A.A.P.I. (7.5)

Rate, review & discuss the episodes from the seventh season

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How Would You Rate This Episode?

10 (Perfect!)
1
1%
9.5 (One of the Best)
3
3%
9.0 (Excellent)
17
20%
8.5 (Very Good)
28
33%
8.0 (Pretty Good)
20
23%
7.5 (Decent)
10
12%
7.0 (Average at Best)
0
No votes
6.5 (Not So Good)
3
3%
6.0 (Pretty Bad)
1
1%
5.0 (Just Awful)
3
3%
 
Total votes: 86

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Sinjin
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Re: A.A.P.I. (7.5)

#31 Post by Sinjin »

Thanks Pohanu, glad to be aboard. No relation to the volleyball player, although I know of him. Sinjin is another way of writing/saying "St. John," my name. Not that I'm a saint. Just random. I also go by Keone.

Earl Derr Biggers wrote the Chan novels. Biggers had visited Honolulu in 1919 and was impressed by newspaper accounts of real life Honolulu police detective Chang Apana. I've read a few of his stories and they are good. Biggers knows the islands and it comes through in his depiction of Honolulu in the 20s-30s. His stories inspired a number of movies from the late 1920-50s. The early Chan movies produced by Fox were surprisingly good, with quality production values, acting and writing. They were very popular in the US during those years. Warner Oland was the first and most agree the best actor to portray Chan. Sydney Toler also played Chan successfully for many years after Oland died in 1938. All of the Warner Oland movies had high production values and good writing, along with the early, Fox-produced Sydney Toler movies. Once Monogram Pictures took over for Fox in 1944, the production values and quality of writing started to slip.

I recommend the Chan books for anyone interested in detective fiction set in Honolulu and other locations during that time period. Most of the early Fox-produced movies are good too.

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Pahonu
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Re: A.A.P.I. (7.5)

#32 Post by Pahonu »

Sinjin wrote:Thanks Pohanu, glad to be aboard. No relation to the volleyball player, although I know of him. Sinjin is another way of writing/saying "St. John," my name. Not that I'm a saint. Just random. I also go by Keone.

Earl Derr Biggers wrote the Chan novels. Biggers had visited Honolulu in 1919 and was impressed by newspaper accounts of real life Honolulu police detective Chang Apana. I've read a few of his stories and they are good. Biggers knows the islands and it comes through in his depiction of Honolulu in the 20s-30s. His stories inspired a number of movies from the late 1920-50s. The early Chan movies produced by Fox were surprisingly good, with quality production values, acting and writing. They were very popular in the US during those years. Warner Oland was the first and most agree the best actor to portray Chan. Sydney Toler also played Chan successfully for many years after Oland died in 1938. All of the Warner Oland movies had high production values and good writing, along with the early, Fox-produced Sydney Toler movies. Once Monogram Pictures took over for Fox in 1944, the production values and quality of writing started to slip.

I recommend the Chan books for anyone interested in detective fiction set in Honolulu and other locations during that time period. Most of the early Fox-produced movies are good too.
I think you've convinced me to check out one of the Chan movies. If you had to pick one for me to watch...?

I get it about the name. A friend of mine's last name is St. Claire, but his family always says "Sinclair". I thought you might have chosen it because he was on the show as many members have usernames like that.

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Re: A.A.P.I. (7.5)

#33 Post by Sinjin »

Pahonu wrote:I think you've convinced me to check out one of the Chan movies. If you had to pick one for me to watch...?
My personal favorite is Charlie Chan in Paris. Other watchable titles include Charlie Chan at Treasure Island, Charlie Chan in London, Charlie Chan in Honolulu, Charlie Chan in Egypt, Charlie Chan's Murder Cruise, Charlie Chan at the Olympics, Charlie Chan in Reno, Charlie Chan in Shanghai, Charlie Chan in Panama, Charlie Chan in Rio.

Most if not all of these are available on YouTube. Enjoy...

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Re: A.A.P.I. (7.5)

#34 Post by Pahonu »

Thanks!

