Just yesterday, I started watching season 1 on DVD. I'd never seen the first episode before, and thought it quite good. Rick, wasn't in charge of the King K club yet, and had his own called: Ricks Cafe Americain-named after the Bogie establishment in: Casablanca. Rick even called his 'piano player' //record player// Sam, and told him to play it again Sam.

Anyway, you could easily tell that series had great potential. The only thing I didn't like about the first episode--was the lousy thematic music. Its not the theme we came to know. I suspect the other theme didn't come a along until season 2? Anyway, it'll be a fun 'ride' watching season one and the development of the characters.

Keep us informed, I saw some of the first year but don't remember it that well.
What earlier series did Tom S. appear in?
He was a neighbor, I think.

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NRA LIFE MEMBER

As you watch the early season, see if there are any clues to the ultimate identity (maybe) of Robin Masters.

He made appearances on many series but I think his longest was "The Young and The Restless".

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Frosty
S&WCA # 2816

Is that a Soap? I don't soap!
I mean I bath with soap, but I don't watch soaps.
The show I'm thinking about was a prime time evening show.

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NRA LIFE MEMBER

Orson Welles

Will do. I'll be having to do more watching since a certain lady is out of town. I think Selleck was in a series called, Hawaiian Eye? which had to be aired sometime before Magnum P.I.

So far, three episodes in, nothing. However, I seem to recall Orson Wells being at least the voice of Robin Masters.

Ringo, you are ((*&^% no-good(&$#@!)!

Thanks to you I am now going to look for the first season DVD and add that to my slowly growing DVD collection for this coming winter!

Thanks pal.

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Frosty
S&WCA # 2816

Did you get it from Netflix? Please return it so I can get it.

Ringo needs to have a show on QVC selling DVDs.
The delivery guys would have to pull that trailer
all the time like they do at Christmas!

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NRA LIFE MEMBER

The problem with going back to the beginning is sometimes the characters are strangers. It takes time for the writers to get in a groove and for the characters to gel so while it's interesting revisiting the early characters they are not the ones we know and love and the ones they have developed into.

In Magnum PI, Rick, Tom & the helicopter guy knew each other in the service, maybe were in Nam together, unless I'm having another of a long series of brain farts.......

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be safe,enjoylife,journey well

Sellick was in at least one Rockford File. He played a goofy Private Eye that the cops liked as opposed to Rockford.

He was in at least two Rockfords I believe and was always faster,
better than Rockford and never got messed up, all of which really irked Jimbo.

You are correct. According to the story line they were all in Nam together. TC as a Marine Helo pilot, Rick as his door-gunner, and Thomas was, what else? A SEAL.

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Frosty
S&WCA # 2816

great show re runs are shown on Encore.

The original score did kind of stink, but it was a pilot and I think the network thought it would never work. Like all programs from that era when they realized they had a hit on their hands they brought on the cheesy cartoonist characters.

Orson Wells played Robin Masters until he died and the last episode Higgins said he was Masters but later said he wasn't.

We will never know the truth.

I have always wanted one of the characters, preferably Higgins, to show up in a Jesse Stone movie.

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Front sight and squeeze

just right before magnum p.i. like 1979 or 1980 ,tom selleck was in the very short run t.v show ,called concrete cowboys ,with jerry reed

Before most had ever heard of the SEALs.



Talk about character development over time........ read the "Spenser" books by Robert Parker . Couple of years ago I went back and read the "Godwolfs (sp?)Manuscript"..... first book in the series.......

Read all about it here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Selleck

He was is a bunch of different TV shows................

The current issue of the monthly AARP magazine the wife gets has an interview with Selleck. The Thomas Magnum character would have been much different had it not been for the insistence of Selleck in making changes. As conceived by the writers, Magnum was supposed to be a flamboyant Remington Steele/James Bond type persona, but Selleck convinced them make Magnum an "everyday man", favoring instead Hawaiian shirts, cold beer and ocean kayaking, and being a laid back, fallible character, in the style of Jim Rockford.

Selleck also insisted on the Magnum character's SEAL background being made more prominent/integral in the series, with the driving factor for that insistence stemming from his respect for Veterans (his father (Robert) was a WWII B-29 ground crew mechanic and Tom served in the California Army National Guard on active duty).

