Two Birds of a Feather (3.20)

Rate, review & discuss the episodes from the third season

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How Would You Rate This Episode?

10 (Perfect!)
2
2%
9.5 (One of the Best)
4
4%
9.0 (Excellent)
3
3%
8.5 (Very Good)
11
10%
8.0 (Pretty Good)
10
9%
7.5 (Decent)
12
11%
7.0 (Average at Best)
14
13%
6.5 (Not So Good)
21
19%
6.0 (Pretty Bad)
15
14%
5.0 (Just Awful)
17
16%
 
Total votes: 109

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SignGuyHPW
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Re: Two Birds of a Feather (3.20)

#51 Post by SignGuyHPW »

I liked it well enough. It was obvious that it was meant to showcase the pilot of a different show, but I enjoyed what they did for the most part. Joanna Kearns was someone I always enjoyed watching. The flashback scene in the begining was great Magnum, p.i. That helped tie everything together I thought. Higgins freaking out and blaming Magnum for the plane being in the tidal pool was classic as well.

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ZelenskyTheValiant (Ivan)
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Re: Two Birds of a Feather (3.20)

#52 Post by ZelenskyTheValiant (Ivan) »

A very average episode but I do have to agree with others that the plane crash into the tidal pool was very well done.

I also have to agree with IslandHopper that the plane does look real. Now, I personally realized that it was a model that they crashed into the pool (albeit a rather large model - probably close enough to the real thing) but if you compare it with the tidal pool rocks it doesn't really look like a model. Heh, that's actually funny, isn't it? :lol: When it crashes into the tidal pool it does look a bit like a model but when I look at the picture that James posted (meant to show that it IS a model) it actually doesn't look all that much like a model. Not to me anyway. The rocks still look pretty small compared to the size of the plane. Also keep in mind that we are talking about a very small plane here. So the model work actually works very well in this case. Again, I'm guessing the model was almost the size of the real plane. So it's all very believable. We're not talking about a Boeing in the tidal pool. :wink:

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Re: Two Birds of a Feather (3.20)

#53 Post by Dave Anderson »

I have never liked this episode, but didn't realize how hated it was by fans. Interesting. I also didn't know it was supposed to be a pilot for another series.

I actually didn't mind the show spending some time focusing on characters other than "Magnum and the gang." However, these other characters were terrible. The Texas ranch scenes are almost embarrassing. The characters were ridiculous stereotypes, and the ranch in Waco? Seriously? I haven't been to Waco, but from what I know the area is flat, plains country. I have also never been a fan of Joanna Kerns. Growing Pains was my favorite show in the 80s (even more than Magnum!), at least for the first 3 seasons before they started adding more kids and messing it up. However, I always felt that Joanna Kerns was the weak link in the show. I never felt her acting abilities were very good. That can be seen in this episode, only worse. The plot ending was also too unbelievable.

The basic premise could have worked (as an episode, not a series), but it was poorly written on many levels. It actually gets a few bonus points for having scenes without the main characters (some variety is always good), but that doesn't save this episode overall.

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Little Garwood
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Re: Two Birds of a Feather (3.20)

#54 Post by Little Garwood »

Dave Anderson wrote:I have never liked this episode, but didn't realize how hated it was by fans. Interesting. I also didn't know it was supposed to be a pilot for another series.

The basic premise could have worked (as an episode, not a series), but it was poorly written on many levels. It actually gets a few bonus points for having scenes without the main characters (some variety is always good), but that doesn't save this episode overall.
For a "back-door pilot" that works, try The Rockford Files S3 episode Just Another Polish Wedding. It has characters we've already been introduced to: Gandy Fitch (Isaac Hayes) from The Hammer of C Block and Marcus Aurelius Hayes (Louis Gossett Jr.) from Foul on the First Play; two characters who are charismatic, engaging, and hilarious. The episode boasts a brilliantly funny and literate script--including a scene in a neo Nazi bar that is priceless. It's also a story that doesn't discard its lead for the sake of shoehorning a pilot into the show (Thomas literally "phoning in" to help Sam Houston Hunter in Two Birds of a Feather infuriates me to this day). The plot of Just Another Polish Wedding wraps up perfectly at the end and would have made a great series on its own yet we never forget that we're watching The Rockford Files.
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Re: Two Birds of a Feather (3.20)

