... By Its Cover (3.21)

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How Would You Rate This Episode?

10 (Perfect!)
4
4%
9.5 (One of the Best)
6
7%
9.0 (Excellent)
7
8%
8.5 (Very Good)
29
32%
8.0 (Pretty Good)
25
28%
7.5 (Decent)
7
8%
7.0 (Average at Best)
8
9%
6.5 (Not So Good)
2
2%
6.0 (Pretty Bad)
0
No votes
5.0 (Just Awful)
2
2%
 
Total votes: 90

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Croix de Lorraine
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Re: Re:

#111 Post by Croix de Lorraine »

Luther's nephew Dobie wrote: Hi Marlboro,
Excellent post, the response to the query of who would repeatedly be taken in by Rod, and you posting Rockford's photo made me laugh.
When I watched this episode I assumed Margolin's character was supposed to be a wink to his Emmy winning Angel Martin role.
I suspect the problem in any Rockford-Magnum crossover would have been they would have had to give a piece of the action to Rockford creator/producer Roy Huggins, a man infamous for glomming every penny he could any way he could.
He was a genius but was burnt early in his career by Warner Brothers policy of taking a reworked plot from one of it's old movies to be used as the pilot for any of their
new tv series. So Huggins could invent/create almost everything about the Maverick tv series, but by using a old movie plot for the ("based on") pilot Warners could deny the credit of 'created by' to the writer and cheat him out of big bucks.
A bitter Huggins from then on would demand huge bucks for any use of anything he created, and that would pertain to a no brainer gotta be a winner Magnum crossover, he'd likely charge so much Universal wouldnt even bother trying. Huggins was shameless, recycling scripts almost word for word that he did for Maverick and The Virginian for his Alias Smith & Jones on ABC. When it comes down to it, Rockford was Maverick updated to the 20th century.
The girls in Thank Heaven for Little Girls and Big Ones Too keep calling Higgins "Huggins". At first I thought it was a reference to Miller Huggins, the famous former Yankees manager, but now I realize it was a reference to Roy Huggins.

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Re: ... By Its Cover (3.21)

#112 Post by KingKC »

I will say one thing for Stuart Margolin: he can really play a character you love to hate. He was the show in this episode.

KingKC

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Turkey
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Re: Re:

#113 Post by Turkey »

KingKC wrote:I will say one thing for Stuart Margolin: he can really play a character you love to hate. He was the show in this episode.

KingKC

He did such a great job in the episode, agreed
Make it two weeks.

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Re: Re:

#114 Post by jeffran »

Turkey wrote:
KingKC wrote:I will say one thing for Stuart Margolin: he can really play a character you love to hate. He was the show in this episode.

KingKC

He did such a great job in the episode, agreed
I agree, although I don't hate him. I actually like him, I just don't trust him.

Really good episode, I rated it 8.5 although it doesn't seem that highly rated by others. I agree, Stuart Margolin was great. I enjoyed the story as well. Solid.

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Re: ... By Its Cover (3.21)

#115 Post by marlboro »

FYI: Stuart Margolin recently popped up in an episode of the X Files revival called "The Lost Art of Forehead Sweat." He's aged to the point of being unrecognizable, but he gave a very nice performance in a brief role.

I like to think the entire X Files Mythology is just some elaborate con Angel cooked up.

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karolis
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Re: ... By Its Cover (3.21)

#116 Post by karolis »

IslandHopper wrote:3. While still on the estate, Rod hands Magnum a photo of his (supposed) son, and as Rod says "Rodney Charles Crysler, Jr." you can see the photo of Rodney, Jr., in Magnum's hand. This particular photo of Rodney, Jr., is cropped closley around little Rodney's head and shoulders so you don't see any background. However, seconds later, the camera cuts to a frontal shot of Magnum holding the photo and he says "Hey, a little Hot Rod." As Magnum says this the camera cuts to a close-up of the the photo supposedly being held by Magnum (probably done in post production). This photo is a photo of the same child, but it is a different photo than the one Rod just gave Magnum a second before. You can tell it is a different photo as the child is facing in a different direction, and instead of just seeing the child's head and shoulders as in the previous photo, the child is further in the background in this photo so he appears smaller and you can actually see a lot of background in this photo.
While Rod says "Rodney Charles Crysler jr., huh" and hands over the photo to Magnum:

Image

While Magnum says "A Little hot Rod"

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While Rod says "Did i ever showed the picture of my kid" while driving with Emmet Donner:

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Selleck and Mosley doubles clearly seen:

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Coops present: check (logo not seen, though):

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Tom Lupo (Magnum's double) and Magnum:

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Crossdresser:

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Traffic patrol in the background?

