Laura (7.18)

Rate, review & discuss the episodes from the seventh season

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How Would You Rate This Episode?

10 (Perfect!)
21
21%
9.5 (One of the Best)
31
32%
9.0 (Excellent)
20
20%
8.5 (Very Good)
11
11%
8.0 (Pretty Good)
6
6%
7.5 (Decent)
5
5%
7.0 (Average at Best)
2
2%
6.5 (Not So Good)
0
No votes
6.0 (Pretty Bad)
0
No votes
5.0 (Just Awful)
2
2%
 
Total votes: 98

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marlboro
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Re: Laura (7.18)

#61 Post by marlboro »

J.J. Walters wrote:First off, welcome Dave! I like your posts. The Mania runs deep in your veins. :)

Regarding "Laura", what more could you ask for in a 1980's TV show: guest star of a lifetime in Frank Sinatra (the "Chairman of the Board"!), a stalking horse revenge plot, awesome long sequence shot set to a great Genesis song on Hotel St., Magnum and T.C. playing chess, the International Marketplace, Kevyn Major Howard, Tina Machado, Club Hubba Hubba dancers, and an emotional ending. What a blast this must have been for Selleck and Manetti! Definitely not one of the worst episodes.

I wish they had kept the bit where Frank pours the drink on the wookie in the diner.
Last edited by marlboro on Wed Mar 02, 2016 1:40 am, edited 1 time in total.

Croix de Lorraine
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Re: Laura (7.18)

#62 Post by Croix de Lorraine »

We know Sinatra exists in the Magnum universe, since Magnum likes to play Strangers In The Night on his saxophone, but he obviously didn't exist in this particular episode, or people would be shocked by how this Doheny fella looks exactly like Frank Sinatra.

marlboro
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Re: Laura (7.18)

#63 Post by marlboro »

Croix de Lorraine wrote:We know Sinatra exists in the Magnum universe, since Magnum likes to play Strangers In The Night on his saxophone, but he obviously didn't exist in this particular episode, or people would be shocked by how this Doheny fella looks exactly like Frank Sinatra.
Exactly. The writers should have put a little more effort into it, like they did with Mac and Jim Bonnick.

Ol' Blue Eyes:
Image


Doheny:
Image

J. Rickley Schneider
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Re: Laura (7.18)

#64 Post by J. Rickley Schneider »

I think I was not served well by the fact that I knew everything about this episode before I watched it.

So the revelation that Laura was Doheny's granddaughter wasn't shocking or surprising or anything. But I imagine that those who watched this episode without knowing anything going in probably figured that out pretty quickly anyway.

It's not a bad episode, but I think the plot is too linear. Doheny searches for granddaughter's killer. Doheny finds granddaughter's killer. Doheny kills granddaughter's killer.

There are no real twists or turns or surprises.

I think it would've been more poignant if Doheny had died from wounds suffered while struggling to achieve his revenge.

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Matches Malone
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Re: Laura (7.18)

#65 Post by Matches Malone »

Hi all. Just wanted to pop in for a moment to comment.

My grandmother was a HUGE Magnum fan and, as a kid, I often watched the show with her back in the day. Fortunately, she recorded almost all of them when they were broadcast and, after she passed away a few years back, I made sure to grab all of her tapes that I thought would be worth hanging onto, including every Magnum tape. After she passed, I would occasionally do some Magnathons watching her old VHS copies (thankfully with the commercials included, which is a real treasure as she almost always edited out the commercials). This weekend I grabbed a random tape and it appears to be from early '87. I've never really sat down with an episode guide to figure out continuity points in the series, most popular episodes or anything -- I just like to pop one in and take it as it is, as if I were tuning in back in the mid-80's (and the commercials really help capture that feeling) -- so I came into this episode totally blind.

Now, I'm okay on Frank. Like many, he was more significant to older generations than to me, but, as I've grown older myself, my appreciation for his style, impact and meaning (both in movies and music) has improved considerably. Although I'll never fully grasp his aura as those who experienced it contemporaneously can, I at least know if he is on screen, many people older and wiser than me straighten up and take notice, so I do the same. As I saw on the preview for the show that Ol' Blue Eyes was going to be in it, I kind of had the feeling this would be one of those sad attempts to shoe-horn in an old timer in the hopes of garnering a slight bump in ratings that never works, so he'd probably get some forced, contrived role that was totally out of place.

I have to say, though, like many of you here, I thought this episode was just awesome. Of the many that I've seen over the years, it really stood out as unique, an episode where they really pulled out all the stops, and it ultimately brought me here to find out more about it. Yeah, there's nothing out of the box about the plot, but Frank really did his part justice and I thought the scene at the very end was very touching and well-portrayed (although my wondering if they had filmed the scene in Hawaii as the flora looked a little too tropical did break the drama a little).

