No’ stache? No prob!
The Magnum PI reboot is a whole lot flashier with slick new Ferraris, a new team and a brand-new Thomas Magnum.
Magnum PI Season 1 Wednesdays (from 7 November) M-Net (*101) 20:00
The reboot of Magnum PI (2018current) has the same theme and even the same song as the original series with Tom Selleck (1980-1988, re-airing Mondays, SABC3 at 12:00). The old red Ferrari is back too to help Magnum with his new cases, although the never-seen property owner Robin Masters has a garage of shiny newer versions. But there are two noticeable differences: lead star Jay Hernandez doesn’t have the moustache that Tom made famous and Magnum’s reluctant bestie Higgins, has gone from safarisuit-wearing John Hillerman to primand-proper Perdita Weeks. “Not everyone can pull off facial hair,” says Jay about the first topic. “We don’t just ignore Thomas not having a moustache – we give it our own sendoff to acknowledge that this is our version but we respect the original.” As for Jonathan Higgins, who oversees the Masters mansion in Hawaii, doing a gender swap to Juliet was easy, says Perdita: “They are both British, come from military backgrounds and they’re both control freaks. A possible attraction makes it more interesting.”
MEN ON A MISSION
Like the original, Magnum is an exNavy SEAL who runs his small private investigator business from the Masters estate, with a little help from his former military mates: Ex-Marine Rick Wright (Zachary Knighton, Aaron in action series Elementary, 2012- current) is Magnum’s playboy buddy who owns a bar and has contacts around every corner. You need something? He’s your go-to guy. Ex-Marine Theodore TC
Calvin (Stephen Hill, Detective Ted Foster in police drama Blue Bloods, 2010current – which has Tom Selleck in the lead) runs helicopter tours around the islands using his chopper expertise from military tours to the Middle East. He’s also the enforcer in the group.
ON THE RIGHT TRAIL
Fans lashed out at the reboot online because of the changes and while the first episode is a little difficult to get into because audiences are so heavily invested in the original, it’s been given a full-season order by production company CBS after just three episodes. That’s something Jay and his co-stars couldn’t be happier about: “Even if it’s a subconscious absorbing of something different, even me being Hispanic and different to the original, I’m excited. We aren’t trying to be the original – Tom owned that completely and we would be a nasty knock-off doing ourselves a disservice.”
The producers haven’t gone for a straightforward crime-solving theme either. “We have it all: action, crime, drama, mystery and comedy,” explains Jay. “Come on – our second episode is Magnum running around the island in search of a giant tuna. You don’t see that on TV everyday.” Being set in Hawaii and being under the CBS brand has another benefit, says Jay: “We are doing overlap episodes with [fellow reboot] Hawaii Five- 0 (2010- current), so you can expect to see some of those guys enter our storylines.”