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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MaximRecoil
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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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Milton Collins
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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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Re: Laura (7.18)

#76 Post by 80s Big Hair »

Do you guys think Magnum and Rick took Dohaney's pension of $20,000 as payment or did they agree to a reasonable fee due to the circumstances? I am going with the latter. I am also bothered as it seems Dohaney was perfectly capable of finding the child killer rapists by himself without hiring Magnum. Of course that would not make for a very good Magnum, P.I. episode.

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Re: Laura (7.18)

#77 Post by Gorilla Mask »

80s Big Hair wrote: Sat Feb 20, 2021 5:39 am Do you guys think Magnum and Rick took Dohaney's pension of $20,000 as payment or did they agree to a reasonable fee due to the circumstances? I am going with the latter. I am also bothered as it seems Dohaney was perfectly capable of finding the child killer rapists by himself without hiring Magnum. Of course that would not make for a very good Magnum, P.I. episode.
Hi 'eighties' ! :magnum:

A more consistent hypothesis is that Donahu may have been too well known to the murderers to investigate on his own and that he needed Magnum to play the role of "decoy" or diversion in some way ...
"Je sais ce que vous allez me dire, et vous aurez raison..."

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Re: Laura (7.18)

#78 Post by ENSHealy »

Frodoleader wrote: Wed Jun 11, 2008 5:26 pm While watching this episode the other day, I noticed something I don't think I ever noticed before: there was(is) what looks to be a ship's bell in Magnum's bedroom. It was located in the foreground in one shot as he is walking into the room. Never noticed it before.
Carmen wrote: Wed Jun 11, 2008 6:48 pm Then you have to watch "The arrow that is not aimed" again, there is that one special scene at Magnums bedroom including the bell. :D and later I am not sure, maybe in "Mad dogs and Englishmen" Magnum uses the bell at Higggins bedroom for payback...
Click here for “Bell Revenge”: https://vimeo.com/manage/videos/630475833
Little Garwood wrote: Tue Oct 13, 2009 3:20 pm I do like how Joe Santos is brought in during these "intense" episodes; he's great as usual here.
For some reason, I hate the Joe Santos character. Why not just use Tanaka? I know, he’s got a rougher edge, yada, yada, yada. Still don’t like it/him.
MACattack wrote: Thu Oct 15, 2009 12:45 am For the record, that wasn't a transvestite that Doheny smashed through a window. It was a large Samoan with a bad hair cut eating a late dinner. The fact that Doheny would assault a large man like that shows his lust for vengeance. A harsh move on his part, but I don't blame considering his grief over his grand daughter.
He may be Samoan, but we aren’t really given the sense he’s large in anything other than the follicular sense. In this pic, he doesn’t look much bigger than the woman holding the rag to his head.
Image
Doc Ibold wrote:I like the fact that Magnum allows Doheny's "justice" to happen, even though it goes against every fiber of his being.
Against every fiber of his being? You have seen Did You See the Sunrise, right?
nha trang wrote: Fri Jan 21, 2011 4:50 am the only really awkward moment I think is when Higgins walks Sinatra (Doheny) to the bedroom and admits that Doheny "has a point" as a counterpoint to one of Higgins' long winded stories, yet it really isn't like Higgins to admit that someone else has a point in such a way, except for Frank Sinatra, Higgy Baby isn't going to give him any crap...
My interpretation is that Higgins is smart enough to know when the listener isn’t grasping the point of the story. Which Sinatra had made clear he was not, by his response.
Doc Fred wrote: Sat Jul 27, 2013 12:27 am
Doc Ibold wrote:
Doc Fred wrote:When Rick was trying to con Thomas about the reward money, did anyone besides me think he resembled Mac 2 in his approach.. "A small finder's fee.." ?????
I think there may have been a small matter of unpaid bar tabs.

