I think it was certainly more serious than "The A-Team". Sure, some scenes were played for laughs, but Thomas, T.C. and Rick's varying degrees of PTSD (and the fact that they couldn't even be totally honest about that with each other) were a common theme throughout the show.
The original Magnum, P.I. was created by Glen Larson and Donald Bellisario. Most of the shows Larson created and maintained typically either already started out campy or became campy as time went along, but oddly Larson was pretty hands off with Magnum, P.I. after its pilot episode (apparently too busy showrunning his other shows), allowing Bellisario's more grounded-yet-still-fun style of showrunning to be prominently featured as it would be in later Bellisario-created shows such as Quantum Leap, JAG and NCIS. -G
And it was also the first episode of this new series not to have a mention of, or an encounter with a character from, Hawaii Five-0. -G
I remember an episode of "Quantum Leap" in which Sam leaps into a suburban mom and at one point, her young son wants to get home to watch Magnum, to which Sam quietly deadpans, "Don't worry, it'll be on the air for eight years". Or something like that.
Sorry, way late to the thread, and haven't seen the new one yet, but ... man, that's a lot of gunfire. That would by high even by the standards of something like Wagon Train.
I think this version of "Magnum P.I." is guilty of whatever the dramatic version of "putting a hat on a hat" is. By which I mean, they layer needless complexities onto plots that would be better served with being slightly simpler. Like this week, I don't see why the retrieval of stolen art should also involve three counts of murder and a hidden Rembrandt.
I've caught up, and I find myself watching because I want to watch. It remains higher intensity than the old show, or than I prefer, but I like how the mysteries move and the relationship with Higgins has gotten much better since the first two episodes. I wish their budget allowed the use of TC's helicopter more often. Love that thing. But the downplaying of Magnum's use of the Ferrari seems right. It's not in your face like in the first episode, but it's remains a subconscious but constant reminder of a bit of Magnum's personality.
I just saw the latest episode (the tycoon and his missing love), and I think the writers are really getting the Magnum idea. More than anything else, the original show was about the theme of old histories in a land without any, and both the A and B stories were about that (even if the B was a little heavy handed). The main problem remains the far-too-powerful Higgins. I get why they need her to be that way - everything these days is cell phones and internet tracking and they need someone who can magically do that. But I still think it would be a better show if they removed her superpowers, left the high-tech stuff to the police, and forced Magnum to do things the old fashioned way. It's more personable, more understandable, and makes for better stories. Tracing IP's does not make good stories. And I need to understand why this former extremely important person has taken this nothing job a million miles from anywhere.
To clarify, I don't mean this is a problem (unless it is never touched on). I mean I need to know this because it is begging to be told and it would be an amazing story. Season finale level amazing.
The Hawaiian shirt was a nice touch at the end. Overall, I thought the idea of this episode was better than the execution? Especially the resolution seemed a bit rushed.
Interestingly, the Magnum P.I. ratings seem to be holding steadily at around 5.5-5.6 million after an early high for the premiere of around 8 million.
I felt like this week was a good episode until they revealed they were after a portable nuke? The stakes were more than high enough by having Thomas try to save a reporter before he can be assassinated.
I'm of two minds about it. It's not as good as the original. I do very much like the lead. It's better than the pilot had led me to believe. I think their main issue is that they want to make things bigger than they need to be for this show to work, if that makes sense?
I'm definitely liking it thus far. Also, don't forget that there are two upcoming new episodes on back-to-back days: one airing right after the NFL's AFC Championship Game this Sunday and the other airing in its regular Monday time slot. -G
They are leaning very heavily into the Moonlighting angle with Magnum and Higgins, which has been proven to not be a very sustainable tension/dynamic for a TV show.
I do think that unlike some showrunners of reboots, the people in charge of "Magnum P.I." do truly love the original. I think they fail somewhat in transposing what they loved about the show from a 1980s to a 21st century setting. There seems to be a fear or belief there that folks won't turn in to watch stories that are devoted to cases that are relatively simple and modest in their scope.
https://variety.com/2019/tv/news/fb...renewed-for-second-seasons-at-cbs-1203118558/ I missed this news until now but "Magnum P.I." was renewed for a second season.
I have to check it out. While I was I living in Germany, Xfinity wouldn’t allow access to it outside of my home network, even with VPN