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Re: A.A.P.I. (7.5)

#35 Post by Luther's nephew Dobie »

Jay Firestorm wrote -
* As mentioned in my review, there is a persistent rumour that James Garner was pencilled in to make a cameo as Jim Rockford in this episode, but due to a dispute with Universal, the idea never came to fruition.

Hi Jay,
I recommend you read James Garner's autobiography. Universal and before that Warner Brothers treated him so shabbily he had to sue them. Like all the other studios,
they engaged in racketeering - see Cliff Robertson - when it came to honestly living up to agreements and profits.
They got away with it because Hollywood is still a company town, but Garner took them to court. Universal payed him a huge fortune before just before trial because
he had the goods on them for cheating him out of Rockford Files profits and he literally could have sent members of their top managment to jail.
That said, I find I enjoy Universal series, COZI TV runs mostly all Universal product, after awhile you cant but help know all the buildings at Universal Studios, especially
if you ever took the tour there.
The streets of Beaver Cleaver's Springfield are the same downtown and neighborhood that was used over and over again in Dragnet and Adam-12, on to the Back To The Future movies.
This is why Magnum PI is such an exception to Universal's usual series that were all filmed at the studio, it also being standard practice to recycle scripts between series to an incredible extent, and even reuse footage such as Run For Your Life lifting scenes/shots from Suspense Theatre.
Magnum on the other hand was big budget with first class writing and actors. Other than episodes that were deliberate tributes to old movies or take offs on such as Raiders of the Lost Ark, it was refreshing to see story lines that were original. Magnum himself, what a deep character, underneath the charm there lurked aspects of him that made for a ultra effective sniper, aspects that most casual viewers don't get but that TC recognized was always there, TC representing the better part of Thomas's nature. I can't recall which episode but TC hid Thomas's .45 because he was going out to literally hunt a very bad guy, Magnum giving TC a look that said he'd do whatever he had to do to get the gun back(I found Selleck chilling). Magnum is one of the most richly developed characters in tv history, people who just see the handsome guy in the sports car
have no clue.
For all the joking about the bullet holes in TC's chopper, this just stresses TM is a man it is dangerous to be around.
Luther's nephew Dobie(Gillis)

"Ihr Racker, wollt ihr ewig leben?"("Rascals, would you live forever?")...Frederick the Great to some hesitant troops.
"Come on you sons of bitches! Do you want to live forever?"...Sergeant Dan Daly leading Marines at Belleau Wood
Last edited by Luther's nephew Dobie on Sat Feb 16, 2019 12:52 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: A.A.P.I. (7.5)

#36 Post by Stelth »

Luther's nephew Dobie wrote:Jay Firestorm wrote -
* As mentioned in my review, there is a persistent rumour that James Garner was pencilled in to make a cameo as Jim Rockford in this episode, but due to a dispute with Universal, the idea never came to fruition.

Hi Jay,
I recommend you read James Garner's autobiography. Universal and before that Warner Brothers treated him so shabbily he had to sue them. Like all the other studios, they engaged in racketeering - see Cliff Robertson - when it came to honestly living up to agreements and profits. They got away with it because Hollywood is still a company town, but Garner took them to court. Universal payed him a huge fortune before just before trial because he had the goods on them for cheating him out of Rockford Files profits, and he literally could have sent members of their top managment to jail. That said, I find I enjoy Universal series, COZI TV runs mostly all Universal product, after awhile you cant but help know all the buildings at Universal Studios, from Beaver Cleaver's Springfield thru Adam-12 to today.
This is why Magnum PI is such an exception to Universal's usual series that were usually set at the studio and it was standard practice to recycle scripts between series to an incredible extent, and even reuse footage such as Run For Your Life lifting scenes/shots from Suspense Theatre.
Magnum on the other hand was big budget with first class writing and actors. Other than episodes that were deliberate tributes to old movies or take offs on such as Raiders of the Lost Ark, it was refreshing to see storylines that were original. Magnum himself, what a deep character, underneath the charm there lurked a stone killer ex sniper, an aspect of Thomas most casual viewers dont get but that TC recognized was always there, TC representing the better part of Thomas's nature. I can't recall which episode but TC hid Thomas's .45 because he was going out to literally hunt a very bad guy, Magnum giving TC a look that said he'd do whatever he had to do to get the gun back(I found Selleck chilling). Magnum is one of the most richly developed characters in tv history, people who just see the handsome guy in the sports car have no clue.
For all the joking about the bullet holes in TC's chopper, it actually stresses this is a man it is dangerous to be around.
Luther's nephew Dobie(Gillis)
Great Post. The episode you mentioned was "Way of the Stalking Horse"
http://magnum-mania.com/Episodes/Season ... Horse.html