The Genesis music is of its time and added a great urban, moody vibe, especially in the build-up as Doheny and Magnum pound the pavement and crack skulls. If they left that in the DVD release, good on them as many of these studios don't want to pay royalties for the original music to be included on the DVDs. Back then, their music really had that edge and atmosphere to it which, for me, complements the montage perfectly. Not coincidentally, I'm sure, one of the commercial breaks had a Michelob ad with the same song by Genesis… those guys were synonymous with night life in the city back then! Even though I know MPI always had its darker moments, I did get the feeling that the use of Genesis must've been an attempt to capture some of that Miami Vice magic (which I loved as a kid), but I think they pulled it off successfully without being total copycats.

It was also a little surprising to see how risqué this show could be, given that it wasn't, as I remember, in one of the later time slots when it was broadcast. Seems to me like it was either 8 or 9 pm and I remember as a kid that it was typically on the 10:00 shows where things were grittier, smuttier and more violent. This episode had hookers, strippers, mention of the kidnapping, brutal rape, beating and ultimate death of a minor, and the infamous head-through-the-glass (what a shocking scene and I love the fact that it happened in an instant, then moved on, although I dug the insult-to-injury in the credits with the glass of water -- man, Frank was ruthless!). Again, with the backdrop of all those wholesome commercials for milk, Chevrolet and gum, it's pretty jarring and impactful stuff for that time period, more on par with something like Hill Street Blues, which definitely pushed the envelope every week.

One other side note for me that made this one of those all-encompassingly cool episodes, was that they did some filming at the International Marketplace. My grandmother and I went to Hawaii in 1984, no doubt a by-product of this show. During our stay in Honolulu, we visited the IM and actually got separated (I was maybe 10 or 11 at the time) when I stopped to look at something and she didn't realize I wasn't following her. It took her a while to find me and I know she was scared out of her wits while I was just browsing around looking at tiki statues or something. Obviously she found me eventually, but that's one of the moments that's always stuck out in my head about that trip and I wondered if that was the same place when I saw this episode. Funny now to find out that it was!

Alright, sorry I took up so much of everyone's time, just wanted to share some thoughts on this great episode! Now to continue with the Magnum Mania…..

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Little Garwood
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Re: Laura (7.18)

#66 Post by Little Garwood »

Joan McMurtrey--later Lt. Abigail Marsh on seasons seven and eight of Simon & Simon--plays Michael Doheny's daughter in this. I wonder if the producers of S&S liked her brief scene here and hired her on that alone.

Having watched "Laura" again just last night for the first time since 2009. My first thoughts were that it is a great Miami Vice episode but just an okay MPI episode, if you catch my drift. However, I'm still standing by my "Very Good [8.5]" rating on this, though; Sinatra alone earns it that much.
"Popularity is the pocket change of history."

~Tom Selleck

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KingKC
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Re: Laura (7.18)

#67 Post by KingKC »

Normally I shy away from the violent, dark, nitty-gritty episodes but this one has kept my attention for 30 years. Maybe it was Sinatra or the Phil Collins music or the justice that resulted. I don't know. I ranked it #7.

KingKC

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ROBIN 23
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Re: Laura (7.18)

#68 Post by ROBIN 23 »

All I can say is WOW! what a a great episode. Is it normal for a 45-year old man to cry at the end of an episode of Magnum? :magnum: Happened to me twice recently...first was at the conclusion of Unfinished Business and now at the end of Laura. Both are truly spectacular episodes.

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308GUY
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Re: Laura (7.18)

#69 Post by 308GUY »

Welcome ROBIN 23.. :D

Normal?....always an arbitrary call. :lol:

I found both episodes you mention to be very powerful, emotionally, so reactions can be somewhat varied, depending on how things affect the individual.

You must be a fan of "The Elmo Ziller Story"......seeing how you also "poke" from Hondo, Texas! :lol:

Always good to see new names on the roster, you've come to the right place for "all things Magnum". :magnum:

Stick around and let us hear from you.


"Quite" :higgins:
"C'mon TC...nothing can go wrong!"

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Turkey
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Re: Laura (7.18)

#70 Post by Turkey »

ROBIN 23 wrote:All I can say is WOW! what a a great episode. Is it normal for a 45-year old man to cry at the end of an episode of Magnum? :magnum: Happened to me twice recently...first was at the conclusion of Unfinished Business and now at the end of Laura. Both are truly spectacular episodes.
Unfinished Business... huge episode!
Make it two weeks.

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Re: Laura (7.18)

#71 Post by MaximRecoil »

I didn't think Sinatra's acting was very good in this. For the most part it was okay, but his head-shaking reaction to the guy getting killed by the bus, and his punching through the glass/mirror, were both very wooden/scripted-looking.

