What was your introduction to Magnum PI?

For all non-episode specific topics about the show, including MPI-related "tie-ins"

Moderator: Styles Bitchley

Message
Author
User avatar
Frodoleader
Fleet Admiral
Posts: 441
Joined: Thu Jul 05, 2007 4:47 pm
Location: Central Ohio

What was your introduction to Magnum PI?

#1 Post by Frodoleader »

Time to get in the "Way Back Machine" here folks. Think back: what was your introduction to Magnum PI?

For me, it was when my wife-to-be told me about this really cool detective show she and her mother liked to watch. That next thursday night, I was hooked!
This had to be at some point in season 1. Been a big fan ever since.
The great thing about all this, since we have been making our way through the MPI dvds, our oldest son, now 21, has become a MPI fan too!

User avatar
Doc Ibold
Maniac Emeritus
Posts: 1741
Joined: Tue Apr 10, 2007 8:16 pm
Location: Detroit

#2 Post by Doc Ibold »

Well, Magnum was on when I was a kid, and was actually the least of my "Big 4" rotation (Knight Rider, A-Team, Dukes of Hazzard, Magnum).

So, in the late 90's, when they started showing reruns of all the old school TV shows, I realized that the other 3 aren't as great when you aren't 5.

However, Magnum held up QUITE nicely, and I ended up watching it every day when I got back from classes when I was in college. (In the good 'ol days when it was on A & E at 5pm EST).

And I find I'm still watching it!

User avatar
SelleckLover
RENLEDUN, Protectrix of the Realm
Posts: 1017
Joined: Sat Feb 10, 2007 5:56 pm
Location: Sunny Southern California
Contact:

#3 Post by SelleckLover »

I have followed TS's career ever since I watched him religiously on "The Young & the Restless" in 1974. I can even remember him from that bomb of a movie "Myra Breckenridge" made in 1970! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myra_Breckinridge Back then this movie was considered pornographic, because it was about a trans-sexual! It's pretty tame by today's standards! Why TS took that roll is beyond me, but I guess you have to start somewhere!

User avatar
IslandHopper
Master Flub Spotter
Posts: 729
Joined: Fri Mar 30, 2007 5:08 am

#4 Post by IslandHopper »

I was 14 when MPI first aired. I remember watching from the very first episode. It's difficult for me to recall now, but I believe I had seen some kind of a promo shortly before the pilot episode and made a point to watch the show as it sounded interesting to me even as a 14 year old. I had an older brother who served as a Marine in Vietnam during the Tet Offensive (Battle of Hue City), so I was very interested in anything about that war. Now, there doesn't seem to be as much time to watch TV, so if I do watch something new, it is usually something that I stumbled upon by accident.

About 4 years ago, I was playing golf with a colleague of mine who is the same age as me. I don't know how we got on the subject of MPI, but he also was a big fan of the show. I was telling him that I had become a slave to the show because I had started taping as many of the episodes that I could on VHS, whatever channel (Hallmark, WGN, etc.), or time (some as late as 2:00 a.m.) they happened to come on. I remember laughing and telling him that I was sure once I had gone to all of the trouble and expense of taping each episode that they would probably come out on DVD. Well, guess what happened? Magnum P.I. was released on DVD (thank goodness for that). So, now I've got this huge garbage bag filled with VHS tapes of MPI (unless my wife has thrown them out :cry: ). However, I much prefer having the DVD version of the show. But, when I think of all the time I spent taping (at all hours) the show, it's mind boggling. :shock:

I am from Florida, and as many of you know, Florida was hit with multiple (severe) hurricanes in 2004. I have lived here all my life and have never seen anything like it. Hurricane Charlie (August 2004) was the worst for my area. My wife works at a hospital so she was working when the hurricane was going to hit, so my son and I went to stay at my parent's house about 5 miles away, because I was afraid our two big oak trees were going to come crashing down on our house. Anyway, I had to make all sorts of preparations to secure our house as best I could before my son and I went to my parent's house. The final preparation I made was to put my VHS tapes of Magnum P.I. in the aforementioned huge garbage bag and placed the bag in the center of the living room (elevated off the floor) surrounded by the couch and other large pieces of furniture away from all of the windows, so even if the house was damaged, hopefully my MPI tapes would not be damaged by water. My wife thought I was nuts. :P The funny thing is that the MPI tapes have been in that bag ever since. That reminds me of one of Magnum's lines in the pilot episode. He said, "it's funny what a grown man will do for a living..." Well, I think back to that and say "it's funny what a grown man will do for some quality entertainment." :wink:

I am happy to say that my wife and 14 year-old son enjoy the show too. They often pretend they don't, but that is just to tease the old man (me) a little. :wink:
The answer is obvious, old man. Logic is irrelevant. It's simply Tropical Madness. (J.Q. Higgins)

User avatar
eegorr
Vice Admiral
Posts: 124
Joined: Thu Dec 14, 2006 6:34 pm
Location: Tucson, AZ (it's a dry heat... LOL!)

