Back to the well: ‘Magnum P.I.’ returns to television with CBS reboot

Name the most famous mustache to ever grace a TV screen. You have 10 seconds to deduce the answer, and should you fail, a shadowy cabal of drug-dealing, bank-robbing, helicopter-hijacking racketeers will forever escape justice, in possession of a priceless crystal figurine and a dossier of fantastically important government secrets.

With stakes so high, I’m confident that you’ll provide the correct information without breaking a sweat and declare that the single, indisputable answer is that of Thomas Sullivan Magnum, the now-iconic namesake of the 1980s hit, “Magnum, P.I.” This fall, CBS is counting on the enduring recognition of that iconic character when it reboots the classic series with Jay Hernandez (“Suicide Squad,” 2016) as the inheritor of the Magnum mojo. Catch the premiere when it airs Monday, Sept. 24, on CBS.

Hernandez is backed up by Welsh actress Perdita Weeks (“Ready Player One,” 2018) in the role of Higgins, the straight woman to Magnum’s wild card, and fellow Americans Zachary Knighton (“Happy Endings”) and Stephen Hill (“Boardwalk Empire”) as Rick and TC, close friends of Magnum’s from his military past.

The pilot for the new series was greenlit in February of this year, and a polished trailer for the show was dropped in May. The person behind the controls is Peter M. Lenkov, a self-professed fan of the ‘80s “Magnum” and a writer/producer on CBS’S first Hawaiian crime-fest reboot, “Hawaii Five-0.” Lenkov’s secret weapon for the pilot was director Justin Lin. Lin is best known for thrilling audiences with his dynamic and outrageous action sequences in the immensely popular Fast and the Furious franchise, and his skill at creating high-energy setpieces is bringing Magnum back with a bang.

The original “Magnum, P.I.” first aired in 1980, but for many critics and fans, the show holds up in significant ways. It still receives praise for being an early depiction of a Vietnam War veteran character, and the charisma of its star, Tom Selleck (“Blue Bloods”), has cemented the titular character as a memorable part of TV history.