Smaller Than Life (4.3)

Rate, review & discuss the episodes from the fourth season

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How Would You Rate This Episode?

10 (Perfect!)
0
No votes
9.5 (One of the Best)
1
1%
9.0 (Excellent)
2
2%
8.5 (Very Good)
6
6%
8.0 (Pretty Good)
14
14%
7.5 (Decent)
20
20%
7.0 (Average at Best)
20
20%
6.5 (Not So Good)
18
18%
6.0 (Pretty Bad)
9
9%
5.0 (Just Awful)
8
8%
 
Total votes: 98

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J.J. Walters
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Smaller Than Life (4.3)

#1 Post by J.J. Walters »

This is the official MM thread for Smaller Than Life (4.3). 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: 10/13/1983
Trouble comes in all shapes and sizes when childhood friend Waldo Norris asks Rick to help him investigate an insurance claim for a priceless figurine. Rick then discovers that his friend isn't quite all he seems, but the truth of Waldo's identity may put an even higher price on finding the missing piece.
Last edited by J.J. Walters on Fri Dec 28, 2007 4:48 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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lutherhgillis
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Dial-up...

#2 Post by lutherhgillis »

When viewing the scenes where Magnum dials into the computer via the analog modem, you may be tempted to say that is was not possible to hack into another computer so easily. However, I remember as late as the early 90s when MAJOR corporations had scads of dial-up access modem lines that had NO password protection whatsoever. It's true... Root access was just a dial tone away. Please believe me, it's true. I was there...

Mahalo

grapeshot
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#3 Post by grapeshot »

I'm sure you're absolutely right. Nonetheless, I find the appearance of old computers rather quaint. Magnum, Higgins, et. al. still seem pretty fresh, but those old computers really remind you of the show's age.

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Re: Dial-up...

#4 Post by J.J. Walters »

lutherhgillis wrote:When viewing the scenes where Magnum dials into the computer via the analog modem, you may be tempted to say that is was not possible to hack into another computer so easily. However, I remember as late as the early 90s when MAJOR corporations had scads of dial-up access modem lines that had NO password protection whatsoever. It's true... Root access was just a dial tone away. Please believe me, it's true. I was there...
Hi lutherhgillis

In the episode guide, I wasn't saying you couldn't get root access to a computer network via a modem. I simply said an analog TV couldn't turn itself on by placing a phone onto an acoustic coupler modem. ;)
Higgins: It's not a scratch! It's a bloody gouge!

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lutherhgillis
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#5 Post by lutherhgillis »

Hi lutherhgillis

In the episode guide, I wasn't saying you couldn't get root access to a computer network via a modem. I simply said an analog TV couldn't turn itself on by placing a phone onto an acoustic coupler modem.



I wasn't trying to correct you. I was only adding some interesting (hopefully) information. I figured younger viewers would have a hard time believing how much things have changed. That's all.

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#6 Post by J.J. Walters »

10-4, thanks.

Yeah, Ferris Bueller's Day Off probably isn't required viewing for teenagers anymore. ;)
Higgins: It's not a scratch! It's a bloody gouge!

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#7 Post by J.J. Walters »

So..... when Waldo and Rick were kids/teenagers, hanging out together on Taylor St. in Chicago, Waldo was working for the CIA?? Please tell me I missed something.
Higgins: It's not a scratch! It's a bloody gouge!

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Doc Ibold
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#8 Post by Doc Ibold »

James J. Walters wrote:So..... when Waldo and Rick were kids/teenagers, hanging out together on Taylor St. in Chicago, Waldo was working for the CIA?? Please tell me I missed something.
Nope, its flubalicious!

(A 12 year old CIA agent?)

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Carol the Dabbler
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Re: Dial-up...

#9 Post by Carol the Dabbler »

James J. Walters wrote:In the episode guide, I ... said an analog TV couldn't turn itself on by placing a phone onto an acoustic coupler modem.
True, and that very thought occurred to me when I watched the episode tonight. But then it occurred to me that Magnum is in a hospital, which is the first place I ever saw a remote control. I don't recall seeing a remote control in the episode, but hospitals of that era were providing them to anyone who rented a TV -- maybe it was just off-camera. So Magnum could have simultaneously put the handset into the acoustic coupler and turned on the TV set. I know, I know, he was all thumbs due to the body cast, but theoretically, he could have. So maybe it isn't a for-sure flub after all?

