There is also another series also titled, "Magnum P.I." that premiered in 2018 on CBS.

Series Description

The Magnum P.I. TV show was a 60 minute drama series that premiered on CBS on December 11, 1980 and ran for 155 episodes over 8 seasons! It was about a private investigator who ran his own agency and also worked as head of security at a wealthy author's estate in Hawaii.

Magnum P.I. Cast

Tom Selleck .... Thomas Magnum P.I.

John Hillerman .... Higgins

Larry Manetti .... Orville Wilber Wright (Rick)

Roger E. Mosley .... Theodore Calvin (T.C.)

Orson Welles .... Robin Masters (Voice Only)

Jeff MacKay .... Mac Reynolds

Magnum P.I. Trivia

Magnum P.I. was to have premiered in May of 1980 but had to be delayed until December due to a writer's strike. Ironically, Tom Selleck had turned down the lead role in the 1981 movie, "Indiana Jones - The Temple of Doom" because he would be doing the Magnum P.I. series during the movie's filming. The movie finished filming by December of 1980. If Tom would have known there would be a writer's strike, he could have taken the role in the movie. As a small concession, Tom did get to portray Indiana Jones in the Magnum P.I. final season episode titled, "The Legend Of The Lost Art" which was a parody of the movie!

The Magnum P.I. TV show replaced the series, "Hawaii Five-0" which had run on CBS for 12 years. This allowed CBS to use the huge production facilities that were in place on the islands for another 8 years! Both shows took place in Hawaii around the same time period. Magnum P.I. characters would even refer Detective Steve McGarrett and his Five-0 unit from time to time!

In episode #70, "Operation: Silent Night", footage is used which shows the Navy destroyer, "U.S.S. Wren". That episode aired in 1983 and the "Wren" was scrapped in 1975! Oops!

From bits and pieces of information from numerous episodes, we can piece together a biography for Thomas Magnum. When he wore his naval uniform, we could tell that he had won the Navy Cross, the countries second highest honor for naval personnel. The uniform also carried a naval special warfare insignia which means that Thomas had been a Navy SEAL. It had been mentioned that Thomas' father and grandfather had also served in the Navy. Thomas graduated from the Naval Academy and served as a SEAL in Vietnam. After the Vietnam War ended, he was transferred to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii as a Naval Intelligence officer. And that's how he came to his life as a P.I. in Hawaii on the TV show!

In episode #9, "Lest We Forget", Miguel Ferrer played the part of his father, "Jose Ferrer" at an earlier age. In the same episode, Anne Lockhart played a younger version of her mother, "June Lockhart".

ABC was planning to cancel the Magnum P.I. TV Show at the end of the seventh season. There were a huge number of complaints from fans and ABC decided to renew the show for another season. The "series finale" episode had already been filmed, however, with Thomas Magnum being killed by gangsters! When the next season rolled around, Thomas was portrayed as a ghost for a couple of episodes. Then it was explained that his "death" had been a dream.

In the two-part final episode of Magnum P.I. titled, "Resolutions", Thomas Magnum was reunited with his long lost daughter, quits the private investigator business, and rejoins the Navy.