#55 Post by marlboro »

Little Garwood wrote:The plot of Just Another Polish Wedding wraps up perfectly at the end and would have made a great series on its own yet we never forget that we're watching The Rockford Files.
That's the key, right there. Producers are just setting themselves up for failure by shoehorning in an entirely new cast into an established show. "Mr. Ed" had three or four (terrible) episodes like this; there was even one about a cartoon alien!


I've heard that "The Return of Luther Gillis" was intended as a pilot episode. I can definitely see it. Can anyone confirm that?

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Little Garwood
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Re: Two Birds of a Feather (3.20)

#56 Post by Little Garwood »

marlboro wrote:I've heard that "The Return of Luther Gillis" was intended as a pilot episode. I can definitely see it. Can anyone confirm that?
I've heard that too (perhaps here at M-M) and if The Return of Luther Gillis was intended as a back-door pilot, then it never comes across as such, because it's an excellent episode. Eugene Roche and Tom Selleck have a tremendous on-screen rapport and it would have been a crime if ol' Luther hadn't been brought back (even if his scene with Clyde Kusatsu in A.A.P.I. is one of the series' most cringe-inducing moments).

The one halfway interesting thing about Two Birds of a Feather is that Magnum's back-story is filled in in the smallest possible way by Sam Houston Hunter. That briefest of interactions does add to Thomas' history, so there is at least that much we get from this episode.
"Popularity is the pocket change of history."

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Re: Two Birds of a Feather (3.20)

#57 Post by marlboro »

Little Garwood wrote:
marlboro wrote:I've heard that "The Return of Luther Gillis" was intended as a pilot episode. I can definitely see it. Can anyone confirm that?
I've heard that too (perhaps here at M-M) and if The Return of Luther Gillis was intended as a back-door pilot, then it never comes across as such, because it's an excellent episode. Eugene Roche and Tom Selleck have a tremendous on-screen rapport and it would have been a crime if ol' Luther hadn't been brought back (even if his scene with Clyde Kusatsu in A.A.P.I. is one of the series' most cringe-inducing moments).
It felt a bit like a pilot to me. The introduction of Sheree North's character and that of the nephew mainly. It felt like a remake of the first Luther Gillis episode, but with added characters from Luther's
"world."


Little Garwood wrote:The one halfway interesting thing about Two Birds of a Feather is that Magnum's back-story is filled in in the smallest possible way by Sam Houston Hunter. That briefest of interactions does add to Thomas' history, so there is at least that much we get from this episode.
I think if they had played up the adventurous aspects of the new series, and actually had Magnum involved in the episode this may have been a pretty good episode. It's hard to combine weekly free wheeling adventuring with a "kitchen sink" family drama. You've nixed love interests and babes of the week right off the bat.

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Re: Two Birds of a Feather (3.20)

#58 Post by KingKC »

I had absolutely no idea this was a "back door" pilot until a few days ago when I signed up. That explains a lot of things. For years I was scratching my head over this one as even the Vietnam connection was pretty darn weak. I am going to have to be in a very jolly mood to even give this one a 6.0. I don't think it would have produced much of a show.

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steveadl
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Re: Two Birds of a Feather (3.20)

#59 Post by steveadl »

Best part of this otherwise poor episode is Higgins reaction to the crashed plane in the tidal pool!

