Seasons 1-4 are Superior to Seasons 5-8

[Stelth]

This didn't post earlier this AM .....



Should they have made it a dream?

Jeff Mackay left for a bigger role on another Bellisario show Tales of the Gold Monkey. When that show was cancelled they needed a way to bring him back on MPI, I'm sure in part as a thank you for taking the chance on TotGM. The Jim Bonnick character wasn't perfect, but better than making it like Mac never died that night. Add to the fact how he out-Played Magnum in comparison to how Thomas used to play Mac, it was a good injoke.

Also, Jump the Shark infers the show never recovered from that tanking moment whereas MPI had some of it's best episodes ever (as voted by you, the fans!) after Mackay's return.

I think this is a really great point. I never thought of it that way. It's like karma caught up with Magnum and is paying him back for all the times he took advantage of poor Mac.

[J.J. Walters]

Seasons 1-4 would win out for me, with 5-8 not too far behind. Season 7 alone almost elevates the 5-8 group to equal status of 1-4, but Seasons 5 and 6 are just too uneven.

[Doc Ibold]

Agreed.

If I were to rank (And solely my opinion)

3 (Almost No stinkers)
2 (Solid throughout)
1 (Adelaide and All Roads Lead to Floyd take it down)
4/7 (High marks and low ones even these. Home From The Sea, Holmes, On Face Value, Rembrandts Girl Laura, Paper War, Little Girl, Who, Limbo vs. Smaller Than Life, Out of Sync, Novel Connection)
The end of the Magnum trilogy, Unfinished Business vs. A Girl Named Sue, Transitions. The shortness hurts too.
5) Meh
6) Some of the more unwatchable (if there are any) moments in the show. It seemed to take itself too seriously this season.

[Higgins (aka Bondtoys)]

I personally prefer the first 4 seasons as well - but Echoes of the Mind is among my favorites.

What you must know is, that in german television, all vietnam references have been cut off to match the 42 minutes formatte plus not many people here would understand the entire issue.

So most of the first 4 seasons where extremely lighthearted when I have first seen them and I am missing that from season 5 a bit.

I seldom watch seasons 7 and 8 I must admit.

[Sisophous]

I seldom watch seasons 7 and 8 I must admit.

Same with me, I just pass on them. I was very disappointed in Season 5 and will be viewing a rented disc from Netflix of Season 6, tomorrow. In the future, I think the only episodes I will watch again are seasons 1-4.

Seasons 5-8 have a more serious tone and they just do not work for the most part. I still think the timing of the change of Magnum P.I. and the hit series Miami Vice arriving is not coincidental. Miami Vice had no humor in it and a lot of guns blazing. A few Magnum P.I. episodes also had a lot of gunfire, on the second half of the series, no doubt another approach in mimicking the Miami Vice series.

[.45caliber]

I can't understand someone calling themselves a Magnum maniac, yet saying seaons 5-8 are unwatchable. I just don't get that. I think every season is great and every episode.

[ConchRepublican]

Originally Magnum had an intriguing and tragic backstory which had layers of mystery over it- we only saw pieces of his past- but when we finally meet his family it's like they're a family of accountants dressed in beige- it was so suburban and uninteresting. For me this begins to erode the James Bond in Hawaii concept of Magnum and heads towards a sort of domesticity.

I don't love when he goes back to Tidewater either, but it was important I think to see the man he could have been. I came to appreciate the counter-point of this basically suburban kid with the "same as everyone else down to bad Christmas sweaters" family and the exotic, exciting life he lives now.

It's almost a "he could have been you . . . and you could be him" lure I have come to appreciate.

[Stelth]

[/quote]
I don't love when he goes back to Tidewater either, but it was important I think to see the man he could have been. I came to appreciate the counter-point of this basically suburban kid with the "same as everyone else down to bad Christmas sweaters" family and the exotic, exciting life he lives now.

It's almost a "he could have been you . . . and you could be him" lure I have come to appreciate.[/quote]


You always have an interesting way of looking at things...I enjoy reading your perspective.

[Doc Ibold]

I can't understand someone calling themselves a Magnum maniac, yet saying seaons 5-8 are unwatchable. I just don't get that. I think every season is great and every episode.

I think each episode has its moments, at times the writing differs and makes some episodes stronger than others. Unwatchable may have been the wrong term (and I used it only for S6):

For instance, Season 6 has some good points that rank among my top moments even if the following eps aren't some of my favorites.

Deja Vu - Plot was a little weird (Psychically tracking his friends killer) but the premise of taking them out of their element and the scene with Magnum reuniting Higgins and his father. That's powerful. Not to mention Ian McKerrins and Higgins reconciliation.

The Kona Winds - Great premise, executed so so. Higgins fighting the storm was great.

Going Home - Conch's description swayed me. The fact that they are so vanilla is a glimpse as to what Magnum could have been had he not joined the Navy. The Wall scene makes the episode. I generally skip to that point.

Mad Dogs and Englishmen - A bit far out in the premise of the Higgilution but it shows you what Magnum would feel if Higgins wasn't around and is a great example of their evolving relationship.

All Thieves On Deck - The ending is a classic around here."I got him".

Island isn't Big Enough - Everyone rushes to save Rick. With some John Wayne thrown in.

Find Me A Rainbow - um, the food fight?