:lol:
Yeah, there might have been a "few" of them accumulated over the years.... :)
But remember, Thomas sent a check to the club to settle his tab just a few episodes ago, at the end of Solo Flight. So he was all square at the club. Rick was just being Rick.
Kalai-pahoa wrote: Fri Mar 07, 2014 12:58 pm As said in the main page of the episode, one of the most important scenes was shot at the International Marketplace in Waikiki.
Sad to read that the historical IM closed a couple of months ago to make room for a mall :cry: :cry: :cry: That place was an institution of Waikiki! I've been there and it was a very good and funny place to eat or buy cheap souvenirs. I'm so sad and devastated... What a pity!
How ironic, given what has since been torn down….
SignGuyHPW wrote: Wed May 28, 2014 2:46 am It was also a great touch for Higgins trying in vain to find one of his stories that would fit and get Doheney to feel a little better.
Higgins wasn't trying to make Doheny feel better, he was trying to get him to see the futility of revenge.
80s Big Hair wrote: Sat Feb 20, 2021 5:39 am Do you guys think Magnum and Rick took Dohaney's pension of $20,000 as payment or did they agree to a reasonable fee due to the circumstances? I am going with the latter. I am also bothered as it seems Dohaney was perfectly capable of finding the child killer rapists by himself without hiring Magnum. Of course that would not make for a very good Magnum, P.I. episode.
The $20,000 was his retirement gift from the group at the party, not his pension. That’s a hell of a retirement gift, but not much of a pension, even in 1987. But I have always been curious as well whatever happened with the reward money.
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Re: Laura (7.18)

#79 Post by ENSHealy »

EPISODE: 7.18 Laura

Famous guest stars: 1 Frank Sinatra (I considered giving him 2 points just for being the Chairman of the Board, by far the biggest guest star of the whole series, but decided against it. It was close though.)
Hawaiian shirts:
Tigers Cap:
Island Hopper shirts:
Shirtless Magnum:
OMG:
Higgins Organizations:
Higgins musings: 1
Negotiations:
Gun Play:
Bullet wounds:
Body Count (by Magnum):
Little Voice:
I know what you’re thinking: 1
When I write HTBAWCPI: 2 The book isn’t mentioned, but two tidbits are handed out, one repeated twice.
Investigator corrections: 1
4th wall breaks:
Magnumometer: 6
Magnumometer Moments: https://vimeo.com/712450990

In the credits, there is a different shot of TM and Frank after the killer goes over the edge. In the episode, Magnum just stares at Frank/Doheny. In the shot in the credits, he gives him a slight nod, as if to say “good work”. (And perhaps is thinking: you should have asked him if he saw the sunrise.) You can check it out here: https://vimeo.com/712460928

I too noticed that the cemetery scene at the end was filmed in Hawaii and not New York, but it wasn’t because of the palm trees (which I failed to notice). It was because of the sweat on Frank’s brow, which had me thinking, wait, it would have been cold in NYC and he’s wearing a heavy coat. (Note Thomas’s comment in the video about it being cold in Tidewater at the time – if it’s cold there, it’s gotta be cold in NYC too.) Also, there wouldn’t have been any flies bugging him in the dead of winter in NYC.

In the Episode Guide, the link to the “new bedroom set” takes you to a picture of Michael Doheny’s partner, not the bedroom set.

I think this is a good episode, and while I enjoy the Genesis montage, it always makes me cringe a bit, since they were so obviously copying Miami Vice. I mean, they had to, I’m sure the network gave them no choice, but Magnum had its own thing, it didn’t need to go chasing Crockett and Tubbs for style points.
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Re: Laura (7.18)

#80 Post by Tuan Vu from Hawaii »

This was Frank Sinatra's last full character depiction on screen, so it was a big deal. He was probably the "greatest" guest star on Magnum, P.I., although his career had declined by 1987.

The episode, I thought, was okay. The part near the end when Doheny, an old man, beats up a much younger man, was unrealistic to me.

