Magnum Mania!

A Girl Named Sue

Episode ID: 156
Episode Number: 8.7
Air Date: 1/13/1988
Writer: Stephen A. Miller
Director: Russ Mayberry
Producer: Tom Selleck
Exec Producer: Donald P. Bellisario

Recurring Characters

Carol Burnett (Susan Johnson)

Guest Stars

Shelley Smith (Melissa Wainwright), John Calvin (Arthur Wainwirght), George Coe (William Wainwright), Rosalee Mayeux (Julie Marsh)

Plot Outline

Bank teller Susan Johnson returns to Magnum's life with a bang: having recently become a detective, she opens fire on him during an investigation.

Rating

8.0 (7 votes) MM Episode Forum Thread & Poll

Notes

1 Susan Johnson (Carol Burnett) was first seen in Season Four's "Rembrandt's Girl" (4.14). Events from that episode are mentioned, including the famous "bank vault" scene.

2 This is the last episode to be produced by Tom Selleck. Starting with the next episode longtime MPI producer Rick Weaver will take over lead producer duties for the rest of the season. All total, Selleck produced nine episodes, including the classic episodes "Death and Taxes" (7.6), "Limbo" (7.22) and "Infinity and Jelly Doughnuts" (8.1).

3 Carol Burnett gets to do voice-over narration (ala Magnum) and even borrows Magnum's catch phrase, "I know what you're thinking...".

4 Shelley Smith (Melissa Wainwright) previously appeared in Season Six's "All Thieves on Deck" (6.15).

5 Magnum comes across a lock that he can't pick, a rarity. Susan picks it successfully with a corkscrew.

6 John Calvin (Arthur Wainwirght) appears on the show for the third and final time.

7 Magnum briefly plays his saxophone (badly).

8 Higgins first met William Wainwright in Burma, 1944. William was in Merrill's Marauders. Higgins was helping to train one of the local Burmese defense forces. During the monsoon season, William constructed a "snowshoe" contraption made out of vines and leaves to keep the troops from sinking into the "knee deep muck". Two hours after they cleared the camp, an air strike leveled everything around. Several hundred soldiers owe their life to the inventiveness of William Wainwright.

Quotes

1
Susan Johnson: I know what you're thinking, and you're right. I felt bad about ending up in a competition with a stand-up guy like Thomas. I'd always liked his style. Hmph, in fact, he had a lot to do with my deciding to join the flat-foot fraternity. But the first thing I learned at "Lucky Steele's Detective School" was that a savy P.I. doesn't think much about the human condition. We always suspect everyone. And that's why we are so rarely disappointed. I wasn't ready to panic, but the palm on my shifting hand was starting to itch. And since my heap had the horses, I decided to use them. I had to hope the gumshoe gods were watching over me. (Narration)

Flubs

1 When Magnum and Susan are trapped in the warehouse, when Magnum becomes frustrated and tries to force down the door, watch carefully to see the door (or is it the wall?) move very slightly – obviously it's just a mock-up set and not a "real" room!

2 Magnum fires too many shots from his .45, without reloading, when he and Susan are locked in the warehouse.

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