Don Luis Higgins - Any Higgins family reunion is nice. Even if there is no TC

Luck/Grief: Rick gets to live out his Bogie Casablanca fantasy, and helps out TC and Magnum.

Photo Play: I still scratch my head on the case here, but the snooker watching scene (Which is pretty much recreated every April when I watch the Lions draft. Recordings and notes.) but overall 2 words: Cat Speech

[No need to know!]

When Mac came back the show started to go down in my opinion.

When i get an urge to watch the show(which happens four times every year or so ) i always end up watching it from the beginning and usually stops in the middle of the fourth season.

I have a theory aswell. Magnum P.I was better when Magnum wore cool jeans. Sure he had shorts earlier on, but they were better looking than later on

I have always rated the 6th season as the weakest. It did get better in the 7th with some great episodes (Death taxes, Paper war and Limbo), that season 5 and 6 lacked, but as a whole the first four seasons were much better.

This is how i rate the seasons.
1. Season 2 (it had found its Place)
2. Season 1
3. Season 3
4. Season 4
5. Season 7
6. Season 5
7. Season 8
8. Season 6

[No need to know!]

I can't understand someone calling themselves a Magnum maniac, yet saying seaons 5-8 are unwatchable. I just don't get that. I think every season is great and every episode.

I think each episode has its moments, at times the writing differs and makes some episodes stronger than others. Unwatchable may have been the wrong term (and I used it only for S6):

For instance, Season 6 has some good points that rank among my top moments even if the following eps aren't some of my favorites.

Deja Vu - Plot was a little weird (Psychically tracking his friends killer) but the premise of taking them out of their element and the scene with Magnum reuniting Higgins and his father. That's powerful. Not to mention Ian McKerrins and Higgins reconciliation.

The Kona Winds - Great premise, executed so so. Higgins fighting the storm was great.

Going Home - Conch's description swayed me. The fact that they are so vanilla is a glimpse as to what Magnum could have been had he not joined the Navy. The Wall scene makes the episode. I generally skip to that point.

Mad Dogs and Englishmen - A bit far out in the premise of the Higgilution but it shows you what Magnum would feel if Higgins wasn't around and is a great example of their evolving relationship.

All Thieves On Deck - The ending is a classic around here."I got him".

Island isn't Big Enough - Everyone rushes to save Rick. With some John Wayne thrown in.

Find Me A Rainbow - um, the food fight?

Don Luis Higgins - Any Higgins family reunion is nice. Even if there is no TC

Luck/Grief: Rick gets to live out his Bogie Casablanca fantasy, and helps out TC and Magnum.

Photo Play: I still scratch my head on the case here, but the snooker watching scene (Which is pretty much recreated every April when I watch the Lions draft. Recordings and notes.) but overall 2 words: Cat Speech

Agree with you. Even though i prefer some seasons i can´t say that i think that a single episode on the entire show is unwatchable. Beat that Miami Vice

[Stelth]

Hey pal!

[No need to know!]

I seldom watch seasons 7 and 8 I must admit.

Same with me, I just pass on them. I was very disappointed in Season 5 and will be viewing a rented disc from Netflix of Season 6, tomorrow. In the future, I think the only episodes I will watch again are seasons 1-4.

Seasons 5-8 have a more serious tone and they just do not work for the most part. I still think the timing of the change of Magnum P.I. and the hit series Miami Vice arriving is not coincidental. Miami Vice had no humor in it and a lot of guns blazing. A few Magnum P.I. episodes also had a lot of gunfire, on the second half of the series, no doubt another approach in mimicking the Miami Vice series.

I think that the use of famous music was the only thing Magnum P.I might have picked up from Miami Vice. Miami Vice really wasn´t a bigger hit if you look at the ratings. But it probably made a bigger impact over a short time. It was a time when MTV was huge, and Miami Vice really made a use of that.
But hey i was a fan of Miami Vice. The first two seasons that is. That show really lost the plot somewhere in the third season, and the last two seasons were terrible.

Can´t believe that you don´t watch the 7th season of Magnum. Some of those episodes are the highest rated episodes on the whole series. Come on! Paper war and Death and taxes!!

[ConchRepublican]

I don't love when he goes back to Tidewater either, but it was important I think to see the man he could have been. I came to appreciate the counter-point of this basically suburban kid with the "same as everyone else down to bad Christmas sweaters" family and the exotic, exciting life he lives now.

It's almost a "he could have been you . . . and you could be him" lure I have come to appreciate.

You always have an interesting way of looking at things...I enjoy reading your perspective.

Yeah, I can be "out there" sometimes.

[Sisophous]

This is how i rate the seasons.
1. Season 2 (it had found its Place)
2. Season 1
3. Season 3
4. Season 4
5. Season 7
6. Season 5
7. Season 8
8. Season 6

Wow!!! Great minds must think alike!!!!!!!! You know I think exactly as you do, I would have rated the 8 seasons in the exact same order as you did, spot for spot. And, upon looking at it again, you echoed what I said, Seasons 1-4 are better than seasons 5-8. Thanks for posting, it confirms what I thought all along.

I am still viewing a couple more disks from Season 6 in the next week, but I only view episodes I earlier had rated at least 3 stars, I no longer bother with the lackluster episodes and I have viewed every episode in this series at least twice.

I could not have ranked this differently.