Magnum Mania!

I have just finished season 8, and have been watching the later episodes for a long time now. Today while doing some research for another thread, I watched "China Doll", and although I was already aware of this, it struck me how much TM and the show evolved and changed over the 8 seasons. I was wondering, what is everyones' preference early episodes or later ones. I have to say I like them both very much, but I feel that season 8 is a different show than season 1. TM changed a lot.

Early ones, without a doubt. The writing seemed to be better and the pacing was infinitely better. I'm halfway through season 6 and am not really looking forward to 7 or 8 but knowing when I get them done I can start all over again!

Gotta go with early episodes.....

The earlier ones (IMO) seemed to have a lot more heart, while the later ones tried to be more gritty

Fear not, N.

Season 7 won't let you down (although Season 8 seems to be a lot of "filler")

Must agree with Doc Ibold, Season 7 has some very strong episodes. Seasons 5 and 6 are mediocre, but 8 has a some good ones.

Seasons 1 through 4 are better, overall, than the latter half . IMHO

I prefer the early episodes more. Beginning with season 6, I think, Magnum's character really began to evolve away from the 'carefree beach bum type' into a responsible adult who is concerned about his future (Hotel Dick; On the Fly; The Great Hawaiian Adventure Company; Resolutions). It's fun to live vicariously through a character who lives a carefree life style, especially one who lives on an estate rent free, drives a Ferrari for free, hot girls, along with all of the other perks. For me, it's no fun living vicariously through someone who has a 9-to-5 job and is responsible. I live that life everyday, I don't need to, nor do I want to watch someone else do the same on television. Don't get me wrong, I'd rather watch any MPI episode than just about any other show, but I prefer the episodes that didn't depict Magnum trying to grow up. That being said, some of my favorite all time episodes come from season 7 and 8 (Paper War; Autumn Warrior; Innocence...A Broad; and Unfinished Business). My favoirte seasons are 1 through 4. JMHO

I prefer the latter half but perhaps that's when I really got into the show and it was a fantastic time in my life and I relate that time with those shows. Hmm...

Believe it or not, I have not seen any episodes from season one or two, and am really looking forward to viewing them. Have heard many people say they prefered the earlier episodes.

Can`t decide really. Right now I am watching S6 (did anybody expect me to do my research job on S3 now?) and enjoy it. But like I said before I`d watch TS sitting on a bench for 45 minutes so my opinion really doesn`t count here

N1095A,

I recognized the same thing about the show once the syndication started in 1989. I had not noticed the drift while the first run was in process. I guess slow changes are not recognized as easily.

For me, the show was shakey in the first season but enjoyable. Seasons 2-5 found it hitting its stride and becoming a ratings bonanza. Those were the best years. Season 6 began a downhill slide with Magnum being forced to grow up. There were some strong epis in seasons 6 & 7 but the general tone shifted and made the show less enjoyable for me. Season 8 was not very good with only a few good episodes.

Every show goes through a maturing process and all shows eventually die. This show at least did not try to hang on for too long by bringing in a new character or a trained monkey. The show remained true to itself even though Magnum grew into someone too "regular" for folks to care about watching.

Viva Magnum PI!

I had brought this up in an earlier post this month. Season 8 is such fluff... it's nice to see the episodes, but there is no real meat to it, with a few exceptions.

I do like however the growth the character takes throughout the series.

I guess each season has fluff, but season 8 has a high percentage.

I am not really happy with TM sleeping with Linda Lee and then breaking up with her.... not a typical TM move (IMO)

There is definitely a difference between the early seasons and the later seasons. In terms of quality, I think Seasons 1-4 are fantastic, Seasons 5-6 take a dip and are just so-so (but still better than most TV shows), Seasons 7-8 return the show to its high-quality standards. Season 7 is my favorite season, and in watching the DVDs Season 8 was much better than I remembered it.

I think the show managed to keep up a respectable amount of integrity over all 8 seasons. One of the things I like about the show, and how I feel it was integral in developing from the 'done-in-one' kind of shows that Aaron Spelling and Glen Larson did to the more interconnected, recurring character and storyline driven shows of today, was the development of the leading role.

Without the last couple of years and Magnum realising that he IS getting older and would eventually have to grow up, the show would just be fluff akin to The A Team or Knight Rider. With that character arc, the show becomes more fully formed, more relatable. Having a child is the ultimate responsibility and I applaud Magnum for realising that and giving his daughter a steady home.

Magnum's character arc, ultimately, makes the show for me. It gives it a frisson not seen in other shows. It's like seeing Captain Kirk get older in the Star Trek movies - it doesn't take away from the series earlier adventures when he was young and carefree - it adds to it.

Andy

Andy,

Very well put. The character arc was very important to keeping the show strong and without it the show could have spiraled into oblivion. I just think the last couple of seasons lost some of what made it great- the escape from reality for the viewers. I took a mental vacation to paradise once per week back then. When MPI became more grown up, it was less of an escape. The show, however, certainly remained strong.

Who spends this much time talking about the A-Team?

luthergillis wrote:

Andy,

Very well put. The character arc was very important to keeping the show strong and without it the show could have spiraled into oblivion. I just think the last couple of seasons lost some of what made it great- the escape from reality for the viewers. I took a mental vacation to paradise once per week back then. When MPI became more grown up, it was less of an escape. The show, however, certainly remained strong.

The reason I watched the show was purely shallow and gratuitous...I watched just to see how many times TS/TM was shown without a shirt (or pants, or both) -- citing the episode Tropical Madness as the jackpot episode...LOL

SelleckLover wrote:luthergillis wrote:

Andy,

Very well put. The character arc was very important to keeping the show strong and without it the show could have spiraled into oblivion. I just think the last couple of seasons lost some of what made it great- the escape from reality for the viewers. I took a mental vacation to paradise once per week back then. When MPI became more grown up, it was less of an escape. The show, however, certainly remained strong.

The reason I watched the show was purely shallow and gratuitous...I watched just to see how many times TS/TM was shown without a shirt (or pants, or both) -- citing the episode Tropical Madness as the jackpot episode...LOL

God bless the women of the world that get "shallow and gratuitous"!