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Nice photo of T.C.'s chopper:

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marlboro wrote:Flub?

At the end of this episode Magnum gets into an elevator and the bill of his hat gets smooshed between the doors. Maybe it was intentional.
Magnums Tigers hat vs. Elevator doors:

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Magnum with his Tigers hat on backwards:

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lutherhgillis wrote: Hey, did any of you notice the echo during the filming of the part where Rod comes to the estate mainhouse looking for Magnum and Higgins opens the door? They filmed a brief portion in the doorway of the real estate house and you can hear a definite echo. As the scene switches back and forth to the studio set, the echo is gone...then reappears. Cool.
I can confirm this. You can hear it just after Rod says to Higgins "Well, actually i got your name... there was this chick... and later when Rod says "Well, not really a chick, she was definitely past her prime, the gray hair...".

MaximRecoil wrote: Now, about the episode, I did notice something interesting that I never noticed before. Magnum may be using an actual .45 ACP Colt Government Model as a prop gun at the end of the episode. Since it wasn't fired in the scene, there wouldn't have been any problems with using a .45 as a prop (the main prop was a 9mm Colt Government Model for reliable functioning with readily available blanks).

Previously, I'd never noticed any evidence that a .45 ACP Government Model was ever used as Magnum's actual prop on the show, but I've seen plenty of scenes where is was identifiable as a 9mm. However:

Image

As you can see from the image above, a 9mm Colt Government Model has a noticeably "belled" barrel (i.e., the outer diameter of the barrel increases significantly near the muzzle), while a .45 ACP barrel remains the same diameter for the entire length of it. This can only be seen when the slide is pulled back of course. Magnum's pistol in that scene appears to have a .45 ACP barrel, though I wish I had a higher quality screenshot to look at.
Photo of a gun:

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Season 3 Top up to this episode:

1. Black on White
2-3. Did You See the Sunrise?
4. Flashback
5. Off Sound Mind
6. The Eighth Part of the Village
7. Forty Years From Sand Island
8. Legacy From a Friend
9. ... By Its Cover
10. The Arrow That is Not Aimed
11. Past Tense
12. Almost Home
13. Heal Thyself
14. Birdman of Budapest
15. Basket Case
16. Ki'i's Don't Lie
17. Mixed Doubles
18. Mr. White Death
19. I Do?
20. Foiled Again
21. Two Birds of a Feather

Mad Kudu Buck
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Re: ... By Its Cover (3.21)

#117 Post by Mad Kudu Buck »

Luther's nephew Dobie wrote:
marlboro wrote:You are right about Warner Brothers screwing Huggins out of his creators rights on Maverick by airing an episode based on an old movie script as the pilot. What you may not know is that Huggins actually wrote that script, but it was based on a novel that WB had bought the rights to. WB took Huggins script for the second episode, ran it as the pilot ,and claimed that he wasn't the shows creator since it was "based on" a property that they already owned.
They did something even shadier with Huggins' "77 Sunset Strip." They took the pilot episode and screened it at a handful of theaters in the Caribbean before broadcasting it on American television. Which is all they need to do to claim that Huggins didn't create the show, since it was "based on" a movie. All of this to save $500.00 dollars per episode.
Hi Marlboro,
Wow, neat stuff. Maybe the element of being a con man who shears the rotten businessman who cheated folks, shared not just by Maverick and Rockford but other characters Huggins created, is based on Huggins himself. It's hard to blame him for getting even whenever he could.
Universal's reputation is even worse than Warner Brothers, they literally were racketeering when it came to cheating people out of money, till they ran up against probably the toughest SOB in Hollywood in Korean war combat vet James Garner.
He fought these thieves on a point of honor,a concept Hollywood has a problem understanding.
They settled out of court for their cheating him out of Rockford profits, savy people claim he got at least $40 million right as the trial was going to start, as he could have literally sent many of the biggest behind the scenes names in Hollywood to prison. If Seinfeld has made way over a billion the past 20 years, Rockford has to have generated half of that if not a lot more so 40 million was likely a bargain.
I think this matters in relation to Magnum PI being remade, as the books would be revisited in determining how to share the profits of a new series or movie. The studio may prefer not to have any light shown on what it previously claimed it owed Selleck etc.
Wow, what a bunch of greedy, lying sleazebags.