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Re: A.A.P.I. (7.5)

#37 Post by EZiller »

Fun episode, virtually all MPI recurring characters make an appearance. I was waiting for Elmo or Paddy to show up. The ending in the hospital was a bit over the top-seemed like something you might see in a Zucker/Abrahams movie.

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Re: A.A.P.I. (7.5)

#38 Post by SignGuyHPW »

This wasn't too bad as a comedy episode. They brought in a bunch of former guest stars and just had fun with it.

The main thing that bothered me about it was that Jean Claude was murdered when he was close to busting up a drug smuggling ring yet it was played for laughs. It came off alright, but I kept thinking to myself, "they're investigating a homicide here. It's not a case where they're looking for a lost dog or something." Magnum even seemed kind of annoyed the guy interrupted his award ceremony more than he was upset about a fellow investigator passing away suddenly in front of him. Another minor thing that bugged me was Selleck smoking during the day dream. I know he often smoked cigars, but they had pretty much stopped using cigarettes on most TV shows at that point. I know it was a day dream from a different era, but it didn't seem right to me.

The strength of the characters they brought back made it really enjoyable over all. It was supposed to be a farce and they made it a pretty descent one. I thought it was interesting that Magnum called Carol to track down the plate # rather than Rick as usual.

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Re: A.A.P.I. (7.5)

#39 Post by marlboro »

I too am a fan of Charlie Chan. outside of the Thin Man movies, I think it was the best detective series from Hollywood's golden age. I prefer the older Warner Oland Chan films, but Sidney Toler had a few good ones too. My favorites:


Warner Oland:


Black Camel, The (1931)
Charlie Chan in Paris (1935)
Charlie Chan in Shanghai (1935)
Charlie Chan's Secret (1936)
Charlie Chan at the Circus (1936)
Charlie Chan at Monte Carlo (1937)
Charlie Chan on Broadway (1937)
Charlie Chan in London (1934)
Charlie Chan at the Opera (1936)
Charlie Chan at the Race Track (1936)
Charlie Chan at the Olympics (1937)


Sidney Toler:

Charlie Chan at Treasure Island (1939)
Charlie Chan in Reno (1939)
Charlie Chan's Murder Cruise (1940)
Charlie Chan at the Wax Museum (1940)
Castle in the Desert (1942)

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Re: A.A.P.I. (7.5)

#40 Post by Milton Collins »

[quote="Sinjin"]Luther Gillis had me rolling in this funny episode revolving around an awards banquet, a murder, and the investigation of an international drug smuggling ring. Eugene Roche had some great lines and he delivered them to perfection with his over-the-top character Luther. "Everytime I came to Bananaland on a case..." "Speaking of the word 'cracked,' it reminds me of the time my little brother thought he was a chicken..." "Oh gee, he croaked!" "illegal peanut butter" "the banana train stops here" "Lemon?" He chewed up every scene he was in. quote]

I agree, and how about "Sorry for breaking in on you, but some wimp shot me." and then he passes out on the floor. I don't really understand the mass hatred for Luther Gillis that i've seen on this site. I actually find him to be a good character. Of course he's foolish and a bit annoying but to me he's pretty damn funny at the same time. I'd take him ANYDAY over Shelly Faraday (Kiss of the Sabre) Rodney Radcliff (Old aquaintance) Tran Quac Jones (Tran Quac Jones) Basketball Willie (Basket Case) or a number of other absolutely stupid characters. I just love the whole concept of this episode, bringing back all the old characters? BRILLIANT! It was great to see John Wayne, Luther, Tracy etc. again along with Doc I, Tanaka, Carol etc. Total fun murder mystery type of episode all on location at a fantastic hotel. I think this is one of the funnier and more light hearted ones that I consider a solid "go to" episode when I just want to get a good laugh.

