Misc. MPI Newspaper Articles

[Sam]

Thank You RG....I sorta remembered that article..didn't remember the opponents..I wonder why Don Ho didn't appear in either a HFO or MPI episode?

I do remember the follow up with the results of the game from the Star-Bulletin...Thanks again

[Rembrandt's Girl]

Thank You RG....I sorta remembered that article..didn't remember the opponents..I wonder why Don Ho didn't appear in either a HFO or MPI episode?

I do remember the follow up with the results of the game from the Star-Bulletin...Thanks again

You're welcome, Sam! If anyone else has any requests for articles please let me know.

[Rembrandt's Girl]

Following are some reviews about MPI when the networks announced their new shows for the upcoming season. Many of them were the same, copy/paste descriptions of the show's premise, so I tried to pick a few different ones...

Asbury Park Press, September 14, 1980...





Muncie Evening Press, September 19, 1980...





Green Bay Press-Gazette, September 21, 1980...







Ft. Lauderdale News, October 26, 1980...





Chicago Tribune, October 26, 1980...

[thechickinthemiddle]

"Surely the gimmick won't work. A flop." I didn't think there'd be critics who dismissed it this harshly. I guess with TS as the lead they wrote it off as a purely escapist show with no real point or weight to it.

Also, that Burt Reynolds comparison is even more hilarious now, having seen "L.A.".

[Rembrandt's Girl]

Palm Beach Post, July 19, 1980...









Chicago Tribune, October 21, 1980...





Honolulu Advertiser, October 22, 1980...





Star-Bulletin, November 10, 1980. Spats was the night club/disco in the Hyatt Regency Waikiki, same hotel as Trappers...





Honolulu Advertiser, November 20, 1980...







Star-Bulletin, November 26, 1980...





Star-Bulletin,December 1, 1980...





Honolulu Advertiser, December 4, 1980...





Philadelphia Inquirer, December 5, 1980...





Honolulu Advertiser, December 5, 1980...





Los Angeles Times, December 11, 1980...

[KENJI]

More excellent finds there RG!

I had to smile at the Dec. 1 1980 article mentioning a manager named Mai Tai Sing.......he or she should be managing a karaoke bar with that name.....say it fast enough and it sounds like Might I Sing......a PERFECT fit - love it!

[308GUY]

Or if you consume enough mai tai's.....you probably will sing!


Also thoroughly enjoying each and every tidbit from the past about the show/stars and/or anything having to do with MPI.

Interesting how some of the reviewers said it wasn't going to make it.

I had heard about the chopper crash and have seen the dedication on the DVD's, but had never seen any details of the incident before. Sad, but informative.

Great to see that Mosley was involved with local kids, just like his character.

Seems to have been a running theme on the show....the main characters put allot of themselves into them.....maybe that's why it worked?

[Rembrandt's Girl]

I had to smile at the Dec. 1 1980 article mentioning a manager named Mai Tai Sing.......he or she should be managing a karaoke bar with that name.....say it fast enough and it sounds like Might I Sing......a PERFECT fit - love it!

Here's the rest of the sentence, Kenji.



I just read up on it, and they're referring to the Honolulu mayoral race of 1980 when Eileen Anderson defeated incumbent Frank Fasi. Interestingly, MPI is mentioned on Anderson's wikipedia page?...

Popular Culture, Magnum P.I.
The 1981 to 1985 seasons of the CBS television program Magnum, P.I. were filmed in Honolulu during Anderson's mayoral leadership. The show unintentionally included background scenes that featured major construction and development projects on Oahu, promoted by Anderson as mayor.


Here's Mai Tai Sing, second from the right, in 2011 at a jazz concert at La Pietra Hawaii School for Girls...




And of course Jimmy Borges was performing!

[KENJI]

Thanks for the additional info RG!
Great pics of Mai Tai and Jimmy!
Mai Tai appears to be a very happy person in the first pic. Here are a few links regarding Dong.....
http://www.dongkingman.org/about.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HpGqY73ko2g

The school mentioned in the second pic - La Pietra Hawaii School of Girls was created by none of other than Barbara Cox Anthony (Eve Anderson's step-mom) and another lady named Lorraine Day Cooke.

[Rembrandt's Girl]

Or if you consume enough mai tai's.....you probably will sing!


Also thoroughly enjoying each and every tidbit from the past about the show/stars and/or anything having to do with MPI.

Interesting how some of the reviewers said it wasn't going to make it.

I had heard about the chopper crash and have seen the dedication on the DVD's, but had never seen any details of the incident before. Sad, but informative.

Great to see that Mosley was involved with local kids, just like his character.

Seems to have been a running theme on the show....the main characters put allot of themselves into them.....maybe that's why it worked?

Glad you're liking them, 308GUY! Here's even more about the chopper crash, and the last article mentions the settlement Bob Vanderkar's widow received...


Star-Bulletin, November 20, 1980...





Honolulu Advertiser, November 21, 1980...





Star-Bulletin, November 21, 1980...




Los Angeles Times, January 19, 1985...

[Rembrandt's Girl]

Here are a few promos that ran in the papers just prior to the pilot...

[Rembrandt's Girl]

...and here are a few articles and reviews from just prior to the premiere. More to come!

Various newspapers, December 6 - December 10, 1980...

[Rembrandt's Girl]

Here are reviews that ran the day of the premiere...still more to come. I'm not posting mostly negative articles intentionally...apparently there were quite a few negative reviews.

Various newspapers, December 11, 1980...

[thechickinthemiddle]

Tom's poses here crack me up! These I'd sooner expect from Angela Lansbury for a lighter Murder, She Wrote promo. They really played up the comedy in promoting the pilot.

[terryfromkerry]

OMG! Bill Carter wrote ............. " MPI is one of the most eminently forgettable TV shows of recent memory". To quote JHQ ............. "This is outrageous !" I wonder if Bill ever had the gumption in later years to revise his opinion and accept how wrong he was.

Thanks again RG for all your research work . You should suggest to Larry Manetti to release an updated and revised edition of "ALOHA MAGNUM" to include all of these terrific articles you have unearthed. The addition of such material would in hindsight be so appropriate and relevant and would certainly enhance a revised publication. Or maybe put all the press material you found together in chronological order and print your own homage to MPI. What would be your title for such a publication ?