Magnum Mania!

Mr. White Death

Episode ID: 49
Episode Number: 3.9
Air Date: 11/18/1982
Writer: Reuben Leder
Director: Jeff Haden
Producer: Chas. Floyd Johnson
Exec Producer: Donald P. Bellisario

Recurring Characters

Margie Impert (Ms. Jones)

Guest Stars

Ernest Borgnine (Earl Gianelli), James Edgcomb (Phil Lewis), Linda Ryan (Cora Gibson), James Grant Benton (Harry Meacham), Ric Marlow (Salvatore Marchese), Reri Tava Jobe (Jo), Lord James Blears (Referee), Robert Apisa (Bouncer)

Plot Outline

A former boxing champion asks Magnum to find his long-lost son, but elements of his story do not ring true.

Rating

8.5 (14 votes) MM Episode Forum Thread & Poll

Notes

1 This episode opens with a flashback scene to Miami in 1955. Stock aerial footage of Miami is used, but no scenes were actually filmed there. Miami (1975) will be used in the opening flashback scene of "Way of the Stalking Horse" (6.17).

2 The minor recurring character Ms. Jones (Margie Impert) is seen for the first time. She will be seen again in "Blind Justice" (5.7) and "Ms. Jones" (5.19). The nameplate on her desk gives her name as "Ms. W. Jones", but we learn in Ms. Jones (5.19) that her first name is "Madeline". (Noted by eegorr)

3 Lord James Blears (the Referee) is a pro wrestling icon from the late '40s to the early '60s. "Lord Tally Ho", as he was called, and Gene Kiniski were World Tag Team champions from 1952-1956. He was later a famous announcer and promoter for the local Hawaiian wrestling scene in the '60s and '70s. Blears will appear again on the show, as a bartender, in Season Four's "Squeeze Play" (4.7).

4 Tom Selleck's double is used as one of the bad guys who is looking for Earl. He has a line too, at the end, when they walk in on who they believe is Earl. (Noted by IslandHopper)

5 Poor Rick takes a real pounding in this episode. He gets hit in the face no less than four different times!

6 As Magnum is leaving the "Hall of Records" for the last time (just after he gives Ms. Jones his handkerchief for the second time) and is walking out of the building towards the Ferrari, you can see a woman looking out a groundfloor window in the direction of the cameras. From her reaction, she doesn't appear to be an "extra", but rather someone who works in the building [pic]. She appears startled when Tom Selleck walks by! (Noted by IslandHopper)

7 More random clothes changing is seen. Both Magnum and Phil Lewis wear different outfits in what appears to be the same day. Also, during the same driving scene, Magnum wears both his Detroit Tigers cap and his Da Nang cap!

8 T.C. wears his Hughes Helicopters cap for the second time, and his Atlanta Falcons cap is seen for the first time.

9 James Edgcomb (Phil Lewis) previously appeared in "The Last Page" (2.20).

10 When Higgins was in the West Yorkshire Regiment (The Prince of Wales's Own) his nickname was "Punkie"!

11 In WWII, Higgins was in Anzio, Italy during part of Operation Shingle. His friend Corky Bostwick "took a terrible hit" and he lost touch with him. (Noted by IslandHopper)

12 In '51 or '52, Higgins was in Liverpool, where he became a wrestling aficionado after watching his first professional match there - one that featured Yuri Karamazov*, "the Russian Bear." (Noted by Steve Huntley)

* The name "Yuri Karamazov" is fictional. The real "Russian Bear" is Ivan Koloff, who didn't start wrestling until the late '60s.

Quotes

1
Earl: The Mag's put me up for a couple of days.
Higgins: The Mag!? How Magnaminous!

2
Magnum: I remember when I was five years old, I found this little puppy in the street. It had been hit by a car and was in pretty bad shape, so, I brought it home and my dad and I took it to the vet. One hundred twenty bucks. The little puppy grew into a big Saint Bernard. It ate a five hundred dollar couch and my dad's favourite armchair. The next day, my dad put it in the back yard, where it dug under the fence and ran away. Ever since then, I've been wary about taking in big, adorable pups, one of life's lessons you just have to keep learning over, and over again. (Narration)

Flubs

1 The opening scene is supposed to take place in 1955 Miami. However, when Sal Marchese enters Joey's Barber Shop he gets a magazine before sitting down in the barber chair. The magazine Sal picks up is a National Geographic from April 1982. (Noted by IslandHopper)

2 Roger E. Mosley's stunt double (Bob Minor) can easily be identified in two seperate scenes - (1) towards the beginning, during the brawl backstage at the club Earl is wrestling in, (2) at the estate, when Earl is showing T.C. the "Tazmanian Tiger Dance". Larry Manetti's stunt double can also be identified in the scene where Earl is twirling Rick on his shoulders. (Noted by IslandHopper)

3 When Magnum races towards the estate's main building, the shot of the car's wheels as they skid to a halt is actually backwards, because the dust from the ground is being sucked under the wheels instead of being kicked up from the wheels.

4 Higgins says he lost touch with Corky Bostwick after Corky was injured during Operation Shingle in Anzio, Italy during WWII, yet in "One More Summer" (2.17) and "The Case of the Red Faced Thespian" (4.12) Higgins mentions being with Corky in India in 1949!

5 As Phil is walking toward Earl at the Airport, you will see "Dole" Pineapple boxes to Phil's left. Some of the boxes have what looks like white tape covering a portion of the "D" in Dole in an attempt to make it look like a different brand (i.e. "Cole"). However, one of the boxes does not have the white tape covering the "D." Regardless of the tape covering the "D", you can still tell very easily that they are "Dole" Pineapple boxes. Just as Phil stops briefly, you can see a Skycap in the background carrying a "Dole" box. The "D" on the front of the box has the white tape to make it look like "Cole", but the "D" on the side of the box is not covered by the tape and clearly says "Dole". (Noted by IslandHopper)

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