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Re: A.A.P.I. (7.5)

#41 Post by Luther's nephew Dobie »

Milton Collins wrote:
Sinjin wrote:Luther Gillis had me rolling in this funny episode revolving around an awards banquet, a murder, and the investigation of an international drug smuggling ring. Eugene Roche had some great lines and he delivered them to perfection with his over-the-top character Luther. "Everytime I came to Bananaland on a case..." "Speaking of the word 'cracked,' it reminds me of the time my little brother thought he was a chicken..." "Oh gee, he croaked!" "illegal peanut butter" "the banana train stops here" "Lemon?" He chewed up every scene he was in. quote]

I agree, and how about "Sorry for breaking in on you, but some wimp shot me." and then he passes out on the floor. I don't really understand the mass hatred for Luther Gillis that i've seen on this site. I actually find him to be a good character. Of course he's foolish and a bit annoying but to me he's pretty damn funny at the same time. I'd take him ANYDAY over Shelly Faraday (Kiss of the Sabre) Rodney Radcliff (Old aquaintance) Tran Quac Jones (Tran Quac Jones) Basketball Willie (Basket Case) or a number of other absolutely stupid characters. I just love the whole concept of this episode, bringing back all the old characters? BRILLIANT! It was great to see John Wayne, Luther, Tracy etc. again along with Doc I, Tanaka, Carol etc. Total fun murder mystery type of episode all on location at a fantastic hotel. I think this is one of the funnier and more light hearted ones that I consider a solid "go to" episode when I just want to get a good laugh.
Bravo Milton, great post! I agree with you, Gillis is a wonderful character and I have always been a sucker for take offs on those hard bitten PI's of the 1930 and 40's.
Many shows, from the Bowery Boys to Jack Benny to Star Trek TNG have done take offs on the genre. Luther is one of the best, he is at once a satire yet he is as capable as Magnum, sometimes a step ahead and thats why his character works.
I recall reading that that the actor who portrayed Santa in the original Miracle on 34th Street, when asked on his deathbed how he felt, said "dying is easy, comedy is hard".
Eugene Roche played it just right as Luther,I think most other actors would have hammed it up too much and mugged for the camera.
I have always wondered - even at the time - if Luther Gillis might have also been a nod to another CBS show that aired during the Magnum years, 'Mickey Spillanes Mike Hammer'. Starring a tongue in cheek Stacy Keach, it shared some of the same up and coming starlets as were on Magnum, with the leading man in both a Vietnam vet with a great mustache, stylish hat and a way with the babes.
It ran for 2 seasons, then another in the 1990's, which must be some sort of record.

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Re: A.A.P.I. (7.5)

#42 Post by marlboro »

I like both the Luther Gillis and Tracy Spencer characters, but I think this episode had a few too many guest characters. Even though Gillis had some classic lines in this one, I think it may have worked better with only Annie Potts playing TM's second fiddle.

I think they should have saved Luther for the second Carol Burnett episode. I would have loved to see Carol as Luther's protege, learning all kinds of new ways to drive Magnum crazy.

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Re: A.A.P.I. (7.5)

#43 Post by Milton Collins »

Luther's nephew Dobie wrote:
Milton Collins wrote:
Sinjin wrote:Luther Gillis had me rolling in this funny episode revolving around an awards banquet, a murder, and the investigation of an international drug smuggling ring. Eugene Roche had some great lines and he delivered them to perfection with his over-the-top character Luther. "Everytime I came to Bananaland on a case..." "Speaking of the word 'cracked,' it reminds me of the time my little brother thought he was a chicken..." "Oh gee, he croaked!" "illegal peanut butter" "the banana train stops here" "Lemon?" He chewed up every scene he was in. quote]

