Professor Jonathan Higgins (5.13)

Rate, review & discuss the episodes from the fifth season

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How Would You Rate This Episode?

10 (Perfect!)
2
2%
9.5 (One of the Best)
2
2%
9.0 (Excellent)
8
10%
8.5 (Very Good)
15
18%
8.0 (Pretty Good)
14
17%
7.5 (Decent)
21
25%
7.0 (Average at Best)
11
13%
6.5 (Not So Good)
5
6%
6.0 (Pretty Bad)
3
4%
5.0 (Just Awful)
2
2%
 
Total votes: 83

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BrettArchibald
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#31 Post by BrettArchibald »

James J. Walters wrote:That is a GREAT note N1095A!

So there's Magnum, picking locks incorrectly year after year, until one day, out of the blue, we see him working a lock correctly, with a tension wrench! :shock:

"How bizarre, how bizarre"


I registered with this site, quite apart from the fact that I am a big Magnum fan, but also to point out two errors that I have seen here:

Firstly, it *IS* possible to pick a lock with just one hand, ie: the pick in one hand whilst holding the barrel of the lock in the other hand.
It does of course depend on the type/brand and "strength"/security-level of the lock.
Trust me, I know this from personal experience: I was quite a little mischief-maker in my youth, and was almost suspended from school for picking the padlocks on people's lockers and swapping them around with each other!

The second point is to contradict a point made twice on the Episode Guide for this series, where it states:
6 At the very end of the episode, John Hillerman (as Higgins), for a brief sentence, speaks with his normal Texan accent.
and
8 At the very end, during the "Bit of Britain" pub scene, Higgins delivers a line with a Texas (Elmo Ziller) accent. This is also John Hillerman's real accent, as he is a native Texan.
This is *NOT* John Hillerman's real accent, nor is it even a Texan accent. It is *MEANT* to be a common/cockney English accent, ie: emulating his cousin's accent.

Thanks, and I hope to continue to contribute to these forums! :)

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J.J. Walters
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#32 Post by J.J. Walters »

Thanks for the corrections Brett. I've updated the episode guide.

Welcome to the site!
Higgins: It's not a scratch! It's a bloody gouge!

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#33 Post by BrettArchibald »

James J. Walters wrote:Thanks for the corrections Brett. I've updated the episode guide.

Welcome to the site!
Thanks, but I can't see any updates in the Episode Guide. Well, apart from the removal of the duplicate "accent" entry, formerly points 6 and 8, listed in my earlier post.
You still have the accent listed as "Elmo Ziller" Texan though, rather than cockney English...

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N1095A
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#34 Post by N1095A »

BrettArchibald wrote: ....it *IS* possible to pick a lock with just one hand, ie: the pick in one hand whilst holding the barrel of the lock in the other hand.
It does of course depend on the type/brand and "strength"/security-level of the lock.
Trust me, I know this from personal experience: I was quite a little mischief-maker in my youth, and was almost suspended from school for picking the padlocks on people's lockers and swapping them around with each other!
I too have picked padlocks using nothing more than a "pick" usually a paper clip. Beware, MASTER locks are easily picked with a paper clip or anything else that will fit in the key hole. While I suppose it is possible for a really good lock picker to pick a door lock while holding the cylinder with the other hand, time and time again we see TM sticking a pick in a lock, wiggling it around, and then opening the door. Or worse, turning the cylinder with the same pick he used on the tumblers! :shock: Holding the door knob doesn't count, it is seperate from the cylinder, and putting tension on the knob won't hold the already picked tumblers open. Tension has to be applied directly to the cylinder whether you use a tension wrench, or holding it with your other hand. As you described, I see it as very awkward trying to hold the cylinder with your thumb, or another finger when it would be so much easier just to use a tension wrench.
Last edited by N1095A on Sat Mar 28, 2009 9:28 pm, edited 3 times in total.
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J.J. Walters
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#35 Post by J.J. Walters »

Brett,

My bad. For some reason, I thought it was a little "nod" to Elmo, but in looking at it again, you're right, it's a different accent. I've changed the note again.

Thanks - corections/clarifications are always welcome here... Lord knows I need the help. ;)

Regarding the lock picking, should I change the note to say something like, "... picking a lock with just a pick (without a tension wrench) is impossible for many locks, and very difficult for others"?
Higgins: It's not a scratch! It's a bloody gouge!

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#36 Post by BrettArchibald »

James J. Walters wrote:Brett,

My bad. For some reason, I thought it was a little "nod" to Elmo, but in looking at it again, you're right, it's a different accent. I've changed the note again.

