History Series / MagnumPI

[[caption-width-right:350:[-[[ChickMagnet Women just love]] the moustache.-] ]]

Created by Creator/DonaldPBellisario and Glen A. Larson and airing on CBS from 1980 to 1988, ''Magnum, P.I.'' seemed at first glance to be yet another ActionSeries show, using the old ''Series/HawaiiFiveO'' production facilities in Hawaii, with a handsome lead actor talented in comedic schtick and the usual buddies helping him solve his case-of-the-week. But it soon revealed its more dramatic plot threads by alternating the comically-toned episodes with those concentrating on UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar background of Thomas Magnum and his friends. The concluding scene in the season three two-part premiere "Did You See the Sunrise?" was the key moment that illustrated Magnum's darker side. It remained the most unexpected and controversial scene of the series' entire run.

* OohMeAccentsSlipping: Hillerman plays Higgins with exquisite Received pronunciation, but sometimes lapses on "schedule" and "privacy" (which should be said as "shedule" and "privissy").

%% * GettingCrapPastThe Radar: Due to overwhelming and persistent misuse, GCPTR is on-page examples only until 01 June 2021. If you are reading this in the future, please check the trope page to make sure your example fits the current definition.

* RatedMForManly: All four leads are different styles of Manly Men. Magnum, Higgins, T.C., and Rick.

* UndesirablePrize: Magnum wins third prize in a slogan contest for a cheese company: a trip to Disney World. When it's discovered that one of the two slogans that beat him was a quote from Dickens, he gets bumped up to second prize: a trip to Waikiki. Which in his case is just up the street.

%%* BadassBaritone:
%%** Col. Buck Greene.
%%** Robin Masters himself, as voiced by Creator/OrsonWelles.

* TearJerker: in 'Home From The Sea' Magnum comes off his surf-ski and spends the rest of the episode treading water whilst his friends gradually work out that he is in trouble and come to rescue him. To keep himself going he recalls his naval aviator father teaching him to swim before leaving for the Korean War and the 8 year old Magnum still practicing on the beach when a car pulls up behind his mother and a naval officer gets out. Both Magnum and the audience think it is his father returning but in fact it is a chaplain coming to tell them he has been killed in action. The title comes from a Robert Louis Stevenson poem on death, "Here he lies, where he wishes to be, just like the sailor, home, from the sea". In season 6 Magnum returns home for his grandfather's funeral and reminisces with his cousin and childhood friends about his beloved stepbrother, Joey Peterson. At the end of the episode Magnum visits the Vietnam War memorial in Washington DC and touches Joey's name, engraved on the Black Wall amongst all the other dead of the Vietnam War.

* BandOfBrothers: Magnum, Rick, and T.C. (not to mention [[spoiler: poor, blown-up]] Mac) all served together in Vietnam--Magnum was a SEAL, while Rick and T.C were Marines with [=VMO=]-2. What they went through over there is precisely why Magnum would die for either of his friends, and they for him.

* SacrificialLion: Mac, Magnum's friend and fellow Vietnam veteran. He'd normally show up only when Thomas needed access to military information, but you got the idea that he was one of Magnum's closest friends and that while the two hung out together, it was always off-camera. And then came "Did You See the Sunrise?".

* TearJerker: in 'Home From The Sea' Magnum comes off his surf-ski and spends the rest of the episode treading water whilst his friends gradually work out that he is in trouble and come to rescue him. To keep himself going he recalls his naval aviator father teaching him to swim before leaving for the Korean War and the 8 year old Magnum still practicing on the beach when a car pulls up behind his mother and a naval officer gets out. Both Magnum and the audience think it is his father returning but in fact it is a chaplain coming to tell them he has been killed in action. The title comes from a Robert Louis Stevenson poem on death, "Here he lies, where he wishes to be, just like the sailor, home, from the sea". In season 6 Magnum returns home for his grandfather's funeral and reminisces with his cousin and childhood friends about his beloved stepbrother, Joey Peterson. At the end of the episode Magnum visits the Vietnam War memorial in Washington DC and touches Joey's name, engraved amongst all the other dead of the Vietnam War.

* TearJerker: in 'Home From The Sea' Magnum comes off his surf-ski and spends the rest of the episode treading water whilst his friends gradually work out that he is in trouble and come to rescue him. To keep himself going he recalls his naval aviator father teaching him to swim before leaving for the Korean War and the 8 year old Magnum still practicing on the beach when a car pulls up behind his mother and a naval officer gets out. Both Magnum and the audience think it is his father returning but in fact it is a chaplain coming to tell them he has been killed in action. The title comes from a Robert Louis Stevenson poem on death, "Here he lies, where he wishes to be, just like the sailor, home, from the sea".

* EliteSchoolMeansEliteBrain: Jonathan Higgins is an expert on nearly every subject imaginable and a graduate of both Eton College and Cambridge.

* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: Aside from the original jazz-fusion ThemeTune by Ian Freebairn-Smith, many of the show's recurring characters don't appear until after seasons two or three. And Magnum introduces himself several times as "Tom" Magnum, rather than the more familiar "Thomas".

** Also to Series/TheRockfordFiles, where Tom Selleck appeared as Lance White in two episodes, and also Larry Manetti and Roger Mosley both appeared in one episode:
** Gretchen Corbett (Beth Davenport) is the first Rockford alum to guest star, in "The Curse of the King Kamehameha Club". She reappears as Holly in "The Look", with an over-the-top perm in an apparent attempt at a radically different appearance.

** Stuart Margolin (Angel Martin) in "...By Its Cover".
** Joe Santos (Dennis Becker) would play a recurring character - Lieutenant Nolan Page, and appeared in total of four episodes in Seasons 7-8.

** Even James Garner (Jim Rockford) himself was originally supposed to make an appearance in "A.A.P.I.", but due to Garner's ongoing dispute with Universal, it didn't come to fruition.

* AluminumChristmasTrees: Younger viewers may find it unbelievable that B-movie producer David Norman in "Skin Deep" would also produce highly-regarded films like the one Higgins knows his name from. Back when the episode was made, however, many film producers financed output in both camps, most notably [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dino_De_Laurentiis Dino De Laurentiis]]. Due to the decline of the B-movie genre and rising costs in filmmaking, combined with greater studio control after the ''Film/HeavensGate'' debacle, this is seldom the case today. (A notorious aversion would be Creator/PeterJackson, whose cinematic output is notoriously all over the place.)

* TearJerker: in 'Home From The Sea' Magnum comes off his surf-ski and spends the rest of the episode treading water whilst his friends gradually work out that he is in trouble and come to rescue him. To keep himself going he recalls his naval aviator father teaching him to swim before leaving for the Korean War and the 8 year old Magnum still practicing on the beach when a car pulls up behind his mother and a naval officer gets out. Both Magnum and the audience think it is his father returning but in fact it is a chaplain coming to tell then he has been killed in action. The title comes from a Robert Louis Stevenson poem on death, "Here he lies, where he wishes to be, just like the sailor, home, from the sea".

** The heroes actually get played by this in "Underworld". T.C. is in a coma in the hospital, where a man who looks something like him appears and introduces himself as Gilbert, one of T.C.'s brothers. He seems to know personal details that cause everyone (the viewer included) to take for granted that he's who he says he is. When T.C. awakes, he says he has many brothers, but [[OhCrap none are named Gilbert]].

* ExtraLongEpisode: "Resolutions" and "Did You See the Rise?" and "Deja Vu".

* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: Aside from the original ThemeTune by Ian Freebairn-Smith, many of the show's recurring characters don't appear until after seasons two or three. And Magnum introduces himself several times as "Tom" Magnum, rather than the more familiar "Thomas".

* CrusadingWidower: [[spoiler: Jean Claude Fornier in "The Man From Marseilles".]]
** Michael Doheny (Music/FrankSinatra) in "Laura", though it's his [[spoiler: murdered granddaughter]] he's out to avenge.

* AsideGlance
* [[AwesomeMcCoolname Awesome McCoolname]]: Thomas Magnum.

* BadassBaritone: Col. Buck Greene.
** Robin Masters himself, as voiced by Creator/OrsonWelles.

** Turned UpToEleven in "Squeeze Play" when Buzz Benoit and his Buzzettes move into Robin's Nest.

** "L.A.": Magnum has caught [[spoiler: Marti Jensen's killers, but despite even proposing to new love Cynthia, she gets cold feet and chooses not to fly back to Hawaii with him.]][[note]]Considering the number of episodes where Magnum reconnects with friends or adversaries, this may have been a setup for them to reunite. Fan interest may not have been high enough however.[[/note]]

* NiceHat: Magnum's trademark baseball caps, including a Detroit Tigers cap and a [=VMO=]-2 cap from his Vietnam days.
** Luther Gillis' Panama hat, in keeping with his hardboiled FilmNoir persona.
** "Operation Silent Night": Thomas, Higgins, TC and Rick are all crashed on a DesertedIsland over Christmas. Higgins immediately gets some palm fronds and weaves himself a sophisticated sun-hat. He wears it throughout the episode. In "Find Me A Rainbow," he teaches the boys at the summer camp how to make them.

* PoorlyDisguisedPilot: Erin Gray appeared in the first season episode "J. 'Digger' Doyle" as a security expert hired by Robin Masters to evaluate Magnum. It was supposed to lead to a spinoff series for Gray, but the series never came to pass.