I agree, and how about "Sorry for breaking in on you, but some wimp shot me." and then he passes out on the floor. I don't really understand the mass hatred for Luther Gillis that i've seen on this site. I actually find him to be a good character. Of course he's foolish and a bit annoying but to me he's pretty damn funny at the same time. I'd take him ANYDAY over Shelly Faraday (Kiss of the Sabre) Rodney Radcliff (Old aquaintance) Tran Quac Jones (Tran Quac Jones) Basketball Willie (Basket Case) or a number of other absolutely stupid characters. I just love the whole concept of this episode, bringing back all the old characters? BRILLIANT! It was great to see John Wayne, Luther, Tracy etc. again along with Doc I, Tanaka, Carol etc. Total fun murder mystery type of episode all on location at a fantastic hotel. I think this is one of the funnier and more light hearted ones that I consider a solid "go to" episode when I just want to get a good laugh.
Bravo Milton, great post! I agree with you, Gillis is a wonderful character and I have always been a sucker for take offs on those hard bitten PI's of the 1930 and 40's.
Many shows, from the Bowery Boys to Jack Benny to Star Trek TNG have done take offs on the genre. Luther is one of the best, he is at once a satire yet he is as capable as Magnum, sometimes a step ahead and thats why his character works.
I recall reading that that the actor who portrayed Santa in the original Miracle on 34th Street, when asked on his deathbed how he felt, said "dying is easy, comedy is hard".
Eugene Roche played it just right as Luther,I think most other actors would have hammed it up too much and mugged for the camera.
I have always wondered - even at the time - if Luther Gillis might have also been a nod to another CBS show that aired during the Magnum years, 'Mickey Spillanes Mike Hammer'. Starring a tongue in cheek Stacy Keach, it shared some of the same up and coming starlets as were on Magnum, with the leading man in both a Vietnam vet with a great mustache, stylish hat and a way with the babes.
It ran for 2 seasons, then another in the 1990's, which must be some sort of record.

Interesting theory, I wonder! And I'm 35 so I didn't watch either Magnum or Hammer when they were originally aired as I was really young but my dad watched both religously and also is a real life Vietnam Vet with dark hair who has a mustache and was often complemented on his similarity to Tom Selleck/Magnum in the 80's. Pretty hilarious really! And couldn't agree on Gillis more, he was just dumb enough that he made me laugh but didn't tick me off. I always crack up in the first Luther episode (season 4's Luther Gillis: File #521)when Higgy is teaching karate on the lawn and Luther ends up slugging out some poor old woman. As for all you Luther haters I mean no disrespect as my brother is a HUGE Magnum fan and refuses to even watch or sometimes speak of Luther Gillis he hates him so much lol. That's what makes this show so fun though in my opinion, there's so many different characters with completely opposite personalitys, outlooks, backgrounds, etc that anyone can find people they like or don't like. Makes it all more fun!

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Re: A.A.P.I. (7.5)

#44 Post by J.J. Walters »

Ok, wow. I just watched a Hart to Hart episode on Cozi TV (I stumbled into it about halfway through) that had Paul Verdier playing a character named Jean Claude, French accent and all! He drove a taxi and was soon murdered. Unlike this episode, it was blunt force trauma to the head that did him in. Poor Jean Claude! So I keep watching (of course), when all of a sudden I see a red Ferrari 308! No joke. It appeared in a few brief scenes driven by what turned out to be the red herring (heh, a red herring driving a red Ferrari!). I felt like I was in some kind of weird Magnum-Hart to Hart time warp, or something. Crazy. I even snapped a picture of it.

Image

For the heck of it I snapped a pic of Max and Freeway. Not ashamed to admit it, but I love Hart to Hart. :)

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Re: A.A.P.I. (7.5)

#45 Post by Robert Kelley »

I liked this episode. A good mix of serious and funny as in most episodes. It's also a slight personal connection after the fact since I spent my honeymoon in the Hawaii Prince Hotel, which was built in place of the imploded hospital.

I did notice a couple of flubs not otherwise posted here: during the shootout Magnum’s second gunshot at the 30:45 has no muzzle flash. Then, at 45:01 Det. Katsumoto says “just a flesh wound” and his mouth is not moving.

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