The Trailer

[RustyPerroP.I.]

Well as bad as this looks to be, I guess I will give it a watch. I can already see myself saying "oh thats BS" "thats not real" "TM would never say that". So I think Ill make a drinking game out of it. Every time I say such things I take belt. Should be in about three sheets by the first commercial break. Would anyone like to join in? Make up some game rules?

[eagle]

Too much of modern TV is so dark. There are a few shows I like, but where's the entertainment value in so much gloom and doom? One positive from the trailer is that it does have a lighthearted tone.

This is one of the reasons why I enjoyed Burn Notice: the whole point was helping people, and while there were subplots and there was action, it wasn't a dark show.

[ConchRepublican]

I would like to feel excited after watching the trailer, but I can't help but feel crestfallen. I just cannot overcome the decision to turn Higgins into a hottie. These new Magnum creators seem to have pitched all the old camaraderie between Magnum and Higgins for cheap thrills and splash, which is really what the trailer is all about. I know it's just a trailer, and that it's not supposed to really show much depth, and character development, or even plot, at this point. I know trailers need to be "explosive" to catch attention. But that whole "Higgins is now a gorgeous, young woman" bit is just too, too much for me. I love Magnum PI because I love the original Higgins, and so I just cannot feel excited.

I would like to caution some of the folks making the comments saying "kids these days just like flash," as I don't think that's fair. Sorry. The way I see it, the problem isn't with "kids these days." The problem is with the current crop of executives at the major studios who seem, to me, so adverse to taking any kind of risk with their shows, and so continue to just roll out formula and reboots to "maximize earnings" while limiting "potential loss." Before moaning about "kids these days," look at the quality of some of the shows recently made on platforms other than the big guys like CBS - Westworld, Mad Men, Breaking Bad, The Americans, Stranger Things, and Fargo are some of the shows that come to my mind that I found pretty dang sophisticated that "kids these days" are enjoying. They might not be your cup of tea, but they're dang good shows.I see the problem with this Magnum reboot being that the big CBS monster is producing it. So, we're going to get formula - like NCIS: Springfield, IL; NCIS: Columbus, Ohio; NCIS: Louisville, KY (no offense meant for any of those places, just trying to make a point).

Yeah, I don't like the trailer, either. But I'm going to wince at some of the comments using the trailer to growl and moan about "young people." I just think such comments throw frustration at the wrong parties. This reboot isn't flashy because young people are too immature and dumb for anything but flashy stuff. This trailer is so flashy because easy flash is what gets the big studio executives excited.

I think the people at CBS need to come to their senses and put me in charge of this reboot. I would immediately write a story that moves the gorgeous Higgins out of the estate (I don't have to kill her) and replaces her with her cantankerous uncle, and so return a truer Magnum/Higgins play to the show. That wouldn't make the new one as good as the original, but at least it wouldn't seem so much like an impostor to me.

I hear what you're saying but I think it's a combination of both, skewing towards the "youth". If the masses eat it up, the execs will keep serving it. Yes, there is good stuff to be found, but it's few and far between. For every Justified there is a Hawaii 5-0 blow 'em up, a Kardashian, a singing show and some reality live together.

I blame the execs for being lazy, a little effort on complex characters would be nice, but that's just not, for the most part, network TV anymore.

[Marcus the Lifeguard]

Here's the twist that will make us all happy. The new guy is actually Thomas Sullivan Magnum IV. Grandpa, newly retired Admiral Thomas Sullivan Magnum III (played by Selleck, of course) moves into Robin's Nest as the new Majordomo. As his grandson gets involved in various sordid divorce cases, Thomas III is rolling his eyes, crying "Oh My God!", protecting the wine cellar, and threatening to take away the Ferrari. I saw an interview from last year where Selleck said he should play Magnum in any reboot, so let it be.

[Snake Plissken]

First time I watched it I had the volume muted. It's actually better that way.

[Kevster]

Here's my $0.02...

Based on my love for the original show: not much there! I did not see any real heart in any of that...

Based on modern TV: better than most of the series I see. I NEVER watch network TV anymore, and it's because the culture of the people making it leeches in and taints the product.

ONE EPISODE of the new MPI, the pilot in particular, is not the whole story on whether the show will be a decent reboot.

I've watched the early episodes of S1 of MPI more than a few times. The production was pretty high for TV shows in 1980, but stylistically similar to other shows in many regards too. They made some odd choices at times, and it was typically because of the production culture of the time. The chemistry hadn't formed yet either. So, if I had to vote on whether it's any good, I'd have to be fair and give it a full season. Maybe even into the second...

I watch the bumpers for the original MPI, and they didn't show a lot of heart. It was all action and tense moments to pique interest. I consider the trailer to be something similar.

If the cast have real depth and did their research, the chemistry ought to start to be revealed within the first handful of episodes. It's not like they CAN'T KNOW that this is a reboot of a beloved series.

