How did you get into Magnum?

[Dervish]

I wish I grew up when shows like Magnum and Simon and Simon were on the air as opposed to American Idol and Jersey Shore

Have you seen Burn Notice on USA? It's not nearly as good as Magnum, but it's quite alright.

[MACattack]

LAW AND ORDER: SVU is watchable and has a theme by Mike Post!

[BobBlusoe]

Have you seen Burn Notice on USA? It's not nearly as good as Magnum, but it's quite alright.

not yet, although I hear its supposed to be good.

LAW AND ORDER: SVU is watchable and has a theme by Mike Post!

I sometimes watch it, but it can sometimes get too gruesome for me. I like the show in general but shows like Magnum (did you see the sunrise) show that you don't need completely over-the-top, in your face gore to be disturbing/make a point.
Let's see, talking about tv thats still on now (not ended or cancelled), I watch:

LOST (Final Season! Feb 2!)
30 ROCK
Law & Order (Original)
Curb Your Enthusiasm
Bored to Death

so only two dramas. most of my shows I get on DVD because I live in 2 houses and at my mom's house I only get NBC. but thats ok cus I have my Magnum and Arrested Development discs. these shows are two you can watch 500 times and they're just as good (or funny) on the 500th as on the 1st

[SelleckLover]

I used to watch soap operas in the late 1960's and early 1970's and TS was on the soap The Young & the Restless. in the early 1970's. I just sort of started watching anything he was in, or saw him in commercials and prime time dramas in the mid to late 70's. He did a couple of 2 hour movies of the week and then in 1980, he was starring in Magnum! Wow, was I a happy camper! I never missed an episode because back then we didn't have DVDs, so you could only see an episode once, or if you were lucky, another time during summer reruns. Then you never saw them again...EVER! How things have changed! Long live the DVD!:D

[BobBlusoe]

Long live the DVD!:D

Amen to that! Except the Double-Sided DVD. That thing should burn. And they better release Magnum on Blu-Ray so I don't have to steal my mom's dvds when I head off to college.

[Jeffrey]

I'm 17 now, and a couple of years ago ( 3 or 4 I guess) I started to collect The A-Team on DVD. Then I received an extra dvd along with season 3 with an episode of Magnum, Miami Vice and Knight Rider. 'Ki'i's Don't Lie' was the first episode of Magnum I ever saw. If course did not now that it was a cross-over with Simon & Simon. However, Miami Vice did get my attention... But I was really enthousiastic about Magnum. It was near my birthday and well... you can guess what was on my wish-list... Magnum.

I actually received season 1, 2 and 3

Now that I'm a little older... I still watch Magnum and I think its the best show ever made. My class at school wouldn't understand I gues.

The only show that is going on now, and I like is: House MD. Huge fan off that show too.

Two years ago I started the dutch Magnum fansite. Its still online, and there are visitors. However, almost no people come over to the forum to talk about the show.

Happy to have found Magnum-mania!

Edit: Having a laugh right now. Just looked trough my first posts on here... Happy to announce that after three years, my English got a lot better. Still not perfect... but better.

[Tidewater]

i too just turned 43 in late Oct.

when we where in HS, Thursday Night was TV time! Magnum, Simon & Simon and then the lovely gals of Knotts Landing!

Friday at school we discussed the Thur nights TV shows, and many of the teachers joined in on the conversations.

i really wish TV of today was more like what we grew up with. the reruns from the 50s, 60s & 70s by & large taught strong family values and a sense of personal responsibility.

if i was raising children today, i don't believe i would have a TV in the house? most nationwide TV today is quite (for lack of a better word) radical IMO.

[only looking]

You know I don't want to sound like an old dog here..LOL But being 38, I'm VERY HAPPY that alot of the younger fans on this forum really like Magnum PI, that's it's not just thrown into a retro thing...but you actually like the show and the characters....sometimes with all the technology and special effects, people kind of forget the older stuf....glad to see that Magnum is one that is still cherished! Thanks.

[Coops]

Same here about those magical Thursday nights. For me though it started a bit earlier, with Love Boat and Fantasy Island. Not so much for the stories but there was something about the tropical settings that I really loved. Then Magnum came along and I finally had a story, a set of characters, and that great tropical setting! And what guy didn't/doesn't fantasize aboutliving T.M.'s life? The ultimate bachelor life!

TV shows today are much better in production quality but much like today's video games, they lack in substance. Not to say the TV programming was all that great in the 80's, most of it was utter crap. But you did have diamonds like Magnum and Simon & Simon. They also don't do TV themes like they used to. Although there are some good ones. House is a great TV show too. In a lot of ways it reminds me of Magnum in terms of drama and comedy mixed.

[BobBlusoe]

I think one reason we don't connect with and come to love with characters in modern television as much is because often they have a firm idea of who the characters and the show are and don't really change it.

For instance, I like LOST. However, because of the nature of the show, a large percent of it was planned from the beginning. However, nothing changing in suspense and storyline also means the characters don't evolve as well. with shows like MPI the characters evolved with the viewers.

[MACattack]

MPI never needed cgi graphics, because it's an action/drama show that relies on the strength of it's characters. Everything was shot on location because Hawai'i is the perfect backdrop.

The effects for gunfights was easy to do. Sometimes the effect of fake blood on Magnum when he was shot came out a little cheesy (looked like ketchup) but that can be blamed on the makeup people. Not the writers' fault!

The cast were really adequate actors and actresses, and they were excellent at making their characters come alive. When I was a kid, I thought Thomas Magnum was a real person.

[BobBlusoe]

...they were excellent at making their characters come alive. When I was a kid, I thought Thomas Magnum was a real person.

That sums it up really well. When I was sick, home from school and alone for hours on end, TM and his pals kept me company. They become like a part of your family. It ceases to be "You watching television" and becomes "Living their life with them". You just don't get that with the majority of Television now adays. Magnum is one of the few shows that when I sit down to watch, wherever I am, I feel like I'm at home!

[MACattack]

I'm glad you discovered MPI. Right now, I got my 5 year old daughter hooked on the series. Having the entire 8 seasons on DVD is the best collection I've ever had! Even better than my Narnia novels!!!!

[BobBlusoe]

That's cool! with any luck the magnum fan base will succed in bringing the show back into the next generation. And that means I'll get my blu-ray release!

[MACattack]

Bluray? Pheh!!!! I'm happy enough with my DVD collective. What I really desire is to see Selleck play Magnum again on the silver screen!!!!!

In the immortal words of Jean-Luc Picard: "MAKE IT SO!"