Basket Case (3.15)
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- SelleckLover
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I also enjoyed this episode, and the acting of Dana Hill. Here's a mini-biography from IMDb:
Dana Hill was born Dana Lynne Goetz on May 6, 1964, in a suburb of Los Angeles to parents Sandy Hill and Ted Goetz. Despite diabetes ending a promising future in athletics when she was just 10 years old, Dana gamely threw herself into acting when still in her early teens, taking her mother's maiden name as her professional acting name. She found success early on with her performances in both Fallen Angel (1981) (TV) and Shoot the Moon (1982), winning high praise from critics. For her stage work, Hill won the 1986 Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award as Best Featured Actress for her performance in "Picnic." However, complications from her diabetes set in and the consequent decline in her health meant that from the mid-1980s on, Dana increasingly turned to voice over roles in animated movies and television programs such as Jetsons: The Movie (1990), "Goof Troop" (1992) and "Duckman: Private Dick/Family Man" (1994). In early 1996, Dana's health grew increasingly fragile as was evident to her friends and co-stars. Late that May, she slipped into a diabetic coma. On the 5th of June she suffered a paralytic stroke and on July 15 she died peacefully in the hospital at the age of 32, bringing an untimely end to a career that in less than two decades had spanned the big and small screen, animation and the theater.
IMDb Mini Biography By: Paul Melville
May she rest in peace.
Dana Hill was born Dana Lynne Goetz on May 6, 1964, in a suburb of Los Angeles to parents Sandy Hill and Ted Goetz. Despite diabetes ending a promising future in athletics when she was just 10 years old, Dana gamely threw herself into acting when still in her early teens, taking her mother's maiden name as her professional acting name. She found success early on with her performances in both Fallen Angel (1981) (TV) and Shoot the Moon (1982), winning high praise from critics. For her stage work, Hill won the 1986 Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award as Best Featured Actress for her performance in "Picnic." However, complications from her diabetes set in and the consequent decline in her health meant that from the mid-1980s on, Dana increasingly turned to voice over roles in animated movies and television programs such as Jetsons: The Movie (1990), "Goof Troop" (1992) and "Duckman: Private Dick/Family Man" (1994). In early 1996, Dana's health grew increasingly fragile as was evident to her friends and co-stars. Late that May, she slipped into a diabetic coma. On the 5th of June she suffered a paralytic stroke and on July 15 she died peacefully in the hospital at the age of 32, bringing an untimely end to a career that in less than two decades had spanned the big and small screen, animation and the theater.
IMDb Mini Biography By: Paul Melville
May she rest in peace.
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I kind of think its good the kids were somewhat annoying.
I think the last thing the show could have used was some "Cute Little Kid to boost ratings", ala Cosby Show, Family Ties, Brady Bunch, etc.
Yes, I know they're completely different genres than Magnum, but is it REALLY far fetched to have a little kid underfoot who irritates Higgins?
I could see it...
(But maybe thats just me)
I think the last thing the show could have used was some "Cute Little Kid to boost ratings", ala Cosby Show, Family Ties, Brady Bunch, etc.
Yes, I know they're completely different genres than Magnum, but is it REALLY far fetched to have a little kid underfoot who irritates Higgins?
I could see it...
(But maybe thats just me)
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I didn't realize she died so young and that she had fought such a health issue her entire (32 years of) life. Very sad.
However, I confess this is/was not one of the episodes I particularly liked. I found her character annoying and somewhat inconsistent, in that if she had the intelligence and knowledge shown to Higgins, she should have been able to get away from the con-persons foster parents.
Nevertheless, I later appreciated the "visuality" of the character when I was looking for props for Magnum GI. You may remember Willie here:
You don't know how happy I was to find a key ring with a basketball with the correct proportion for Willie and Thomas!
golf
However, I confess this is/was not one of the episodes I particularly liked. I found her character annoying and somewhat inconsistent, in that if she had the intelligence and knowledge shown to Higgins, she should have been able to get away from the con-persons foster parents.
Nevertheless, I later appreciated the "visuality" of the character when I was looking for props for Magnum GI. You may remember Willie here:
You don't know how happy I was to find a key ring with a basketball with the correct proportion for Willie and Thomas!
golf
"Portside, buddy."
