![]() ![]() Ian Freebairn-Smith did the music for the premiere and the first few episodes of the series, but Mike Post, who went to high school with Selleck, and Pete Carpenter, who had already done the music for The Rockford Files, soon took over. Fortunately, Magnum had his pals from ‘Nam, Theodore “TC” Calvin, who does helicopter tours, and Orville “Rick” Wright, who runs a bar, to keep him company. The only catch? Masters’ major domo, Jonathan Higgins, a pompous, stiff upper lip prig, and his two Dobermann Pinschers, Zeus and Apollo, who seemed to dislike Magnum even more than Higgins did. Not only does Magnum get to live rent-free in the guesthouse, but he has access to all the estate’s many facilities, including a Ferrari or two. Despite this, somewhere along the line, he still managed to land a plush gig as live-in security at the Oahu estate of wealthy, best-selling (but never seen) novelist Robin Masters. Jeans, Hawaiian shirts, and baseball caps were his basic wardrobe for the entire run. He certainly didn’t dress for success, either. His drop-dead good looks were a lot easier to swallow when it was revealed he did have flaws (but not too many, of course), and it helped that he usually didn’t get the girl. THOMAS MAGNUM was a former SEAL and Naval Intelligence officer, who had seen action in Vietnam, and was now working as a private investigator (he’s got a pet peeve about being called a private detective or, GASP! a private eye) in Hawaii. Tom Selleck was certainly affable enough, and to his credit, he tried to play against type, insisting that things wouldn’t always come easy for his character. They merely became smirky props– now with backstories! And despite all their later attempts at humanizing the main characters, they never really came to life for me. The casual warmth and sly wit of Rockford was replaced by some by-the-numbers male bonding and a certain smug cleverness, more intent at appearing clever than actually being clever. It wobbled from wink-wink adolescent fantasy to heavy drama and back again (sometimes within the same show), and utilized voice-overs, dream sequences, characters playing multiple roles, fantasy episodes, cameos and other such gimmicks. Maybe my disdain was simply generational? Maybe I’d been spoiled by the glut of great TV eyes from the previous decade, but Magnum just never did it for me. Love, love, loved it.īut it was all too cheesy and erratic for me. ![]() You probably loved the show.Īnd you aren’t alone. ![]() Never has such a so-so show had such a large impact on the genre as the MAGNUM, P.I. A watered-down and beefcaked-up Rockford Files wannabe, utilizing Hawaii 5-O‘s discarded props and then-rising star (and former cigarette commercial star) Tom Selleck… ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Details
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |