The Dark Side of Thomas Magnum?

[Mark de Croix]

At risk of unpopularity, I want to share a dilemma I felt about TM in hope of maybe solving it. Sometime ago I pointed out
In "The Taking of Dick McWilliams" (S2.10 ) we hear a good friend of TM's refer to him as "Tom." TM met him ten years prior in Oahu. They are rather good friends how TM talks about him. This instance is particularly interesting because this friend does not come from TM's early life but well into TM's adulthood and in the Navy during peacetime.
At the same time and before, Rick & TC are using "Thomas." We see the three of them as "blood brothers." The name thing screams out, "Then why isn't "Tom" used? Y'know if you revisit S2.10, see how TM remembers that good friend very warmly and intimately. And later the same guy, Dick, refers to TM as an old Navy buddy. If Rick & TC were true buds to TM, then they surely would be calling him Tom, too.

It may be that not only Rick & TC like TM a bit more than what he likes them, but also to TM the relation is largely professional or instrumental to put it kindly. Without Rick and TC, TM would not be a very successful PI. They are indispensable to him. Is he ever seen doing special things for them? No, he’s always on the receiving end. As much as we like to think of them as “blood brothers,” they are less so in the mind of TM.

It’s maybe a matter of military mindset—whereas the show implies Dick was once an officer in intelligence with TM, Rick & TC were not officers. That division TM maintains to his benefit. His previous role in the war as their CO continues by which he extracts their services for his business. Rick & TC do so gladly but sadly they might not ever be close to TM as Dick was. Theirs is a pragmatic relation and to that extent a bit disappointing. This disappointment is less on TM than it is on being a fan. We fans might exalt the trio’s relation higher than they themselves would. Thus it becomes difficult to see the imperfection or warts of the hero.

[Mark de Croix]

GOT IT!

Dilemma solved! But no thanks to the MPI script writers! Here it is--the missing scenario that fell off the Director's desk:

DIRECTOR'S COPY
CBS PILOT #485-2046: Magnum PI: Episode 1

Rick & TC sworn buds relocate together in Hawaii. TM is still in the Navy stationed there. By the time he resigns, Rick & TC have fairly made it there in their respective ways. TM mulls his many possibilities, including getting a law degree at Yale. Exciting but he's been in a regimented setting for so many years, he just wants to cut loose. TM blurts this all out with Rick & TC in Rick's club. Lo and behold a murmur is felt around the bar as Rob Masters and a couple of beauties walk in.

Rick jumps up and escorts them to their favorite private room. Masters invites Rick to join them. Masters lets on that he as usual is on just a brief visit to islands, but got concerned about a security breach at the estate. Rick has a great idea and luckily TM is in his official whites. He brings TM over to Masters' table for an introduction to which Masters invites TM to join them. Eventually Rick floats the idea that for the right arrangements, TM could put the estate in order and secure the place. TM balks that he has a plane ticket for back home in San Diego and he hasn't completely given up on Yale. Masters likes TM so much that TM joins them for a foursome into the night.

Masters calls TM the next day and offers him the deal of a lifetime. TM says he'll think about it and that evening has dinner with Rick & TC. When the guys hear about the offer they excitedly try to convince TM to stay in Hawaii. The sticking point is that the estate job is not enough for his livelihood. "Wait, this is perfect," says Rick. "Remember you thought seriously about the offer to be a PI in San Diego. Don't ya see, you can do that here!"

"Yeah, sure Rick. Just a tad different--it was from an established law firm there. I would just come in and be shown the ropes. Here, it would be all from scratch."
"It can be done, Thomas, TC & I did it. So can you. We have the contacts and the know-how about setting up a business here. We'll back you up all the way. Isn't that right, TC."
"Absolutely, Thomas. We're all part of de Croix. That's why we got our rings, bro. We stand behind you 100%. If you pass up the Masters' deal you'll regret it the rest of your life."
"100%, you say?" as TM stands on his feet. "Y'know guys, this is serious business. I know you guys know more about this than me, but it would be really tough going at first. No office, no staff, no business experience. Nothing."
Rick & TC chime in, "No problem. We'll be your staff if need be."
Yeah?? So if I need ya to run a lead for me or case out a joint, you'll do it?"
"Aye, aye, sir."

TM turns and looks outward: "I sure like the idea of driving that Ferrari and living at Robin's Nest. Imagine the babes when they get a look at the estate and the fact I live there. Awesome." Well, if I do it, I'm gonna hold you guys to your word. Got it? You work for me if I need it, right?"
"Aye, aye, sir."
"Ok but no complaints later, right? Especially, you Orville. C'mon, Rick, convince me."
"Thomas! It's as TC says--one for all, all for one. We're fully behind you."
Ok, gentlemen, you're on!

[Mark de Croix]

Gotta Capstone!

Real pleased with the "discovery" of the missing script for Episode 1: TM is so a man of the highest character that he wouldn't use people the way the original series is presented. Donald Bellisario and his staff simply overlooked this element. But to put the final capstone on it, we now can fully understand why Rick & TC continue to address TM as "Thomas."

In the related thread, Reason why TM goes by Thomas not Tom, I present a credible reason why. Now I make it even stronger: Rick & TC have a social contract with TM to work for him. It was their doing; their choice. But little enforcement exists except for one thing--use of TM's formal name, Thomas. That presumably is the name they used when TM was their CO, and TM need not change it. Intuitively he knows this and can continue with it given it helps to strengthen their social contract. And no-one would blame him for doing so!

[charybdis1966]

GOT IT!

Dilemma solved! But no thanks to the MPI script writers! Here it is--the missing scenario that fell off the Director's desk:

DIRECTOR'S COPY
CBS PILOT #485-2046: Magnum PI: Episode 1

Rick & TC sworn buds relocate together in Hawaii. TM is still in the Navy stationed there. By the time he resigns, Rick & TC have fairly made it there in their respective ways. TM mulls his many possibilities, including getting a law degree at Yale. Exciting but he's been in a regimented setting for so many years, he just wants to cut loose. TM blurts this all out with Rick & TC in Rick's club. Lo and behold a murmu......... C'mon, Rick, convince me."
"Thomas! It's as TC says--one for all, all for one. We're fully behind you."
Ok, gentlemen, you're on!

Interesting, just to confirm is this a bit of fan fiction or an actual part of the pilot script that was unused ?

If it's the latter it certainly explains a lot of the prima facie bad behaviour of TM.

[Mark de Croix]

GOT IT!

Dilemma solved! But no thanks to the MPI script writers! Here it is--the missing scenario that fell off the Director's desk:

DIRECTOR'S COPY
CBS PILOT #485-2046: Magnum PI: Episode 1

Rick & TC sworn buds relocate together in Hawaii. TM is still in the Navy stationed there. By the time he resigns, Rick & TC have fairly made it there in their respective ways. TM mulls his many possibilities, including getting a law degree at Yale. Exciting but he's been in a regimented setting for so many years, he just wants to cut loose. TM blurts this all out with Rick & TC in Rick's club. Lo and behold a murmu......... C'mon, Rick, convince me."
"Thomas! It's as TC says--one for all, all for one. We're fully behind you."
Ok, gentlemen, you're on!

Interesting, just to confirm is this a bit of fan fiction or an actual part of the pilot script that was unused ?

If it's the latter it certainly explains a lot of the prima facie bad behaviour of TM.

Neither, my friend, neither. I had to approach the subject as a ghost writer to maintain my objectivity. Actually I was much bothered by the issue I raised. So I started this thread for help but the solution came suddenly by the next day. I'm now at peace. (BTW, I thought of you when I used "blood bros." I think you shared with us a funny UK program of really tight blokes of that description.)

[charybdis1966]

Neither, my friend, neither. I had to approach the subject as a ghost writer to maintain my objectivity. Actually I was much bothered by the issue I raised. So I started this thread for help but the solution came suddenly by the next day. I'm now at peace. (BTW, I thought of you when I used "blood bros." I think you shared with us a funny UK program of really tight blokes of that description.)

A-ha, that totally makes sense Mark.

