Magnum P.I

Magnum, P.I. is an American television show starring Tom Selleck as Thomas Magnum, a private investigator living in 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. 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 never fully substantiated or refuted—Higgins' dual identity remains an open question until the final episode, where Higgins first admits he is, but later suggests what he had said about Robin Masters was a lie. (Whether he means during this episode, or the entire series is left an open question.)

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, 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 U.S. Marines he served with in the Vietnam War.

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.