Ki'i's Don't Lie (3.3)

Rate, review & discuss the episodes from the third season

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How Would You Rate This Episode?

10 (Perfect!)
1
1%
9.5 (One of the Best)
4
4%
9.0 (Excellent)
23
20%
8.5 (Very Good)
34
30%
8.0 (Pretty Good)
31
27%
7.5 (Decent)
13
11%
7.0 (Average at Best)
3
3%
6.5 (Not So Good)
2
2%
6.0 (Pretty Bad)
2
2%
5.0 (Just Awful)
1
1%
 
Total votes: 114

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rubber chicken
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#11 Post by rubber chicken »

lol Sam! Yep, I was just there looking around not 10 minutes ago, and I see you have photographic evidence. Too funny. :lol:

OK, this was a tough one, you asked a trick question without knowing it! I looked around Honolulu but even though the buildings looked familiar, I just couldn't find anything close enough. I was picturing them as triangles because when you see the top of the buildings you can only see one side of each building. It eventually hit me that I remember seeing something just like that in LA (never been there, must have been a movie). At that point it was an easy find...

It's the Century Plaza Towers in downtown (?) Los Angeles (gm link). The small pointy building you see in-between the buildings far off in the distance is actually the Beverly Hills City Hall. (2)

You were right to think it wouldn't be out of Honolulu, I'm very surprised!

(edit - to include gm link)
Last edited by rubber chicken on Fri Feb 15, 2008 1:31 am, edited 2 times in total.

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Doc Ibold
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#12 Post by Doc Ibold »

I'll bet you that since this was a crossover ep, and none of the main chars appear in it, it was shot on the "Simon and Simon" shoot, and just repurposed for the Magnum episode.

I'm sure the majority of "Emeralds are not a Girls Best Friend" wasn't shot in Hawaii

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J.J. Walters
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#13 Post by J.J. Walters »

rubber chicken wrote:It's the Century Plaza Towers in downtown (?) Los Angeles. The small pointy building you see in-between the buildings far off in the distance is actually the Beverly Hills City Hall. (2)
Well now, isn't THAT interesting!

I shouldn't have been so quick to assume it was shot in Oahu. I totally missed the fact that we are supposed to know that Harold Sands' antique store is IN L.A.! :oops: Magnum tells Catherine "You said you bought the Ki'i from someone in L.A." and later, A.J. flat out says Harold's store is in "Beverly Hills". So as Doc pointed out, with the crossover with S&S, it wouldn't be inconceivable at all for them to shoot a scene in L.A.

In any event, thanks again rubber chicken!
Higgins: It's not a scratch! It's a bloody gouge!

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rubber chicken
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#14 Post by rubber chicken »

I wondered whether it was supposed to be in LA or not, after finding the location. In going back to shows that I haven't seen recently I often forget the context of the location, and it's not always obvious where in the show that's mentioned. I won't be surprised if at some point I label something incorrectly because of that.

I meant to include a google maps link.

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Carol the Dabbler
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#15 Post by Carol the Dabbler »

Doc Ibold wrote:... the episode in Season Three is the syndicated version. HOWEVER, you can find the original episode and the Simon and Simon crossover on Season One.
Thanks, Doc! When Hubby and I watched the Season One DVD's, we realized that "Kii's" was a Third-Season episode, so we waited and watched it on the Season Three DVD's -- not realizing/remembering by then that the version on the Season One DVD's was the complete original crossover. After I saw your post, we went back and watched the ending of the Magnum crossover episode plus the whole S&S episode, only a couple of days after watching the syndicated version on the Season Three DVD's.

The comparison was mildly interesting. In the syndicated version, Higgins succeeds in getting the plane brought back to the gate, goes on board, and apprehends Catherine. In the crossover version, Higgins fails to get the plane brought back, so takes the very next flight, only to find that Catherine had not been on the first plane.