What I did like about this episode was seeing so much of downtown Honolulu as it was back then. I grew up in Hawaii and knew all those locations very well, especially since I worked for about 20 years downtown. I had eaten at Mini Garden restaurant (where Frank Sinatra throws a guy's head through the window) a few times. The seedy part of downtown, with all the strip joints and adult bookstores, is no longer there, as the city cleaned up that part of Honolulu in the 1990s.

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Re: Laura (7.18)

#81 Post by Aloha Friday »

Good story and all, but my preference is for the not so dark episodes. I liked it, but too obvious trying to be edgy like Miami Vice. When that show came out it was special...it made everything else look old. Almost like going from black and white to color. Miami Vice had the music, the color, and Crocket and Tubbs, but then it was not Magnum PI.
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Re: Laura (7.18)

#82 Post by eagle »

I thought I had posted in this thread before, but I didn't see it, so maybe not. Anyway, I find this episode extremely difficult to watch, and not just because of the Phil Collins music (lol). Honestly, I don't mind the music so much, but man, that subject material is just difficult. So sad and terrible.

It is a good episode, but it's just hard. Surely I'm not the only one who thinks so.

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Re: Laura (7.18)

#83 Post by ZelenskyTheValiant (Ivan) »

eagle wrote: Tue Jul 11, 2023 1:52 am I thought I had posted in this thread before, but I didn't see it, so maybe not. Anyway, I find this episode extremely difficult to watch, and not just because of the Phil Collins music (lol). Honestly, I don't mind the music so much, but man, that subject material is just difficult. So sad and terrible.

It is a good episode, but it's just hard. Surely I'm not the only one who thinks so.
I agree. There's nothing more disturbing than an innocent little child having to go through something like this. The ending with Sinatra at the grave makes me well up with tears.

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Re: Laura (7.18)

#84 Post by 502-to-right »

This episode is easily a top 5 or 10 one for me, but then I love revenge stories. Francis was excellent as the retired cop. I can't believe they got Francis to guest star on the show. As good as Magnum was, it just seems odd that he would agreed to do the show. But I'm glad he did.

I agree with others who see this episode as heavily Miami Vice influenced. The thing that perplexed me is that they sped up the Genesis song (Tonight, Tonight, Tonight). The original runs at 98 beats per minute and they had this version sped up to 110 beats per minute. As a huge fan of the song, it was kind of a buzz kill for me. I have no idea why they would have done that. I still enjoyed it though and if they still made Michelob lager I would have had a couple to relive the old times!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=25oYL8z6QgE

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Re: Laura (7.18)

#85 Post by Luther's nephew Dobie »

502-to-right wrote: Fri Sep 15, 2023 1:37 am This episode is easily a top 5 or 10 one for me, but then I love revenge stories. Francis was excellent as the retired cop. I can't believe they got Francis to guest star on the show. As good as Magnum was, it just seems odd that he would agreed to do the show. But I'm glad he did.
I agree with others who see this episode as heavily Miami Vice influenced. The thing that perplexed me is that they sped up the Genesis song (Tonight, Tonight, Tonight). The original runs at 98 beats per minute and they had this version sped up to 110 beats per minute. As a huge fan of the song, it was kind of a buzz kill for me. I have no idea why they would have done that. I still enjoyed it though and if they still made Michelob lager I would have had a couple to relive the old times!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=25oYL8z6QgE
Somebody on these boards pointed out that stations speed up episodes in order to fit in more commercials, or to not have to chop out as much content as nowadays the standard is (give or take a minute or 2)
40 minutes content, 20 minutes commercials when syndicated. Out of the 48 uncut minutes of an original episode, they have to lop off 8 additional minutes for ads.
I particularly notice the speeding up has occurred when at the end of "77 Sunset Strip" the episode's theme music starts playing, after a few seconds it jarringly returns to normal speed as the music
makes it obvious the episode has been sped up.
We will know if they ever do this to "Cannon" when William Conrad's deep baritone suddenly sounds like a soprano.
I suppose if the trade off is more content via a speeding up that we normally don't notice, then I can put up wtht it.

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