This is the official MM thread for A Little Bit of Luck, A Little Bit of Grief (6.20). 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: 4/3/1986
World's collide when Rick becomes a millionaire after winning the lottery, and Magnum and T.C. fight to save a clubhouse for underprivileged children.

Finally, another "Rick-centric" episode. Too bad the story is kind of weak.

Further evidence that Rick is the luckiest guy on earth. The guy wins a million dollar lottery, gets scammed and loses it all, including his job, and then finds himself (and his love interest) in physical danger. What do you do in that situation? You get your best pals Magnum and T.C. over there pronto to dish out some serious hurt, that's what! Great setup to the fight, too. TM and T.C. have been in and out of a jail cell all episode, dealing with other issues, but as soon as they learn Rick is in trouble, they drop everything to help their friend. I love it.

Hey, Rick's favorite song is "As Time Goes By". No surprise there!

_________________
Higgins: It's not a scratch! It's a bloody gouge!

Any idea where the game show scene was filmed?, I was surprised to see Bruce Forsyth as the game show host.

Can you say, "PREDICTABLE"? I saw the end of this episode coming from a mile away! I felt like I had already seen this one before it originally aired. I could have written a better one than this and that's not saying much...

The only thing good about this episode is that Cassie Yates was not in it!

LOL!!

_________________
Higgins: It's not a scratch! It's a bloody gouge!

Poor Rick! This episode sure makes him look like a dumb bunny. First he wins $1 million and instantly believes some good-looking blonde lady falls for him just like that. Then, after bringing her back to Hawaii with him, he plays high-stakes poker (surely illegal!!) with virtual strangers and has his fiancee acting as a waitress. She goes for a walk on the beach, and he just lets her go by herself? Yeah, he's really in love. I think I'd run like heck from an inconsiderate jerk like that. And he has IcePick there with him, a known criminal? And he does this on the premises the club he's supposed to be responsibly managing -- he's that stupid? No wonder Higgins and the Board of Directors fired him! After the litany of things Higgins recited that Rick failed to do, I find it hard to believe he was still there running the club in the first place.

I wonder also if Claudia Cron was pregnant when this was filmed. She looks rather thick around the middle, and usually the female guest stars were, well, rather picked for their looks.

I love watching these, but the more you watch them, the more you see how the plots of many of them don't make sense in the long run.

And, oh, yes, Jeannie was part of the con/scam. You can't tell me this was the FIRST time she worked with these guys, and they trusted her, a virtual stranger. No, she had to have done this before with them. And if so, since she ratted them out at the end here, we're expected to believe that they're not going to rat her out for all the other times she worked with them? So, okay, Rick can refuse to press charges for THIS attempt, but still, she doesn't get to just go home to Kansas (or wherever her folks' farm was). She wouldn't "walk" once her partners are caught.

Oddly enough, finding all the "flaws" doesn't negatively affect my pleasure in watching them!!

I liked the ending with Rick and TM walking away at night at the airport. Predictable, yes, but it follows the Casablanca theme that was a running undercurrent for this episode.

Can anyone figure out what Rick is wearing on his necklace around his neck? I thought he usually just wore a thick gold chain. TC also has a necklace with a charm or something on it. Anyone know what each is wearing?

I wonder how many times they had to film the shot of the briefcase (with the money) landing in the back of that produce truck WITHOUT bouncing out??

golf

_________________
"Portside, buddy."

I was just watching this episode and was wondering if this could be considered a flub. Magnum is asleep in the guest house bedroom when Rick is calling on the phone. He gets up to answer it, walks into the living room, but misses the call.

Why didn't he just answer the phone on the nightstand?

Maybe just because he is Thomas Magnum, the guy who always has trouble waking up.

_________________
Sometimes I get so lucky, even I don`t believe it (TSM)

I think Rick always does dumb things with women. This being a prime example!

Hmm, the way they set it up, I don't think it would be a flub. You only hear one phone ringing, the phone/answering machine in the living area. No phone appears to ring in the bedroom (although it's hard to tell for sure). Maybe his bedroom phone is broken? Maybe once the answering machine picks up he can only answer that phone?

_________________
Higgins: It's not a scratch! It's a bloody gouge!