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Golf, that is hilarious!golfmobile wrote:I didn't realize she died so young and that she had fought such a health issue her entire (32 years of) life. Very sad.
However, I confess this is/was not one of the episodes I particularly liked. I found her character annoying and somewhat inconsistent, in that if she had the intelligence and knowledge shown to Higgins, she should have been able to get away from the con-persons foster parents.
Nevertheless, I later appreciated the "visuality" of the character when I was looking for props for Magnum GI. You may remember Willie here:
You don't know how happy I was to find a key ring with a basketball with the correct proportion for Willie and Thomas!
golf
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Just watched this episode. Hadn't seen it in years and I enjoyed it a lot more than I had the last time I watched it. It was a bit melancholy knowing Dana Hill had passed away so young. The only other role I remember her in was in 'National Lampoon's European Vacation.' Her basketball skills were quite impressive and definitely did add credibility to the role. In all of the syndicated versions I've seen of this episode, they completely cut out the opening scene with Willie pulling her con on the speeding tourists and, instead, open with the scene at the basketball court. The only thing I didn't like about this episode was the very PC ending. Ugh.
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I came across an article about Dana Hill from the March 8, 1982 issue of People magazine. Here's links to the three pages in .jpg format - one, two, three. Better quality copies are available at the first link by downloading the whole magazine issue in .pdf form but that's 90 MB.
The article talks about the different roles she's had, her diabetes, athletic abilities and more. One funny quote - "I haven't had that many crushes yet," Dana says, "except Tom Selleck." - and the article came out just 11 months before "Basket Case" aired.
To get off topic... this is the same issue that has a long article about Mr. Selleck that many here have probably read already in the "Print Media" section of Magnum Mania, but the People site version is much better quality.
James - If you wanted to, you could replace the photocopied People articles with with better quality .pdf's from the People website. It would be pretty simple, just download the (90MB) .pdf for the correct issue and delete all the pages besides the Magnum related pages. Just a thought! The article photos in particular are much more clear. It looks like there's only two People articles, the other one being the one for Hillerman in this issue.
... I was wrong, there's Sincerely, Tom Selleck from March 12, 1984. And also this rather long article about Selleck and High Road to China, not sure if that counts.
The article talks about the different roles she's had, her diabetes, athletic abilities and more. One funny quote - "I haven't had that many crushes yet," Dana says, "except Tom Selleck." - and the article came out just 11 months before "Basket Case" aired.
To get off topic... this is the same issue that has a long article about Mr. Selleck that many here have probably read already in the "Print Media" section of Magnum Mania, but the People site version is much better quality.
James - If you wanted to, you could replace the photocopied People articles with with better quality .pdf's from the People website. It would be pretty simple, just download the (90MB) .pdf for the correct issue and delete all the pages besides the Magnum related pages. Just a thought! The article photos in particular are much more clear. It looks like there's only two People articles, the other one being the one for Hillerman in this issue.
... I was wrong, there's Sincerely, Tom Selleck from March 12, 1984. And also this rather long article about Selleck and High Road to China, not sure if that counts.
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Friday’s second review from me. I know some like this one, and I don’t hate it, but I class it as a so-so, “watch once” episode. It’s also sad to think Dana Hill was only a year older than I am now when she passed away.
[rating=7.5]
T.C. and Magnum are training their respective junior basketball teams for an upcoming game, when Magnum meets a young tomboy who could help his team win. But Magnum becomes suspicious when none of the girl’s background rings true. A lesser episode…
-----
This review contains spoilers.
The third season really started the trend for odd, offbeat episodes of the series (think back just a couple of episodes to ‘In Sound Mind’ for one), and ‘Basket Case’ is another such example.
This is another sports-based episode; the show seems to like to dish one up every season or so. As I’ve said in previous reviews, I’m not a sports fan, but I do like this episode a little better than the second season’s football-based ‘One More Summer’.
Young Dana Hill gives a strong performance as tomboy “Willie”. The character could have ended up being really grating and two dimensional, but Hill really brings it to life and is probably the best thing about the episode.