His beatdown of the guy on the roof at the end was terrible; no apparent energy/speed/power in his punches. It looked like a rehearsal to learn the choreography of the fight before performing it for real. Someone should have coached him on how to throw realistic-looking movie/TV punches (Selleck and Mosley were both good at it). It was made even worse by the guy making not even the slightest effort to defend himself from Sinatra's prolonged half-hearted attacks; not even any reflexive actions; he might as well have been Glass Joe in Punch-Out.

I didn't buy Sinatra as a tough guy. He was too small and old. Him sending a guy flying head-over-heels across the room with a punch was absurd. If you're going to play fast and loose with physics, at least have it be someone who's somewhat believable throwing the punch, such as Mosley, or Mr. T. Someone like Frank Sinatra trying to push their [insignificant] weight around in the rough part of town would get themselves throttled in short order.

I'm not a fan of "Red Light District Shakedown" montages to the tune of a "Passion Pop" song either. The quintessential rendition of this '80s trope can be seen in the Sylvester Stallone movie Cobra (1986); the song being Robert Tepper's "Angel of the City" (link to scene). Frank Stallone was probably pissed: "What's Tepper got that I don't? I can sing with more passion than he can!"

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Re: Laura (7.18)

#72 Post by Orrymain »

Tom was on Live with Kelly today and they talked about this episode, or rather Sinatra, for a minute or two. His comments, in truth and/or laughter:

1) Larry told Tom that Frank wanted to do the show. Larry, of course, was a friend of Frank's. Tom knew him, but not in the same way. Tom called Frank and asked. Frank said he wanted to do it. He didn't care about about the script as long as he could beat someone up (laughter from the audience) and added he'd do it for expenses only. Universal's bill: $250,000 (more laughter from the audience).

2) Larry was supposed to "baby-sit" Frank on the set, but Larry was sometimes naughty and didn't. Frank often got impatient. He wanted to do everything in one take which, of course, is not the TV way.

3) He acknowledged it was a very big deal for the show and that it was Frank's last acting gig.

He later said that if Blue Bloods gets one more season, it will surpass Magnum in episode count.

As an aside, this was Tom's 30th appearance on the 'Live' shows. Per normal, he walked out and did the 'walk' where he mingled with the audience. The first words out of his mouth when he sat down were along the lines of, "May I never take that for granted."

None of this may be new, of course, but I it was a fun appearance and I thought I'd share.

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Re: Laura (7.18)

#73 Post by Milton Collins »

The fight scene in the bar is so great I love Sinatra blasting people in the face throughout the entire episode lol. This is a very very good episode.

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Re: Laura (7.18)

#74 Post by Milton Collins »

ROBIN 23 wrote:All I can say is WOW! what a a great episode. Is it normal for a 45-year old man to cry at the end of an episode of Magnum? :magnum: Happened to me twice recently...first was at the conclusion of Unfinished Business and now at the end of Laura. Both are truly spectacular episodes.

Unfinished business makes me so charged up I get goosebumps great call Robin 23! And this one Laura is very touching too, I find myself almost clenching my fists when the guy is after the little girl in the hallway at the beginning. And I love the ending when he throws the kid off the roof for revenge! I think one of the best things about Magnum PI is how gripping and emotional it can be. Memories are forever is another that grabs me and brings me to an emotional place.

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Re: Laura (7.18)

#75 Post by LZeitgeist »

Orrymain wrote:Tom was on Live with Kelly today and they talked about this episode, or rather Sinatra, for a minute or two. His comments, in truth and/or laughter:

1) Larry told Tom that Frank wanted to do the show. Larry, of course, was a friend of Frank's. Tom knew him, but not in the same way. Tom called Frank and asked. Frank said he wanted to do it. He didn't care about about the script as long as he could beat someone up (laughter from the audience) and added he'd do it for expenses only. Universal's bill: $250,000 (more laughter from the audience).

2) Larry was supposed to "baby-sit" Frank on the set, but Larry was sometimes naughty and didn't. Frank often got impatient. He wanted to do everything in one take which, of course, is not the TV way.

3) He acknowledged it was a very big deal for the show and that it was Frank's last acting gig.

He later said that if Blue Bloods gets one more season, it will surpass Magnum in episode count.

As an aside, this was Tom's 30th appearance on the 'Live' shows. Per normal, he walked out and did the 'walk' where he mingled with the audience. The first words out of his mouth when he sat down were along the lines of, "May I never take that for granted."

None of this may be new, of course, but I it was a fun appearance and I thought I'd share.
Excellent info - thank you for posting that, especially his thoughts upon sitting down. I wish I could engrave those words in my mind and in my heart and live them every day.

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