Magnum P.I.

Magnum P.I. is an American crime fighting television show about an ex-Navy Seal turned private investigator and his ex-military buddies living on Oahu and fighting crime while getting the girl. As Hawaii Five-0 was coming to a close there was a need for a new TV crime show and Magnum P.I was created. Originally it was set in California L.A. but seeing as Five-0 was ending and it was a perfect time for a new show to pop up and take place in the islands. The show aired on CBS for eight seasons producing 162 episodes. For the first six seasons, it aired on Thursday's at 8:00PM. “During the last two seasons, it jumped around to five different time slots. It was ranked in the Top 20 (Nielsen) for the first five seasons, reaching a high of #3 during the third season (1982-198)” (Mania). People all over the world watched the cool privet investigator save the day, get the girl, and live in paradise, a dream for a lot of people in the time. Magnum P.I. was a show heavily affected by the years the show ran in, the chosen location and audience, and some other things I personally believed made it what it is and how it is still holding up.

The show came out when America was just getting over the Vietnam war, pre- aids, and Ronald Regan’s war on drugs. Magnum was a navy seal who was deployed during the Vietnam war and at times in the show there will be flashbacks of him and his men fighting and the trials they may have faced. The war was a taboo subject because there were so many different opinions on the war. This show was one of the first to talk about the war but did not show an extremist view on either side about it. The show however has a pro-military view which I also believe is a product of the time when America was more pro-America. The 80s were a time ruled by the republican party. Hawaii always being a blue state this does not seem to have affected the show because of the era that had just passed the 1970s. The drug scene was big during the 70s and the “free love” was a concept that was still used because this took place pre-aids. That is how magnum lives, in almost every episode he is with a new woman and there are no consequences but today we know that that can be very dangerous to ones help. The episode Don’t eat the Snow in Hawaii centers in on drugs and snow is a street term for cocaine, this drug being big at the time coming out of the 70s and the thing that Regan is battling to stop in America. The show has many episodes about drugs and how Magnum needs to stop the sellers or find out where it is coming from. Must of the time all the drugs and darker stuff takes place in china town and that is another way the show is how it is.

Hawaii is a beautiful place and something many people dream of seeing. Watching TV is an escape from everyday life so when seeing Hawaii and all the things that come with it many people want to watch. That was one reason it did so well, just the two TV shows before it. Hawaii is exotic and mysterious so it was part of the appeal. It was also as racially diverse one can get without having to leave the USA. The show used many sites for shooting and which have become landmarks. In fact, the house used in the show is up for sale right now. One can see many things today that they see in the show like the Honolulu airport, Pali highway, and the many hotels of downtown Honolulu. With over 100 episodes the show did well in showcasing all over Oahu as well as a couple of other Hawaiian Islands, discovering the new places to see like Captin Cooke did all those years ago, when he came to Hawaii. In the first episode of the series Magnums friend with the last name Cooke was also killed by some local looking people so in some ways there is an unknowing historical reference. The use of locals in this show could be considered lacking because there is not a local lead but it being they are background extras, side characters, or the bad guy. The show uses many locals to explain plots and reasons like local myths and culture. It is important to remember that this show was at first not going to take place in Hawaii but California so the cast was already picked and ready but then when the show moved to Hawaii they just moved the characters over instead of having to rewrite the script. The cast was diverse for the US mainland but not really for Hawaii. There is much to say about the show but it really is a product of its time.

In my opinion it is a good show. I enjoy crime fighting TV shows and it hits all those tropes of fast pace attractive people doing good and saving the day. It follows the crime show formula so it does not do anything to different than the shows of the time, just that it takes place in Hawaii. I don’t believe it would do well today because America now is an identity political hotbed and a straight male saving the day and getting the ladies is starting to not be okay as a lead role. Things in the 80s were a little loss and not as politicly correct as today so the show would be outdated for the time. Plus, Americans do not identify much to things they did in the early 80s, times change and media is showing that. Comparing this show to any show now on TV it is easy to see the different in pretty much every way. The fashion, music, slang, technology, politics and many other things. There is rumor about a reboot of Magnum P.I but with the lead being Magnums daughter. Overall I like the show, I would watch it if it was on in front of me but I wouldn’t go out of my way to see it again.

The show Magnum P.I. was a huge hit show set in Hawaii in the 1980s. The show was bold and daring in how it was willing to speak up about the Vietnam war. There was also a war on drugs and even though it was not said outright the show was very anti-drug. The first episode was about stopping drug dealers and other bad guys who killed a good guy by having him O.D. on cocaine. Hawaii was the set location for its beauty and exotic lands and people. The depiction of native Hawaiians is few but the how does either make it stereotypical or they use them to advance the plot of a story. I enjoy this show even though it would not do as well today because of the changing of time. The crime fighting formula is still in uses today but it is fitted for this period in time. Magnum P.I. was a show heavily affected by the years the show ran in, the chosen location and audience, and some other things I personally believed made it what it is and how it is still holding up.