger E. Mosley), who runs local helicopter charter service Island Hoppers - and so often finds himself persuaded by Magnum to fly him during various cases; and Rick Wright (Larry Manetti) (who refuses to use his birth name, Orville), who owns a local bar. In the Pilot, this was "Rick's Place" in town, inspired by Casablanca, with Rick appearing in suitable 1930s attire. However, after completion of the Pilot, executives on the series felt that audiences would be unable to fully connect with this element, and instead Rick moved to running the plush beachside King Kamehameha Club - which has exclusive membership and Higgins on the board of directors, and yet Magnum often strolls around, using the facilities and running up an ever unpaid tab, further fueling the Magnum / Higgins feud. T.C. and Rick are both former Marines from VMO-2 with whom Magnum served in the Vietnam War.[2] The series was one of the first to deal with Vietnam veterans as "human beings" and not as shell-shocked killers, and was praised by many ex-servicemen groups for doing so. Magnum often dupes, tricks or bribes T.C. and Rick into aiding him in various ways on the cases he works on, much to their frustration, though the deep friendship between the group, including Higgins, proved to be one of the key elements of the series over its eight-season run.
Magnum lives a dream lifestyle: he comes and goes as he pleases, works only when he wants to, has the almost unlimited use of a Ferrari 308 GTS Quattrovalvole as well as many other of Robin Masters’ luxuries. He keeps a mini-fridge with a seemingly endless supply of beer ("Old Dusseldorf in a long neck"), wears his father's treasured Rolex GMT Master wristwatch, is surrounded by countless beautiful women (who are often victims of crime, his clients or connected in various other ways to the cases he solves). Other characteristics specific to Magnum are his thick mustache, a Detroit Tigers baseball hat, a rubber chicken, and a variety of colorful Aloha shirts.
Nearly every episode is narrated, in voice-over, by Magnum at various points; and Magnum and Higgins often break the fourth wall by locking eyes with or, occasionally, directly addressing the audience; other characters also do this, though less frequently.
At the end of the seventh season, Magnum was to be killed off, which was intended to end the series. The final episode of the season, "Limbo", after seeing Magnum wander around as a ghost for nearly the entire run-time, closes with him appearing to walk off into heaven. However, following outcry from fans, who demanded a more satisfactory conclusion, an eighth, final season was produced, to bring Magnum "back to life", and to round the series off.[3] A number of other episodes also make reference to supernatural occurrences and the seeming existence of ghosts.
The show also recognized the existence of the fictional elite police unit that appeared in the series Hawaii Five-O. In the pilot episode, Magnum references the unit's chief McGarrett by name. This was a tribute to the long-running show starring Jack Lord, that ran on CBS from the fall of 1968 through to the summer of 1980—to be replaced, in essence, in the fall of 1980 by Magnum, P.I.. The show also did crossover episodeswith Simon & Simon and Murder, She Wrote. The episodes "Ki'is Don't Lie" and "Novel Connection" begin respective plots that conclude on the Simon & Simon episode "Emeralds Are Not a Girl's Best Friend" and the Murder, She Wrote episode "Magnum on Ice", both of which featured Tom Selleck as Magnum and John Hillerman as Higgins, while Jameson Parker and Gerald McRaney guest starred on Magnum, P.I. as the Simon brothers A.J. & Rick and Angela Lansbury guest starred as Jessica Fletcher. For re-run and overseas purposes, the first half of these crossovers (the Magnum episode) also had alternate endings filmed, which wrapped the story up in a single episode and so allowed repeat showings to be shown as "stand alone" stories instead of being two-part crossovers. The successor series to Hawaii Five-O, Hawaii Five-0, paid tribute to Magnum, P.I. when in the 2013 episode "Hoa Pili" the cast referenced the show Magnum, P.I. as they were flying over the island in a helicopter to the sound of the Magnum, P.I. theme.
No comments:
Post a Comment