By mixing and matching, one can imagine two other versions -- one where Higgins fails to have the plane brought back, takes the next flight, and apprehends Catherine in L.A. (as he expected to do); and another where the plane is brought back but Catherine is not on it, resulting in a mad scramble (similar to one which must have taken place off-camera in the crossover version) to discover where she actually *had* gone.

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Jay-Firestorm
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#16 Post by Jay-Firestorm »

A double review from me today. And later I plan to watch part two, ‘Simon & Simons’s ‘Emerald’s Are Not A Girls Best Friend’ for the first time.

[rating 9.0]

Californian P.I.s A.J. and Rick Simon arrive in Hawaii to try and track down a “cursed” artefact, which is due to be sold at a high society auction on the Masters Estate where Magnum has been collared into providing security. Not a classic, but good fun…

-----

This review contains spoilers.

This episode is a crossover with another 1980s private investigator series, ‘Simon & Simon’ (1981-1989). Apparently, after that show’s first season, ratings were low, and in a last bid to attract viewers, the show was moved directly after ‘Magnum, p.i.’ on Thursday nights, with this crossover story designed to put MPI fans onto that series. It seemed to work, as ratings quickly picked up, and the show ran for a number of years.

I quite like the story. It is fun for not being too highly charged, instead showing a lot of Magnum’s daily life on the Estate. More of these sort of stories would be used from this season onwards.

One of my favourite moments comes as we first see the “cursed” Ki’i, causing Magnum, elsewhere, to suddenly fall off his surf-ski!

I did find Magnum’s dinner with Catherine (Morgan Fairchild) to be a bit dull; I think it was supposed to ooze chemistry between the two, but it just didn’t work, and the episode would have done just as well without it.

It’s strange that Simon & Simon seemed to be played very much as the villains of the story. Maybe it’s just where I wasn’t familiar with them (it’s one of the few ‘80s detective shows I wasn’t into, though I might pick up the DVDs), but even so, they came across to be as the bad guys for much of the time.

To note is, after it was destroyed in the feature-length / two-part ‘Did You See The Sunrise?’ previously, the Ferrari is suddenly back. I suppose it could be argued that Robin Masters is so rich, that he simply replaced it with another.

Also to look out for, briefly filling in for Higgins at the auction, is Gillian Dobb as a character called Mabel. Dobb, who had played two very minor parts in season two (‘Mad Buck Gibson’ (uncredited) and as a hotel receptionist in ‘The Elmo Ziller Story’) would go on to play Agatha Chumley, a much recurring friend of Higgins, starting in just a couple of episodes time. It could even be argued that it is the same character as seen here, but the writers / producers hadn’t settled on a name yet.

There are two versions of this story. In the original version, Catherine escapes, a Higgins takes a flight to chase after her with the Simon brothers, as continued in that series’ ‘Emeralds Aren’t A Girls Best Friend’. In the re-run version, designed for stand alone viewings, Higgins manages to stop Catherine’s plane before it takes off. Two scenes play differently in the re-run version.

I remember this story as being much more fun than when I came to re-watch it to review, but it’s still a good one. It has a number of nice character moments, and is simply good fun.

-----

Other notes, bloopers and misc.:

* All of the commercial breaks are abridged on the DVD versions of this episode.

* The Region 1 Season One DVD contains the original version and the follow-on ‘Simon & Simon’ episode, but the Region 2 one does not have this bonus disk.

* Nothing much else to add on this one, other than the suddenly returning Ferrari. As mentioned in my review, it could be argued that Robin simply bought a replacement. It makes more sense than similar cases in some other shows – for example, in ‘Starsky & Hutch’s second season two-parter ‘The Set-Up’ (which features Roger E. Mosley as a rather ‘eccentric’ pilot), Starsky’s car is blown up, only to return in the next story with no mention!
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#17 Post by Jay-Firestorm »

I have also just reviewed the S&S follow on episode, 'Emeralds Are Not A Girls Best Friend', under the crossovers section.
:)
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#18 Post by J.J. Walters »

Jay-Firestorm wrote:To note is, after it was destroyed in the feature-length / two-part ‘Did You See The Sunrise?’ previously, the Ferrari is suddenly back. I suppose it could be argued that Robin Masters is so rich, that he simply replaced it with another.
Astute observation Jay! Never really thought about it before until you mentioned it.
Higgins: It's not a scratch! It's a bloody gouge!