I'd be so much more comfortable if the pilot had included some exposition to that effect because, as pointed out by one of the students in the episode Murder 101 (episode 8 of Season 5), TM relies on Rick's leg work and TC's chopper to enable him to be a PI. Granted his intuition and intelligence background help him out to some degree but a bulk of his leads come from Rick.
Yes, it was me with that link to another favourite’80s series of mine with a tightly knit group of blood brothers (Auf Weidersehen, pet), as vivid a set of characters as the quartet of TM, Higgins, TC and Rick.

[Mark de Croix]

Neither, my friend, neither. I had to approach the subject as a ghost writer to maintain my objectivity. Actually I was much bothered by the issue I raised. So I started this thread for help but the solution came suddenly by the next day. I'm now at peace. (BTW, I thought of you when I used "blood bros." I think you shared with us a funny UK program of really tight blokes of that description.)

A-ha, that totally makes sense Mark.

I'd be so much more comfortable if the pilot had included some exposition to that effect because, as pointed out by one of the students in the episode Murder 101 (episode 8 of Season 5), TM relies on Rick's leg work and TC's chopper to enable him to be a PI. Granted his intuition and intelligence background help him out to some degree but a bulk of his leads come from Rick.
Yes, it was me with that link to another favourite’80s series of mine with a tightly knit group of blood brothers (Auf Weidersehen, pet), as vivid a set of characters as the quartet of TM, Higgins, TC and Rick.

My friend, what an amazing memory you must have. The issue must have bothered you as well to make a mental note of it. How else could you have retrieved that episode? I'd like to watch it but I'm watching in sequence or I try too. I'm somewhere in season two. I haven't watched since the Anniversary Watch deal. The lull is beneficial; I have a lot of things to do.

[Pahonu]

Neither, my friend, neither. I had to approach the subject as a ghost writer to maintain my objectivity. Actually I was much bothered by the issue I raised. So I started this thread for help but the solution came suddenly by the next day. I'm now at peace. (BTW, I thought of you when I used "blood bros." I think you shared with us a funny UK program of really tight blokes of that description.)

A-ha, that totally makes sense Mark.

I'd be so much more comfortable if the pilot had included some exposition to that effect because, as pointed out by one of the students in the episode Murder 101 (episode 8 of Season 5), TM relies on Rick's leg work and TC's chopper to enable him to be a PI. Granted his intuition and intelligence background help him out to some degree but a bulk of his leads come from Rick.
Yes, it was me with that link to another favourite’80s series of mine with a tightly knit group of blood brothers (Auf Weidersehen, pet), as vivid a set of characters as the quartet of TM, Higgins, TC and Rick.

I always felt that they did a pretty good job in the pilot of showing that the friendship of the three was forged on the battlefield. I also think TC and Magnum share an even stronger bond than with Rick because they were prisoners of Ivan and suffered that hell together. I think they all have a feeling of owing their lives to each other and that’s where the annoyances of the day-to-day friendships ultimately takes a back seat to that sense of debt to each other. Perhaps military rank may play a role in their relationship, but the trauma of the battlefield would seem to outweigh this.

More exposition is always interesting, but unlike a novel, TV or film have no easy way of providing that depth of detail short of very lengthy dialogue or voice-overs. Did you ever read the novelization of the pilot? I bought a copy pretty cheap on Amazon about 10 years ago. There’s an entire sequence of chapters before the “stealing the Ferrari” in the pilot opening that provides some background. It seemed really disconnected and bizarre, and there was nothing about how TM and Robin met. I don’t even remember most of it, but it wasn’t good. Once the Ferrari scene we all love started, the book flew, but was quite brief in telling the entire story. I think it was less than 100 pages ultimately.

[Mark de Croix]

@Pahonu, rationalize it all you wish but you cannot overcome these facts:
1 ► As charybdis1966 points out in a later episode of MPI, a character points out TM depends so much on Rick and TC to be a PI with implication TM couldn't be a PI without that help.
2 ► From what I have seen--and granted I have only seen a small portion--TM uses both Rick & TC. It's totally one way in TM's benefit. In real life that is an abusive relationship.
3 ► It is unusual as pointed out in a related thread that Rick & TC use formal address for TM ("Thomas") when apparently TM's closest friends call him "Tom." You should know that informality is a trademark of US culture and so accordingly by default Americans typically will use nicknames for one another. Formal address can connote social distance.

