The Ugliest Dog in Hawaii (1.8)

[J.J. Walters]

This is the official MM thread for The Ugliest Dog in Hawaii (1.8). 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: 1/29/1981
After an attempted dog-napping, Higgins volunteers Magnum's services to guard a wealthy socialite's quarantined dog. Things get complicated when the dog's former owner, Victor DiGiorgio, who also happens to be a notorious gangster, tries to get him back. In time, "Sir Algernon Farnsworth" finds himself to be the most wanted dog in Hawaii.

[J.J. Walters]

This is one of those episodes where you either love it or hate it. I'm in the former. Sure, it's got kind of a goofy plot, but Michael V. Gazzo is great as the bumbling old school mobster. And that whole sequence with Magnum & the grad student being chased by the mobsters through a pot field and on the Makai Research Pier is a classic. The DVD version also contains some "blooper" footage at the end. This is the only episode to use this type of footage in the closing credits.

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

[N1095A]

I noticed a couple of things in this episode. First, there seems to be more than one brown and orange 1980 GMC Jimmy used in this episode. One had the rear tire carrier removed, a large dent in the passanger side door, standard late 70's-'80 plaid seats, and a loose headliner (behind the sun roof. The other has the spare carrier in place, no dent, leather and sheepskin seats, and the headliner is not loose. Also, notice in the shots where "Sir Farnsworth" is in back, how messed up the interior is.

Does anyone know anything about the dog? The dog that played "Sir Farnsworth" looks very much like the dog that played the eye patch wearing "Jack" in Tales Of The Gold Monkey".

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"But Higgins, I can explain."

[Carol the Dabbler]

I like this episode overall, but there's one little bit that bugs me. While Magnum is being chased by the gangsters, he runs into some pot growers guarding their patch, and tricks them into shooting at the gangsters. Then as soon as he's clear, he pauses to memorize the location so he can report the pot growers to the police -- after they just saved his life! I know that private investigators are sworn to uphold the law and all that, but haven't we seen Magnum bend things more than a little from time to time?

I suspect that bit was actually added to the script due to a request from the studio or network Broadcast Standards department. There's a rule that "bad guys" always have to be punished for their crimes. Apparently even if they save the good guy's life.

[Carmen]

at the end of this episode one of the bad guys tells Rick to follow a black car, then in the shooting from the helicopter the car can be seen BEHIND the truck Rick was driving and when Rick was parking in front of DiGiorgios (or whatever his name was) house the black car is already parked.

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

[lutherhgillis]

Response to Carol,

I bet you are right. The network and Universal could not take a change in having Magnum associated with hooch growers. I wonder though, what did Magnum use to 'remember' the location of the pot plants? The clouds... Where he was standing, I doubt he would have seen the mountains due to the banana grove height. He was looking straight up, as I recall.

[Carmen]

why not report them to the police? They pointed their guns at him and "offered" help just for selfdefence, thinking police (state officials or whatever, can`t remember) would be pursueing Magnum.

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

[MPS]

Must admit this episode was much better the second time around.

I couldn't believe my eyes when the bloopers started during the ending credits! (Hadn't read the episode thread beforehand..). Went back to watch them a second time. I loved it! Too bad this is the only episode that does this. I'm sure there were some great bloopers over the years.

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Higgins: You've washed the car?! How extraordinary. Why would you do such a thing?

[MACattack]

Hilarious episode! I especially love the part where Magnum randomly ran into the ganja fields!

There was flub that kind of brought a cheese factor to the episode though. The scene where Magnum gets into the jimmy. He calls to the dog to come into the car. The dog isn't filmed jumping into the car. The edited shot is cut and the dog just magically appears in the Jimmy. I know it was an error that the editors missed, but the effect is hilarious. It's like there's a transporter beam on the jimmy!

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I just don't give a damn!

[J.J. Walters]

During the "bannana field" chase, when the gangsters' car gets stuck in the mud, listen closely in the background - monkeys are howling, "who-who-who-who-who-ha-ha-ha-ha"! You can hear them a couple of times in the scene. T'ain't no wild monkeys in Oahu (and they weren't anywhere near the Honolulu Zoo)! Pretty funny.

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