Why, After 20 years do we still like Magnum?

[arri]

Fitst, I rewatched most of the episodes. I loved the show growing up and now in my late thirties, feel somewhat perplexed.

1. I was amazed at the shoddy plots (yhanks selleck lover), cheesey lines, boring subplots, far fetched scenarios, and bad acting.

2. Some of the better written shows stood the test of time. "Sunrise", could be the best episode on TV...particularly for the 80's. It was just mind blowing for that time to have a TV character with such depth.

My own personal theory is that Magnum was the epitome of what men really want to be in life. He had two loyal great friends. He was single and dating the most beautiful woman on the planet. He had an interesting job. He was fanatical about sports as we were. He ate hot dogs and Chile and drank beer. He lived on an awesome Estate. He was a football and baseball player... He was a decorated vet. Had a cool car and didn't mind to "throw down".

Could this be the allure? As a "grown up", it certainly wasn't the depth of the series....it was everything else in spite of the poor acting..."Now I don't know what you are thinking....please tell me....Why?

[Tom_Magnum]

Actually, I am a new comer to Magnum (in my late 20s). I started watching it in the late 90s and early millenium on the reruns. Thats my whole story.

[Frodoleader]

I think TM lived a life that I wanted to live. From the Ferrari, to living on an estate on the beach to having a couple of very close friends, that was what I wanted to do.
In comparing MPI to today's TV, sure it can be a little cheesy, but that was what made a good TV show in the '80's. Compared to other shows from the time period, I think it still holds up and is still vastly entertaining.

[Steve]

The car, the location, the camaraderie of the four main characters, but most of all it was Selleck as Magnum and fact that he was a flawed character, scraping for money, behind on his bills, takes advantage of his friendship to a fault, ate junk food, loved sports, both playing and watching, and when he played it was nice to have an actor that didn't have to fake it, but was a true athelete....and.......even with those looks he didn't always get the girl.........Still all hold up for me.............

[IKnowWhatYoureThinking]

Tom Selleck makes Magnum! A lot of other variables go into it as well, but Selleck as Magnum is the main reason I love the show.

[SelleckLover]

arri wrote:

1. I was amazed at the shotty plots, cheesey lines, boring subplots, far fetched scenarios, and bad acting.

Having watched the episodes when it was originally broadcast in the 1980's as an adult, I beg to differ with this opinion. I found the series to be none of those things when I saw the episodes originally. The plots weren't cheesy then, only now when they've all been done 80 milliion times do they become cheesy. It's kind of like being out of high school for 20 years and seeing your senior picture...you wonder what you were thinking when choosing clothing, hair styles, etc. But if you think back, the style of clothing and hair do was the most up to date for that time.

At that time, we were used to seeing the suave, debonair-type private investigator that had beautiful women to date all the time. Magnum was the opposite of that formula. It was very ground-breaking in its time. The tall, handsome, self-deprecating, almost-never-gets-the-girl type of hero hadn't been invented yet. Then there was all the positive attention given to the VietNam war veteran...that's the reason my husband watched the show. There is so much more, but I won't get into that now.

The above is why I believe the adjectives, shotty (sp?) (did you mean "shoddy"?), cheesy, boring, and far-fetched do not apply. JMHO, of course!

[Carmen]

Amen, Sellecklover!! You`ve said it all

arri:

and bad acting.

Watch KnightRider or Airwolf and you can see "Bad acting" but not on MPI

[arri]

The car, the location, the camaraderie of the four main characters, but most of all it was Selleck as Magnum and fact that he was a flawed character, scraping for money, behind on his bills, takes advantage of his friendship to a fault, ate junk food, loved sports, both playing and watching, and when he played it was nice to have an actor that didn't have to fake it, but was a true athelete....and.......even with those looks he didn't always get the girl.........Still all hold up for me.............

Steve...Wow...so very true on all accounts. Magnum was human and had flaws like us but still a good guy. Also, it was hard watching Adam Sandler and K. Reeves try pulling off being an athlete. I played college football and was always turned off when I saw an actor throw a football with his feet all messed up. Selleck was a great athlete. Bellisario got that...Selleck played basketball on a full ride at UCLA...Harmon on NCIS, was a football QB. Great insight!

[arri]

arri wrote:

1. I was amazed at the shotty plots, cheesey lines, boring subplots, far fetched scenarios, and bad acting.

Having watched the episodes when it was originally broadcast in the 1980's as an adult, I beg to differ with this opinion. I found the series to be none of those things when I saw the episodes originally. The plots weren't cheesy then, only now when they've all been done 80 milliion times do they become cheesy. It's kind of like being out of high school for 20 years and seeing your senior picture...you wonder what you were thinking when choosing clothing, hair styles, etc. But if you think back, the style of clothing and hair do was the most up to date for that time.

At that time, we were used to seeing the suave, debonair-type private investigator that had beautiful women to date all the time. Magnum was the opposite of that formula. It was very ground-breaking in its time. The tall, handsome, self-deprecating, almost-never-gets-the-girl type of hero hadn't been invented yet. Then there was all the positive attention given to the VietNam war veteran...that's the reason my husband watched the show. There is so much more, but I won't get into that now.

