Why do you love Magnum, P.I.? What drew you to it?

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Fr. Paddy McGuinness
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Re: Why do you love Magnum, P.I.? What drew you to it?

#21 Post by Fr. Paddy McGuinness »

MagnumsLeftShoulder wrote:I agree that Magnum was sometimes a little too "beach bum" at times to be an ex-Navy officer, but that was kind of the point of the show. He was trying to leave that rigid military stuff in the past and move on from the scars of war. Yes, I know he returned to the Navy in the end, but I never thought was realistic especially not with a daughter to raise alone.

Paddy, were you a fan of JAG? I sometimes think Bellasario created it just so he could correct the military mistakes they made in Magnum. JAG wasn't totally realistic either, but I thought they tried pretty hard to get the little details right and the lead character was totally believable as a Navy officer especially in the early seasons.
I never watched JAG. I didn't know Bellasario was involved with it. I'll have to give it a look now. The beach bum thing was not a distraction to me. I, personally, don't put a lot of weight on the scars of war theory for Magnum. I prefer his explanation, "It wasn't anything earth shattering. I woke up one day, age 33, and realized I'd never been 23." That is a summary statement that encapsulates a lot of reflecting and dissatisfaction. He wants to be as far away from a life filled with responsibility and pressure as possible. The Magnum character has zero responsibilities that he doesn't take upon himself. It makes perfect sense to me.
Last edited by Fr. Paddy McGuinness on Mon Jul 31, 2017 3:30 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: Why do you love Magnum, P.I.? What drew you to it?

#22 Post by MagnumsLeftShoulder »

I, personally, don't put a lot of weight on the scars of war theory for Magnum. I prefer his explanation, "It wasn't anything earth shattering. I woke up one day, age 33, and realized I'd never been 23." That is a summary statement that encapsulates a lot of reflecting and dissatisfaction. He wants to be as far away from a life filled with responsibility and pressure as possible. The Magnum character has zero responsibilities that he doesn't take upon himself. It makes perfect sense to me.
Oh, I agree with you that he was tired of being Mr. Responsiblity. I guess I associate his war experiences with losing Michelle, but I know they didn't come up with that idea until the hiatus between seasons 1 & 2. Then in season 3 we find out he was a POW for a few months, but that's also something they came up with after the "never been 23" explanation. Like most fiction, it was "make it up as you go." :lol:

Give JAG a shot because military ethics, honor codes, and loyalty are on full display. And since you lived it, you'll probably get a kick out of critiquing parts of it. :wink: Be warned that it changes a lot after the first season. Season 1 was on NBC and it was more action/adventure oriented. When NBC cancelled it, CBS picked it up and it became more of a blend of drama, adventure, and some courtroom/legal/mystery stuff.

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Re: Why do you love Magnum, P.I.? What drew you to it?

#23 Post by MagnumFan »

My question is, why did Magnum stay in the military after Vietnam was over?
Michelle "died" in April 1975 to the best of his knowledge. Why did he bother staying with the Navy until '79? You'd think Michelle's death would've been the breaking point for him.

Also, am wondering how Magnum got stationed in Hawaii between 1975 and 1979 in the first place.

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Re: Why do you love Magnum, P.I.? What drew you to it?

#24 Post by Fr. Paddy McGuinness »

MagnumFan wrote:My question is, why did Magnum stay in the military after Vietnam was over?
Michelle "died" in April 1975 to the best of his knowledge. Why did he bother staying with the Navy until '79? You'd think Michelle's death would've been the breaking point for him.

Also, am wondering how Magnum got stationed in Hawaii between 1975 and 1979 in the first place.
Well he was a career officer who, based on "Missing in Action" (season 1), had been in Vietnam in 1967. During that conflict you were limited to 3 "in-country" deployments that were 13 months in duration with a one month mid-tour leave. So he probably would have done another deployment between that one and the one in 74/75 where he met Michelle. The Ivan incident at Doc Wei would fit in well to the second deployment. I know I'm mixing fact with fiction and the show timeline is a little skewed. Michelle thought her husband was killed during Tet a full 7 years before the fall of Saigon. If we're to believe all the things they attribute to Magnum's character (SEAL, Naval Intelligence, Joint Spec Ops teams), guys like that usually don't break. That's how got where they got. When things are bad they focus on a goal. The character was a pretty stable person. I thought his drinking bender after the Sharon Stone suicide was way out of character, but it introduced the Jim Bonnick character. If you look at the amount of loss in his life he had it all very well compartmentalized. As for being in Hawaii, that's pretty common for sailors. Besides Pearl Harbor, they must have other installations on Oahu. The Army had 6 installations on Oahu when I was stationed there.
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Re: Why do you love Magnum, P.I.? What drew you to it?