As a viewer I felt something amiss about TM's treatment of Rick & TC. Perhaps your love of a hero overlooked it and find TM's character flaw difficult to accept. I believe I provided a rationale for anyone concerned by which to have TM's sterling character restored. For one, I'm pleased by it, I hope you are too.

[charybdis1966]

My friend, what an amazing memory you must have. The issue must have bothered you as well to make a mental note of it. How else could you have retrieved that episode? I'd like to watch it but I'm watching in sequence or I try too. I'm somewhere in season two. I haven't watched since the Anniversary Watch deal. The lull is beneficial; I have a lot of things to do.

I saw that episode a month or so ago and it struck me then how true it was what one of the students said (about how Rick's info and TC's transport helped him so much in his cases) in TM's class and when I read your post, Mark, a little light bulb went off in my head and it reminded me of that.

I sort of wish the writers didn't use "a lead from Rick" to move the plot along when TM's investigations hit a wall.

[Mark de Croix]

My friend, what an amazing memory you must have. The issue must have bothered you as well to make a mental note of it. How else could you have retrieved that episode? I'd like to watch it but I'm watching in sequence or I try too. I'm somewhere in season two. I haven't watched since the Anniversary Watch deal. The lull is beneficial; I have a lot of things to do.

I saw that episode a month or so ago and it struck me then how true it was what one of the students said (about how Rick's info and TC's transport helped him so much in his cases) in TM's class and when I read your post, Mark, a little light bulb went off in my head and it reminded me of that.

I sort of wish the writers didn't use "a lead from Rick" to move the plot along when TM's investigations hit a wall.

It registered with you at least subconsciously and amazing timing for otherwise we would have been like two ships passing by at night. It may be in real life someone so extraordinarily above everyone always gets their way; "it's the way life is." But TM's character is not like that; he has humility and decency. He would not intend to hurt others. However Tom Selleck and the creators wanted TM to have a flawed character (as you probably know). His "mooching" off others, which is comedy relief, probably is meant to show flawed character. On the flip side is TM always using Rick & TC. So maybe they wanted to keep this basic element again to make TM more realistic. But to me that mirrors the worst attribute of the gifted person--them knowing it and pressing it in your face. So it seemed so unbecoming of TM.

[Pahonu]

@Pahonu, rationalize it all you wish but you cannot overcome these facts:
1 ► As charybdis1966 points out in a later episode of MPI, a character points out TM depends so much on Rick and TC to be a PI with implication TM couldn't be a PI without that help.
2 ► From what I have seen--and granted I have only seen a small portion--TM uses both Rick & TC. It's totally one way in TM's benefit. In real life that is an abusive relationship.
3 ► It is unusual as pointed out in a related thread that Rick & TC use formal address for TM ("Thomas") when apparently TM's closest friends call him "Tom." You should know that informality is a trademark of US culture and so accordingly by default Americans typically will use nicknames for one another. Formal address can connote social distance.

As a viewer I felt something amiss about TM's treatment of Rick & TC. Perhaps your love of a hero overlooked it and find TM's character flaw difficult to accept. I believe I provided a rationale for anyone concerned by which to have TM's sterling character restored. For one, I'm pleased by it, I hope you are too.

I wasn’t really arguing against Magnum’s use of Rick and TC in such a non-reciprocal way with my comments. He very much does and it’s quite central to his character. I was thinking about why they continue to help him and the root of their friendship. The battlefield can create a unique bond among people… and a sense of debt, as other episodes explore. This is likely the biggest reason they frequently look past each other’s shortcomings and put up with much more than they might with other friendships.

