Yeah, and I don't see the producers giving anyone the same leeway this time around, unfortunately. It's going to be a show stuck in a rock and a hard place.
CBS orders pilots for Magnum, PI , Cagney and Lacey reboots
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The answer was never to even have made this. There might still be time to pull the plug, if not much filming has occurred; like was done with other pilots before they got filmed, including the "Wiseguy" reboot years ago.
That means there will be a Will They or Won't They situation. How long before Magnum and Higgins sleep with each other?
Absolutely, that's a great point, Magnum having lost he father at an early age and Higgins being cut off from his family (and country). But the Vietnam thing was so important. Magnum was not the first major TV character to be a Vietnam veteran (which I have read claimed somewhere) but no show had ever put the war so front-and-center; most TV of the '70s avoided it as too controversial, or made episodes with veterans as tragic, pitiable or damaged figures. No matter the tensions that came up between them, Higgins always recognized that Magnum, TC and Rick's Vietnam service was comparable to and as honorable as his in "The Good War." Though it might not seem so now, at the time that was a significant step toward "normalizing" the Vietnam experience for many Americans.
Yeah. When Selleck first looked at the pilot script, Magnum was a suave James Bond type, and that didn't interest him at all. Apparently Universal really wanted Selleck, though, so they brought Bellesario on and he added the many of the "classic" Magnum attributes.
As an example of cast chemistry that I think will be hard to recreate... One personal favorite is in "Murder 101," where Magnum has started teaching a class in private investigation at a community college. Magnum asks Rick and TC to attend the class so it meets the minimum number of students and won't be canceled. So they do, but then proceed to start asking very pointed questions in class, about whether real private investigators mooch off their friends or con them into doing their legwork. The looks that go back and forth between Selleck, Moseley and Manetti are so real... it's a wonderful and hilarious scene.
Early steps count the most.
LOL, they wanted to remake Bond on the small screen but Selleck wanted to do something more original/untried/different. Just swapping genders or orientations, scribbling out any old plot, and slapping the same brand name on something doesn't make it a winner just because they changed superficial stuff and did nothing robust at the core. After a couple viewings, the core being hollow will drive off viewers - and as we saw with "Ghostbusters 2016", blanketly calling anyone who didn't like it "Misogynist" is a little uncouth (and no less prejudicial than any other combination.)
On-screen chemistry usually helps even in the worst of times...
Yes, that certainly wasn't the best tactic. It prevents legitimate issues with the movies from being discussed.
In the case of Ghostbusters 2016, people were suspicious of the reasons for the intense negative reactions being voiced well in advance of the film's release much more so than for the informed opinions formed after actually viewing the film.
The only thing I kind of liked about it was the new Higgins but not enough to watch it again. I'd much rather watch the old show.
I wonder how many episodes they'll air before they decide to cancel it.
Yeah, pretty much my feelings as well. The cast lacked a certain vibrancy. The lead is fine, but... he could be swapped out for anyone else with any other name. He didn't feel particular.
The show itself felt scrubbed of anything that might make it unique.
It'll fun forever on CBS.
I was never really a fan of the original Magnum P.I., but I was intrigued by what I saw in the CBS fall preview and watched the pilot. I liked it from the get-go, so I guess I kind of know now how some people can like the Star Trek Kelvin Timeline movies and not TOS.
Well, I watched the pilot so I could have an informed opinion. In noticeable ways, they tried hard to make it seem like an episode of the original, and in many ways it did seem like the original cast could have done this. But there were important divergences. Higgins was the obvious one. Higgins is now agile instead of aged, and the hints of possible attraction between the two leads are unmistakable. They also demystified Robin, even implying that they all had met him, which I found disappointing. The story itself wasn't bad, but it was fairly by the numbers and very predictable, and it suffered from over-the-top action. It was nice to hear the original theme, but disconcerting to hear it abridged. It's trying too hard, but at least it's trying; the cast is immanently forgettable, yet distinctly so. I agree with @Professor Zoom that it was scrubbed of uniqueness. I would say, scrubbed of mystique. Kind of right down the middle of what you would or could expect. It could grow into something, but I wouldn't hold my breath. Mixed. So far, inferior to the original.
Yeah, the Robin Masters thing... I have a very strong suspicion that... since in this version he's a certifiably real person and not maybe Higgins... that if the show is a success, they will try to get Selleck to cameo as Masters.
That'd be interesting. They could even do it with Scott Bakula who'd always wanted to leap into the show
That'd be interesting. They could even do it with Scott Bakula who'd always wanted to leap into the show
As long as Bakula is wearing Selleck's mustache...