In February 2018, a [[Series/MagnumPI2018 reboot of the series]] was announced with Creator/JayHernandez playing Thomas Magnum. This is the third remake Peter Lenkov has done for CBS and is included in the [[SharedUniverse shared continuity]] with the 2010 version of ''Series/HawaiiFive0'', and by extension with ''Series/{{JAG}}'' and its spin offs (''Series/{{NCIS}}'', ''Series/NCISLosAngeles'', ''Series/NCISNewOrleans''), ''Series/{{Scorpion}}'' and ''Series/MacGyver2016''. It was cancelled in May 2022, but [[SendingStuffToSaveTheShow a fan campaign]] may [[UnCanceled prompt another network to pick it up]].

In February 2018, a [[Series/MagnumPI2018 reboot of the series]] was announced with Creator/JayHernandez playing Thomas Magnum. This is the third remake Peter Lenkov has done for CBS and is included in the [[SharedUniverse shared continuity]] with the 2010 version of ''Series/HawaiiFive0'', and by extension with ''Series/{{JAG}}'' and its spin offs (''Series/{{NCIS}}'', ''Series/NCISLosAngeles'', ''Series/NCISNewOrleans''), ''Series/{{Scorpion}}'' and ''Series/MacGyver2016''. It was cancelled in May 2022, but [[SendingStuffToSaveTheShow a fan campaign]] may [[{Uncancel} prompt another network to pick it up]].

Magnum was assisted ably by his friends Theodore "T.C." Calvin and Orville "Rick" Wright, and alternately helped and hindered by Jonathan Quayle Higgins III, the manager of insanely wealthy best-selling author Robin Masters' estate where Magnum lived. Masters was only occasionally heard as TheVoice of Orson Welles via telephone.

In February 2018, it was announced that Creator/JayHernandez would play Thomas Magnum in a [[Series/MagnumPI2018 reboot of the series]]. This will be the third remake Peter Lenkov has done for CBS and will be included in the [[SharedUniverse shared continuity]] with the 2010 version of ''Series/HawaiiFive0'', and by extension with ''Series/{{JAG}}'' and its spin offs (''Series/{{NCIS}}'', ''Series/NCISLosAngeles'', ''Series/NCISNewOrleans''), ''Series/{{Scorpion}}'' and ''Series/MacGyver2016''.

** "L.A.": Magnum has caught [[spoiler: Marti Jensen's killers, but despite even proposing to new love Cynthia, she gets cold feet and chooses not to fly back to Hawaii with him.]]
** "Rapture": The ghost boy's [[spoiler: stepfather, who confessed to blowing up him and his grandfather (the sole intended victim), has flown his plane away in an act of suicide, but the boy's mother finds peace and a new lease on life in knowing the truth, and now dives in the waters where Magnum saw the boy to stay close to her son.]]

-->'''Patty''': Patty's Palmestry Parlor. I give great readings.

* TheTapeKnewYouWouldSayThat: Played with at the beginning of "Luther Gillis #001". Thomas listens (and talks back) to Rick on his answering machine for an overall effect like actual conversation ("Thomas, you gotta help me!" "What is it, Rick?" ... "How about it, pal?" "No." "Thanks, Thomas!"). Robin Masters also leaves a message, with pauses anticipating replies, though Thomas just listens. "Of Sound Mind" has a rich man leave a VideoWill with snappy answers to all his moneygrubbing relatives.

** "Kapu" has Magnum get injured, lose his memory, and live among a tribe of natives, just like Captain Kirk in the ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'' episode "The Paradise Syndrome". The episode is also similar to ''Film/{{Witness}}'', in that Magnum also has to find a young native girl who had witnessed a murder.

* WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds: Poor, poor [[spoiler: [[Creator/SharonStone Diane Dupres]] in "Echoes of the Mind". Kidnapped along with her twin sister Deidre as young children, she was subjected to physical, mental, and sexual abuse during her captivity, so much so that Deidre died before they could be rescued. Ever since then, she had taken on a wild adult version of Deidre as a [[SplitPersonality separate personality]], as a result of ''severe'' SurvivorGuilt and likely PTSD. She becomes so paranoid as "Deidre" that she murders her visiting psychiatrist without remembering it. Once Magnum figures all of this out, he pleads with her to surrender and get treatment to free herself from "Deidre" for good. Having switched constantly between her true self and "Deidre", Diane finally returns to herself, only to tearfully commit suicide in front of a horrified Magnum.]]

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: In "Compulsion", Carol's dog Chelsea disappears. She says she put up posters everywhere[[note]]one of the smartest things you can do, promotion is key to finding lost pets[[/note]]. Thomas gives his phone number to all the radio stations and has them do [=PSAs=]. Later a DJ calls saying one of his listeners has brought Chelsea to the station. Thomas sends Rick to get her, but the episode ends abruptly without a tag after Carol's stalker is subdued. We never see them reunited or even confirm that the dog at the station is Chelsea.[[note]]This episode was made in 1985, four years before AVID/ [=PetTrac=] patented microchip technology and began implanting tiny RFID chips in companion animals. [[https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-incredible-journey-microchip-id-reunites-cat-with-owners/ Microchips have identified pets that have been missing for over 18 years]].[[/note]]