Review of Magnum PI: The Complete Third Season

Introduction

Magnum P.I. Is there anyone who was of TV watching age in the 80’s who is not familiar with this show? The Ferrari, the Village People moustache that inhabited Tom Selleck’s upper lip, the striped helicopter, Higgins and ‘the Lads’?

Thomas Magnum is a retired Navy SEAL/Naval Intelligence Officer who now works as a private eye on Hawaii. After saving the life of mysterious millionaire writer Robin Masters, Magnum has been allocated the guest house on Masters sumptuous estate and unlimited use of the estate Ferrari. Keeping him in check is the estate caretaker, Jonathon Higgins, who is an old curmudgeonly English ex-Sergeant Major with a penchant for boring stories and two Doberman dogs nicknamed ‘the Lads’ or Apollo and Zeus to give them their real names.

The cases Magnum picks up are varied and come from a variety of sources, the more usual ones being either someone Magnum has known in the past or via Higgins courtesy of Robin Masters. Reluctantly helping Magnum are chopper pilot TC and club manager Rick, both of whom served with Magnum in Vietnam. Whilst TC has the option of being able to fly Magnum across the islands, Rick has feelers out in the murky Hawaiian underworld, most notably with big boss ‘Icepick’.

With tongue firmly in cheek, Season 3 effectively carries on from whence it last left off…

Video

Clearly for an 80’s series that preceded both VHS and DVD domestic releases, the picture isn’t too hot in places. There is grain and also some ghosting in places, but you can live with that. The minor use of stock footage also shows either just how much it was used or how well it was looked after. Another slight concern is the cleanliness of the transparency overlays for the credits, there are times when you can catch a real difference in picture quality in the same shot. Still, anyone buying this isn’t going to be buying it simply for the picture quality and it’s more than acceptable for what it is.

Audio

Dolby Digital Mono track, nothing spectacular with the occasional flat explosions. This was 80’s TV though, remember. I dare anyone not to be transported back in time when Mike Post’s guitar and brass driven theme kicks off…

Features

Not so much as a hint of a grass skirt…

Conclusion

Magnum is actually like the ice choc of the same name, one of those guilty pleasures that you can’t help snacking on from time to time. It helps that it clearly doesn’t take itself seriously at all, being more of a small screen action-comedy vehicle than anything-else. The only point this deviates is actually during the opening two parter to this season during which a well liked character is killed and Magnum is uncharacteristically shown taking revenge in the final shot.

Magnum was also at the start of the rehabilitation of Vietnam veterans on TV (TJ Hooker was at least one other that went down this route), with the three main characters of Magnum, TC and Rick all having served together. They are all shown as normal and likeable characters trying to make their way in the world like everyone-else, whilst still proud of how they served their country. This season in particular has an abundance of Vietnam related stories including brainwashing and post traumatic stress disorder amongst others. Although serious in intent, they were never too heavy handed and mixed in with the rest of the fluff that made up this series, it must have helped soften the image of Vets in the US.

The fluff could be pretty entertaining too and so we also get to see a bit of time travelling, some Kenyan black magic, Hawaiian curses as well as some rather more straight forward cases. All of which leads to some particularly hammy support acting from the likes of Ian McShane, Morgan Fairchild, James Doohan and plenty of others. This season also sees a crossover episode with other popular telly tecs Simon & Simon.

The ensemble acting of the four main leads is what makes this series though. The antagonism between Magnum and Higgins is joy to watch and adding TC and Rick into the mix just takes it to another dimension. Classic comedy that is serious in parts, but never too serious.

And just what would we have done without Tom Selleck breaking down that fourth wall with one of those quizzical looks or wry grins?