Two Birds of a Feather (3.20)

J.J. Walters · Posted: Tue Mar 06, 2007 5:56 pm Post subject: Two Birds of a Feather (3.20)

This is the official MM thread for Two Birds of a Feather (3.20). 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: 3/17/1983
After meeting a pilot who seems vaguely familiar, Magnum soon finds himself dealing with the wreckage of a sabotaged plane, drug dealers, and his own past.

Doc Ibold · Posted: Fri Jun 22, 2007 12:30 pm Post subject:

Hi James,

Was watching this episode last night and I noticed a SLIGHT error in the reporting of this episode.

Rick and T.C. DO actually appear in this episode, albeit for a short time.

When Magnum and Co. are holed up in the Khmer temple, Magnum says that T.C. is going to find them, and there is a brief shot of TC and Rick in the helicopter discussing it.

Therefore, it should bring the total of missing main cast members to:

Selleck: 0
Hillerman: 1 (Going Home)
Manetti: 1 (Going Home)
Mosely: 3 (Dead Man's Channel, Going Home, Who is Don Luis Higgins...)

(Still waiting for that script. Damn you snail mail!)

J.J. Walters · Posted: Fri Jun 22, 2007 12:45 pm Post subject:

Thanks Doc

Ha! How about that! Man, how did I miss that? Chalk up another flub for the Jamester! Wink

[off to make the corrections]

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

Doc Ibold · Posted: Sat Jun 23, 2007 1:13 am Post subject:

James, considering all the stuff you DO catch, I don't think we're going to hold it against you.

Wink

I was just happy my odd fascination of who missed what episode paid off!

grundle · Admiral Joined: 21 Feb 2007 Posts: 161

"Magnum! There is an aer-o-plane in Mr. Masters' todal pool, and it's all your fault!"

Little Garwood · Posted: Sat Apr 19, 2008 2:36 pm Post subject:

If there's anything I can't stand, it's when a successful TV show foists a "Pilot" (no pun intended) on the audience as a ploy to try out a potentially new series. Star Trek did this with their dreadful "Assignment: Earth" episode and MPI did this with "Two Birds of a Feather." I like William Lucking and Richard Roundtree, but it's unforgivable when Magnum appears in only a couple of scenes and *literally* phones in the last one! ugh. The *only* thing I liked about this episode was the fact that Magnum and Sam Houston Hunter sort of met via combat during Vietnam. Other than that, this one ranks at the very bottom of my bottom 10.

Carol the Dabbler · Posted: Mon May 05, 2008 3:08 am Post subject:

Yes, that Star Trek episode had "pilot" written all over it -- but at least it was still a Star Trek episode. As you say, this was just barely a Magnum episode!

One part of "Two Birds of a Feather" was pretty unusual for any tv show -- they actually sang "Happy Birthday to You" all the way through. Most shows will either start the scene just as everyone is singing the final line of the song, or else will substitute "For S/He's a Jolly Good Fellow" -- the reason apparently being that "Happy Birthday" is copyrighted, so they would have to pay if they used more than just a bit of it. (I think I've heard that royalties start at eight notes.) For a series that used cover versions of pop songs, this is an unusual extravagance! I wonder whether maybe they had already wrapped before anyone realized the song was not in the public domain?

_________________
Carol

J.J. Walters · Posted: Mon May 05, 2008 1:47 pm Post subject:

Carol, nice spot on the "Happy Birthday" song. It IS strange that they sang the whole thing! The song is indeed copyrighted and fiercely protected. This is why you'll never hear the song sung by a group of waiters/waitresses at a restaurant. I waited tables at three different restaurants through college and each one had a different "Birthday" song, and each one was horribly lame! Wink

"Happy, happy birthday on this your special day
Happy, happy birthday is what we're here to say..."

Ugh!

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

IslandHopper · Master Flub Spotter Joined: 30 Mar 2007 Posts: 729

I agree with most, that this is not one of the better episodes in the series because our favorite characters have very limited roles, and most of it did not take place in Hawaii. However, one thing I always thought was very well done was the crash of the airplane in the tidal pool. I am not a special effects expert, but that always looked very real to me. How did they do that? Was a model used? Did they have a plane hooked up to a crane, etc.? I can't imagine they would have a stunt pilot do that for real. Anybody know?

_________________
The answer is obvious, old man. Logic is irrelevant. It's simply Tropical Madness. (J.Q. Higgins)

J.J. Walters · Posted: Mon May 05, 2008 2:52 pm Post subject:

When the plane crashes into the tidal pool rocks, you can see that it is much smaller than the real plane. Look how big the rocks are next to the plane....

The plane seems almost too big to be an RC plane, although truthfully I'm not sure how big RC planes can get circa early 1980s.

Maybe they pushed the model plane from an elevated cherry picker, or something.

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

	Magnum Mania! Forum Index » Season 3	All times are GMT Goto page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 Next
Page 1 of 5