The Hotel Dick (6.5)

[J.J. Walters]

Totally agree, LG! LOVE this episdoe, and love the "It Matters" scene! So much so that I ripped the audio of the scene way back when.

http://magnum-mania.com/Audio/It_Matters.html

And the denouement, to this day, is still my favorite!

[marlboro]

I like this episode, too. I hate the "Magnum needs to grow up" stuff, so I loved the ending of this episode.

There are a couple of things that hinder my enjoyment of the episode,however.

1) The two guest actors who play the manager and the hooker act as though they are in a farcical comedy, while TM often times plays things fairly understated . MPI always mixed comedy and drama, but somehow the formula was a little off in some scenes here, imo.

2) Too much of the story takes place in TM's hotel room. It's just a boring set, and it seems to have restricted the director's ability to get interesting shots. Too many scenes like a rehearsal for a small time play instead of a big budget tv show.

Maybe both problems stem from poor direction?

Edited to add: Would the episode have worked better without the hooker's part in the plot? Juts have TM dealing with everyday humdrum hotel issues (with the cat burglar/jewel stuff in the background) while Rick, TC and Higgins try to get him involved in wacky misadventures? A complete role reversal. After 6 years of his friends telling him to grow up they spend the entire episode trying to get him to quit his stick in the mud job.


p.s. Candy Clark was ok in this but after seeing Corvette Summer (1978) I think Annie Potts would have been brilliant in her role.

p.p.s. The wardrobe and makeup people did a fantastic job of making the female guest stars look their best in the early seasons, but things have totally gone off the rails at this point. Late 80s women's fashions were giving 70s men's fashions a run for their money in the tackiness department.

[Little Garwood]

1) The two guest actors who play the manager and the hooker act as though they are in a farcical comedy, while TM often times plays things fairly understated . MPI always mixed comedy and drama, but somehow the formula was a little off in some scenes here, imo.

Part of what didn't work for me in seasons five through eight was the shift in tone. I don't mean from one episode to the next, which MPI did well, but rather shifts in tone within one episode. There's a quirkiness about the later seasons that is too self aware for my taste.

"The Hotel Dick", being one of my all-time favorite episodes, attempts to combine content regarding Magnum's evolving character and where he is in his life AND serve as a comedy episode. I feel that this episode is one of the better efforts at doing this.

2) Too much of the story takes place in TM's hotel room. It's just a boring set, and it seems to have restricted the director's ability to get interesting shots. Too many scenes like a rehearsal for a small time play instead of a big budget tv show.

I'll repost my view on this from a previous post in this thread: I think that the drabness of the hotel was by design. If things looked cosy, colorful, and delightful at Thomas' new job, we could understand why he'd leave Robin's Nest, the battles with Higgins, the lads, and another "tawdry divorce case"! By portraying the hotel gig as dull and colorless, not to mention that cruddy boss, Thomas--and the audience--can appreciate what he's left behind.

Another thing to keep in mind is that the episode's director, Douglas Heyes, was also the man who directed the Twilight Zone episodes "The Invaders" and "Nervous Man in a Four Dollar Room", so enclosed spaces were his specialty.

As always, marlboro, you make good points and astute observations.

[Mad Kudu Buck]

I like this episode, too. I hate the "Magnum needs to grow up" stuff, so I loved the ending of this episode.

There are a couple of things that hinder my enjoyment of the episode,however.

1) The two guest actors who play the manager and the hooker act as though they are in a farcical comedy, while TM often times plays things fairly understated . MPI always mixed comedy and drama, but somehow the formula was a little off in some scenes here, imo.

2) Too much of the story takes place in TM's hotel room. It's just a boring set, and it seems to have restricted the director's ability to get interesting shots. Too many scenes like a rehearsal for a small time play instead of a big budget tv show.

Maybe both problems stem from poor direction?

Edited to add: Would the episode have worked better without the hooker's part in the plot? Juts have TM dealing with everyday humdrum hotel issues (with the cat burglar/jewel stuff in the background) while Rick, TC and Higgins try to get him involved in wacky misadventures? A complete role reversal. After 6 years of his friends telling him to grow up they spend the entire episode trying to get him to quit his stick in the mud job.


p.s. Candy Clark was ok in this but after seeing Corvette Summer (1978) I think Annie Potts would have been brilliant in her role.

p.p.s. The wardrobe and makeup people did a fantastic job of making the female guest stars look their best in the early seasons, but things have totally gone off the rails at this point. Late 80s women's fashions were giving 70s men's fashions a run for their money in the tackiness department.

Yes, I almost totally agree.

"There are a couple of things that hinder my enjoyment of your post,however."

