The Great Hawaiian Adventure Company (8.9)

Rate, review & discuss the episodes from the eighth season

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How Would You Rate This Episode?

10 (Perfect!)
0
No votes
9.5 (One of the Best)
1
2%
9.0 (Excellent)
4
6%
8.5 (Very Good)
7
11%
8.0 (Pretty Good)
15
23%
7.5 (Decent)
14
22%
7.0 (Average at Best)
9
14%
6.5 (Not So Good)
5
8%
6.0 (Pretty Bad)
4
6%
5.0 (Just Awful)
6
9%
 
Total votes: 65

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Carol the Dabbler
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#21 Post by Carol the Dabbler »

Magnum makes an obvious effort to engage his friends' egos in his Adventure Company scheme (presumably in order to facilitate engaging their pocketbooks). Higgins is asked to share his knowledge of Hawaiian history and T.C. is needed for his chopper expertise.

But where does Rick fit in? All that I recall hearing was that he would "fly" the tourists to the camp in the Koolaus -- presumably meaning that he would escort them, since T.C. would obviously do the actual flying. I'm thinking that T.C.'s chopper holds maybe half a dozen people (does anyone know exactly?), so it would make more sense for T.C. to be the escort as well as the pilot (he already does that sort of thing for a living), with Magnum and Rick both meeting them at the camp. That way, they could accommodate more tourists per expedition.

Is Magnum assuming that all three of them will stay with the tourists until T.C. flies them back to the Estate? Isn't that a pretty high guide-to-tourist ratio? T.C. would be useful as the cook -- he brews up a mean pot of chili. Magnum clearly sees himself as the leader. But again, where does Rick fit in? All I can figure is, Magnum wants him to feel needed so he'll chip in some money!
Carol

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J.J. Walters
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#22 Post by J.J. Walters »

Jay-Firestorm wrote:With Bryant mixed up with the teenage biker gang (who I couldn’t help but find unintentionally amusing, and very unmenacing), I thought we might be headed towards an exciting big biker showdown (maybe in the style of ‘The A-Team’s classic first season episode ‘Black Day at Bad Rock’, or ‘Knight Rider’s similar first season ep ‘Good Day at White Rock’), but at the end, the whole biker element just petered out, and never feels anywhere near concluded.
The Shivs! *chuckles*

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ImageImage

The guy standing with a helmet on kind of looks like a young Kevin Bacon.

Watch out Black Rebels Motorcycle Club! Move out of the way Jets and Sharks! Here comes the Shivs! LOL

:)
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Carol the Dabbler
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#23 Post by Carol the Dabbler »

Jay-Firestorm wrote:... I thought we might be headed towards an exciting big biker showdown (maybe in the style of ‘The A-Team’s classic first season episode ‘Black Day at Bad Rock’, or ‘Knight Rider’s similar first season ep ‘Good Day at White Rock’) ....
Just in case anyone is wondering why the two episode titles that Jay mentions sound so similar, even though they come from different series -- they're both a take-off on Bad Day at Black Rock, a 1955 movie starring Spencer Tracy, Walter Brennan, Ernest Borgnine, Lee Marvin, and a bunch of other highly recognizable folks. But the main reason I wouldn't mind seeing it someday is because I hear that one of the baddies is played by DeForest Kelley (later Doctor McCoy of the original Star Trek series).
Last edited by Carol the Dabbler on Mon Apr 18, 2011 10:22 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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steveadl
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#24 Post by steveadl »

Have to agree, the whole 'bikie' side story was a bit weak. They could have come up with something better.

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#25 Post by Little Garwood »

Voted this a [7.0]

I didn't mind the episode being split into four character pieces, with Bryant's rescue being the obligatory "action" sequence. I thought he went out there to distract T.C. and Magnum so that his not-so-dangerous '80s thugs could swoop in and steal the equipment.

I disliked Thomas' business venture shtick as well as the obligatory romantic overtones with Sarah. About the only thing that sort of redeems the oddness of Thomas' behavior was when T.C. said something to the effect of "You're changing." If there had been an admission on Thomas' part, we may have had a pretty good response from TM.

Higgins' storyline could have been better and it would have been nice to see more from that, as well as Rick's sub plot, because it's always nice to see Cleo.
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#26 Post by Bes »

This is one of the worst of all Magnum episodes; bottom of the barrel stuff I think. Terrible episode placing too, as has been noted.

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#27 Post by Croix de Lorraine »

I think this is the only episode during the whole run of the show where Magnum doesn't break the law in any way, shape or form. We should start a thread listing all his crimes and misdemeanors.

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#28 Post by Nifty911 »

J.J. Walters wrote:Whoa, this one doesn't work so well for me, although it does have to some good moments.