Thanks - corections/clarifications are always welcome here... Lord knows I need the help. ;)
All cool... :wink:
James J. Walters wrote:Regarding the lock picking, should I change the note to say something like, "... picking a lock with just a pick (without a tension wrench) is impossible for many locks, and very difficult for others"?
I'm certainly no expert on this, I only know about the locks I've picked in the past, and those were pretty cheap locks. And to clarify, in my example, I was specifically referring to padlocks.
And, generally-speaking, I suppose how easy it is and what methods are needed also depends on whether it's a padlock or a door-lock, etc.
I guess if it were up to me, then I personally don't necessarily have a preference as to how it's written, or whether it's written at all... I just wanted to dispute the "it's impossible" type of claim. :wink:

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#37 Post by N1095A »

I should also add that once you manage to get all the tumblers picked, you need to turn the cylinder in order to open the lock. This is the other job of the tension wrench. If you have no tool in the cylinder, you can't turn it even while holding it with a finger. Maybe you could turn it with the pick, but I don't see that working either. Remember, if you're picking a lock, you most likely want to get it open ASAP, like before you attract attention. Trying to get the tension right while feeling each tumbler, and trying to turn the cylinder with the pick just seems needlessly awkward. As I said, certain padlocks are a different story. They can be quite easy to pick with one hand. I have found that Master brand locks almost come open with just a hard stare. Well, not quite that easily, but if you stick anything in the key hole and wiggle it around, they generally pop with very little effort.
I bought a lock pick set in the early 90's. I wanted one like TM's because I thought it was cool. I soon started popping locks just for the challenge. In '94 I went to work in the maintenance department of a very large factory. I generally didn't let my lock picking skills be known, but a couple of the guys I worked with knew. Pretty soon every time someone lost the key to their desk, or a door (and we couldn't find an extra key) they were calling me.
My MPI (twin) lock pick set stayed in my tool box at work for 5 years. I got a lot of use from it too. In '99 I became a deputy sheriff. The kit went to work with me there too. I didn't get quite as much use from it there, but I remember one hot, sticky day we were called out by a hysterical mother who's 2 y/o locked the car door while she was unloading groceries. I had it open in about 20 seconds. Way Way longer than it should take to pick a lock, but car doors, and ignitions are a nightmare to pick. So much so that there are special pick sets for automotive applications. Cars can be picked by standard MPI-like, but it's very very difficult.
"But Higgins, I can explain."

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#38 Post by BrettArchibald »

N1095A wrote:...I remember one hot, sticky day we were called out by a hysterical mother who's 2 y/o locked the car door while she was unloading groceries. I had it open in about 20 seconds. Way Way longer than it should take to pick a lock, but car doors, and ignitions are a nightmare to pick. So much so that there are special pick sets for automotive applications. Cars can be picked by standard MPI-like, but it's very very difficult.
Aah yes, I've done a few cars too in my youth, but let me stress, purely only ever for fun, and on cars whose owners I knew, like my dad's car and my friends parents, etc. No crime involved! :wink:
The method I used back in those days took a lot less than 20 seconds though - it was a simple straightened-out coat-hanger, leaving a little "hook" at the end... stick that down between the door-window-glass and the rubber seal, slide across an inch, and hoik it up! Presto! Door unlocked.
I'm not too sure if you can do it with modern cars nowadays though, with their fancy central-locking and suchlike. :)
This was back in the days when the locks were great big knobs that you had to pull up to unlock and push down to lock. :D

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#39 Post by N1095A »

BrettArchibald wrote:
N1095A wrote:...I remember one hot, sticky day we were called out by a hysterical mother who's 2 y/o locked the car door while she was unloading groceries. I had it open in about 20 seconds. Way Way longer than it should take to pick a lock, but car doors, and ignitions are a nightmare to pick. So much so that there are special pick sets for automotive applications. Cars can be picked by standard MPI-like, but it's very very difficult.
Aah yes, I've done a few cars too in my youth, but let me stress, purely only ever for fun, and on cars whose owners I knew, like my dad's car and my friends parents, etc. No crime involved! :wink:
The method I used back in those days took a lot less than 20 seconds though - it was a simple straightened-out coat-hanger, leaving a little "hook" at the end... stick that down between the door-window-glass and the rubber seal, slide across and inch, and hoik it up! Presto! Door unlocked.
I'm not too sure if you can do it with modern cars nowadays though, with their fancy central-locking and suchlike. :)
This was back in the days when the locks were great big knobs that you had to pull up to unlock and push down to lock. :D
Modern cars can be tricky. I worked for a towing company that did lock out service, and learned how to get into cars efficiently. The trouble with many newer cars is the power locks. They put a lot of pressure on the lock, and don't pop very easily. Also, most newer cars have a small "shelf" inside the door skin, just below the window that won't allow tools past. Sometimes even with a slimjim, I was unable to get past it. In those cases I broke out the "little easy" and airbag. You take a small plastic wedge, and insert it between the window and the car body. It's easier if the window doesn't have a full frame, but it works with those too, you just slip the bag between the door frame and body. Once you wedge the window away enough, just slip the air bag in, and inflate (like a blood pressure cuff). Then you slip your "little easy" tool inside the car and press the power lock button, or slide the manual lock open. You have to be very careful not to over inflate the bag, especially if it's cold out, as you can break the glass. No one wants that.
Little Easy:
Image
Air Bag:
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"But Higgins, I can explain."

