Magnum P.I.: Full Season 1 (2018 reboot)
November 19, 2018 8:56 PM - Season 1 (Full Season) - Subscribe
An ex-Navy SEAL returns home from Afghanistan and uses his military skills to become a private investigator in Hawaii.
I was a little boy in the 80s and grew up thinking Magnum looked like a cool show, but I never got to watch it because it was not something my mom was into. Later I caught it in reruns and it mostly lived up to my expectations, especially the most famous episodes.
The reboot came along this fall and I can't say I had hopes for it. I only watched the first episode and there wasn't enough there to hook me into coming back for more.
On Higgins:
Switching one of the characters from man to woman was fine; it certainly worked in the reimagined Battlestar Galactica. But I don't think Higgins was the right choice. In the original, the Higgins-Magnum dynamic had so much going on, even before they started working on the "Is Higgins actually Robin Masters?" angle. They had culture clash, they had generation clash. And under it all, their friendship grew. Could that all happen with Higgins the opposite sex? Maybe, maybe not. But there wasn't enough of a new angle for me to want to stick around and find out. And for me personally, I really didn't want to watch the unresolved sexual tension plot that is inevitable.
posted by Fukiyama at 8:01 AM on November 20, 2018 [3 favorites]
The reboot came along this fall and I can't say I had hopes for it. I only watched the first episode and there wasn't enough there to hook me into coming back for more.
On Higgins:
Switching one of the characters from man to woman was fine; it certainly worked in the reimagined Battlestar Galactica. But I don't think Higgins was the right choice. In the original, the Higgins-Magnum dynamic had so much going on, even before they started working on the "Is Higgins actually Robin Masters?" angle. They had culture clash, they had generation clash. And under it all, their friendship grew. Could that all happen with Higgins the opposite sex? Maybe, maybe not. But there wasn't enough of a new angle for me to want to stick around and find out. And for me personally, I really didn't want to watch the unresolved sexual tension plot that is inevitable.
posted by Fukiyama at 8:01 AM on November 20, 2018 [3 favorites]
We watch it. The plots feel like '80s plots sometimes and there a lot of nods to the original series. It works for us, but not entirely sure why.
posted by idb at 10:43 AM on November 20, 2018
posted by idb at 10:43 AM on November 20, 2018
I wasn't a huge fan of the original and had good expectations of this based on the trailer, but stopped watching after the first episode. There's a massive charisma drop-off from Tom Selleck in the lead character. I also don't like making the Higgins character a woman (even though I did like that she's a badass) because I also preferred the relationship in the original series. Changing one or two of the other characters would've been better.
I had a similar but quicker reaction to this as I did Hawaii 5-0. A reboot of a show I liked as a kid to watch primarily for scenery porn and secondarily for a decent, fun show. Both shows seem like they take themselves too seriously, don't capture what made the originals fun to watch, and are samey, overly-violent action shows.
posted by kirkaracha at 1:16 PM on November 20, 2018 [1 favorite]
I had a similar but quicker reaction to this as I did Hawaii 5-0. A reboot of a show I liked as a kid to watch primarily for scenery porn and secondarily for a decent, fun show. Both shows seem like they take themselves too seriously, don't capture what made the originals fun to watch, and are samey, overly-violent action shows.
posted by kirkaracha at 1:16 PM on November 20, 2018 [1 favorite]
I watch it, but I'm luke warm on it at best. It seems that every detective show now pairs a charismatic guy with a highly capable female and then waits for the sexual tension to develop, so I understand why they wanted to go with this formula, but it's a very tired formula and really doesn't work here. They have to jump through so many hoops to get Higgins involved in the mystery each week that it's absurd, so the animosity never feels real since there she is again going along for the ride.
It's also pushed Rick and TC into a weird buddy team in the B-plot. Let's watch Rick and TC surf with a vet. Let's watch Rick and TC wrestle an angry cat.
The components of the show are OK on their own, but taken as a whole, none of the dynamics work for me the way the old show did.
posted by willnot at 4:12 PM on November 20, 2018 [1 favorite]
It's also pushed Rick and TC into a weird buddy team in the B-plot. Let's watch Rick and TC surf with a vet. Let's watch Rick and TC wrestle an angry cat.
The components of the show are OK on their own, but taken as a whole, none of the dynamics work for me the way the old show did.
posted by willnot at 4:12 PM on November 20, 2018 [1 favorite]
He doesn’t have a mustache!
This was literally the exact comment I was going to make.
posted by Literaryhero at 3:47 AM on November 21, 2018
This was literally the exact comment I was going to make.
posted by Literaryhero at 3:47 AM on November 21, 2018
They did give him a mustache for one scene of one episode, just so he could shave it off — an homage, and evidence that Hernandez does not rock the mustache look.
posted by oh yeah! at 4:45 AM on November 21, 2018
posted by oh yeah! at 4:45 AM on November 21, 2018
I watched a couple episodes and it didn't click with me at all. However, it did inspire me to pick up a box set of the original Magnum P.I, which I am enjoying immensely.
posted by fimbulvetr at 7:55 AM on November 21, 2018
posted by fimbulvetr at 7:55 AM on November 21, 2018
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Is anyone else watching this? I've never felt any draw to watch re-runs of the original series, but when I watched the premiere of the reboot I was surprised at the rush of happy nostalgia I felt when the opening theme music kicked in. So, I've continued to watch.
It's not that I think it's a good show. Although the gender-flip of making Higgins a woman means that at least the show isn't wall-to-wall dudes, it also means that many episodes are demonstration of the 'Trinity Syndrome', where Magnum weasels/guilts Higgins into solving his case. But the Hawaii setting is pretty, and they've added The Mentalist's Tim Kang as the recurring cop character, and Amy Hill keeps recurring, and they had Cyndi Lauper as a lawyer the other week who I hope will recur, so, I continue tuning in.
posted by oh yeah! at 9:27 PM on November 19, 2018 [1 favorite]