1. I find Annie Potts to be just as annoying as Candy Clark (or even more annoying), so I wouldn't want her in the role

2. I don't like the abbreviation "MPI" for Magnum P.I.. I know - it's not just you and nearly everyone here uses it. MPI was a video distributor (and also Manitoba Public Insurance, etc.), so every time I see "MPI", I automatically think about the video distributor (and Manitoba Public Insurance) and think, "What the hell do they have to do with it?" before mentally converting it to "Magnum P.I.".

[Mad Kudu Buck]

I can imagine if you told someone you were going to watch "The Hotel Dick" and then "The Big Blow", you might get a reaction like this:

[marlboro]

"And, after that, I think I'll watch The Taking of Dick..."- door slams shut. Feet scurry down hallway.

[marlboro]

Another thing to keep in mind is that the episode's director, Douglas Heyes, was also the man who directed the Twilight Zone episodes "The Invaders" and "Nervous Man in a Four Dollar Room", so enclosed spaces were his specialty.

He also directed some of the very best episodes of Maverick, so he was good at mixing comedy, drama, and action.



p.s. "The Invaders" is an awesome episode. I've been listening to a lot of old time radio programs recently, and Agnes Moorehead was absolutely brilliant.




She starred in one of the most famous radio episodes of all time "Sorry, Wrong Number." It was such a hit she performed the role 8 times over the years. She was also fantastic in a radio version of "The Yellow Wallpaper."

And here she is before her daughter's marriage to Derwood prematurely aged her:

[ENSHealy]

Did anyone notice they showed the scene of the big, heavy guy jumping into the pool twice... both of them the same exact shot?

There weren't the same shot, different trunks and different camera angle:

[ENSHealy]

That's why you never hear sayings you've never heard before.

Very Yogi Berra-esque.

[Little Garwood]

It figures that this, one of my top ten episodes, goes three years without a post!

It’s also the thread in which my “great” explanation as to why Magnum speaks the “It Matters” monologue the way he does goes completely unnoticed! It’s enough to make a fella cheer for Russian spambots to overrun this place.

[ENSHealy]

EPISODE: 6.5 The Hotel Dick

Famous guest stars:
Hawaiian shirts: 1

Tigers Cap:
Island Hopper shirts:
Shirtless Magnum:
OMG:
Higgins Organizations: 1 Anglo-Hawaiian Cultural Academy
Higgins musings:
Negotiations:
Gun Play: 1
Bullet wounds:
Little Voice:
I know what you’re thinking: 2
When I write HTBAWCPI:
Investigator corrections: .5
4th wall breaks:
Magnumometer: 5.5
Magnumometer Moments: https://vimeo.com/599902462

Loved the Cosby reference. Cosby was killing Magnum in the ratings, so it was an especially funny (dare I say brave?) joke to make. Reminded me of this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2dAVRbtMTw which aired about 5 months before this episode

Was Leslie’s going over the railing part of the plan, or an accident? It seems like an exceedingly dangerous diversion. If it was actually part of their plan, the writers could have at least thrown us something in the script making reference to some kind of safety measure they took on her behalf.

[Blackmamba]

An astute Magnum fan just informed me that the Waikiki hotel used in this episode is the Marriott Waikiki Beach Resort & Spa, not the Ilikai! The curved balconies (along with the shape of the building) really give it away. Not quite sure why I thought it was the Ilikai!

I also thought it was the Mariott Waikiki, since I spent my honeymoon there in 2003. I also found it amusing that a TV station showed Nothing but Magnum PI 24/7!

[charybdis1966]

This is another episode I'm seeing for the first time (I think it's because by season 6 in it's original run I was at Uni and watched a lot less TV and spent time in lectures or drinking beer).
It does look like one where TM is acting slightly out of character - that is punching a clock and working "for the man".

The story itself is kind of interesting and I do like Cleo's playfulness but Leslie's accent and delivery sounded a bit weird to me - can one of the boards Americans tell me where she's supposed to sound like she comes from in the US ?
In any case both these ladies were nice to look at and with no Baldwin or Agatha in sight and lots of poolside bikini babes it was a pleasant watch at least.
The name of the episode will make UK readers smirk due to it's innuendo.

[80s Big Hair]

The story itself is kind of interesting and I do look like Cleo's playfulness but Leslie's accent and delivery sounded a bit weird to me - can one of the boards Americans tell me where she's supposed to sound like she comes from in the US ?

She is from Oklahoma which is immediately north of Texas.

[charybdis1966]

The story itself is kind of interesting and I do look like Cleo's playfulness but Leslie's accent and delivery sounded a bit weird to me - can one of the boards Americans tell me where she's supposed to sound like she comes from in the US ?

She is from Oklahoma which is immediately north of Texas.

Cheers, I just couldn't place her accent and it sounded odd. Liked her outfits though.