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lutherhgillis
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#19 Post by lutherhgillis »

I always assumed that RM just bought another one.

Did anyone else really like this epi? I think this is a good one. It didn't have the obvious crossover feel to it. It seemed more like a real episode to me. The other crossovers were painful for me. I like the surfer dude impersonation done by AJ on the beach. You would think a world class investigator like Magnum would not have fallen for that...
Who's Dot Matrix, and what has she got to do with this?

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#20 Post by Sam »

I watched this episode this morning and noticed a flub.It's the scene where Rick,AJ and Harold are casing the estate.Rick looks through his binoculars at the front gate and when shown,the film has been flipped.This is the second time I recall this happening. The first time was pointed out by eeyore in "Ghost Writer"


Image

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J.J. Walters
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#21 Post by J.J. Walters »

Sam wrote:Image
Ah, great flub spot Sam! I've added it to the episode guide.
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robspace54
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#22 Post by robspace54 »

Checking up on Morgan Fairchild she was in a Simon & Simon episode the same year "Emerald's Are Not a Girls' Best Friend" playing the dual role of Alex Houston and Catherine Hailey.

Of course (and I just checked) this was the 'other" Magnum / S&S cross-over show - with Magnum in in too.

So what do you think - was it a heart attack or the Ki' i' curse???
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#23 Post by Styles Bitchley »

robspace54 wrote:Checking up on Morgan Fairchild she was in a Simon & Simon episode the same year "Emerald's Are Not a Girls' Best Friend" playing the dual role of Alex Houston and Catherine Hailey.

Of course (and I just checked) this was the 'other" Magnum / S&S cross-over show - with Magnum in in too.

So what do you think - was it a heart attack or the Ki' i' curse???
I prefer to not over think it. The kid in me loves to think there's something to the curse of the Ki'i - I remember seeing this as a kid and really enhanced the magic of Polynesia for me. The adult in me says: well, we know what's really going on. So I just take it for what it is: probably a heart attack...but what if???
"How fiendishly deceptive of you Magnum. I could have sworn I was hearing the emasculation of a large rodent."

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Opening Scene - "Century City"

#24 Post by northshore »

You are very correct, the opening scene is Century City in Los Angeles. More on this if anyone is interested... I used bank at The Bank of America located at Century Plaza there back in the 1980's, probably around the time this was filmed. You had to slalom through 100's of yuppies chatting on their big white cell phones to get to the bank... they looked just like the "suits" you see in this episodes background shots. If you look closely you can see the old Playboy Club, which closed down many years ago and I believe it became the 20-20 Club. 20-20 Club was a bar to the stars for a while before losing it's appeal to the celebrity party crowd (became a strip club, then closed). Now it's a mediocre restaurant. Die Hard #1 was filmed at Century City... many other movies and TV series have used this location as well. :D

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Styles Bitchley
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Re: Opening Scene - "Century City"

#25 Post by Styles Bitchley »

northshore wrote:You are very correct, the opening scene is Century City in Los Angeles. More on this if anyone is interested... I used bank at The Bank of America located at Century Plaza there back in the 1980's, probably around the time this was filmed. You had to slalom through 100's of yuppies chatting on their big white cell phones to get to the bank... they looked just like the "suits" you see in this episodes background shots. If you look closely you can see the old Playboy Club, which closed down many years ago and I believe it became the 20-20 Club. 20-20 Club was a bar to the stars for a while before losing it's appeal to the celebrity party crowd (became a strip club, then closed). Now it's a mediocre restaurant. Die Hard #1 was filmed at Century City... many other movies and TV series have used this location as well. :D
Nice insights northshore. Thanks for sharing.
"How fiendishly deceptive of you Magnum. I could have sworn I was hearing the emasculation of a large rodent."

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