Feature Story
There was a time not so long ago when the title “Magnum P.I.” only rang a bell with TV viewers of a certain age. First on the air from 1980-88, the Tom Selleck (“Blue Bloods”)-led original series captured the hearts and attention of many a channel surfer with the actor’s thrilling stunts, spicy red Ferrari and suave moustache.Thirty years later, however, “Magnum’s” original network, CBS, made the decision to bring back the private detective — this time catering to a broader audience than just the original series’ fans.
Now starring “Bad Moms” (2016) and “Scandal” actor Jay Hernandez as titular private investigator Thomas Magnum, Season 5 of the action-packed series makes its premiere on a new network. “Magnum P.I.” returns Sunday, Feb. 19, this time on NBC.
Sans moustache but still sleek, chic and driving his (updated) cherry-red Ferrari, Hernandez’s Magnum is a more modernized take on the determined independent detective. For four seasons now, CBS has presented the leading man in a series of dangerous situations across the Hawaiian landscape, often sporting a fun and floral button-down to match. But as NBC takes over many of the creative decisions surrounding the series, it plans to turn up the heat a bit.
Last month, Deadline reported NBC’s intention to make the show “sexier” as it switched networks. In addition to releasing a steamy trailer that includes faster cars, bigger explosions, a shirtless Magnum and a sultry shower scene, it’s clear that the show’s new home intends to follow up on the Season 4 kiss between the P.I. and his will-they-or-won’tthey counterpart, former MI-6 agent Juliet Higgins (Perdita Weeks, “As Above, So Below,” 2014).
In the original series, opposite Selleck, Higgins was played by John Hillerman (“Blazing Saddles,” 1974), who died in 2017 of heart disease.While both Higginses serve as a proper, well-bred English counterpart to Magnum’s tougher, more onthe-nose approach to crime solving, the reboot’s decision to cast the character as a woman has certainly added another layer — a more romantic one — to the story.
After years of tension and various degrees of on-thejob flirtation, Higgins and Magnum finally shared a kiss at the end of Season 4, just before CBS opted to cancel the series despite its popularity (according to Nielsen, the show averaged 7.3 million viewers per episode).And while showrunner Eric Guggenheim (“Hawaii Five-0”) admits the spicy, NBC-sanctioned onscreen relationship would still have happened had “Magnum P.I.” stayed with CBS, he did go on to express an overall shift in the show’s tone at NBC’s TCA Press Tour.
“This season is sexier,” Guggenheim noted. “It is more romantic, more emotional.”
Leading actor Hernandez also commented on Season 5’s overall tone shift, stating that the escalation of his character’s relationship with Higgins changes many of the circumstances surrounding their careers, saying the “dynamic shifts a little bit when it’s somebody that you’re in a relationship with.”
The relationship-launching Season 4 kiss was a relief to many who watched upwards of 76 episodes before Magnum and Higgins finally gave in to their feelings for one another.This, however, was one major reason why fans were so upset with CBS’s decision to cancel the series midway through 2022.
The decision came following a review of the series, which took into account episode ratings, weekly views and overall finances. Despite decent ratings and a relatively high level of popularity (according to Nielson, the series ranked 30th on a list of 151 Big 4 broadcast shows last fall/winter), CBS ultimately concluded that the series rights and (astronomical) cost of filming on location in Hawaii weren’t benefiting them anymore. Thank fully, following fan outcry that included a “Save Magnum P.I.” billboard in New York City’s Times Square, NBC swooped in just 49 days later and picked up the series for renewal.