A Pop Culture “Guilty Pleasure”
A comment the other day brought to mind a 1980s TV show I’d not thought about in a while: Magnum PI.
Yeah, the show was pretty campy at times. And yeah, the premise of the show was kinda ridiculous. I can’t say it was great drama, or one of the “all-time best” shows.
Still, it was pretty entertaining – one of those “guilty pleasures” of pop culture. Selleck had the role down to a “T”. And the show definitely had its moments.
It also had one of the all-time great closing scenes of any TV show – ever. That was the closing scene for the two-part first episode of season 3 (the two episodes were originally shown as a 2-hour single show):
If you’re not familiar with the show – or that particular episode – the plot of that episode is summarized here (part 1) and here (part 2). The summary unfortunately leaves out details regarding the primary motive for the scene (it involves a cold-blooded murder in a POW camp). If you haven’t seen that episode, IMO it’s worth watching. It seems to be available (all 93+ min – it’s a double episode) on YouTube here.
Let’s just say that considering the circumstances, I can’t blame the Magnum character – legality be damned. I suspect anyone who’s served in the military would feel about the same.
Category: Pointless blather, Who knows
Holy F@ckin Christ! I just re-watched that episode on Encore last week! I was a 14 or 15 year old kid when it first aired and I was astounded by that ending. Even then I remember thinking that Magnum did the right thing. I could hardly believe that I saw it on television. The muzzle flash from the .45 has stuck in my memory to this day. Greatest ending to a television show ever.
I loved that show and loved Tom Selleck! I saw every movie he made. No hairless Johnny Depp for me, Tom Selleck was my ideal man.
Is that a .45 in your pocket or are you just glad to see me??
Bwahahaha!!! I crack myself up!
Anyone that didn’t/doesn’t like Magnum PI is a f-ing commie!!
Why is that most all bad guys in the 80’s held their cigarettes in that way? I’ve smoked since I was #* and known a bunch of other smokers and only bad guys from the 80’s held their smokes in that way. And the French!
I was a sophomore in high school when that came on. I still remember every detail of that episode. Unlike most of the other episodes of the series, I recall very little humor in that one. Best ending ever. Period.
Hondo-I don’t know if you watch “Archer” (I think it’s hilarious), but they spoofed that scene (I think I cheered when Magnum shot Ivan the first time I saw it-classic television) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7gdj62aqx-w
#3 – guaranteed then that VWPussy hates Magnum.
Also love Tom Selleck in the Jessie Stone series.
Not gonna lie about it – I would watch anything with Tom Selleck. Always have, always will. Yeah, he definitely falls into that ideal man.
About the series “Magnum, PI.” Yes, it was rather fantastical, but it was wonderful to escape into that world for a bit. Especially since there were so many connections based entirely in reality. Great fun.