The Elmo Ziller Story (2.21)

Rate, review & discuss the episodes from the second season

Moderator: Styles Bitchley

How Would You Rate This Episode?

10 (Perfect!)
0
No votes
9.5 (One of the Best)
17
15%
9.0 (Excellent)
13
12%
8.5 (Very Good)
31
28%
8.0 (Pretty Good)
27
24%
7.5 (Decent)
10
9%
7.0 (Average at Best)
7
6%
6.5 (Not So Good)
2
2%
6.0 (Pretty Bad)
2
2%
5.0 (Just Awful)
2
2%
 
Total votes: 111

Message
Author
User avatar
J.J. Walters
Founding Father
Posts: 4196
Joined: Tue Jan 02, 2007 10:54 pm
Location: Suburbia, USA
Contact:

The Elmo Ziller Story (2.21)

#1 Post by J.J. Walters »

This is the official MM thread for The Elmo Ziller Story (2.21). All discussions and reviews for this episode should go here. If you wish to rate the episode, please do so with the poll. The avg. score will be the official 'community rating', which will be used on the episode page (updated monthly).

This thread is also linked in the episode page of the Episode Guide.


Original Air Date: 3/25/1982
Magnum meets Higgins' illegitimate half-brother, a swaggering Texan named Elmo Ziller, who was supposedly murdered. Now, Ziller's daughter asks Magnum to protect her father from ruthless killers, while Ziller asks Magnum to prove that his wife is trying to murder him. Meanwhile, Magnum can't help thinking that Higgins and Elmo are one and the same.

User avatar
Magnum92
Captain
Posts: 60
Joined: Sun Dec 09, 2007 6:48 am
Location: Australia

#2 Post by Magnum92 »

Ahhh ..... Robin Dearden plays such a great part in this, finally she is a goodie instead of a baddie that tries to kill the Brigadier General! :lol:
Magnum: So far this case had cost me my right to the wine cellar, the last cash in my pocket, and nearly my life. If that clerk was lying to me, I was gonna come back down here and shove that Robin Masters paperback in his ear!

User avatar
Doc Ibold
Maniac Emeritus
Posts: 1741
Joined: Tue Apr 10, 2007 8:16 pm
Location: Detroit

#3 Post by Doc Ibold »

I actually preferred her in "No Need to Know".

But, goodie, baddie, I'll take either!

mc25a
Lieutenant
Posts: 15
Joined: Fri Apr 27, 2007 9:19 pm

#4 Post by mc25a »

I really liked this one. You get to see some different looks at the inside of the estate. The living room off to the left of the entrance and the study straight ahead. I wonder if that shot was really in the estate? It's a long distance (from the front door to the window behind Higgins' desk) and I envisioned the soundstage just made up of individual rooms.

User avatar
Carol the Dabbler
Fleet Admiral
Posts: 293
Joined: Thu Mar 20, 2008 5:09 pm
Location: Indiana, USA

#5 Post by Carol the Dabbler »

One might think that Magnum -- who was already nearly certain that "Elmo" was actually Higgins -- would have been absolutely positive the whole thing was a hoax when he saw Agatha Chumley pretending to be Sylvia the front-desk clerk! :wink:
Last edited by Carol the Dabbler on Mon Apr 14, 2008 7:29 pm, edited 1 time in total.

User avatar
Carol the Dabbler
Fleet Admiral
Posts: 293
Joined: Thu Mar 20, 2008 5:09 pm
Location: Indiana, USA

#6 Post by Carol the Dabbler »

It's always seemed to me that big cities mentioned in tv shows are generally real (notable exceptions being Metropolis and Gotham City), but small towns are typically fictitious. Oddly enough, there really *is* a Hondo, Texas. It's a small town just west of San Antonio. (Is that in "Texas Hill Country"? Odd how it looked an awful lot like Oahu!)

Has anyone every heard the word "poke" used as "Elmo" used it ("I poke from Hondo, Texas")? My best guess is that it means "to be a cowpoke," or "to engage in activities suitable to a cowpoke," but I have not found any confirmation.

After seeing how this episode turns out, I was going to object to the statement that John Hillerman plays both Higgins and Elmo. But Hillerman was presumably the shadowy real Elmo in the pickup truck at the beginning of the show, at least in the closeups.

User avatar
J.J. Walters
Founding Father
Posts: 4196
Joined: Tue Jan 02, 2007 10:54 pm
Location: Suburbia, USA
Contact:

#7 Post by J.J. Walters »

This is a really fun episode. Love the rodeo theme and "Elmo". Rick and T.C. in clown outfits is absolutely hilarious.
mc25a wrote:I really liked this one. You get to see some different looks at the inside of the estate. The living room off to the left of the entrance and the study straight ahead. I wonder if that shot was really in the estate? It's a long distance (from the front door to the window behind Higgins' desk) and I envisioned the soundstage just made up of individual rooms.
Yeah, the scene where Magnum is searching for Higgins at the main house offers some rare shots of the sets. The camera follows Magnum as he goes from room to room. You can really see how everything lines up.
Carol the Dabbler wrote:One might think that Magnum -- who was already nearly certain that "Elmo" was actually Higgins -- would have been absolutely positive the whole thing was a hoax when he saw Agatha Chumley pretending to be Sylvia the front-desk clerk!
LOL! This is even more strange when you consider that the bellhop was played by the same guy who would later play the first Icepick (for one episode only, in "Past Tense")! You would think Magnum would have thought, "Hmm, these guys look just like Icepick and Agatha. Something is fishy here." ;)

Image

I found another famous Hawaiian musical artist in this episode. For a split second (and a very brief line of dialog), Henry Kapono (of Cecilio & Kapono fame) can be seen as a rodeo worker....

