Magnum, P.I.

7.3
198045m

A private investigator who works when he wants, lives in a beachfront estate in Hawaii, drives a posh Ferrari, runs up an unlimited tab at a swank bar, and charms attractive women in peril - that's the lifestyle of Thomas Magnum, aka Magnum, P.I.

Production

Logo for Universal Television

Trailers & Videos

Thumbnail for video: Magnum, P.I. Trailer + Rare Title Sequence

Magnum, P.I. Trailer + Rare Title Sequence

Seasons

18 Episodes • Premiered 1980

Still image for Magnum, P.I. season 1 episode 1: Don't Eat the Snow in Hawaii (1)

1. Don't Eat the Snow in Hawaii (1)

5.7

When Thomas's childhood friend and Naval comrade Dan Cook turns up dead, Thomas is adamant that the official cause of death, a burst bag of smuggled cocaine, is bogus, and enlists the aid of Dan's sister Alice in taking on the Navy to uncover the true nature of the top-secret assignment Dan was working on before his death.

Still image for Magnum, P.I. season 1 episode 2: Don't Eat the Snow in Hawaii (2)

2. Don't Eat the Snow in Hawaii (2)

7.8

Magnum and Alice continue in their quest to find out the truth behind Lt. Dan Cook's death, and find themselves uncovering a case of gold smuggling, and a criminal mastermind whom Magnum and Dan once knew in Vietnam. But in trying to find out what really did happen to his deceased friend, Magnum puts his own life on the line as someone tries to stop him from investigating, using any means necessary...

Still image for Magnum, P.I. season 1 episode 3: China Doll

3. China Doll

5.6

Magnum is hired by a beautiful Chinese antiques dealer that he's making a play for to protect a precious ancient vase—The Soul of Sung—until its buyer arrives in Hawaii to collect it. But unbeknownst to him, the priceless ornament is wanted by a Tong gang from the girl's home country, and a deadly martial arts assassin who can kill in the blink of an eye is hot on the trail.

Still image for Magnum, P.I. season 1 episode 4: Thank Heaven for Little Girls and Big Ones Too

4. Thank Heaven for Little Girls and Big Ones Too

6.7

It's the Christmas season, and against his better judgment, Magnum agrees to being hired by five young schoolgirls to find their teacher, who has seemingly gone missing after falling in love. While he's working on the case, Magnum manages to convince Higgins to let the young girls stay on the Masters estate, but he's unaware that he's being deceived in a scam over a valuable painting recently purchased by Robin Masters.

Still image for Magnum, P.I. season 1 episode 5: No Need to Know

5. No Need to Know

7.8

Magnum returns from a case to find that Higgins' old Army commander is staying on the Masters estate, under tight security, until some I.R.A. members he helped capture are tried. Two secret intelligence agents hire Magnum to protect the brigadier and foil assassins out to kill him before the terrorists' trial, but the “need to know” basis the agents insist on operating by only serves to complicate matters for Magnum.

Still image for Magnum, P.I. season 1 episode 6: Skin Deep

6. Skin Deep

7.0

When a beautiful model-actress is killed by a shotgun blast in a scenario closely resembling a scene from the script of an upcoming film, it is seemingly suicide. Magnum is hired by her former producer and lover to investigate any other men that she may have been seeing before her death.

Still image for Magnum, P.I. season 1 episode 7: Never Again... Never Again

7. Never Again... Never Again

7.5

When Saul and Lena, an aging couple who run a local shop, abruptly make plans to leave town, suspicious Magnum and Rick, who are friends with the couple, investigate.

Still image for Magnum, P.I. season 1 episode 8: The Ugliest Dog in Hawaii

8. The Ugliest Dog in Hawaii

6.8

Higgins volunteers Magnum's services to guard a wealthy socialite's quarantined dog after the attempted dognapping of the canine. Sir Algernon Farnsworth soon finds himself to be the most wanted dog in Hawaii when his former owner, aging gangster Victor DiGiorgio, needs to get him back.

Still image for Magnum, P.I. season 1 episode 9: Missing in Action

9. Missing in Action

7.2

Although Eric Tobin was reported missing in action over eight years ago, his fiancee, Laura Fraser, endowed with ESP, doesn't believe it. Magnum befriends her and, in finding out the truth about Tobin, discovers that he was a highly trained and effective government agent working under the control of a man known only as Delta One.

