How did you get into Magnum?

[Dave Anderson]

During the original run, when I was in middle school, probably during summer reruns of season 1. I remember I didn't watch it until my cousin came down to stay with us for a week. He was obsessed with Ferrari's and insisted on watching the show. It must have been summer reruns because he visited during the summer for a week every year. After that I watched it regularly from season 2 on during the original run, except for when I was busy with school activities or such on Thursday night.

[Dave Anderson]

I was in the 5th grade and I remember seeing the second episode when it first aired, and watched it religiously ever since. and later I watche my favorite (Simon and Simon) which was better for me since I grew up in San Diego. So I guess I have been a fan since the begining.

I grew up in San Diego, and am about your age. Would be a trip if we went to the same school!

[Dave Anderson]

...I still think that MPI was a quiet hit at first and then around 1987 --towards
the end--a lot of others caught on to why this show was so great.

Hmm, I think kind of the opposite. After the first season or two it was quite a mainstream phenomena. By 1987 it was taking a beating in the ratings going up against the Cosby Show, if I remember correctly.

[Derek]

When Magnum was airing, I guess I was too young for it, or perhaps the would not air it early enough in the day (I was a schoolboy back then). Anyway, I have no recollection of watching it during the 80s, but I did watch Simon&Simon, that much I remember

I started watching it later (probably not even during the 90s) because I was told by my brother that the little fights between TM and JH were fun to watch, and they were!

Also, this eventually made me curious about Hawai'i... When I could afford it, I spent a few weeks there, also went to Pahonu, and that's pretty much the story Now I'm really a fan of the series.

[eagle]

I remember watching Magnum, PI with my mother in the 1980s, but my parents didn't want me watching much of that show. Anyway, I have always enjoyed the show, and in recent years (I am now in my mid 40s) I have begun to love the show.

As I have posted elsewhere, I can't quite explain why, but watching MPI transports me someplace. It isn't Hawaii or Pahonu per se, but it just feels right. It's like James Bond movies for me: I have a visceral connection to MPI like I do 007.

[Derek]

As I have posted elsewhere, I can't quite explain why, but watching MPI transports me someplace. It isn't Hawaii or Pahonu per se, but it just feels right.

I can confirm that! It is really like taking part in what is happening. There is a number of series I have grown fond with, but for me, Magnum, PI is really unique in that respect. It encourages imagination

[TSMIV]

Hi all,

It’s been wonderful to read all the great posts on this topic.

I first got into Magnum PI about a year or two after it started screening down here in Australia on Channel 10 (1981 I think?). I was 13 years old at the time and thought (as of course I continue to do so today) that Thomas Sullivan Magnum was the greatest thing since sliced bread. After a short lived stint on a Thursday night slot, Channel 10 started screening the show at 7.30pm on Saturday nights where it started to garner really high ratings. Together with playing rugby on a Saturday, watching Magnum on a Saturday night was the epicentre of my week. VCRs were not as ubiquitous back then as they later became and thus I was devastated if I missed an episode. I have incredibly fond memories of watching the show with my Mum and Dad (both since passed away) and thus TM played a pivotal family bonding role in my house.

I lost touch with the show for around 15 years (combination of finishing school, going to university and the fact that pay television did not really become available in Australia until the mid to late 1990’s). My first reunion with Thomas was when one of my groomsmen bought a VCR tape of some MPI episodes (including ‘Home from the Sea’) for us to watch on the morning of my wedding! Fast forward ten years and my family and I are happily working our way through box sets of MPI seasons.

As with so many of the other posters, I can testify to the unique ability of a viewing of the show (or even just hearing the opening theme music) to put me in a good mood. Tough day at work? Lots going on in your life? Watch an episode of MPI and you will feel better instantaneously (we could be talking a whole new school of therapeutic medicine here…..).

Most importantly, I have MPI indoctrinated my two young daughters and thus I am doing my utmost to keep the Magnum flame alive in future generations of Australians (indeed I believe that familiarity with MPI should be a pre-requisite to assuming any high political office in this country).

I have been less successful spreading the Magnum gospel in my workplace (notwithstanding my frequent wearing of my ‘Robin 1’ license plate cufflinks) by I hope to improve my performance in this sphere.

Love the Magnum Mania website, it’s absolutely brilliant.

[Rocket]

FERRARAI. That is all.

[Klover]

The Magnum Rewatch podcast. Here's a link if you're interested:

http://loadingreadyrun.com/lrrcasts/arc ... ate/desc/_

I've kinda-sorta heard of it before, but would probably get it mixed in my head with Hawaii 5-0. I've never cared about old tv besides MASH. Didn't even know what those two shows were about other than "Catch Criminals" or whatever. It's been a lot of fun, though! A lot better than I would've thought.