The above is why I believe the adjectives, shotty (sp?) (did you mean "shoddy"?), cheesy, boring, and far-fetched do not apply. JMHO, of course!

I did mean "shoddy" thank you. I grew up in the 80's and am fully aware of the styles...that wasn't my point. I completely agree it was ground breaking but on other fronts. Yes, I liked that Magnum was human and it showed his flaws...didn't always get him man, sometimes he got beat up, the femme fatale commited suicide...I get that. I am not speaking of cheesey in the 80's zeitgiest. I am talking about predicatability, the one-liners, and the otherwise great script being compromised by far fetched schemes that weren't needed...and not indicative of all episodes.

[Tom_Magnum]

What makes Magnum is the great storylines, characters, location, cars, girls and everything that you can find in Hawaii. Robin Master's Ferrari and T.C.'s helicopter especially!

[OUTHOUSE]

I was very young when It was on TV. I was born in 80. Although I do remember watching it as a kid. I was infamous for giving the eye brow shrug al-la Magnum during the early 80's.

I really got back into it watching occasional re-runs in college and then buying the first season on DVD a few years ago.

I believe it to be a combination of things that peak my interest (in no particular order).

1) Location/scenery : Beautiful Landscape and beautiful women.

2) Friendship: I have some close friends but friends like TC and Rick would be hard to top. At times it seemed like they are working more for Magnum than contributing to their own professions.

3) Higgins - Magnum Relationship - Really unexplainable. I think the best dialogue relationship story throughout the process of the series. The Robin Masters / Higgins Question.

4) The lifestyle......Needs no explanation.

5) Portrayal of Vietnam Vets for its time period was very cutting edge. Vets were not portrayed in an overly positive nor negative light. Merely coping with past events.

6) Going all the way and killing your enemy (Did you see the Sun Rise). While controversial it is nice to see a show go for the jugular. I for one am tired of seeing the bad guy get away or get locked up all time. Sort of an Anti-Hero mindset.

7) Magnum had faults. He was no Superman. Something you could relate to. Would do anything for the ones he loved but not always the smartest thing to do.

The look. Something about the 80's. There was always this sense of "fun" with the clothing and fashion of the time (see hawaiian shirts and aviators).

9) Narration. I love the way Magnums thoughts were portrayed through narration. He did a excellent job of not only explaining what was going on, but also provided context for "why" he was making certain decisions.

10) The fourth wall.

[foggydayz]

I started watching magnum in my early teens in the eighties. It was magnum's lifestyle that appealed to me, the car, the estate, the cast and his care-free attitude. It will always be my favourite tv show even though I haven't watched a whole episode for over 10 years. I don't plan on watching for some time either because in my mind the show is perfect and I don't want to tarnish the memories.

I don't care for Tom Selleck in any other role. He will always be Thomas Magnum, and only Thomas magnum. I wouldn't even care to meet him because It would be disappointing since he isn't magnum.

[SelleckLover]

arri wrote:

I did mean "shoddy" thank you. I grew up in the 80's and am fully aware of the styles...that wasn't my point. I completely agree it was ground breaking but on other fronts. Yes, I liked that Magnum was human and it showed his flaws...didn't always get him man, sometimes he got beat up, the femme fatale commited suicide...I get that. I am not speaking of cheesey in the 80's zeitgiest. I am talking about predicatability, the one-liners, and the otherwise great script being compromised by far fetched schemes that weren't needed...and not indicative of all episodes.

Thank you for clarifiying that, and I get your point. But I still disagree with your assessment. Having watched 1960's and 1970's television, as an adult, I did not find the episodes predictable, in fact they were quite fresh and ground-breaking at the time. Far-fetched schemes were the norm then...with some shows you had to do some big-time suspension of disbelief to enjoy an episode...my case in point...watching an episode of Quincy, M.E. recently, (which was a series that was made during the 1980's). Quincy is a doctor/medical examiner. For some reason he was at the beach trying to gather evidence of some sort. (Why he was doing investigative work was a question that came up in my mind frequently while watching this show!) A guy not related to the plot keels over right in front of Quincy and he determines that this guy just had a heart attack right in front of a hot dog stand (which looks like a very flimsy 4th of July fireworks stand.) He asks the guy behind the counter if he has an extension cord. Wow! He does. Quincy takes his pocket knife and fashions a make-shift defibrillator out of it. He then asks the hot dog guy if he will plug the cord in. He does. (Wow! An electrical outlet so close to the water!) And Quincy brings this guy back to life with two live wires of an extension cord on a WET sandy beach! In the next scene they show the guy on the stretcher just before he is going to be put in the ambulance. Quincy then has a long conversation with the attendants about his care on the way to the hospital. Quincy walks away and the guy STILL hasn't been put in the ambulance yet! Yikes! Talk about suspension of disbelief!!! I think Magnum was far more realistic in the portrayal of characters than any other show of that time. JMHO!

[Shermy]

I think the show holds up because it offers great escapism on the surface, and a strong theme of loyalty among friends at its core. (In that sense, it's actually quite similar to the original Star Trek!)

I also have to agree that the show has aged far better than many of its peers. I can barely sit through 10 minutes of something like The A*Team or Knight Rider, whereas Magnum still manages to pack a punch.

[Italian Ice]

Outhouse, you forgot #11

Zeus and Apollo