#5 Post by eegorr »

That is a great story, IslandHopper, especially the part about saving the tapes and the fact that they are still in the same plastic garbage bag almost 3 years later! :lol:

I'm just a little older than you -- I was in my twenties when MPI was on the air in prime time. I don't really remember why I started watching, but I did. In the mid-80s I had a neighbor who drove a 308GTS that his roommate, who owned a body shop, had brought back from the dead (it was totalled). It was a great car, but most cars these days are a lot more comfortable inside, and many of them are faster! It was noisy and would have been uncomfortable to ride in for a long trip, but it was a Ferrari! 8)

I think that experience kind of personalized it for me and I watched Magnum religiously. Over the years, I saw a few episodes in syndication, but didn't really start watching the show again until about a year and a half ago when I got my DVR and WGN was running episodes twice a day in the morning. I was amazed how well it stood the test of time, and also at how little I remembered of the specific episodes! :?

It is a lot better being able to watch the episodes a few at a time than having to wait a week to watch the next episode. It is probably even better to have the shows on DVD, but I just haven't gotten to the point where I can justify buying them. It would be an easier decision if they had done something with the audio track, but, till they stop running episodes in syndication, I will probably hold off... unless I win the lottery or something! :wink:

Anyway, it is fun to have a forum where we can gather to talk about this great show and the man who clearly made it what it is. Thanks again, James! :)

User avatar
308GTS
Fleet Admiral
Posts: 204
Joined: Sat Feb 24, 2007 10:22 am
Location: Kent, England

#6 Post by 308GTS »

Yeah, great story Island Hopper.

Well for me I got hooked on MPI when I was about 17, it was late 1981 and MPI had just come to the UK (we're so behind with US shows). My then sweetheart (she was only 15) was also hooked on the show though I suspect that the dashing Mr Selleck had much to do with that crush, well she'd come over on a Sat night to watch it too. It was a big hit here for about the first 2 or 3 seasons, the around 1984'ish it started to go down in the ratings.

Originally it was broadcast on the ITV network on a Sat evening and then they switched it to Sun at 7.15pm. When it lost it's popularity it was shifted to a Sat night slot at around 11.30pm. Much like Island Hopper I taped every episode that I could, my best friend and I even exchanged VHS tapes every so often in case he had some episodes that I'd missed out on and vice versa. We were totally obsessed with the show and you may recall I mentioned in one of my earlier posts about the laughing scenes the scene in "The Woman On The Beach". This was the scene that we'd constantly rewind and watch over and over.

The show has aged well and it's lost none of it's wit and charm over the years. A great show all in all and way better than most if not all of the rest of the 80's shows. Of all of the TV shows that I can recall watching as a kid none holds that special magic like MPI did and does now (The Rockford Files, Hawaii 5 O come pretty close).

I believe that I still have some episdoes on some very old VHS tapes at my Mum's house. She's kept them all this time... :D
Arun
------

"The only thing that's going to touch you is a 10ft pole"

User avatar
IslandHopper
Master Flub Spotter
Posts: 729
Joined: Fri Mar 30, 2007 5:08 am

#7 Post by IslandHopper »

Thanks eegorr and 308GTS. I guess all that time and effort wasn't a total loss. :lol:
The answer is obvious, old man. Logic is irrelevant. It's simply Tropical Madness. (J.Q. Higgins)

User avatar
golfmobile
Chopper Pilot Wannabe
Posts: 1203
Joined: Fri Apr 06, 2007 8:47 pm
Location: Atlanta area
Contact:

#8 Post by golfmobile »

I didn't know about Magnum, P.I., until 1982, and then only because a friend who had lived in Hawaii (Lahaina) for a few years mentioned it to me and how good-looking the lead was, so I started watching it. Interestingly enough, according to www.classictvhits.com, MPI ranked #14 in 1980, #17 in '81, jumped to #4 in '82, back down to #6 in '83, and then was never again in the top 30 shows for the remainder of its run. Even though I didn't know the term "jump the shark" back then, I remember becoming disilluioned with it around 1985-86 and basically stopped watching it. I have enjoyed it much more in syndication in the years since, even to the point of being delighted when I would see a show from the first season from which one of the intro clips was used -- "Oh, that's the one with the helicopter swoop"; "that's the one with the eyebrows"; etc., until, only in syndication did I spot all the intro clip shows. (Remember, I hadn't seen the first season!)

