Review of Magnum PI: The Complete Second Season

Introduction

It`s time to delve once more into the depths of TV nostalgia as the Season 2 boxset of Magnum PI makes its Region 2 debut. Magnum was a detective show set on the island paradise of Hawaii, conveniently picking up where Hawaii Five-O left off in 1980. There was more of a comic edge to this show, following Thomas Magnum`s adventures as a PI looking for an easier life. Formerly with Naval Intelligence, he has gone into business for himself, and lives rent-free at the estate of Robin Masters, where he works as a security consultant in between his cases. Most of his cases involve guests of the never seen Robin Masters anyway, and he`s always turning to his friends TC and Rick for help, or in desperation to the rather stiff estate manager, Jonathan Higgins.

I received Disc 4 as a taster of the boxset, and it contains 4 episodes from Season 2.

11. The 6th Position
Kendall Chase is a ballet dancer whose company become guests of Robin Masters when they tour Hawaii. Thomas is employed as a bodyguard when there are fears that she is being stalked. Things get serious when it turns out that the KGB has targeted her. Meanwhile Magnum makes the classic mistake of getting involved with his client.

12. Ghost Writer
Virginia Fowler is a renowned ghostwriter, having penned several best-selling autobiographies. When the manuscripts and research for her current work are stolen, she turns to Thomas for help. Thomas poses as her assistant when she goes to meet the eccentric subject of her new book. Meanwhile TC is getting in deep, flying clandestine missions for a wealthy client. Guest starring Elisha Cook Jr who would later return as Icepick.

13. The Jororo Kill
Kate Sullivan is a war reporter who was on the front line in Vietnam with Magnum`s company, and got injured for her troubles. Now she is looking to get back on top after years of dead end assignments. She comes to Hawaii ostensibly to interview the leader of the small Jororo islands. However she asks Magnum`s help in locating David Bannister, a former MI6 agent for an exclusive expose. The trouble is that British Intelligence are still looking for their wayward agent, and he`s a dangerous individual to get close to.

14. Computer Date
Magnum`s got a cushy job working corporate security for a local company, and he thinks nothing of it when he is asked to investigate the fidelity of the CEO`s wife. That is until he finds that the man she is seeing is none other than Rick. Meanwhile Higgins wants Magnum`s help on a fitness regime.

Video

Magnum gets a 4:3 transfer. Since the original programme was shot on film, I had expected a clear image. Alas, time hasn`t been kind to Magnum, with scratches and print damage throughout, as well as a couple of moments of staining in a few frames. The print has definitely faded somewhat, and the image is soft and grainy. The transfer is similarly unkind, with some macro blocking and ghosting, especially in darker scenes. But no amount of print damage can hide the Hawaiian locations, those floral shirts, that moustache or the Ferrari.

Audio

You get a choice of DD 2.0 English, French and German, with subtitles in 8 languages. That theme tune I loved as a child is there in all its glory, but the sound is nothing more than perfunctory at best. The dialogue is clear throughout, but the soundtrack is plagued by moments of hiss, which at times can get quite horrendous.

Features

This boxset serves as an advert for two other Universal properties. I received only Disc 4, but checking on the retail websites, I see that it comes with bonus episodes for The A-Team and Knight Rider. Super Pursuit Mode Fool!

Conclusion

Ah! Nostalgia is a wonderful thing isn`t it? It`s the main reason that I enjoy Magnum so much, as it sends me back to the decade that taste forgot, the decade of the power ballad, the mullet, the snood, in other words my formative years. This was also the decade of repetitive formulaic television. This was television that didn`t mind if you missed an episode or two, as the characters would never change, the good guys would always win, and the stories and characters would be interchangeable. Magnum is a prime example of this.

You had the glamorous location of Hawaii, the essential props such as the Ferrari, TC`s helicopter and the moustache, you had the character trademarks, the narration and the occasional wry glance at the camera chipping away at that fourth wall. Then there was the premise of the show, with Magnum employed reluctantly to provide security for the estate of Robin Masters, a man whose very existence was questionable. Living rent free at the estate had its perks, but it also meant living with the Estate Manager, Jonathan Higgins, a retired British Army type, uptight, refined, a man of fastidious habit, in all respects the antithesis of the fun loving and gregarious Magnum. Naturally they would rub each other the wrong way, and try to make the other`s life a misery. Magnum had a past of course, having served in Vietnam and retired from a career in Naval Intelligence. His war buddies also worked on the island, TC ran a Helicopter service, and Rick managed an exclusive beachfront club. Naturally they would be invaluable if reluctant resources for Magnum as he went about his PI work.

Most of the shows would begin when one of Robin`s guests would require Magnum`s services in some way. The average episode would be a nice mix of comedy, action and gratuitous Ferrari shots (How a PI can be expected to inconspicuous in a car like that I will never know), and with Magnum invariably getting the girl. Three of the episodes on this disc match that criterion. These would be interspersed with the occasional character show, where something from the past would come back to haunt one of the characters and lend a more dramatic and darker feel to that show. This was usually a Vietnam story, although on occasion Magnum would face a serial killer or it would be a WWII story for Higgins, or the usual standby of one of the characters being shot and at death`s door. The Jororo Kill is one of these darker stories, with a reminder of Vietnam with the introduction of Kate Sullivan character, and there is less of a comic feel as she works through her belated trauma. Later on in the Magnum run, there would be a greater variety of stories, including the memorable Raiders Of The Lost Art, where Tom Selleck got to don the Fedora and whip of the part he famously missed out on, as well as Magnum`s own take on Open Water, with Thomas and a shark spending most of an episode out in the middle of the ocean. But on the whole, when you come to a Magnum episode, you know exactly what it is you`re going to get.

While the stories were strictly formulaic, with character growth kept to a safe minimum, what made Magnum so entertaining were the characters. Tom Selleck as Magnum is the quintessential hero, but with a sense of humour that keeps the character interesting. He`s perfectly cast against John Hillerman as Higgins, and the friction between the two is a delight to watch. At times they are like a couple of school kids playing pranks on each other. Roger E Mosley and Larry Manetti complete the main cast as TC and Rick, who reluctantly get pulled into Magnum`s adventures. Although it was fairly obvious which way the stories would go, the way the characters were written is what made the show work so well.

I know what you`re thinking, and you`re right. The technical quality of the show on these discs is pretty dire. With DVD you`d expect a nice sharp image and a hiss free soundtrack. Also it hasn`t been that long since Channel 5 showed the entire run of Magnum. But for pure nostalgia, you can`t go far wrong with Magnum, a show that unlike many of its peers has hardly aged at all. There are no ridiculous talking cars or supersonic helicopters, and the stories remain exciting and entertaining. When you consider that if you shop around, you should be able to find this boxset for around £10 less than the RRP, then you have even more reason to wallow in some nostalgia.