Still image for Magnum, P.I. season 1 episode 10: Lest We Forget

10. Lest We Forget

5.2

Magnum is hired by a Supreme Court nominee to find the woman he married on the eve of the raid on Pearl Harbor.

Still image for Magnum, P.I. season 1 episode 11: The Curse of the King Kamehameha Club

11. The Curse of the King Kamehameha Club

6.2

Rick is organizing a surf-ski competition to be held at the King Kamehameha Club (much to the disapproval of co-committee member Higgins) when a Kahuna appears and places a "curse" on the club and all who use it.

Still image for Magnum, P.I. season 1 episode 12: Thicker than Blood

12. Thicker than Blood

7.5

T.C. makes a late-night flight to land on a tanker, but on the journey back he is cornered and arrested by the Coast Guard for transporting drugs. Magnum and Rick are certain of their friend's innocence, but are shocked when he intends to accept the charges and refuses their help.

Still image for Magnum, P.I. season 1 episode 13: All Roads Lead to Floyd

13. All Roads Lead to Floyd

5.2

A bubbly young woman hires Magnum to find her father who, after being missing for over ten years, had sent her a postcard from Hawaii. But her father is involved in some rather shady business, and Magnum isn't the only one looking for him.

Still image for Magnum, P.I. season 1 episode 14: Adelaide

14. Adelaide

6.8

A woman hires Magnum to protect Norman, who is facing kidnap unless she pays a ransom; but the case has some unexpected twists.

Still image for Magnum, P.I. season 1 episode 15: Don't Say Goodbye

15. Don't Say Goodbye

5.3

Having once been hired by wealthy, blind Agatha Kimball to find her missing granddaughter, Amy, Magnum's services are once again called upon by his elderly friend after she has been contacted by a blackmailer claiming to have some important information about Amy.

Still image for Magnum, P.I. season 1 episode 16: The Black Orchid

16. The Black Orchid

7.3

Magnum has been hired by a woman to act out some of her rich, bored sister's fantasy dramas, concocted from 1930s Dashiell Hammett films. Although growing to enjoy the world of fantasy, Magnum has a hard time keeping up with the eccentric woman, and when he finds out that her husband is a wealthy, infamously jealous and bad-tempered business man, he decides to cut his losses and end the arrangement.

Still image for Magnum, P.I. season 1 episode 17: J. "Digger" Doyle

17. J. "Digger" Doyle

7.8

Magnum tries to impress a beautiful 'fan' of Robin's by showing her the Robin Masters estate, only to learn that she is actually a top security expert hired by Robin to test the estate's security.

Still image for Magnum, P.I. season 1 episode 18: Beauty Knows No Pain

18. Beauty Knows No Pain

7.3

Magnum is hired by Barbara Terranova, a financially broke woman who can only afford his services for one day, to find her missing fiancé Roger. But the case has several tangles in store when Magnum finds there are others searching for Roger, too.

Cast

Photo of Tom Selleck

Tom Selleck

Thomas Magnum

Photo of John Hillerman

John Hillerman

Jonathan Higgins

Photo of Roger E. Mosley

Roger E. Mosley

Terry 'TC' Calvin

Photo of Larry Manetti

Larry Manetti

Rick Wright

More Like This

Reviews

P

Peter89Spencer

9/10

Best show in the 80s!
Magnum is the guy who everybody wants to be, and what every lady wants.

Magnum, P.I. is a feel good TV series everybody to enjoy.

G

GenerationofSwine

10/10

Had it come out in the 90s, Tom Magnum would have been a paranoid character fighting off the nightmares that plague him for all eternity after losing half his men in combat, or being the last man left in his squad.

And had it come out today, he'd be almost perfect, struggling never, with no character development. Stagnate, boring, with no growth to speak of. He'd be right all the time and end each episode political statement... like the New Magnum does.

Instead he was written in the 80s, and he is kind of a mooch, but a charismatic one. He struggles and overcomes, his relationship with his friends grows and evolves, and he deals with Vietnam and flashbacks in a realistic and functioning way.

He is capable of screwing up and fixing his mistakes. He is light and comical and void of an agenda. And he has friends that will unquestioningly follow him into a bar room brawl just because, well, that's what real friends do.

It makes everything fun and relatable, it makes the show more down to earth and realistic that it would have been in following decades. And that goes double when its a story that involves an expensive sports car... which, to make it believable, he doesn't own.

You've reached the end.