Higgins: Oh my God.......Magnum! What have you done?!
Magnum: What?
Higgins: There's an aeroplane in Robbins Masters tidal pool!

lol gets me every time! :lol:

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Re: Two Birds of a Feather (3.20)

#60 Post by Robert Kelley »

As someone who's had a pilot license since 1984 all the flying in this episode was enough to overcome the fact that it was not Magnum/Hawaii-centric. Two things: when the plane crashes into the water you can see cables that they used to drop the thing in. A well done stunt though. Second, was it just me or did others realize how outlandish of an idea it was that a P-51 could outrun a Learjet and bring it down? Good TV but come on!

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Re: Two Birds of a Feather (3.20)

#61 Post by KingKC »

Robert Kelley wrote:As someone who's had a pilot license since 1984 all the flying in this episode was enough to overcome the fact that it was not Magnum/Hawaii-centric. Two things: when the plane crashes into the water you can see cables that they used to drop the thing in. A well done stunt though. Second, was it just me or did others realize how outlandish of an idea it was that a P-51 could outrun a Learjet and bring it down? Good TV but come on!
So much of TV is unrealistic but that is usually one of the subconscious reasons why we watch it. One of my gripes is how a central figure of a lot of shows gets shot in the chest or stomach and almost always manages to survive and make a full recovery with no lasting effects. Or they get shot in the legs or arms a dozen times in a few years of episodes and have absolutely no lasting effects. They don't limp or have any muscular or nerve damage.

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K Hale
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Re:

#62 Post by K Hale »

Little Garwood wrote:Jay, you're much too kind to this episode! MPI audiences were being snookered, hoodwinked, and just plain bamboozled by this bait and switch of an episode! It remains my most-despised MPI, though I can barely even think of "Birds of a Feather" as a Magnum, P.I. episode.
Cannot agree more. This is truly dreadful. The only thing that made it worth watching was the Mustang forcing down the Lear at the end.
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Re: Two Birds of a Feather (3.20)

#63 Post by K Hale »

Robert Kelley wrote:As someone who's had a pilot license since 1984 all the flying in this episode was enough to overcome the fact that it was not Magnum/Hawaii-centric. Two things: when the plane crashes into the water you can see cables that they used to drop the thing in. A well done stunt though. Second, was it just me or did others realize how outlandish of an idea it was that a P-51 could outrun a Learjet and bring it down? Good TV but come on!
Didn't he keep making it stall or something in order to slow it down? The one engine kept going out?

I never knew this mess was supposed to be a pilot (HAHA pun unintended). No wonder it didn't get made. I forgot about the one other good aspect of this episode though: Higgins' model biplane and sound effects. "Still clearing your throat, or have we caught a cold?"
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Re: Re:

#64 Post by marlboro »

K Hale wrote:
Little Garwood wrote:Jay, you're much too kind to this episode! MPI audiences were being snookered, hoodwinked, and just plain bamboozled by this bait and switch of an episode! It remains my most-despised MPI, though I can barely even think of "Birds of a Feather" as a Magnum, P.I. episode.
Cannot agree more. This is truly dreadful. The only thing that made it worth watching was the Mustang forcing down the Lear at the end.

Backdoor pilots (not involving Erin Gray) are the worst. It's amazing how many of them were so different than the shows they were shoehorned into. Mr Ed had at least three of them, I think. One of them involved a cartoon martian. I know it's a show about a talking horse but ya gotta draw the lien somewhere.

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Re: Two Birds of a Feather (3.20)

#65 Post by karolis »

Hat has fallen down and was never picked up (but it's understandable because of the situation):

Image

Robert Kelley wrote:Two things: when the plane crashes into the water you can see cables that they used to drop the thing in. A well done stunt though.
You are right, you can clearly see cable breaking when plane crashes:

Image


Some kind of film damage seen on 9:46 for a moment:

Image


Coops present: check (logo isn't seen though)

Image


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. The Arrow That is Not Aimed
10. Past Tense
11. Almost Home
12. Heal Thyself
13. Birdman of Budapest
14. Basket Case
15. Ki'i's Don't Lie
16. Mixed Doubles
17. Mr. White Death
18. I Do?
19. Foiled Again
20. Two Birds of a Feather

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