When he was approached for the Frank Reagan role on "Blue Bloods", what drew him to the role was the pilot episode ending with the extended scene of the "Reagan Sunday family dinner", he liked the family values it portrays and the interplay between the 4 generations of Reagans, and was made a staple of the series.

But what surprised me the most in the article was that Selleck is 70 years old... I had no idea.

One of funniest Magnum episodes I enjoyed was the one where he and Carol Burnett were trapped inside a bank vault, you could tell they were having fun doing the roles.

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Conrad
SWCA #1830 SWHF #222

I was in 6th grade when that show started, and I loved it. Probably saw every episode at the time. Several things I've noticed, as I've rewatched a few on Encore:

a whole lot of the supporting cast was on Baa Baa Black Sheep; Rick and the blonde naval officer for sure, I think Mack too. And I'm sure there were others. They must have lived on the island, and filled the need for experienced actors of a certain age.

Re- the Carol Burnett episodes, I recently rewatched one on Encore. I was a little surprised by how she looked... I mean, she was no model, but she looked pretty attractive.

I was stunned when I learned John Hillerman (Higgins) is from Texas.

Robert Conrad was the main character in Hawaiian Eye...a private investigator in Hawaii. There is nothing new under the sun.

Conrad went on to play James West in "Wild Wild West", Pappy Boyington in "Baa Baa Black Sheep," and later another PI based out of Chicago...can't remember that much, had stopped watching TV by then.

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No good deed goes unpunished.

Back in the late 80's when I was a Reservist at McChord AFB, WA, I was offered a 30-day TDY to Hawaii. I augmented the staff at the 834th Airlift Division at Hickam. Got to see some of Hawaii on Uncle Sam's dime which was much appreciated at that time of my life.

Where this dovetails with this thread is that one of officers there shared with me his "actor's portfolio". He had a notebook with some formal and informal pictures and a resume of his life experiences and some small roles he had played in either TV or movies. Apparently a lot of people did this to get some part-time work. I guess this was what they used to apply for various parts for which they might be suited such as background characters for TV or movies. I don't recall what shows he might have been in but he might have been one of the military background personnel in Magnum or other shows.

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Frosty
S&WCA # 2816

I have always like Tom in his western roles. But not Magnum P.I. Running around with his Hawaiian shirt tucked into short shorts and that goofy smile put me off. I much preferred Jack Lord for a Hawaiian tough guy. IMHO (of course).

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Witzell
"The dude abides".

As a car guy, the Ferrari was an important part of the show too.

It was originally slated to be a Porsche, a 928 I believe. Porsche wouldn't cut a sunroof for the tall Selleck, and the die was cast.

One thing I have strongly objected to is the refusal of programs such as Magnum PI to show the truth about Hawaii gun laws. Just possessing a gun without a police permit is a felony. Carrying one concealed or otherwise is a felony, and even having ammo on you in some circumstances is a felony. Permits to carry are almost impossible to get. Jut keeping a gun at home can get you arrested if it is not registered. Bring one in from out of state or borrow one from a resident without a police permit is a felony.

Yet Magnum, and others in the more modern series, routinely carry and are never arrested. I strongly feel that the characters in fictional programs should have to deal with these Nazi rules and abusive governments as they really are.

Hawaii Gun Laws -   HawaiiGuns.com

Watching the original airings as a young man, before the SEALS became popular and well known, I had no clue what he was. Naval Intelligence was what the show claimed. It wasn't till watching the reruns years later that I noticed and knew about the Trident on his Navy uniform.

Did the show ever reveal he was a SEAL?

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Plastic has no soul

When did they stick his arse in those little shorts? Makes ya feel for the Daisy Dukes of Hollywood. I don't know of any other male actor so dressed in a series.

Magnum P.I. was a good series. A lot of people don't realize it was actually a spinoff of another popular crime drama Hawaii Five O as the fictional Five O team is referenced occasionally in the series.

I like Tom Selleck. Not your typical Hollywood type, very conservative politically and always made great straight arrow characters whether he was playing a detective or a lawman or cowboy in a western (Quigley Down Under for instance).

