Mad Buck Gibson (2.9)

[RamblerReb]

A quick note on the Mozambique drill. While it does involve two shots to the torso and one to the head, they are applied in the reverse order to the one Buck uses. He takes the head shot first, then the two to the chest. The Mozambique is also called the "Failure Drill" (this is the newer, more politically correct name, though no one I know uses it), because the point of it is to have the ability to deliver a quick follow-up aimed shot to the cranium and the CNS it contains after the initial center-mass shots fail to stop the opponent. Going for the head shot first would render the chest shots superfluous.

As a side note, this episode is another example of strangely inconsistent gun handling. In the longer two-shot of Buck and Magnum in the bathroom, Darren McGavin exhibits excellent trigger discipline by keeping his finger out of the trigger guard and laid alongside the frame. However, in closeup, he has his finger on the trigger in traditional Hollywood complete-disregard-for-human-life fashion.

[TheLads]

This is one of my very favorite episodes. Buck is a cross between Ernest Hemingway and Hunter S. Thompson, two crazy but brilliant daredevil authors who lived life on their own terms and ultimately took their own lives in the end.

I've had family members suffer from major illness and the way this episode handled Buck's, and the conflict and denial he feels over it, really hit home for me.

I felt that by this part of Season 2, Magnum had really grown into the sympathetic character we know and love. Between this one and others like The Sixth Position, Thomas is the voice of reason and doesn't judge the supporting characters when they make dubious choices that may seem at first selfish, like choosing to hang-glide from a cliff to an uncertain fate, when there are doctors or loved ones who want to help.

I don't know why Darren McGavin or Robert Hamilton's writing for this episode didn't receive an Emmy nomination; Buck's closing speech about there being no more summers left -- following Thomas' earlier baseball analogy -- was very moving and superbly acted. I like to think that Buck made it to Molokai on his own.

[Visiting Stewardess]

This is an ok episode, but Mad Buck was getting on my nerves a bit after a while.

The end is very melodramatic. A bit too meldodramatic for me.
And how the heck did he get all his hanggliding gear up on that mountain AND assembled the hangglider with one hand in a plaster cast?

[ZelenskyTheValiant (Ivan)]

I liked this one very much. For an episode that did not have any villains/bad guys it proved to be quite good. Actually it's all down to the two sterling guests - Darren McGavin and Vera Miles! Both superb veterans of their craft. But McGavin in particular I thought gave an Emmy-worthy performance as the Hemingway-esque writer Mad Buck Gibson. You really could feel the free spirit and a touch of insanity coursing through his veins!

I also really liked the open-ended (and quite somber) ending with Buck taking flight to Molokai. Something tells me he didn't make it. But as he himself said "With my luck I'll probably make it". So there's that option. Anyway great ending!!

I think this one was on par with "Wave Goodbye" -- both solid episodes!! Both easily superior to "Tropical Madness" (which I found a bit overrated). Actually the following episode - "The Taking of Dick McWilliams" I also thought was very good. It's a toss-up between these 3 - I thought all 3 were equally good.

[Seaver41]

wow...talk about a snoozer. With the series now in high gear, this episode was a disappointment. To date, in order, this is my lowest ranked episode. I expect more by now as the series is beyond the early days of feeling its' way.

Also, the final scene, IMO, is a rip off from the Planet of the apes tv series........final scene of final episode (before cancellation) has the 2 astronauts flying away in a hang glider........

I actually fell asleep watching this and had to rewind to where I left off to finish it.

Love Darren McGavin in general.......but that was a horrible makeup job, wig and beard.

Seeing the characters this actor played over time......it's clear his Kolchak character seemed to suit his personality best.

[Bes]

This is another great episode for me. Love McGavin; Kolchak is awesome!

[Faceman]

Fantastic episode i thought. I know it ain the best plot ever but the buck character made it, the banter with him and the wife was great.

I love the final scene, one of my favourites. Someone has it on youtube and i recently posted it on my facebook, trying to get magnum some recognition!

[Waterbug Blue]

Good mission;) Keep it up!

[AmandaByNight]

Darren McGavin would have turned 90 today! Celebrate with Mad Buck Gibson!

[Little Garwood]

Darren McGavin would have turned 90 today! Celebrate with Mad Buck Gibson!

Or see Darren as the Max Cady-style psychopath in the Mannix episode, A Ticket to the Eclipse. The slugfest in the pool is pretty intense for a 1970s TV show.

[Sisophous]

It's funny how people love some episodes while some find them unappealing. This episode was quite different with a rebel Darren McGavin. The ending was unique and caught me by surprise. It was basically a man committing suicide and Magnum not stopping him. The hang gliding was terrific and McGavin hollering out to Magnum while in the air was unusual to say the least.

One of my all time favorite series was Kolchak The Night Stalker with McGavin and the cast of weirdos in the Chicago news office back in 1974. They only shot 20 episodes yet I wish they had continued it.

Anyone also notice that 7 years passed from the time The Night Stalker was shot in 1974 from the time this Magnum episode was shot with McGavin and yet McGavin looks younger??? Perhaps it is the beard he wears as Mad Buck Gibson.

[snp389]

Great episode! I love the scene where Buck is in TM's bath and shooting the bathroom wall in the Mozambique Drill with TM's .45 Auto.
Another great scene is where TM is explaining to Buck's Ex Wife Joan how he sympthazies with Buck referencing his Vietnam experiences...."It's not that we're old, it's just that we're not young anymore"

[runawayselleck]

I think this episode is OK, best part being Magnum and Higgins on the beach and the actress from Psycho wearing the word "*****" around her neck (what was the production team thinking letting her wear it-or maybe they were scared of her -she did seem a bit strict) Anyway, one thing I noticed, well two anyway. Magnum seems to be more tanned then ever, almost more then ever! And second-why does Mad Buck Gibson have shaving cream in his bag? Oh, and why oh why does Buck have such an awful dark beard. It looks false in the colour-Buck sure dyed before he died!

[308GUY]

Watched this one again yesterday.

The scene near the end where Buck takes off in the hanglider....not sure why, but that scene combined with the discourse exchanged between him and Magnum and particularly with the music, always gives me gooseflesh! The music more than anything running behind him riding the wind...guess I must have some wonderlust of my own!

I think those few bars of music are some of the most powerful in the entire series.

It's basically a variation on the main theme, but what an arrangement!

Well...anyway....I like it..

[Sisophous]

Watched this one again yesterday.

The scene near the end where Buck takes off in the hanglider....not sure why, but that scene combined with the discourse exchanged between him and Magnum and particularly with the music, always gives me gooseflesh! T

It's basically a variation on the main theme, but what an arrangement!

Well...anyway....I like it..

Same here, I found it to be one of the most powerful Magnum P.I. moments. Your post got me thinking, I saved to DVD my all time favorite clips. You gave me the idea to list them, there are only about five of them and I think I will start a new thread on it in the Magnum P.I. TALK section later today unless it has already been done, I will look. Maybe add a photo from each one or the actual video.