#25 Post by MagnumFan »

Fr. Paddy McGuinness wrote:
MagnumFan wrote:My question is, why did Magnum stay in the military after Vietnam was over?
Michelle "died" in April 1975 to the best of his knowledge. Why did he bother staying with the Navy until '79? You'd think Michelle's death would've been the breaking point for him.

Also, am wondering how Magnum got stationed in Hawaii between 1975 and 1979 in the first place.
Well he was a career officer who, based on "Missing in Action" (season 1), had been in Vietnam in 1967. During that conflict you were limited to 3 "in-country" deployments that were 13 months in duration with a one month mid-tour leave. So he probably would have done another deployment between that one and the one in 74/75 where he met Michelle. The Ivan incident at Doc Wei would fit in well to the second deployment. I know I'm mixing fact with fiction and the show timeline is a little skewed. Michelle thought her husband was killed during Tet a full 7 years before the fall of Saigon. If we're to believe all the things they attribute to Magnum's character (SEAL, Naval Intelligence, Joint Spec Ops teams), guys like that usually don't break. That's how got where they got. When things are bad they focus on a goal. The character was a pretty stable person. I thought his drinking bender after the Sharon Stone suicide was way out of character, but it introduced the Jim Bonnick character. If you look at the amount of loss in his life he had it all very well compartmentalized. As for being in Hawaii, that's pretty common for sailors. Besides Pearl Harbor, they must have other installations on Oahu. The Army had 6 installations on Oahu when I was stationed there.
I'd say that his time spent "bumming it" from '80-'88 was a form of break. Not a mental or psychological break in the usual sense, but you have a guy who goes from being a highly decorated, disciplined veteran to a borderline freeloader. Yes, he does work as a PI, and he's stable in a mental sense, but this is a guy who lives case to case and is almost perpetually broke. I'd say that the entirety of Magnum's career as a PI was out of character for the guy with the military background he has. You could say Magnum perhaps compartmentalized the entirety of his army self during this eight year period - tucked it away as someone he used to know. The repulsion he has toward the Navy during this time, and the carefree nature he has, suggests to me a man looking to escape from his own memories. Not a regression to adolescence but an escape from the horrors he'd seen.

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Re: Why do you love Magnum, P.I.? What drew you to it?

#26 Post by BWheelz54 »

MagnumFan's comments hit on an aspect of the show I think about a good bit while I enjoy the episodes. The final episode still sits with me a little wrong even after I've watched it several times now. I can understand why Magnum would choose to return to the Navy. And I understand what kind of character and commitment Magnum must've displayed while he was in the service before the show. But I still think that last episode kinda undermines Magnum's time as a private investigator. His time on the estate is sure informal compared to his service background, but I watch the episodes and feel Magnum uses that same character and commitment to help so many others, including Higgins, Rick, TC and himself. Sometimes, I feel that last episode is kinda saying, "Well, Magnum had his adolescent break now, and so it's time for him to be an adult again." I don't agree with that notion, at all. I think he's been an adult all along, no matter how he sometimes tries to put on a gorilla mask and just shrug it all off like a kid - he can't. i just don't like this idea that Magnum is somehow being irresponsible during the timeline of the show. I argue the opposite.

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Re: Why do you love Magnum, P.I.? What drew you to it?

#27 Post by MagnumsLeftShoulder »

I just don't like this idea that Magnum is somehow being irresponsible during the timeline of the show.
I agree. Yes, he was living a beachy-laid back life; but so what? He had earned it! I don't buy that he was mooching off Robin Masters either. Nobody was forcing Robin to keep him employed.

I never liked the final episode either BWheelz. It wasn't the worse thing they could of written, but returning to the Navy did not seem like what TM would do at that stage of his life. For one thing, he was 9 years older so it's not like he could go back to the SEALs and he would have been miserable behind a desk. But most of all, continuing to live and work at the estate was the perfect set up for a single father! He had a great place to raise his daughter and he could take on PI work when he wanted. For all of their arguing, Higgins would have never complained if he had to look after Lily while Thomas was away on a case.

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Re: Why do you love Magnum, P.I.? What drew you to it?

#28 Post by Moxie »

For me it was the relationship between the characters that mattered They were all very different but they had an unbreakable bond between them. They were always there for one another It might be the military background they all shared taught them about always being there for one another. They were all clearly scarred by war. They all wanted a gentle,happy life which they could share. Only combat veterans who fought together could really relate to one another the way they did. Really,I think that most people want something like that. Instead a lot of us focus on "goals", or in a lot of cases just surviving. Life goes by before you realize how important your friends are and why they matter. Stopping to smell the roses also masters a lot in our lives. Magnum had that.