My favorite line regarding the series was actually from the movie National Lampoons Vacation. The Griswold's arrive at Wally World, find it closed, come back and Clark pulls a BB pistol on the Security Guard played by John Candy. "That's not a real gun." insists Candy. Clark replies, "What? What do you mean? This is a Magnum P.I." LOL!!

Was it a true spinoff? From what I remember, calling the police "Five O" was a fairly common expression back in that time, BECAUSE of the popularity of that show. Magnum, being an outsider (SEAL with Michigan roots) would have been aware of that expression if the show was set in "the real world", and being a bit of a beach bum, he probably would have used it in a casual manner.

Ok, I just looked it up. While there was never a direct tie-in, they did try to get Jack Lord to make a guest appearance several times, so I'd say it was intended to be a true spinoff.

One of the funniest scenes was when Robin Masters and his English Lady Friend were flying remote control airplanes and 6 am in the morning and woke Magnum up,

He came out and took care of the situation. Don't want to spoil it for those who may have not seen it.

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Still Running Against the Wind

I was in a bar on Hotel Street (Poop Street to those who know) and someone said, "Hey, they're filming Magnum P.I. outside!" We said, "Who cares?"

A year later I was at my mom and dad's house, watching TV with them, and that episode was on! I said, "Hey! I was in that bar in the background!"

I read somewhere that the reason he wore those shorts was that they were Navy issue for UDT.

He was in 8 episodes of "Bracken's World" (1969–1970)
He had brief appearances (1 or 2) in a lot of other series of that era.
He was in a Russ Meyer movie - "The Seven Minutes"

Selleck once made the humorous observation that this is the only place on TV where you can see him spending 6 minutes to butter a roll. (they don't show much footage of people eating when they are also delivering dialog)

Will it help ''mend a fence'' if I tell you that for some reason, I have two copies of season 2? You can have it for a contact address.

Heh heh, half my apartment is nothing but DVDs.

Nope, bought the DVD set when Walmart first put it on the shelves a couple years as go. I don't ''do'' Netflix.

Well, I CAN offer a free DVD set for, Branded if one wishes?

Actually, that doesn't really seem to be the case for this series. Since they served together in Nam, and some episodes have flashbacks........the characters are pretty much the same as till the end.

I few familiar faces in early episodes became other long running characters in the series. One was his navy-officer friend Mac. In one or two episodes, he was a Marine guard of some other name, and an episode I saw last night--he was his naval intelligence friend Lt. Mac.

Another character that changed to make many later appearances, was Lance le Gault. An episode last night, he was some sort of Delta spook--who Magnum later shot but didn't kill. Later in the series, he was a Marine or Naval Intel officer-///in between chasing around the A-Team///-I forget the characters name?

Good to say you're brain fart-free-already had one or two flashback episodes.

I heard the first familiar strains of the theme used as scene music in I think episode four. The same lousy theme still used so far and I'm about 8 episodes in--however, the ending of the last episode did play that familiar and infinitely better theme.

At one time, there was talk of a reunion movie but, that was at least 20 years ago. I'd like to see them all together again--even if not a reunion movie.

The Dobermans were the best thing about the entire Magnum PI series, those were well trained dogs... we had a European import Sch II Doberman back in the late 1970's...

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be safe,enjoylife,journey well

One of the funniest Magnum moments for me, was when those three guys dressed up as apes--and robbed the King K club. Each character had his own version of events.

Sadly, Conrad isn't doing very well health-wise ever since he had a bad car wreck about 20 or so years ago. Also, I think all he now does, is some sort of radio show like Larry Manetti.

I don't recall if they ever revealed him being a SEAL but, I'll be watching as I buy more seasons of the series.

I almost posted about that one. I think its a toss-up for three of my favorite episodes of the series. The others are when they all went back to Nam: Did You See the Sunrise? and Kona Winds.

For Selleck fans who haven't seen any of his westerns besides "Quigley Down Under" here's a few of my favorites you might want to check out that were TCM made movies:
Monte Walsh (great remake of the Lee Marvin original)
Last Stand at Sabre River
Crossfire Trail

While you're at it, also check out "Connagher," another TCM production starring Sam Elliot and a great cast. I just love Lamour novels that were made into flicks.