Magnum, P.I. is an American television series starring Tom Selleck as Thomas Magnum, a private investigator living on Oahu, Hawaii. The series ran from 1980 to 1988 in first-run broadcast on the American CBS television network.

According to the Nielsen Ratings, Magnum, P.I. consistently ranked in the top twenty U.S. television programs during the first five years that the series was originally telecast in the United States.[1] Originally appearing in a prime time American network timeslot of 8 p.m. Eastern on Thursdays, Magnum, P.I. was one of the highest-rated shows on U.S. television.

Thomas Sullivan Magnum lives and resides in the ‘guest house’ of a posh, 200-acre (0.81 km2) beachfront estate, known as Robin’s Nest, in Hawaii, at the invitation of its owner, Robin Masters, the celebrated-but-never-seen author of several dozen lurid novels. Ostensibly this is quid pro quo for Magnum’s services based upon Magnum’s claimed expertise in security; the pilot suggests Magnum also did Masters a favor of some kind.

In addition, Robin’s Nest is guarded by two highly trained Doberman Pinschers, Zeus and Apollo, and all other aspects of the estate are managed by Englishman Jonathan Quayle Higgins III (played by Texas-born veteran actor John Hillerman), an ex-British Army Sergeant Major with whom, often as a humorous aside during various episodes of the series, Magnum must barter for use of estate amenities other than the guest house and the Ferrari 308 GTS (e.g., tennis courts, wine cellar, expensive cameras, etc.). During early seasons of Magnum, P.I., the voice of Robin Masters, heard only a few times per season, was voiced by Orson Welles.

A recurrent theme throughout the last two seasons involves Magnum’s suspicion that Higgins is actually Robin Masters. This possibility is contradictory to numerous references throughout the series’ run that make it clear they are different people. In spite of this, Higgins’ dual identity remains an open question until the final episode, where he first admits he is Robin Masters, but later suggests what he had said about Robin Masters was a lie.

Magnum seemingly lives a dream lifestyle: he comes and goes as he pleases, works only when he wants to, has the almost unlimited use of a Ferrari 308 GTS as well as many other of Robin Masters’ luxuries. He keeps a mini-fridge with a seemingly endless supply of fictional Coops beer, wears his father’s treasured Rolex GMT Master wristwatch,[2] is seemingly surrounded by countless beautiful women (who are often his clients or victims in the cases he solves) and enjoys adventures with his buddies Rick and T.C., both former Marines he served with in the Vietnam War.[3]

Interestingly, Magnum and Higgins often break the fourth wall by “locking eyes” with the audience; other characters do this, though less frequently.

At the end of the seventh season, Magnum was killed off, and this was intended to be the end of the series. However, there was outcry from fans, and an eighth, final season was produced, to bring Magnum ‘back to life’, and to round the series off.

Cast
Tom Selleck as Thomas Sullivan Magnum IV: Growing up in Tidewater, Virginia, he’s a Detroit-born third-generation naval officer, the son of a deceased naval aviator killed during the Korean War. He is also a 1967 graduate of the United States Naval Academy and Vietnam veteran, where he served as a Navy SEAL commando. Magnum’s specialized training includes acquiring appropriate expertise as a counter-insurgency expert, and also demonstrating additional expertise in lock picking and safe-cracking. Magnum played the field position of quarterback for the United States Naval Academy football team. The Magnum character is depicted to have resigned his commission in the U.S. Navy in disillusionment after approximately eleven years of service, including three tours of service during the U.S. military involvement in the Vietnam War. Magnum takes his Private Investigator job quite seriously and does not appreciate abbreviations for his profession such as P.I. and private eye — whenever referred to in such a manner he corrects the person and remarks that he is a “private investigator.” It is also not clear what his age or place of birth is. In the season-two episode “Try To Remember,” Magnum reports his date of birth (to an examining doctor) as August 8, 1944, his place of birth as Virginia, and his mother’s name as Martha. These answers seem to satisfy the doctor (who, of course, has access to Magnum’s medical records), though Magnum had sustained an injury to the head following a car accident. In the scene, his head is bandaged, and he has difficulty remembering the accident. Yet both the date and the year conflict with information in several other episodes. Tom Selleck’s mother’s name is, in fact, Martha, but Magnum’s is Katherine in later episodes.
Roger E. Mosley as Theodore Calvin, a.k.a. “T.C.”: a helicopter pilot who operates a tourist charter business called Island Hoppers, wherein he pilots a Hughes 500D helicopter, decked out with distinctive livery. A former Marine Corps helicopter pilot in Vietnam, T.C.’s combat-trained flight skills are often solicited and put to good use by Magnum during the course of an investigation. T.C. is also powerfully built, a trait which Magnum often benefits from when he expects to, and often does, run into physical trouble. With the exception of some early season 1 episodes, T.C. avoids alcohol, instead preferring milk, soda, or juice, but mostly coffee. Often called Higgins “Higgy Baby”.
Larry Manetti as Orville Wilbur Richard “Rick” Wright[4]: a suave playboy who is manager of the King Kamehameha Club, an exclusive beachfront members-only club. In the pilot, Rick owned a disco themed Rick’s Cafe Americaine, a.k.a. “The Snow Palace”. Rick also maintains a number of underworld contacts (one of whom is gangland figure Francis “Icepick” Hofstetler, q.v.) and is an expert in weaponry. He was T.C.’s door gunner during the war in Vietnam.
John Hillerman as Jonathan Quayle Higgins III: The Major Domo of “Robin’s Nest” a mansion in Hawaii. Higgins has a storied military background in the British Army and loves order above all else. An inveterate “old war story” teller, Higgins received a Victoria Cross (which is hardly surprising if half of the tales he tells are true).