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Re: Why do you love Magnum, P.I.? What drew you to it?

#29 Post by Luther's nephew Dobie »

Hi Guys,
I think we may have forgotten how Magnum's experiences as a child also formed his character/values.
He lost his Dad early, I seem to recall there was a shot of his father's much too big watch hanging from young Tommy's wrist(which episode anyone?), perhaps representing his childhood was over and he had to take on bigger tasks before his time.
Writers put such images in a script on purpose, it isn't happenstance.
His mother then marries a cold SOB, a step father who when he sees the face of Tommy has his own inadequacies reflected back to him in the knowledge here is living proof that his wife's first husband was much the better man. I think(maybe I'm wrong) we are also supposed to gleam from the subtext and Magnum's unforgiving stony facade/stance when around his step father that he beat young Magnum.
So Magnum didn't just lose his young adult years to wartime service but maybe his whole youth dating from when his Dad was killed in action (do we know how old Magnum was then?)
I can understand how he subsequently embraced a new lifestyle of carefree living, if only to be like everyone else who had gotten to enjoy a normal childhood and young adult years.
It might not be perfectly normal for a man in his 30's but neither is spending some of your time in your 20's being tortured in a communist POW camp.

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Re: Why do you love Magnum, P.I.? What drew you to it?

#30 Post by MHTR »

Luther's nephew Dobie wrote:
I seem to recall there was a shot of his father's much too big watch hanging from young Tommy's wrist(which episode anyone?)
Home from the Sea - http://magnum-mania.com/Forum/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=154

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Re: Why do you love Magnum, P.I.? What drew you to it?

#31 Post by MagnumILWU »

Do most of you actually read the question? You all try to sound so deep, when you go off on tangets, and don't even answer the question! Tom Selleck,Magnum, Hawaii, his lifestyle, being a private investigater, the Ferrari, the estate, Higgins, Rick, TC, the lads, the characters, the stories, baseball, hot dogs! Just everything about the series! What guy back then didn't want to live his life?! That's what I love about Magnum, and drew me to it!
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Re: Why do you love Magnum, P.I.? What drew you to it?

#32 Post by Work The Lock »

MagnumILWU wrote: Tom Selleck,Magnum, Hawaii, his lifestyle, being a private investigater, the Ferrari, the estate, Higgins, Rick, TC, the lads, the characters, the stories, baseball, hot dogs! Just everything about the series! What guy back then didn't want to live his life?! That's what I love about Magnum, and drew me to it!
Amen to those bullet points. His military backstory deepens him, but those aspects all just clicked perfectly. Combined with the relative innocence of the 1980's, it keeps it supremely appealing all these years later.

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Re: Why do you love Magnum, P.I.? What drew you to it?

#33 Post by Reef monkey »

The show premiered just before I turned 5, so I'm trying to reach back and remember what caught my eye about it. Certainly the Hawaiian scenery was appealing, and reminded me of going to Miami to see my grandparents, which I always liked. TC kind of reminded me of Gordon from Sesame Street. Thomas was the same age as my father, and it was interesting to see a man the same age as my dad who never wore a suit and acted kind of like a kid. I liked how he talked to the audience, but not in a hard-boiled noir way, in a relaxed conversational way. I started to imagine that Magnum was what I was going to look like, be like as an adult. Well, I got the hairy chest and the ability to grow a thick mustache (but found I hate having facial hair), but my dark brown hair ended up straight, and I topped out at 5'10". One thing that really stood out to me was Magnum's M1911A1. I was so used to seeing the characters in police and detective shows and movies carrying revolvers, and all my older brother and my toy guns were revolvers, his was the first semiauto I had noticed a character using. Soon I got my first toy "Magnum 45" in die cast metal, it looked like and what about the same size at this:
https://i.ytimg.com/vi/K3U80lM0RYo/maxresdefault.jpg

Then there was the Ferrari, which was the coolest car I had ever seen. I actually had a little pedal car that was a red Ferrari, though made to look like a Formula 1 racer.

I also really thought his surfski was cool, my family was already a boating family, so I thought the idea of having my own little one-man boat that I could paddle around by myself was pretty cool. And if you'll notice my profile pic to the left, that's one Magnum-inspired dream from my childhood that came true.

I continue enjoying Magnum partly for the nostalgia, but it is also just good action/adventure/drama with characters you like and care about, set in a beautiful tropical paradise.
My essay "In Country: Place and Historical Connection in Magnum PI", about the importance of the Honolulu/Vietnam connection in the show:
http://magnum-mania.com/Forum/viewtopic ... 850#p57850

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