Anyway, I'll withhold judgement, or at least comment, until I have a bit more to go on.

The ONLY thing I know they can't recreate is the Magnum/Higgins gentlemanly respect under the hostility. For the obvious reason, it will never work, but it's also cultural. Few young people focus on cultured etiquette, manners, honor, etc. It would be refreshing if they'd add that dynamic, but I don't see how they can.

So, my $0.02 ended up about $1.50, but I've said my piece.

[KENJI]

It appears this TM is a Tigers fan too, note the hat at the 1:04 mark.

[karolis]

It appears this TM is a Tigers fan too, note the hat at the 1:04 mark.

Yep, it's the official photo:

[artie]

I do not like the over the top CGI and insane stunts, someone already said it best in this thread about the suspension of disbelief. One thing that makes the original so good is the fact that the characters are normal people doing normal human things, none of this jumping from a falling car off a cliff to helo skids. Not a fan of Magnums origin story of the helo jump either. I don’t mind Higgins being a woman but she doesn’t strike me as old enough to command the respect of the younger Magnum to older Higgins dynamic that’s so well done in the original. As for the Nuzo character, I can only assume that he is being used to set up what ever the bad guy narrative is going to be, that and an obvious throw back to one of the best episodes from the original. I don’t think this reboot is made for us fans of the original and that’s ok. I don’t know if I’ll watch as my tv time is limited, maybe after seeing the consensus in here will change my mind. I will say that after watching this promo I was motivated to login here for the first time in a year so there’s that. I’ll continue to watch the original when I can, I don’t see that changing even though I’ve seen every episode multiple times, my wife is now even a fan now lol.

[erock308]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v14IZ7KcTi0

[J.J. Walters]

Wow, so many threads going on here. Much conflicting feelings all around! Divisive, it is!... Sorry, sounding like Yoda again!

Man, I don't know what to think at this point! I feel like I need to be neutral, but it's so hard! I like some things about it, but most I don't. I will reserve my judgement until a later date. I do love how they kick in the theme song at the end of the trailer. Epic!

"Difficult to see. Always in motion is the future."

[Rembrandt's Girl]

I'm thinking now some of the over the top CGI stuff could be scenes from Robin Masters' novel. After the space scene Nuzo, TC and Rick joke about it... then Magnum (God that was hard to type) says, "When I'm not inspiring novels by best selling author Robin Masters, I'm his live-in security consultant blah blah blah...." So maybe at least some of the CGI we saw is supposed to be from a RM novel.

Also, the novel is titled White Night: Secret State which might explain all the "White Night" code names they're calling each other.

[Gamer77]

What is it with CBS, and other media companies, going out of their way to utterly defecate on people's childhoods by diddling over perfectly good original source material, changing several superficial details, ruining or disregarding other, more important aspects, and then calling whatever squeezings accumulate from this dubious process 'theirs.' I'm sick of the last decade and more's run of absolutely needless and destructive reboots. Star Trek: Discovery comes most readily/recently to mind, and now there's this rubbish. When will it end?

John Milius was right when he'd said long ago that terrible/hack screen writers should have their faces scarred as a mark to show everyone how terrible they are, and after the third such scarring never be allowed near any such media again.

[MagnumsLeftShoulder]

she doesn’t strike me as old enough to command the respect of the younger Magnum to older Higgins dynamic that’s so well done in the original.

She's not, the actress is only 32 while Jay Hernandez is 40. Clearly, they aren't going with any sort of mentor relationship.

[Gamer77]

Yeah, I don't like the trailer, either. But I'm going to wince at some of the comments using the trailer to growl and moan about "young people." I just think such comments throw frustration at the wrong parties. This reboot isn't flashy because young people are too immature and dumb for anything but flashy stuff. This trailer is so flashy because easy flash is what gets the big studio executives excited.

I think the people at CBS need to come to their senses and put me in charge of this reboot. I would immediately write a story that moves the gorgeous Higgins out of the estate (I don't have to kill her) and replaces her with her cantankerous uncle, and so return a truer Magnum/Higgins play to the show. That wouldn't make the new one as good as the original, but at least it wouldn't seem so much like an impostor to me.

^^This so much. We have to keep in mind that the entertainment industry are a cowardly and superstitious lot and, if anyone is to blame for the what we see as stupid or vapid elements this current generation's culture, that it's probably our fellow forty and fifty year olds(and higher)- those who are are currently executives in everything from food, cosmetic, clothing and visual entertainment, who are responsible for setting that tone. In many ways this is where the greatest feelings of betrayal come from.

When you come to find out that everything, even as far aback as the drop-out generation has been meticulously researched, observed, and then targeted by advertising, subtly steered, co-opted, and perverted only to be rebranded every so often by the same sorts of people til today it removes much of the magic of nostalgia.

I'd only hoped they'd have kept faithful to the material or simply refrained from touching MPI at all.