Lockdown, Lowdown… Ringside Report Looks Back at the TV Show Magnum, P.I. – the Original

By Donald “Braveheart” Stewart

Hawaii – I had no idea where it was. It looked exotic, it felt aspirational and alongside the visuals of luxuries that were shown for Thomas Magnum p. i., it was for me, the epitome of cool.

But then again it was the 1980s. And of course, there was the moustache.

Magnum, P.I., was an 8 season CBS monster drama which we got in the UK at a time of things being fraught and for those without cash, prospects were more than a little dull. The 1980s were visually exciting but also a time of mass unemployment, industrial strife, a war in the Falklands and when we were still suffering the hangover of the 1970s. It was a time ripe for escapism. For 162 episodes that is precisely what we got.

Thomas Magnum, played by Tom Selleck, was a private investigator living at the mansion of one Robin Masters. The mansion, Robin’s Nest, was managed by Jonathon Higgins, an English butler come factotum played by John Hillerman, ably helped by two Dobermans, Zeus and Apollo, who seem to have an inherent dislike for Magnum. Magnum had a couple of close army buddies TC, played by Roger E. Mosley and local bar owner, with Higgins as a director of it, Rick Wright, played by Larry Manetti. Often called in by Magnum to help in whatever way they could, TC was particularly helpful, given that he had a helicopter business! To add to the intrigue, we never met Masters – ever – though we did hear him a few times. His arrival would be swiftly followed by his departure before anyone could lay eyes on him – he was originally voiced by Orson Welles and then one last time by Red Crandell.

Rules for private investigators always seemed to be different than for normal law enforcement and the epitome of cool in a Ferrari – Magnum could become an all-action hero in a helicopter or the renegade misfit we all hoped he could be. His relationship with Higgins, originally frosty ended up being one of mutual respect; a well-developed relationship which added to the comedic value of a guest in someone else’s house having to bargain for many of its advantages from a man who is responsible for keeping things safe and unharmed whilst faced with an unruly house guest. By the end of the 8 series, it was a mutual respect which the audience warmly took to.

The buddy relationship between TC, Magnum and Ricky fueled by their Marine experiences together in Vietnam added the dimension of authenticity and gravitas to the series. Vietnam was still very raw for US audiences and giving them an example of how people were affected by the war but also how they managed to survive was a positive piece of catharsis. In particular this was true as TC’s business is based on his combat experience as a helicopter pilot.

Magnum’s easy-going character as well as his liberal use of everyone else’s property made him a rogue with a heart appearance so beloved of so many characters over the years and when it was suggested that, at the end of season 7 he be killed off – there was an outcry. Season 8 followed, and Magnum survived – at least for another 13-episode mini-run.

Its gentile side saw a crossover with Murder She Wrote leading to a fantastic actor we have just recently lost, Angela Lansbury, making a guest appearance. Many iconic names from both the UK and the US made an appearance in this highly popular – not least beautifully shot in a wonderful location – series of the 1980s! Though they were never able to get a crossover with Hawaii 5-0, that had to wait until the remake, this was a wonderful advert for a beautiful set of islands.

As a young man in the UK, I cannot put my hand on my heart and say that I saw each and every episode. It was a weekly event – we did not have tape recorders as standard in houses yet and I was at university for many of the seasons. TV was an important gathering family experience back then. Families sat down and watched things together.

As a viewer I was mercilessly unaware of how the contract Selleck had signed for Magnum had kept him out of the movies including roles as iconic as Indiana Jones. I did not know about the ratings slump, arrested by moving to another slot so that it was not competing directly with The Cosby Show. And why would I want to know? It was a time of simpler things and simply wanting to escape into the television for an hour or so and not think about the things which were happening outside in the rain and sunshine of normal life was part of its attractiveness; Magnum gave us that escape perfectly.

It was nominated for many awards, has an Emmy and a Golden Globe and remains for those of us who were fans as our very first experience of Selleck. It’s generational thing for me. I see him as Magnum- always will, always have. My kids see him as Richard – Friends. My youngest does too because she is a big Friends fan, though much younger than her siblings. Now he has become an iconic presence in Blue Bloods. The constant is the moustache. And I kinda am glad that it never got put under a fedora and made into an archaeologist – Magnum was much more fun to watch than some grave digger!

British television is a curious affair. Begun through the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) it is funded through the universal license fee. In essence, if you wanted to watch the television, you had to pay the license fee. The BBC got it all and is state run, albeit at arms-length. Then came along commercial television in the form of the Independent Television (ITV) in 1955. Designed to bring a bit of competition to the BBC, it was paid for through advertising but still free to air… well they didn’t add another license fee to it. By the time that I was born, 1965, there was BBC1, BBC2 and ITV. And that was it. It was still years before Bruce Springsteen would moan that there were 55 channels and nothing on but here in the UK, we kept this going until in 1982, we added a fourth channel and in 1997, a fifth. With sparkling imagination, they were called Channel Four and ehm Channel Five… In between came Sky and we understood what Springsteen meant. And so, my childhood and leading up to early adulthood we had three options… But the programs made were exceptionally good. And so, here is some critical nostalgia as the lockdown has brought a plethora of reruns, new formats and platforms and old classics trying to make their way back into our consciousness as broadcasters flood their schedules with classics… or are they classics at all? Let me take you through an armchair critics’ view of what we have to see, to find out… Welcome to the Lockdown Lowdown…

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