[Luther's nephew Dobie]

I watched Magnum PI from day one, December 11, 1980. I had really liked Tom as Lance White in 2 episodes of the Rockford Files, a role that garnered him a lot of positive press.
In particular the TV reviewer for the Newark Star-Ledger talked up Selleck whenever he appeared on TV afterwards. He alerted his readers for months about Selleck's upcoming
new Hawaii set series. Throw in that I was still mourning the demise of Hawaii 5-0 that April and there was no way I was going to miss viewing this new series.
I must have good taste, I watched MASH and Cheers from the start as well and they both stank in the ratings the first year. That also officially makes me a geezer, 40 years
just came and went. (My 800th post here. Whoa.)
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"There's no future in the past"...Rachel Goldstein(Water Rats)

[Styles Bitchley]

I watched Magnum PI from day one, December 11, 1980. I had really liked Tom as Lance White in 2 episodes of the Rockford Files, a role that garnered him a lot of positive press.
In particular the TV reviewer for the Newark Star-Ledger talked up Selleck whenever he appeared on TV afterwards. He alerted his readers for months about Selleck's upcoming
new Hawaii set series. Throw in that I was still mourning the demise of Hawaii 5-0 that April and there was no way I was going to miss viewing this new series.
I must have good taste, I watched MASH and Cheers from the start as well and they both stank in the ratings the first year. That also officially makes me a geezer, 40 years
just came and went.
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"There's no future in the past"...Rachel Goldstein(Water Rats)

So impressive. I was only six in 1980 so I was not an early adopter. I jumped on the bandwagon years later. But I never seem to be able to get off!

[80s Big Hair]

My tale has been told in another thread, but I will regale you fine people of this site with it again. I was a single digit aged kid when the series started and was in high school when it ended. Most of the originally aired episodes I missed due to either my older sister having an iron fist as to what was to be watched on the family 12" B&W TV in the early years, or in the later years (that featured two TVs) because I was off doing idiotic teenage stuff. Yet, the show touched me deep to my soul, creating a long lasting impression that I believe helped guide me through both good times and bad times in life, so influential it was in my life that ... ...OK, this last sentence was completely pulled out of my butt.

The real story in me getting seriously into the show is that a young distant relative from Oahu came over to visit her cousin and a big family party was thrown for her for reasons. This was only a handful of years ago. Not knowing anything about her I tried to make conversation, which devolved into me asking, "When you get into a bind do you call up Thomas Magnum?" Being young she had no idea what I was talking about (despite the reboot which I was at the time unaware of either). Then I remembered that it was a pretty good show and vowed to watch it again. So I did so several times due to working at home.

[SeamanWolfe]

My brother really liked Magnum (4 years older than me) and I started watching based on his recommendation. Some of the early episodes I remember were the look and Holmes is where the heart is.

Around that time CBS would show episodes at 11:30 from the previous year one night a week (I think?). I saw a lot of really good episodes (including home from the sea). I would watch magnum (I think it was Tuesday) and then jump over to Letterman.

I really enjoyed the final 2 seasons (my first 2 years of high school) and at that point the show was in Syndication. After the finale I have been in and out as the show was available on syndication or various streaming services. Work from home and the Charge channel reignited my interest. Glad to see it is streaming thru Roku right now.

[NotthatRick]

I have been watching since the Pilot.

[ZelenskyTheValiant (Ivan)]

The very first episode I ever saw was "Billy Joe Bob" and I liked it. That was sometime back in the mid-90s. A long time ago! I know it's not a fan favorite but I really like James Whitmore, Jr. in the part. Also at the time I knew Marla Pennington as the mother in the daughter-is-a-robot sitcom SMALL WONDER. I know nowadays it has a reputation as being one of the worst sitcoms ever made but at the time I really liked it. Hey, I was a kid. Then I seem to recall another episode I saw where Magnum is running around the track field - no clue what that episode was or what season.

Anyway, fast forward to around 2008 or shortly after (my first trip to Hawaii was in 2008) and I thought I should really check MPI out. Again, my only memory was "Billy Joe Bob". I think the first few episodes I checked out (you could watch them on IMDB at the time) were "The Ugliest Dog in Hawaii", "Thicker than Blood", "All Roads Lead to Floyd", and maybe "From Moscow to Maui". I wasn't very impressed so I kinda gave up on the show for a bit. Granted those weren't very strong episodes but I think I just didn't get into the groove with the show yet. For one, I hated the bickering between Magnum and Higgy. I found that annoying. Now I find it endearing and funny. And then I didn't find the plots strong enough. They seemed really light-weight and inconsequential. I was a FIVE-O fan, you see. I guess I needed the cases to have more meat on them. I actually remember thinking at the time that even SIMON & SIMON had more interesting cases than MPI, and I wasn't exactly a big fan of that show either. But I think it was after seeing the pilot episode a bit later, as well as episodes like "Skin Deep" and "No Need to Know" and "Never Again... Never Again" that the show started winning me over. I realized that the show could do serious stories very well when called upon to do so and that the plots could really have some depth to them. At that point I just decided to sit down and watch the episodes in order and that's how I became a fan. Pretty soon those things about the show that I didn't care for suddenly became essential and became a part of the show's charm. Nowadays if I see an episode without any real Magnum-Higgins interaction it seems off, like something is missing. I miss the bickering or the Higgins subplots.