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#40 Post by TropicalMadness »

I rather like this episode--it's actually one of my favorites from the fifth season. It's just fun. How can popcorn and punk not be? :)

I'll take this opportunity to say my hello. :) Been a fan for years and was thrilled to find the site and forum. I look forward to future reading and contributing!

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#41 Post by lutherhgillis »

Back to the discussion of Agatha's car... I am pretty sure it is a Rambler like others have mentioned. I remember the first time I saw this episode and I was thinking, "Wow, I haven't seen a Rambler in a long time." Once there were many of those American Motor Company cars on the road. Boy how times have changed.
Who's Dot Matrix, and what has she got to do with this?

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#42 Post by golfmobile »

Welcome, Tropical Madness (hey, you've got the right initials!). Can we just call ya TropMad?

Hope you enjoy it here. This is SUCH a great forum!

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#43 Post by Jay-Firestorm »

I know it’s a silly story, and very predictable, but I liked this one – definitely one of the better season five offerings IMO.

[rating=9.0]

While Magnum tracks down a shady investment company that swindled Agatha and her friends out of $100,000, Higgins attempts to make his distant punk rocker cousin into a lady before she marries into a society family. Silly, but one of the season’s better eps…

-----

This review contains spoilers.

‘Professor Jonathan Higgins’ is a very silly episode, especially when compared to some of the clever and high quality stories that the series offered up in previous seasons. Thankfully, it is also a lot of fun, and stands as one of the generally weak fifth season’s better instalments.

Jillie Mack puts in a rather stereotypical but enjoyable performance as Higgins’ distant cousin, punk rocker Sally. Her ‘cockney’ accent is a bit over the top, and she can be slightly irritating at times, but personally, I found it forgivable in an episode that doesn’t take itself too serious.
(Mack, in case you don’t know, had previous appeared as different characters in season four’s ‘Rembrandt’s Girl’ and, uncredited, in ‘Fragments’ earlier this season, and went on to marry Tom Selleck in 1987).

The episode is fully of nice touches – such as Magnum coming fourth in the pizza competition, and his popcorn maker – which have been sadly lacking for much of this season. The whole story just feels more alive, more like the episodes of the previous seasons.

The only bit of the story that I was the wrap up – it just seemed far too coincidental that Sally’s missing husband-to-be was behind the scam that ripped off Agatha and her friends, that Magnum has been investigating all episode. This just seemed to come out of nowhere, and could at least have had a few hints at this before in the story. It is the only element of the episode that doesn’t work for me.

But other than that one gripe, I personally found this a very enjoyable story. It’s certainly not one of the show’s most sophisticated episodes, but it is all good fun, and stands as one of the better episodes from the fifth season – though bearing in mind some of the season’s other offerings, maybe that’s not saying much!

-----

Other notes, bloopers and misc.:

* Rather unusually (but welcome), the opening trailer of this episode doesn’t focus on the Magnum elements of the story, instead featuring Higgins trying to reform Higgins. In other such stories, Magnum is given prominence in the trailers, even when he is barely featured (see season four’s ‘Holmes Is Where the Heart Is’, for example).

* Near the beginning of the story, Magnum goes to collect the mail from the front of the Estate, and as he goes in, the gate closes behind him. A few moments later, Agatha drives in, with no-one buzzing her through the gate! (Maybe as she is such a trusted friend of Higgins’, he gave her a remote for the gate, like the one Magnum has?)

* By the way, regarding Agatha’s car, we also see it in ‘Echoes of the Mind’ Part I. I don’t recognise this car as ever being sold in Britain (though I’m no car expert), but whether it was or not, this particular model is not British, as British cars have the steering wheel on the opposite site,

* The song that Sally sings at the party on the Estate, ‘The Lambeth Walk’, is a famous Cockney song recognised in the UK (I don’t know if it’s known Stateside). Read about it here - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lambeth_walk.

* There are a lot of “bloody”s and “bleeding”s in this episode, especially from Sally, but (maybe surprisingly), when Five broadcast this episode in 2002, they left them intact – despite editing smaller usage of the words on other occasions.
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#44 Post by J.J. Walters »

Jay-Firestorm wrote:* The song that Sally sings at the party on the Estate, ‘The Lambeth Walk’, is a famous Cockney song recognised in the UK (I don’t know if it’s known Stateside). Read about it here - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lambeth_walk.
VERY interesting! Another nice nugget of trivia to add to the episode guide.

Thanks Jay! :)
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#45 Post by MACattack »

What can I say about this episode? Great hair (Sally's) and badly choreographed fight scenes!
All in all, I was entertained by this episode, and I even laughed at Higgins doing a fake cockney accent at the end! Bloody good show!!!!
I just don't give a damn!

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