TV Flashback: Magnum P.I.

One of the TV Classics of the 1980′s.

Magnum P.I. ran on CBS Television from 1982-1988.

The show starred:

Tom Selleck – Thomas Magnum
John Hillerman – Jonathan Higgins
Larry Manetti – Rick Wright
Roger E. Mosely – Theodore Calvin (“TC”)

Both Selleck and Hillerman won Emmy Awards for their roles on the show.

One reason for the show being based in Hawaii was that CBS did not want to leave their production facilities after the long-time hit “Hawaii Five-O” went off the air in 1980.

The show was the highest-rated show on Thursday nights….until The Cosby Show came along…

Tom Selleck is a Detroit native and huge Detroit Tigers fan in real life and wanted his character to wear Magnum’s trademark Tigers baseball cap. (I even wore one during a couple summers in the 80′s…)

The popular theme music was composed by Mike Post. Post also composed the themes for shows such as Law and Order, Newsradio, The Rockford Files, LA Law, Hill Street Blues, CHiPs, The A-Team, NYPD Blue, Quantum Leap, The Greatest American Hero, and many more.

The unseen character of Robin Masters, who owned the estate that Magnum and Higgins occupied, was supposed to be played by Orson Welles, but he died before any episodes featuring him on-camera could be made. He did provide the voice of Masters in a small number of episodes.

Prior to Magnum P.I…. Selleck turned down the lead role in the TV Series “Vegas” that eventually went to Robert Urich.

Tom Selleck was originally cast to be “Indiana Jones” in the film “Raiders of the Lost Ark” but had to drop out after agreeing to take on the role of Magnum P.I. instead.

John Hillerman, who played stuffy Brit Higgins on the show, is from Texas in real life.

The car frequently driven by Magnum is a Ferrari 308 GTS. (I have one myself but I banged out the frame to make it look like a Buick so that it would not get stolen)

Tom Selleck currently stars in the CBS Show “Blue Bloods“.