As Shermy says, the whole teenage biker gang subplot is just laughable. I remember watching this in '88, and even then, the gang was unintentionally comical! They look like New Wave bikers, or something! And they apparently are incredibly inept at everything they do. They make the Black Widow gang in Every Which Way But Loose look like card carrying members of Mensa International! And Bryant looked painfully out of place with these kids. The poor kid keeps getting busted. Why would they even want him in the gang??

It's also hard to swallow Magnum's indifference to the events of "Unfinished Business"! Jeez, he just watched the murder of his ex-wife and daughter on video tape and here he is all happy-go-lucky, cheerful as can be! La-la-la-la-laa. Huh?? I realize that the show does not often have linear, serial storytelling - each episode usually stands on its own - but I think here is a case where they should have referred back to the previous events, like they did with "Mac's Back" (to "Echoes of the Mind") and others.

One thing I've noticed about Season Eight so far - the female patrons of the KKC beach bar are all knockouts! I mean every single one of them. Take a look at the beginning scene at the beach bar and, instead of looking at T.C., Rick and Higgins, look at the people milling about in the background. Wow!

Ok, so the place where Rick and Cleo meet for the first time (before they go out dancing), is that supposed to be Rick's pad, or Cleo's pad? They show a brief "establishing shot" of a tall building before cutting to the indoor set. If it's Rick's place, he's moved from his two-story condo unit.

The end credits feature a brief Tom Selleck outtake from the opening "Great Hawaiian Adventure Company" pitch at the KKC beach bar. Selleck is seen shaking his rubber tip pointer while laughing and briefly looking at the camera. This is really cool, as outtakes are a rarity for us Magnum fans.

Lastly, there is a new candidate for "Hottest Magnum Babe"....

Lani (uncredited)

Image

:shock:
I watched this tonight and want to know who this is LOL

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#29 Post by marlboro »

MACattack wrote:I was watching this episode again last night for a few laughs, and I couldn't believe how trite the plot was. It was like an afterschool special on TV.
My sentiments exactly. And "trite" is exactly how I would describe most of the TC-centric episodes. I really like T.C. but I found it really odd that nearly every episode that centered around him was a sappy drama that didn't seem to fit into the rest of the series.

Thicker Than Blood - Drug abuse.

Paradise Blues - Flugelhorn abuse.

A Sense of Debt - Did you ever notice that TC becomes more and more Saint-like as the seasons go by? It's a weird direction for the character. This was the first episode that i really noticed it.

Tran Quoc Jones - Spunky street urchin. TC is gradually morphing into Father Flanagan.


Round and Around - One of TC and Magnum's best buddies finally makes an appearance...and now he's dead. Let's never speak of him again.

Missing Melody - Family drama. Nothing wrong with family dramas...except when the entire family pops up after going unmentioned for Six seasons. You would think he would have at least had a couple of pictures hanging around the office or something.

I think it would have been hilarious if the rest of the cast acted as surprised that TC had a wife and kids as I was. Or better yet: have an endless stream of kids, ex wives, best friends and long lost cousins pop up throughout the episode and have Magnum and the gang act like they are series regulars that they have had meaningful long term history with. Drop tons of references to past adventures that have never been mentioned before. And then kill them all off at the end of the episode, never to be mentioned again.


I wish there had been more adventure and comedy episodes centered around TC. I would have loved to have seen an episode from TC's point of view showing what it's like having to deal with all of the trouble Magnum gets him into. Or maybe an episode centered around the adventures of Lani serving drinks to tourists.

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#30 Post by 308GTS »

J.J. Walters wrote:Whoa, this one doesn't work so well for me, although it does have to some good moments.

As Shermy says, the whole teenage biker gang subplot is just laughable. I remember watching this in '88, and even then, the gang was unintentionally comical! They look like New Wave bikers, or something! And they apparently are incredibly inept at everything they do. They make the Black Widow gang in Every Which Way But Loose look like card carrying members of Mensa International! And Bryant looked painfully out of place with these kids. The poor kid keeps getting busted. Why would they even want him in the gang??

It's also hard to swallow Magnum's indifference to the events of "Unfinished Business"! Jeez, he just watched the murder of his ex-wife and daughter on video tape and here he is all happy-go-lucky, cheerful as can be! La-la-la-la-laa. Huh?? I realize that the show does not often have linear, serial storytelling - each episode usually stands on its own - but I think here is a case where they should have referred back to the previous events, like they did with "Mac's Back" (to "Echoes of the Mind") and others.

One thing I've noticed about Season Eight so far - the female patrons of the KKC beach bar are all knockouts! I mean every single one of them. Take a look at the beginning scene at the beach bar and, instead of looking at T.C., Rick and Higgins, look at the people milling about in the background. Wow!

Ok, so the place where Rick and Cleo meet for the first time (before they go out dancing), is that supposed to be Rick's pad, or Cleo's pad? They show a brief "establishing shot" of a tall building before cutting to the indoor set. If it's Rick's place, he's moved from his two-story condo unit.