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Re: ... By Its Cover (3.21)

#118 Post by Pahonu »

Luther's nephew Dobie wrote:
marlboro wrote:You are right about Warner Brothers screwing Huggins out of his creators rights on Maverick by airing an episode based on an old movie script as the pilot. What you may not know is that Huggins actually wrote that script, but it was based on a novel that WB had bought the rights to. WB took Huggins script for the second episode, ran it as the pilot ,and claimed that he wasn't the shows creator since it was "based on" a property that they already owned.
They did something even shadier with Huggins' "77 Sunset Strip." They took the pilot episode and screened it at a handful of theaters in the Caribbean before broadcasting it on American television. Which is all they need to do to claim that Huggins didn't create the show, since it was "based on" a movie. All of this to save $500.00 dollars per episode.
Hi Marlboro,
Wow, neat stuff. Maybe the element of being a con man who shears the rotten businessman who cheated folks, shared not just by Maverick and Rockford but other characters Huggins created, is based on Huggins himself. It's hard to blame him for getting even whenever he could.
Universal's reputation is even worse than Warner Brothers, they literally were racketeering when it came to cheating people out of money, till they ran up against probably the toughest SOB in Hollywood in Korean war combat vet James Garner.
He fought these thieves on a point of honor,a concept Hollywood has a problem understanding.
They settled out of court for their cheating him out of Rockford profits, savy people claim he got at least $40 million right as the trial was going to start, as he could have literally sent many of the biggest behind the scenes names in Hollywood to prison. If Seinfeld has made way over a billion the past 20 years, Rockford has to have generated half of that if not a lot more so 40 million was likely a bargain.
I think this matters in relation to Magnum PI being remade, as the books would be revisited in determining how to share the profits of a new series or movie. The studio may prefer not to have any light shown on what it previously claimed it owed Selleck etc.

Garner was one of the greats. I recommend his autobiography "The Garner Files". I was and am a huge fan so my wife got it for me shortly after his passing. It's likely the settlement would have included a gag order so it's not really discussed in the book, but I followed the story in local newspapers as it unfolded over the years and it was truly an epic battle, to the point of honor, as you say.

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Re: ... By Its Cover (3.21)

#119 Post by ENSHealy »

3.21 ...By Its Cover
Famous guest stars:
Hawaiian shirts: 1
Image
Tigers Cap: 1
Island Hopper shirts: 2 green with white logo, light blue with white logo
Shirtless: .5 TC
OMG/Extraordinarys:
Higgins Organizations:
Higgins musings:
Negotiations:
Body Count:
Bullet wounds:
Little Voice: 1
I know what you’re thinking: .5 TM only says “I know” but the rest is implied
When I write HTBAWCPI:
Investigator corrections:
4th wall breaks: 1
Magnumometer: 7
Magnumometer Moments: https://vimeo.com/382098256

Potential magnumania usernames: Rod Crysler, Dolphin Crenshaw

Some would probably argue with my leaving Stuart Margolin off the famous guest star list, so this one would be an 8 if you’re in that camp.

I don't recognize the aloha shirt TM has on in the newspaper photo.
Image
Last edited by ENSHealy on Sat Feb 12, 2022 5:34 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: ... By Its Cover (3.21)

#120 Post by terryfromkerry »

Hi ENSHealy,
The shirt in the newspaper photo was worn by Magnum in the pilot when he enters The Snow Palace. To my best recollection it does not feature in any further episodes. Its the Paradise Found mini anthurium shirt in colour navy. Its also available in colours black and red. Only the navy version was worn by Magnum. I bought it recently from alohashirtshop.com. To quote Cousin Eddie again ala Christmas Vacation .................... "Its a good quality item". :magnum:
"Oh Jonathan !....oh Jonathan, come quickly ...... your hot cross buns are smoking".

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Re: ... By Its Cover (3.21)

#121 Post by ENSHealy »

terryfromkerry wrote:Hi ENSHealy,
The shirt in the newspaper photo was worn by Magnum in the pilot when he enters The Snow Palace. To my best recollection it does not feature in any further episodes. Its the Paradise Found mini anthurium shirt in colour navy. Its also available in colours black and red. Only the navy version was worn by Magnum. I bought it recently from alohashirtshop.com. To quote Cousin Eddie again ala Christmas Vacation .................... "Its a good quality item". :magnum:
Thanks for the intel! I went back and looked it up. I may have to acquire that one for my collection as well.
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Re: ... By Its Cover (3.21)

#122 Post by ☨magnum.t »

Not the bunco type haha. The Mr. Peters parole office scene was perfect Magnum for me, the irony of TM being the biggest con-man on the show. Always with the best intentions though, Thomas always did it for the right reasons and never malicious in any con he pulled. And making change in the coffee can haha that was gold.
That reminds me of the time....

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Re:

#123 Post by Pahonu »

J.J. Walters wrote:Ok, I'm completely and utterly confused now! LOL!

Let's go back to the scene in question... The scene starts at the "door", looking into the house (from Hot Rod's perspective)...