For what it’s worth, having seen all the series episodes multiple times since they first aired, my first guess as to how various recurring characters address him most frequently would be:

Higgins: Magnum
TC: TM
Rick: Thomas
Agatha: Mr. Magnum
Carol: Thomas
Maggie: Magnum/Thomas this one is hard to decide
Buck Greene: Magnum
Mac: Magnum

I have done no formal count. I do think TC calls him TM a lot, likely more than Thomas. Perhaps this is because he goes by initials as well? I don’t know.

What do you make of all these forms of address?

[Mark de Croix]

Our use of names shows our intimacy--whether close or distant. So TM's best friend at the Academy called him "Tom" but Rick & TC don't. However, as I pointed out in the thread dealing with this issue, TM grew up in a household with several having the same name. So for him, "Thomas" can still signify familiarity. It can be especially advantageous. For Rick & TC and all others in earshot, Rick & TC's use of "Thomas" likely has a professional ring but to TM it can feel intimate (without erasing the rank differences between them).

Typically family name use signifies formality but contrarily youth gang members might call another their family name. Gang members are typically tight and are quite intimate. I wonder if this practice derives from the military. I never have been in the military but suppose that superiors can easily show rank by calling soldiers by solely their family name--while maintaining formality. But the reverse surely would not be tolerated--underlings calling their superior without the designated rank name. However, I suppose among the underlings themselves mutual use of family-name address might be frequent.

Higgins: obviously he does not want to elevate TM above himself nor does he want to go beyond a professional level. "Magnum" suffices.

About TC: I've always thought that the script writers were employing --to them--characteristics of Black English. So only TC calls Higgins "Higgie baby." "TM" is kinda like a blend of formality and informality. (Actually much of TC's speech is standard not dialect but there might be some carry-overs.) Race matters: Roger E. Mosely said in an interview he was a little uncomfortable at first with the show.

[Pahonu]

What about Carol and Maggie also calling him Thomas? He introduces himself that way also, rarely Tom. None of the regular or recurring cast use Tom. I’m trying to remember what his mother called him in the few episodes she appeared in. There seems to be quite a bit of complexity here, not fitting neatly in a box. I thought about it years ago only because as an actor he uses exclusively Tom. I don’t believe I’ve ever heard him mentioned as Thomas Selleck.

I recall early on that TC’s character used more black vernacular. Perhaps TM is part of that. The use of initials is far more common in the American South than other regions. The show seems to insinuate that TC is a southerner and in early treatments of the series he was described as a white southerner, but Mosley was from LA and never used any accent. Then there’s the way Rick said Thomas, with his Chicago accent. It was unique in itself.

[Mark de Croix]

Please read my explanations in the related Name thread. That will answer most of your questions. Surely you know that TM is referred to/called by both "Thomas" and "Tom" in the series. At least once he identifies himself as "Tom Magnum." It's been my interest to try to show these are not random within the creator's mind but follow some social/cultural rules. I believe I uncovered most of them regarding TM.

As far as Carol and Maggie, I am unsure if I watched their segments. Without seeing them, right away I have to ask what is the context. What is their relation with TM, the situation, and what characters are with them at the time. I suppose if it is a professional context "Thomas" is used.
If it is closely intimate one that began outside of TM's social network in Hawaii, then quite likely "Tom" is used. However, there is an unfortunate constraint--the scriptwriters might choose to use Thomas for sake of continuity for the audience.

>>The show seems to insinuate that TC is a southerner and in early >>treatments of the series he was described as a white southerner,
When you say "show," not screenplay but the actual TV program, MPI? Is that right? If so there must be some mistake because TC is African American all the times I watched the show.

About accent: In the MPI series, TC's origin is given or implied as Southern? Then again, it still could be true in Mosley's case because there had been a huge migration from South to North.

>>recall early on that TC’s character used more black vernacular.
Interesting. Could be a nifty dissertation there waiting to be made, charting out those changes and why.

>>Perhaps TM is part of that. The use of initials is far more common in the >>American South than other regions. The show seems to insinuate that TC is a southerner ..

You are suggesting TC's use of "TM" comes from a Southern background? Blacks make up relatively large proportion there than elsewhere so you would have trouble teasing that apart. And anyway where do you get that "use of initials is far more common in the American South than other regions??"