Does anyone know if Tom Selleck was actually incapacitated when they filmed this one? The Episode Guide says the next episode is also "Rick centric," which would make sense if TS was really in a cast. Or, Hubby points out, TS could have been busy wrapping up some summer project (IMDb says Lassiter was released in February of 1984), so they featured Rick in a couple of shows to give him a little extra time. Is there any record of when these two episodes were produced? If they were the first two of the fourth season, that would lend more credence to Hubby's theory.
Carol

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#10 Post by MPS »

Somehow, I missed this episode the first time through the series. The hubby and I were expecting the worst, but it wasn't that bad. Being Rick-centric made it different, but all-in-all, it was an amusing epi. Did love the old modem. My lab had one similar to that when I was in school. Things sure have changed. :!:
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Only in a TV show...

#11 Post by brunoffrance »

just seen this episode ( we are sunday...) with the short familly ( vacation season) and the vote was not great : 7 only that is upper the average ! Sure it could be called " Rick P.I" and it was interresting to see him controling the action; Great actor and what a class !.
A bit surprised by a modem ( even an old one ), used in an hospital bedroom as it was a classic option, in the 80's. I knew that you were in advance compared to my old continent, but i doubt that situation was possible, even today.... try to do that with our actual wifi in a motel... and replace that in an hospital ....oups !
It's only TV show and we like that !
Very american 4 a french...

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#12 Post by Jay-Firestorm »

My first review of the week. I don’t HATE this episode, but it’s not overly great either.

[rating=7.5]

While Magnum is in hospital after a hang-gliding accident, Rick's old friend, the vertically challenged Waldo, a small-time burglar, convinces him to help recover a priceless figurine – but nothing about Waldo's story is the complete truth. A mixed ep...

-----

Ahh… ‘Smaller Than Life’, an episode that generally has a mixed response from viewers.

Other than the third season’s ‘Two Birds of a Feather’ (a pilot for a potential series that did not sell), this is the first ‘Magnum-lite’ episode of the series, in which we see very little of T.M. himself. He is hospitalised after a hang-gliding accident while trying to impress his new girlfriend (by the way, this is one of the very few episodes in which Magnum is actually shown to have a girlfriend).

So with Magnum out of the picture for the bulk of the story, Rick takes the spotlight. I personally don’t mind this too much, as the ‘supporting’ characters of Higgins, T.C. and Rick had all grown enough to support an episode on their own. But even so, Magnum’s usual easy-going charm is noticeably missing from the story.

The short Waldo Norris, played by Cork Hubbert, is a character that will split viewers – I can image there is a large section who found him extremely annoying! I personally find him quite an amusing character, but did start to tire of him by the end of the episode.

One thing I did find, was that there were several blatant ‘convenient’ plot points in the story; Lee (the boy who Magnum is sharing a hospital room with), just happens to have a modem on his computer, is excusable enough (although very dubious and dated), but what stuck out to me more was that Higgins ‘just happened’ to be hosting a showing of sketches of various building layouts – one of which just happens to be the one Waldo needs!

I think this episode’s main flaw is that it comes far too early in the season. They might have got away with it better if it had been tucked down the end of a season, but only the third episode into the season and already Magnum is absent – it didn’t sit too well with me.

When I first saw this episode, some years ago now, I didn’t mind it too much, but it doesn’t really hold up to repeat viewings, and watching it this time to review, I didn’t enjoy it so much.

Overall, this is a watchable episode, but hardly outstanding. It has a ‘filler episode’ feel to it, that would have been better tucked away down the end of the season.

-----

Other notes, bloopers and misc.:

* The opening trailer features a clip of Higgins and Rick driving along at night (possibly in the Audi), with Higgins talking about Magnum lying in his hospital bed, that was not included in the actual episode. Presumably it was dropped for timing reasons.
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#13 Post by Rutledal »

Doc Ibold wrote:
James J. Walters wrote:So..... when Waldo and Rick were kids/teenagers, hanging out together on Taylor St. in Chicago, Waldo was working for the CIA?? Please tell me I missed something.
Nope, its flubalicious!

(A 12 year old CIA agent?)
Image

As the screenshot clearly states Waldo joined the CIA at the age of 18.
So I made a Topic Page about Magnum, P.I. Check it out here.

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#14 Post by lutherhgillis »

I liked this one. Yea, the computer equipment is hilarious to see. Man, the modems where you place the telephone handset into...wow those are old!

Does anyone remember the first generation of laptops (getting slightly off subject)? They did not have a hard drive; they booted off the floppy drive with a boot disk. They also had a carry handle and were very bulky.
Who's Dot Matrix, and what has she got to do with this?

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#15 Post by J.J. Walters »

Blackie "Spider" Dammett (William Skuler) is the father of Anthony Kiedis, lead singer of the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Until 2005 he was head of Rockinfreakopotamous, the official Red Hot Chili Peppers fan club.

Image

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Rock on!
Higgins: It's not a scratch! It's a bloody gouge!

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