Now I watch the shows for entirely different reasons -- now I'm not just looking to be entertained mindlessly, but to pay attention, which the others MPI lovers here tend to share. I was "picking" at one of the shows last night with my husband, and he rather berated me for criticizing what was pretty much designed to be entertainment and not art or history in the first place. But now in paying attention, I find almost every show has LOTS and LOTS of plot holes. And, I'm sorry, but aside from the few I can count on one hand (e.g., Erin Gray, Dana Delaney, Marta Dubois, Marcia Wallace, Carol Burnette), none of the "hot" women on this show could act! Every one of them, to me, sounds SO overly melodramatic as though they are reading cue cards. Or else they had such horrible lines, no one could say them with any conviction. No, wait, I'll give you Annie Potts and Julie Sommars too. Christine Belford normally can act, but that role in "Adelaide" was so lame, it was hard to overcome. Ditto for even Tyne Daly. For me, it's almost painful to watch, or at least embarrassing. But I still watch -- for all the OTHER reasons we extol here.

Don't crucify me! JMHO!

golf
"Portside, buddy."

User avatar
J.J. Walters
Founding Father
Posts: 4196
Joined: Tue Jan 02, 2007 10:54 pm
Location: Suburbia, USA
Contact:

#9 Post by J.J. Walters »

Wow, great stories everybody! Much fun to read.

I remember being at a friends house as a pre-teen (probably '82). We had to ask his parents for something, so we strolled into the den. Well, guess what was just starting on the tube? The opening title credits. I remember being transfixed by the theme song and the images I was seeing on the screen - the exotic locale, the Ferrari, and more than anything .... the "snorkel shot"! LOL! If I remember correctly, his parents kind of shooed us away, as they were no doubt pumped up for some Magnum action and didn't want to be bothered by us at that particular time. Heh.

What can I say, I was hooked from that moment on!

:)
Higgins: It's not a scratch! It's a bloody gouge!

User avatar
MagnumPI_Cat
Commander
Posts: 42
Joined: Mon May 14, 2007 7:21 am
Location: Australia

#10 Post by MagnumPI_Cat »

I first saw MPI this year. My mother had bought the second season. I decided to watch the first episode in French (we are studying it at school (I'm 13)). Once I saw the episode in English I was hooked.

MagnumPI_Cat.
Out of my way before I run you down and enjoy it! - Thomas Magnum, Tropical Madness, season 2.

eeyore
Admiral
Posts: 188
Joined: Fri Nov 10, 2006 9:26 pm

#11 Post by eeyore »

Island Hopper I am a Floridian as well. Next time you have something valuable to preserve in the event of a hurricane, don't put it in the floor, put it in your DRYER!! That was a BAD year wasn't it? I am in Tampa and was sweating Charlie all day until it made that fateful turn mid afternoon. But Jean and Ivan got us.

User avatar
IslandHopper
Master Flub Spotter
Posts: 729
Joined: Fri Mar 30, 2007 5:08 am

#12 Post by IslandHopper »

eeyore wrote:Island Hopper I am a Floridian as well. Next time you have something valuable to preserve in the event of a hurricane, don't put it in the floor, put it in your DRYER!! That was a BAD year wasn't it? I am in Tampa and was sweating Charlie all day until it made that fateful turn mid afternoon. But Jean and Ivan got us.
Great advice eeyore. I will remember that. To be more specific, I am in Orlando and my wife has family in Tampa, so we were watching "Charlie" very carefully as Charlie was originally predicted to hit Tampa and cause severe damage and flooding. My wife's sisters headed east to Orlando, and as you mentioned, Charlie turned at the last minute and missed Tampa and smashed into Orlando. As I mentioned in my previous post, my son and I went to my parent's house to wait out the storm. Their neighborhood has its street lined with huge oak trees and pine trees. The morning after Charlie, we were blocked in. These huge trees were everywhere. Bulldozers had to move the trees so we could get out. The entire neighborhood and surrounding area looked like it had been carpet bombed by B-52's. It was unbelievable. :shock:
The answer is obvious, old man. Logic is irrelevant. It's simply Tropical Madness. (J.Q. Higgins)

stever
Lieutenant Commander
Posts: 28
Joined: Sat Mar 31, 2007 6:34 pm

#13 Post by stever »

I watched it from the start on CBS. I always like Tom from his role on The Rockford Files as Lance White the perfect Private Eye so when Magnum first came in I watched the first episode and was hooked.
SR

User avatar
308GTS
Fleet Admiral
Posts: 204
Joined: Sat Feb 24, 2007 10:22 am
Location: Kent, England

#14 Post by 308GTS »

Anyone have any screenies of of TS as Lance in the Rockford Files?
Arun
------

"The only thing that's going to touch you is a 10ft pole"

Cecelius
Ensign
Posts: 2
Joined: Fri Aug 17, 2007 7:40 pm

#15 Post by Cecelius »

I was a late watcher - the local CBS affiliate had syndicated re-runs in the mid-80s on at 4:00 in the afternoon. So I watched after school and got to see each of the previous 5 seasons in short succession, plus watching the new ones that were coming out (the Frank Sinatra/Dana Delany period).

I think I remember being really ticked off when Oprah premiered and took Magnum off...

Post Reply