Image

Cecilio & Kapono music samples

I like them. Pretty darn good Contemporary Hawaiian Pop music.
Higgins: It's not a scratch! It's a bloody gouge!

User avatar
J.J. Walters
Founding Father
Posts: 4196
Joined: Tue Jan 02, 2007 10:54 pm
Location: Suburbia, USA
Contact:

#8 Post by J.J. Walters »

Oh, and I almost forgot. The rodeo scenes. Where were they filmed?

Image

I thought it was at that place right across the street from the Anderson Estate (here), but now I'm not so sure.

And how about the "Belvedere Club"?

Image

Thanks
Higgins: It's not a scratch! It's a bloody gouge!

User avatar
IKnowWhatYoureThinking
Macho Taco & Coops Connoisseur
Posts: 1885
Joined: Tue Apr 01, 2008 9:19 pm
Location: NC

#9 Post by IKnowWhatYoureThinking »

I find it ironic that Hillermna, a native Texan, has a better British accent than he does a Texas one.

Sam
Fleet Admiral
Posts: 1454
Joined: Thu Nov 22, 2007 5:00 am

#10 Post by Sam »

James..I think you are correct that it's not across the street,That is some kinda kiddie pony ranch.There are however 3 or 4 riding stables in Waimanalo and for some reason and I don't know why...Hilltop Ranch comes to mind.

As far as the "Belvedere Club",it looks to me to be a private residence on Kahala Ave...Paging Rubber Chicken.

User avatar
rubber chicken
Master Location Sleuth
Posts: 691
Joined: Mon Apr 30, 2007 4:53 am
Location: Great Lakes region

#11 Post by rubber chicken »

The rodeo takes place at New Town and Country Stables (couldn't find a website), which is in Waimanalo as Sam thought. (gm link)

Here's an article:
Rodeo! Hawaiian Style (about the 4th of July, 2002 rodeo at the stables)

This same location was used in Adelaide (1.14)
Image

And it was also used in Home From the Sea (4.1). The polo field used in that episode was the field just south east of the stables.
Image

Also as Sam thought, "The Belvedere Club" is actually a home in Kahala. The same which was used in Foiled Again ( 3.8 ) as the home of Velma Troubshaw. She must have moved in after The Belvedere Club went out of business due to that ugly scene with Marcella Ziller. ;)
Image

Foiled Again ( 3.8 )
Image

I actually found both of these previously, although I hadn't got around to posting. I'm still working on my google earth project, and it's still in an unfinished state. :( I was going to post it so that golf could use it for her trip, but now that she isn't going, I think I'll wait longer. Hope people understand, it's just hard for me to put it out when it isn't fully presentable. But it's coming along nicely and for the locations that I'm done with, I'm pretty happy with the look. In the pop-up window, the location info is provided with links to related web sites, and a collage of thumbs nails shows pictures from the scene. And of course the name of the location and the episode name and number is also displayed.
Last edited by rubber chicken on Wed Sep 09, 2009 10:19 pm, edited 1 time in total.

User avatar
J.J. Walters
Founding Father
Posts: 4196
Joined: Tue Jan 02, 2007 10:54 pm
Location: Suburbia, USA
Contact:

#12 Post by J.J. Walters »

The New Town and Country Stables and another Kahala mansion ...... fantastico RC! Much thanks! :)

Can't wait to see your filming locations project! I'm sure it's going to be great.
Higgins: It's not a scratch! It's a bloody gouge!

AJL
Commander
Posts: 36
Joined: Sat Feb 09, 2008 5:29 pm
Location: Denmark

#13 Post by AJL »

What a great episode, one of my favourites. I remember watching this the first time, and just constantly changing my opinion regarding Higgins being Elmo or not. Great stuff
Was vaccinated with a phonograph needle one summer break
Same summer that I kissed her on her daddy's boat
And shot across the lake
Singing all the way...
Oh I say mama
Living Ain't a luxury
Oh I say mama
And a lil' ain't enough for me

User avatar
golfmobile
Chopper Pilot Wannabe
Posts: 1203
Joined: Fri Apr 06, 2007 8:47 pm
Location: Atlanta area
Contact:

#14 Post by golfmobile »

Don't forget MGI and Elmo Ziller (this was before MGI got his parrot shirt, which really got ruined on his trip to Mexico so I need to make him a new one):

Image

golf
"Portside, buddy."

User avatar
Agatha
Baroness of Oahu
Posts: 535
Joined: Fri Dec 26, 2008 6:03 pm
Location: The Upper Left Hand Corner

#15 Post by Agatha »

You're right about Icepick, James! I didn't recognize him with his clothes on!!

(I LOVE opportunities to say that!!)

:twisted:
Isn't the ocean beautiful at sunset? So soft....so peaceful...so romantic!

Post Reply