The Return of Luther Gillis (4.16)

Rate, review & discuss the episodes from the fourth season

Moderator: Styles Bitchley

How Would You Rate This Episode?

10 (Perfect!)
2
2%
9.5 (One of the Best)
10
10%
9.0 (Excellent)
18
19%
8.5 (Very Good)
27
28%
8.0 (Pretty Good)
24
25%
7.5 (Decent)
6
6%
7.0 (Average at Best)
4
4%
6.5 (Not So Good)
2
2%
6.0 (Pretty Bad)
2
2%
5.0 (Just Awful)
2
2%
 
Total votes: 97

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J.J. Walters
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The Return of Luther Gillis (4.16)

#1 Post by J.J. Walters »

This is the official MM thread for The Return of Luther Gillis (4.16). 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: 2/16/1984
Magnum is delighted when an old friend, Luther Gillis, arrives in Hawaii to collect an award from the National Academy of Private Investigators. But when Luther's secretary and Higgins go missing, Magnum and Luther must join forces, again, to crack the case, despite their completely opposite methods of detective work.

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wilko
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#2 Post by wilko »

Higgins and Magnum sharing a moment of mutual dispair before Luther arrives....priceless :lol:

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J.J. Walters
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#3 Post by J.J. Walters »

Luther: Who's dot matrix, and what's she got to do with this?

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

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Magnums Little Voice
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#4 Post by Magnums Little Voice »

I was a bit up and down with this episode, it had some good parts but I find Luther very annoying aswell as funny, if that makes sense.
Some of Luthers one liners are good and I know he's ment to be loud and brash but he got on my nerves too much!! :x

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J.J. Walters
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#5 Post by J.J. Walters »

This is a great episode. Probably my favorite "Luther" episode and flat out one of the funniest episodes of the series. The banter between Magnum and Luther, and Higgins and Blanche is hysterical!

Higgins: "Please, Ms. Rafferty, I fail to see how some sordid detail from the past can have any relevance to our current plight." :lol:

Mixed in with the great dialog are some really fun scenes - Luther getting wacked over the head with a frying pan by Big Sally (and then singing "You Always Hurt the One You Love"!), a Hotel Street brothel brawl, a Mexican standoff, Magnum and Luther laughing uncontrollably, all kinds of stuff.

I love how throughout the whole episode Magnum has this horrified, yet strangely intrigued, look on his face regarding Luther.

And Lloyd DeWitt has some great sage-like advice for TM and Luther from his book Private Investigative Techniques in the Computer Age, Software and You:

"Well, let me tell you, computers and electronics are the wave of the future in this industry. Foot tails and stakeouts will become as obsolete as panama hats and the ubiquitous informants on the street. Be ready for the future, or you'll wind up in the past."

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

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IslandHopper
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#6 Post by IslandHopper »

Well said James. The scene at the convention where Luther makes fun of Lloyd DeWitt's "Hot Dog" shirt was pretty funny. Oddly enough Rick can be seen wearing a very similar shirt in a few episodes. I never thought the hot dog motif went very well with the KKC, unless of course, it was for the 4th of July.
The answer is obvious, old man. Logic is irrelevant. It's simply Tropical Madness. (J.Q. Higgins)

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N1095A
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#7 Post by N1095A »

IslandHopper wrote:Well said James. The scene at the convention where Luther makes fun of Lloyd DeWitt's "Hot Dog" shirt was pretty funny. Oddly enough Rick can be seen wearing a very similar shirt in a few episodes. I never thought the hot dog motif went very well with the KKC, unless of course, it was for the 4th of July.


Is that the same hot dog shirt Rick wore in China Doll?
Image
I can just picture the shirt in some rarely visited part of the wardrobe department's closets from season 1, until someone broke it out in season 4.
"But Higgins, I can explain."

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rubber chicken
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#8 Post by rubber chicken »

I'm impressed Mike, you have a good memory for hot dog shirts.

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Last edited by rubber chicken on Sun Aug 30, 2009 12:00 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Lance White
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#9 Post by Lance White »

Bummer, I just watched China Doll and noticed it. I thought for sure that I'd found something overlooked, but I'll have to do better than that to beat the pros. :lol:

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Italian Ice
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#10 Post by Italian Ice »

I have to get me one of those hot dog shirts!
Too funny
Higgins: " Dispatch the pig!!! "

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J.J. Walters
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#11 Post by J.J. Walters »

Are you guys telling me that two different characters wear a "hot dog shirt" (a "hot dog shirt"?) in two different episodes, some four years apart!? Is that what you are telling me??

LOL! God, I love this show! ;)
Higgins: It's not a scratch! It's a bloody gouge!

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N1095A
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#12 Post by N1095A »

Image
I hate to burst the "hot dog shirt" bubble here, but it appears upon further investigation that Lloyd DeWitt's Hot Dog shirt is a different one than Rick's. Lloyd's has epulets, and a different design. No krout or mustard on Rick's, and the hot dogs are smaller, but there are more of them.

Image

I don't know if this makes it more or less funny. Obviously someone in wardrobe had a hot dog shirt fetish. I didn't know there were so many different hot dog shirts on the market. Where would you even go to buy a hot dog shirt?
"But Higgins, I can explain."

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#13 Post by J.J. Walters »

N1095A wrote:Obviously someone in wardrobe had a hot dog shirt fetish.
LOL!

I can understand why Lloyd had one on, given that he had a "hot dog stand on the North Shore", but why in the world was Rick wearing one? Even in 1980, that shirt must have looked ridiculous!
Higgins: It's not a scratch! It's a bloody gouge!

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N1095A
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#14 Post by N1095A »

IslandHopper wrote:Well said James. The scene at the convention where Luther makes fun of Lloyd DeWitt's "Hot Dog" shirt was pretty funny. Oddly enough Rick can be seen wearing a very similar shirt in a few episodes. I never thought the hot dog motif went very well with the KKC, unless of course, it was for the 4th of July.
Nah, if it were the 4th of July, TM would be off by himself somewhere in terrible distress.
"But Higgins, I can explain."

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J.J. Walters
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#15 Post by J.J. Walters »

Sheree North tribute (YouTube)

Wow!

:shock:

She is a two-time Emmy-nominated actress, singer, and dancer. For a while she was groomed as the "New Marilyn Monroe". She even appeared on a cover of Life magazine.

Image

She had a heck of a career, which began as a ten-year-old USO dancer in WWII!
Higgins: It's not a scratch! It's a bloody gouge!

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