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Truthfully, I'm not sure if this is a set, or the real thing!

We then see Magnum coming around a corner, inside...

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This is clearly a set at the "Magnum Soundstage".

We then see Higgins talking back to Magnum (with a noticeable difference in audio sound; sounding very "echo-y")...

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This is the shot that appears to filmed at the real house, with the cameras technically inside Eve's pad! Although we don't see much of the interior, it appears to be very similar to what was seen in the scenes filmed in a couple of Hawaii Five-O episodes, which did film inside the house.

Here's another shot, as Hot Rod leaves...

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What a strange scene! Unless I am wrong, it appears that they edited together the scene from footage taken at the estate (inside, just by the "door") AND at the soundstage.

They do the same thing in Innocence... A Broad when Joe E Tata’s character arrives.

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Re:

#124 Post by ZelenskyTheValiant (Ivan) »

J.J. Walters wrote: Tue Jun 16, 2009 7:23 pm Sam/RC,

I'm following you for the most part; I understand completely about the "breezeway" that is adjacent to the patio. What I am still confused about is the door closest to the driveway, the door where Higgins is standing. Isn't that just to the left and up a bit from the red 'X' in this shot?

Image

If so, that's not really in the breezway... is it? And if you closed the doors by the patio, wouldn't that make a complete enclosure?? Like a little den, or a foyer, or something?

AAaaahhhh!!! :?
Just watched this one the other day and was reading the comments here. Fascinated by the lengthy discussion about that whole patio/walkway area and the different doors that are there, both on the driveway side and the oceanside wing. The screenshots from Hawaii Five-O definitely shed a lot of light on how everything is situated, particularly what the driveway side entry looks like - as shown in "Cloth of Gold". But I'm still curious about that red "X" that J.J. has in that pic from a while ago. What exactly is that small area that protrudes out towards the courtyard and does it go anywhere? Is is just a corner that dead ends? Is there a door to this area from the walkway?

We know there are the double doors (seen in this episode) that go from the driveway into the rectangular inside/outside walkway space and I think there's another door (or at least entrance) to the left of the double doors that seem to go into the main house. But is there a third door opposite to this door/entrance that goes into that protruding spaced marked by the red "X"?

As for the episode itself I actually found it more enjoyable than on my last watch. Stuart Margolin does what he does best - play a conman. He's doing the exact same thing here to Magnum that he did to Rockfish. :) He's basically playing Angel and he's great at it! Also love his reference to Agatha as "this chick" :lol: and Higgy falling for the con and basically filling in the rest of the details for him.

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Re: ... By Its Cover (3.21)

#125 Post by Pahonu »

Hey Ivan,
Take a look at the floor plans I created in the Pahonu thread here:

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=285&start=2175

The space with the ❌ was a trunk room. It’s location was verified by the set decorator, Rick Romer, in his blog. The existence of a trunk room is also mentioned in the newspaper articles for the 30’s describing the project. As the estate was designed as a second home for a single woman expecting to entertain many guests, it was built with five individual suites and also a space to store all these guest’s luggage… the trunk room. It was accessed by a door opposite the one you mentioned as visible in H5-O. That door led into the service wing, by the way. The floor plans have several mistakes, since corrected, but it was the first I found a link to. The door to the trunk room was exactly opposite the door to the service wing, not up the steps.

The home was designed in the Spanish Colonial Revival style, and as such, has many features that differ from other styles. It seems to confuse a lot of members whose thinking is based in more familiar architectural terms. First, the home basically had no internal hallways. Most major rooms opened to external walkways and terraces or to each other. There was also a real blurring of interior and exterior space. This was possible because of the mild climate. Perhaps the most confusing to many was the space behind the double doors at the driveway that we are all so familiar with from the show. Those arched double doors opened to a space traditionally called a “zaguan”. It was not the entrance to the house proper, but a sort of porch that leads to the entrance. I’n this case, it included the two doors mentioned above, and the steps up through the opening to the arched arcade. That opening had no doors.

Partway down the arcade were the paired doors to the stair hall, which itself wasn’t actually enclosed. The top of the stairs led directly to the long balcony and three of the suites. That type of balcony used as an external hall is traditionally called a “balcon corrido”. If a guest continued to the end of the arched arcade, they arrived at the paired glazed doors leading to the living room. There was also another covered terrace with an opening to the library in the single story ell. Study the plans for a moment and you will see all these things. Again, there have been several changes to these plans based on new information, sadly much of it from demolition photos.

Edit:
Second floor here:

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=285&start=2085

Cutaways here:

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=285&start=2205

Dimensions here:

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=285&start=2235

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