Hill was doing the rounds as guest star on the popular shows of the time (she also did a couple of episodes of ‘The Fall Guy’), and this episode is a good showcase for her. It is sad to think that she passed away at only 32 years old due to complications from diabetes, which she had battled through her life.
The story is a pretty easy-going one, and although there are villains of the piece (Willie is being forced to engage in various cons for her Fagin-like foster parents), it is not really as crime driven as typical MPI episodes. I really like the series trying different things, and although I haven’t given the episode a top-end rating, I do like what they were going for.
I also like Willie’s friendship with Higgins – it turns out that even old Jonathan Quayle has a heart!
Over the years, I’ve heard some people say that they don’t like that Magnum’s basketball didn’t win in the end, but personally I quite like this. It comes as a nice change from the standard “pulling it out of the bag” and winning in the final seconds, a much overused cliché.
I find this a hard episode to sum up. I like that they tried something different, but at the same time it is not one of my favourites. I’d personally rank it as one that’s fun to watch once, but doesn’t have the re-watchability of some of the other episodes of the series.
-----
Other notes, bloopers, and misc.:
* Nothing more to note on this one really, other than Willie takes to calling Higgins “Higgy” – the same name that the slightly insane (!) Katrina called him in the second season’s ‘Italian Ice’.
[rating=7.5]
T.C. and Magnum are training their respective junior basketball teams for an upcoming game, when Magnum meets a young tomboy who could help his team win. But Magnum becomes suspicious when none of the girl’s background rings true. A lesser episode…
-----
This review contains spoilers.
The third season really started the trend for odd, offbeat episodes of the series (think back just a couple of episodes to ‘In Sound Mind’ for one), and ‘Basket Case’ is another such example.
This is another sports-based episode; the show seems to like to dish one up every season or so. As I’ve said in previous reviews, I’m not a sports fan, but I do like this episode a little better than the second season’s football-based ‘One More Summer’.
Young Dana Hill gives a strong performance as tomboy “Willie”. The character could have ended up being really grating and two dimensional, but Hill really brings it to life and is probably the best thing about the episode.
Hill was doing the rounds as guest star on the popular shows of the time (she also did a couple of episodes of ‘The Fall Guy’), and this episode is a good showcase for her. It is sad to think that she passed away at only 32 years old due to complications from diabetes, which she had battled through her life.
The story is a pretty easy-going one, and although there are villains of the piece (Willie is being forced to engage in various cons for her Fagin-like foster parents), it is not really as crime driven as typical MPI episodes. I really like the series trying different things, and although I haven’t given the episode a top-end rating, I do like what they were going for.
I also like Willie’s friendship with Higgins – it turns out that even old Jonathan Quayle has a heart!
Over the years, I’ve heard some people say that they don’t like that Magnum’s basketball didn’t win in the end, but personally I quite like this. It comes as a nice change from the standard “pulling it out of the bag” and winning in the final seconds, a much overused cliché.
I find this a hard episode to sum up. I like that they tried something different, but at the same time it is not one of my favourites. I’d personally rank it as one that’s fun to watch once, but doesn’t have the re-watchability of some of the other episodes of the series.
-----
Other notes, bloopers, and misc.:
* Nothing more to note on this one really, other than Willie takes to calling Higgins “Higgy” – the same name that the slightly insane (!) Katrina called him in the second season’s ‘Italian Ice’.
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Facebook: Jay Gathergood / Twitter: Jay_Firestorm NEW BLOG: http://thea-teamcaptured.blogspot.com/
My A-Team site - http://thea-team.org aiming to be the most detailed A-Team site on the Net - if I ever get around to updating it!!
- lutherhgillis
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James asked what Magnum is driving in this episode. It is a Jeep Wagoneer and it looks to be about a 1982 model. It was also used in The Look when Magnum carried building supplies home for the Higgins birthday project. That is the only other time I can remember it used in an episode.
During the basketball court at Robin's Nest scenes, you can see they are screening out the boathouse/guesthouse with palms or some other type of foilage screen.
During the basketball court at Robin's Nest scenes, you can see they are screening out the boathouse/guesthouse with palms or some other type of foilage screen.
Who's Dot Matrix, and what has she got to do with this?