Magnum Mania!

Don's ancestral home, Gamberale in Italy, paid homage to him earlier this year:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7B_OrFJh-hg

Interview with Bellisario on the relationship between the military and Hollywood. Magnum PI is mentioned:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZGJ69sYPIBo

Nice find CdL, I enjoyed that interview very much. Thanks for posting.

Donald Bellisario discusses working with Tom Selleck

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-A5n-hTQRY

Here are all the interviews Don did he talks about all his shows here

https://interviews.televisionacademy.co ... view-clips

Lindsay Writer wrote: ↑Wed Aug 31, 2022 10:20 pm Here are all the interviews Don did he talks about all his shows here

https://interviews.televisionacademy.co ... view-clips

I saw a few of the clips over the years where he talks about MPI and how the show came about. But I listened to the lengthy interviews above that you posted (during my work hours) where he talks more about his other shows and projects that he worked on. Anyway, he cites QUANTUM LEAP as his personal favorite of all his shows. It's a show that I've never actually seen. I know it's been on TV and I may have seen bits and pieces here and there but nothing ever compelled me to sit down and watch an episode. It just always seemed to me like one of those "completely out of left field" shows that I don't typically gravitate towards. Sci-fi, time travel, etc. has never really been my thing.

But I'm curious - any MPI fans here also QUANTUM LEAP fans? Bellisario seems to be really proud of that show. Because of how unique it was. I also didn't realize how critically well-received it seemed to be. It got Emmy nominations and wins every year it was on. Scott Bakula and Dean Stockwell were both nominated every single year! Bellisario says the biggest crime was that Bakula never won and if anyone ever deserved to win an acting Emmy it was him! Because he had to play all these different characters from week to week, like in an anthology show. Anyone agree or disagree? Any fans here?

I can't say I was a fan like I was with MPI, but I thought it was a good show. I would watch it if it was on, but with Magnum, I didn't miss Thursday night. Quantum Leap was kind of sci-fi, but seemed like an original concept back in its day. I think they are re-booting that one as well.

But I'm curious - any MPI fans here also QUANTUM LEAP fans?

I was hooked from the pilot (I was 12) and I never missed it back in the day. NBC constantly bounced it around the schedule so it was hard to "never miss." I still think it's a fun show, but it suffers from only having two regular characters (Bakula admits the insanely long hours led to his divorce). It can be really preachy on social justice stuff, but a lot of the episodes are just a lighthearted look at mid-century America because Sam can only leap within his own lifetime (roughly 1950 to late 1980s). I never even thought of it as sci-fi back then, but I guess it was. The science of the time travel isn't really discussed much more than a general description of string theory. It's sci-fi in the vein of Early Edition or Highway to Heaven.

I had to look up when it was on TV and was overseas in the military for a good percent of the run, so I guess that is why it did not stick with me. AFRTS (Armed Forces Radio and Television Service did not broadcast first run shows and there was only one channel.

If I remember correctly it debuted my last year of high school and I watched several episodes but wasn’t a regular viewer. In college I had less time and saw even fewer episodes, but I always found them interesting and well done when I was able to catch one. I didn’t find it overly preachy as has been stated but it did delve into social issues. It was so unique in that way, by telling stories from the point of view of an incredibly wide range of characters and their experiences. I remember a few episodes still, about a rabbi, a hitman, an elderly black man, and a boy with Down’s Syndrome. That’s quite a range with just those few! I also remember that some episodes made it into news stories because of the uniqueness of the topic or the character Sam leaped into. I would try to see those if I could. Unfortunately I never saw the finale and even fewer episodes in the final season.

Didn't he leap into Elvis' body in one episode?

Aloha Friday wrote: ↑Sat Sep 03, 2022 4:56 pm Didn't he leap into Elvis' body in one episode?

Yes, I remember hearing about that episode at the time, but I never saw it. Michael St. Gerard, who played Elvis in the TV series of the same name, was In the episode. I had watched that short-lived series and enjoyed it. I met him just a few years later and he was surprised that I recognized him because the show never gained popularity. There was also something about Red West, who was Elvis’s actual body guard and actor on MPI, being played by his own son or nephew or something.

I feel like I want to revisit this series and watch them all!

. I feel like I want to revisit this series and watch them all!

The complete series is on the Roku channel.

MACattack wrote: ↑Thu Dec 10, 2009 11:11 pm Everything Bellisario has done is gold! MPI is number one, though.
Only exception is JAG. I watched one episode and was bored to tears.

There were only 2 things that kept that show afloat.



And in the end, CB is a lesbian.

MagnumsLeftShoulder wrote: ↑Mon Sep 05, 2022 3:24 am

. I feel like I want to revisit this series and watch them all!

The complete series is on the Roku channel.

Thanks!