The end credits feature a brief Tom Selleck outtake from the opening "Great Hawaiian Adventure Company" pitch at the KKC beach bar. Selleck is seen shaking his rubber tip pointer while laughing and briefly looking at the camera. This is really cool, as outtakes are a rarity for us Magnum fans.

Lastly, there is a new candidate for "Hottest Magnum Babe"....

Lani (uncredited)

Image

:shock:
Just watched this one again last night, pretty dire stuff, but as everyone else has pointed out the highlight is clearly this stunning young lady...! Oooh mama!
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Re: The Great Hawaiian Adventure Company (8.9)

#31 Post by SignGuyHPW »

This one was pretty bad and felt out of place after Unfinished Buisness. I wonder if they filmed this one before Unfinished Buisness, but aired it after in an effort to bring the mood of the show down a little bit after such a dark, dramatic episode.

None of the plots made a lot of sense. Rick being so worried that his girlfriend may have had Thomas as a client at some point? Higgins re-writing his book to add more emotion and excitement? Some woman holding a romantic dinner in her office after hours to hear a buisness pitch? TC's son having an unexplained and unreasonable desire to join a gang despite them getting him put in jail multiple times? Bryant going out in a boat for no apparant reason while the gang mysteriously vanishes without mention? None of it makes sense.

The running gag with the easle would've been great if they had used it in a better/more logical episode. I did like TC's struggle to figure out how to be a father to the son he'd not had regular contact with in years, but it made me wonder if TC would've totally changed had they done just a few more episodes. I doubt he'd have risked himself as much knowing he was a single father with a son at home.

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Re: The Great Hawaiian Adventure Company (8.9)

#32 Post by EZiller »

Other than the appearance of Lani [!!!!] the only thing good about this episode was the title. If they had just stuck with the premise of "TGHAC" and had a group of dorky tourists that TM and the gang were showing the islands with Sarah-the hot looking marketing exec of Paradise Airlines, who would have everything go wrong on their trip. Perhaps because they were being sabotaged by Sarah's jealous ex?
Anyway, something along this premise could have been entertaining-but instead this was a mish-mash, mostly having to do with TC and his strained relationship with his son. As someone pointed out, they evolved TC's character over the years into a very boring guy, who didn't drink or chase women and spent his leisure time coaching kids at baseball and football. This may have been to contrast him with some of the stereotype blacks on TV in the 70's and 80's who played fools like like Huggy Bear [Starsky & Hutch] or JJ [Good Times-"DYNO-MITE"] but I find the TC-centric episodes to be rather dull.

And what is with setting up Rick for a courtship of Cleo-a hooker? And Rick dresses up like Mister Rogers for his date with her???

6, a lousy episode.

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Re: The Great Hawaiian Adventure Company (8.9)

#33 Post by KingKC »

Up until yesterday I would have agreed that this was a weak episode with a pretty silly plot and poor sub-plots. It seemed like one of the lighthearted "fillers" that come along every once in a while. But now I am not so sure.

MagnumFan has posted a Topic called "If Not For Michelle" that raises the question of why TM went back to the Navy and I have posted a response. In this thread Shermy used the word "mature" which got me to thinking and Doc Ibold mentioned something about building to a crescendo for Resolutions which got me to thinking even more. (I love all the posts and opinions!)

Could this be an episode with a lot of hidden meanings and reflections of not only what is to come but what has happened?

TM is clearly trying to use his friends for his venture like he has for many years. Maybe the writers and purpose of this seemingly late episode was to equate The Great Hawaiian Adventure to TM trying to be a private investigator and succeeding, if you will, only with the constant help of his friends as crutches. But this time TC, Rick and Higgins all have their own lives to live and don't wish to participate in TM's venture and pretty much get the point across this time. TM may realize he has to go it on his own in the future and the future of being a private investigator is sure failure. (Someone in another thread also mentioned how your friends tend to slip away as all of you get older and go your own ways which helped my thought process.) Also, maybe TM now realizes that he was no more than "beefcake" to many of his female clients when a romantic dinner is planned to listen to his spiel. (I never quite understood that dinner situation.) He sees the handwriting on the wall and yes we are building up to Resolutions. TM eventually resolves that the Navy life was best for him. It gave him maturity from its structure and regimen. Was he pushed along by fatherhood and Lily?....maybe...possibly...probably. You decide.

Maybe I seeing too many "pictures in the clouds." Who knows???

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Re: The Great Hawaiian Adventure Company (8.9)

#34 Post by T.Q. »

Think there's a flub.

Rick was complaining about Magnum being late and never being on time and he said meeting was set for 3 o'clock. So we presume it's a bit after 3pm? :magnum:

But Higgins says he has no time for this since he has to be at post office before 3pm which means he probably should have left at 2:30. :higgins:
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Re: The Great Hawaiian Adventure Company (8.9)

#35 Post by brianw »

A bad episode, but for some reason I liked it. And I cant explain it.

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