Thank Heaven for Little Girls and Big Ones Too (1.4)

[Coops]

The shirt completely unbuttoned was a holdover from the 70's style. Much of it was still evident in the first couple of season on MPI.

[Donuts ensucrats]

I've been watching the earlier episodes and obviously they have a vintage feeling. It's a positive sensation.It's like a time machine that makes me feel in the 70's myself

[charybdis1966]

In case no one else hasn't already noted this Katherine Cannon played Vela in the original series of Battlestar Galactica(episode "The Lost Warrior") which was produced by Don Bellisario 3-4 years before this episode was screened.

As for this episode - while there were some good comedic and character moments - the story and plot itself were a tad lame.

However as it's only the fourth episode I'm guessing the series was yet to hit it's stride.

[MACattack]

I can't believe Higgins wanted to call the police on little girls! Modern day Ebenezer Scrooge!

[waverider]

The hotel where Higgins is unceremoniously put out on the balcony is located here. In the show a sign was seen saying "Royal Continental Hotel" but now the building seems to be known only as 2121 Ala Wai Boulevard. It was originally built as a hotel in 1977 and later made into condominiums.

Hello, I walked around Waikiki to see up close the hotel where they did the location shot. It is not 2121 Ala Wai, but the Royal Garden at 440 Olohana Street.

http://www.royalgardensatwaikiki.com/im ... itemap.jpg

The exterior of the Royal Garden, notably the railings and drainpipes, unmistakably matches the hotel exterior in the episode. 2121 Ala Wai does not.

The entire lower facade of the building has been redone, however, and is unrecognisable from what is shown in the episode.

I made a past/present comparison shot and circled the adjacent building for a point of reference; in the old pic, I'm guessing the Royal Continental Hotel sign was modified from the Royal Garden??



Present image was taken from google streetview, where you can look around for yourself here:

http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ie=UT ... 56,,0,6.66

[56E 478]

WHOA SNAP!! Newbie forumnite hear and a reestablished Magnum p.i.- phile. Been checking the episodes on hulu and to my surprise I see my classmate (Darlene,played by Erin Ostrem) on the screen of this wonderful show!! She's the first girl to approach Magnum at the state capital,and the one always eating candy. I remember her doing local tv commercials around that time,yet never thought she was on the show. I never even noticed her in the show back then,but amazingly picked her out easily when I saw the episode last night. In the late 90's she was co-anchoring the morning news show here on Oahu. As of late,she's residing in the Pacific Northwest and working with the outfit that produces the show 'Hoarders' on A&E. Also noticed that yes indeed,it was Jim Demarest,the Mr.Checkers us locals remember. He looked more trim in this episode than the way he was back in the 70's. Jim also appeared in Hawaii Five-0 as well,as did his partner Pogo Poge (Morgan White),although not together. Yep,the Checker's and Pogo show was a regular staple for us locals growing up in the 70's,definately local legends in their own right. Aside from seeing my classmate and to see Higgins throw his tantrum on the balcony,the episode was okay.

[Styles Bitchley]

Good sleuthing waverider. You can really see how much those palm trees have grown since the show was filmed!

[rubber chicken]

Hi there waverider, welcome to the boards and thanks for posting about the location. I've been meaning to look into the location for days now but haven't had the time. If I knew I would take this long I'd have made a quick response before this. I plan to look into it soon.

[No need to know!]

Not one of my favourite episodes of the first season. But yet there aren´t any episodes that is bad. The plot is quite weak. But there are some lines that really are great. "She shouldn´t be punished for her passion" Laugh every time. And the shot with Higgins stuck on the balcony is priceless aswell.

[rubber chicken]

Waverider - I'm sorry it's taken me so long to respond, I haven't been able to spend much time on Magnum things lately. Thank you for your correction, you are absolutely correct. I must have been off my game for this location. With the exception of the emporis tall buildings photos, all I had at the time was google maps. Now a few years later I have more tools at my disposal, including street view. Still though, I see now that I should have known it wasn't the right building.

I've corrected the location and completed a new placemark that will be in the next chicken guide update.

[Magnum T.]

Ok, in this second "regular" episode our p.i. is hired by five little schoolgirls to find their missing teacher.
Can you say no to them? Of course not (it's Christmas time!).
So Magnum bring them to Robin's Nest, for Higgins' joy.
But nothing is as it seems and the little girls are a "commando" with one single target: Robin Masters' new Gauguin.

It seems nobody likes this episode very much.
I must say that, despite some weak points in the plot, I like it.
It's funny, has a light mood.
There are several things which make me laugh:
- TM yelling at Higgins while he is in the wine cellar.
- "She shouldn't be punished for her passion!"
- the "Huggins" joke.
- Higgins locked out on the balcony, yelling "This is outrageous!"
- the whole scene at Mano's house.

Plus:
- Katherine Cannon
- a very talented young actress playing one of the girls (the one wearing glasses, I believe her name is Lauri Hendler, she was very good).
Minus:
- that awful visor (or whatever is called) that T.C. wears.
- again T.C. with that unbuttoned shirt.
Best line:
Higgins: You starch your undershorts?
Magnum: Doesn't everybody?

Notes:
- team ring on the left this time.
- "Robin 2" is seen here for the first time, the same for Rick's Nissan which will be replaced by a Mercedes-Benz SL in the future.
(I like the SL more than the Nissan!)
- again we have the same actor playing different characters in other episodes: Jim Demarest (the kidnapper) will return in "Let Me Hear the Music" (5.18) and "The Treasure of Kalaniopu'u" (6.9).
- I agree with MyGod! that there are differences between earlier and later seasons and TM is more aggressive about sex in these first episodes, but I prefer the softer version of the character.
It is part of the fun to see this "macho man" being tender and almost unaware of his sex-appeal.

Funny thing: the ending credits theme is replaced by a Christmassy music ("The 12 Days of Christmas" as I read).

[MaiTaiMan]

Okay...we have the pretty good "pilot", then the superb "China Doll"...then we have this ridiculous and even boring episode!

The idea of a Robin Masters painting being stolen or switched out with a fake was okay, and the Christmas theme was alright--considering this aired on Christmas Day in 1980.

But, the little girls and the so-called head mistress were annoying and stupid as heck!! I just thought the plot and/or script was dumb and kind of a let-down compared to the other 3 before it.

This isn't one of the worst episodes, necessarily, but it's not very good either. It's just kind of boring and annoying.

[Visiting Stewardess]

Well, maybe my mind is too warped and I have watched too many Agatha Christie crime stories, but to my mind there was one final twist missing: in that the fake wasn't really that fake but the original, and that the whole replacement-story was a ploy to get to the original.

For the whole episode I was waiting for this to happen... but it wasn't to be and the fake really was the fake. This was way too easy.

[Seaver41]

just watched it last night......first time in 20+ years. Was this the first episode the use of the 4th wall with Magnum took place? That had me chuckling. This episode was fractured in so many ways. The whole scene at the Mano's house where they thought Magnum was hired by his girlfriend........what was the point of that? The whole thing where they landed in the perfect bar that almost got them killed was a bit of a stretch. Looks like they wrapped up the caper too soon and had to fill in....so they invent the extra drama and then get onto the kidnapping being resolved. It had some decent moments, but the writing was not particularly good. Still, I found it decent and rated it as such.

[J.J. Walters]

Was this the first episode the use of the 4th wall with Magnum took place?

No, he did it twice in the opening scene of the Pilot when he "steals" the Ferrari.