Magnum Mania!

Don't Eat the Snow in Hawaii (1)

Episode ID: 1
Episode Number: 1.1
Air Date: 12/11/1980
Writers: Donald P. Bellisario, Glen A. Larson
Director: Roger Young
Producer: J. Rickley Dumm
Exec Producer: Donald P. Bellisario

Guest Stars

Pamela Susan Shoop (Alice Cook), W.K. Stratton (Ens. Healy), Fritz Weaver (Capt. J. Cooly), Robert Loggia (Trusseau), Allen Williams (Lt. Dan Cook), Jeff MacKay (Ski), Lillian Muller (Greta), Clyde Kusatsu (Medical Examiner), Mel Carter (Sam), Peter Kalua (Kono)

Plot Outline

Hawaii-based Private Investigator Thomas Sullivan Magnum heads to Hickham AFB to pick up an old Naval comrade, Lt. Dan Cook, and becomes suspicious when his friend doesn't show up. When Dan later turns up dead of an apparent cocaine smuggling gone bad, Magnum is adamant about his friend's innocence. He suspects Dan's death may have something to do with the top-secret assignment he had been working on and vows to uncover the truth.

Rating

9.0 (18 votes) MM Episode Forum Thread & Poll

Notes

1 This originally aired as a two-hour movie, but is broken up into two parts for syndication runs. The original title of the Pilot Movie was Cutter, a reference to Thomas' original last name in the early drafts.

2 All of the indoor scenes at the main house of Robin's Nest were filmed inside the real main house of the Eve Anderson estate, the location that is normally used for all outdoor scenes of Robin's Nest. The kitchen, the darkroom, the "billiard hall" and bedroom scenes were all filmed inside the real main house. This is the only episode to feature scenes filmed inside the main house of the Eve Anderson estate. All future indoor scenes involving the main house will be filmed on a soundstage at the Hawaii Film Studio.

3 The Region 1 Complete First Season DVD incorrectly names the Pilot Movie as "Please Don't Eat the Snow in Hawaii".

4 The Ferrari is a targa-topped 1979 308 GTS. The license plate on the Ferrari is '56E-478'. This will change to 'Robin 1' for all subsequent episodes. In 1979, just before the Pilot Movie was filmed, Famed journalist and writer P.J. O'Rourke used this car for a New York-L.A. road trip. He wrote an essay about it called Ferrari Refutes the Decline of The West, and it appeared in his book Republican Party Reptile (1989).

5 The "Team Ring" that Magnum, T.C. and Rick wear bears the symbol of the Cross of Lorraine and reflects the strong bond of their wartime camaraderie. Although it's not mentioned here, the ring should always be worn on the right hand.

6 Hickam Air Force Base and Ala Wai Yacht Harbor in Honolulu are used as filming locations.

7 Rick's club, Rick's Café Americain, is named after Bogie's club in the classic 1942 film Casablanca. To non-tourists, Rick's club is known as The Snow Palace! This club will not be seen again in the series, as starting with the next episode Rick becomes manager of the King Kamehameha Club.

8 This is the only time that the full version of Ian Freebairn-Smith's theme song is heard [audio]. A shorter version of this theme will be played over the opening credits of the first ten episodes of Season One. Starting with "Thicker than Blood" (1.11), the more familiar Mike Post/Pete Carpenter theme song [audio] replaces the Ian Freebairn-Smith theme song.

9 The chopper that T.C. flies in the Vietnam War flashback sequences is the OH-58 Kiowa. (Noted by IslandHopper & golfmobile)

10 Early in the episode, as the Ferrari races through the gates, the closing gates trap one of the dogs at its neck before reopening slightly, freeing the poor animal.

11 Lillian Muller (Greta) is a former Playboy "Playmate of the Year" (1976).

12 Episode director Roger Young will direct Tom Selleck in the 1984 movie Lassiter.

13 According to Jeff MacKay, the scenes with Magnum and "Ski" at the NIA gate were actually filmed in the backlot of Universal Studios, not in Oahu.

14 Series co-creator/executive producer Donald P. Bellisario also worked as a 2nd Unit director for this Pilot Movie.

15 In Scotland in 1959, Higgins was a commando in the Prince of Wales' Own West Yorkshire Regiment.

Quotes

1
Magnum: Don't look at the dogs, work the lock ... (looks at dogs) You looked at the dogs! (Narration)

2
Higgins: Don't ruin my whisky with ice! I'm not a bloody American!

3
Magnum (To Capt. J. Cooly): Dan Cook was murdered and I'm gonna prove it! And when I do, (points finger at Capt. Cooly's stripes) you can kiss those gold stripes you spent thirty years egg-sucking for goodbye!

Flubs

1 When Magnum pulls over to the side of the road after stealing the Ferrari he unclips the roof and slides it back out of the view of the camera, but where does it go? There is no storage area for the roof where Magnum slides it to, so it must have been left on the side of the road.

2 When Thomas yells "Higgins, you yo-yo!", it's clear that the original line was "Higgins, you dummy!" which was re-recorded in post-production.

3 As Magnum is emptying the envelope onto the table you will see several other items on the table including Dan Cook's dog tags and keys. However, these items are off to the side and as Magnum shakes Dan's ring from the envelope it falls onto the table and comes to rest far away from the other items. The close-up of the "Team Ring", however, shows it right next to, and almost touching, the set of keys that weren't there when the ring fell out onto the table. (Noted by IslandHopper)

4 After emptying the envelope, Magnum flashes back to Vietnam. Watch for the third shot of the helicopter (OH-58 Kiowa). In this close-up shot, the helicopter is seen flying across the screen from the right to left. Look at the tail section of the helicotper and you will see that the word "MARINES" is reversed/backwards as it appears the negative was reversed in this shot. All of the other letters and numbers are obviously reversed as well. The "HY" on the vertical stabilizer should be "YH" and so on. This same flub is also visible in Part 2 of the "Pilot Movie" right after you see Magnum, Phillipe and the rest of the Team waiting at the LZ to be picked up by T.C.. Phillipe tells to Magnum to take the Team to the chopper and says that he'll cover and Magnum says "Don't wait too long." Then you see the helicopter with the reversed images. (Noted by IslandHopper)

5 As you look at the close-up of the "Team Ring" [pic] you can tell that the right lower bar is not symmetric with the corresponding bar on the left side. It is not as wide and seems flawed. The flub is that a close-up of the same ring is shown in the ending credits, but the imperfection is now on the left side of the ring, not the right as before. Also, in the ending credits, the wooden table that the ring is resting on is much darker than the table shown in the guesthouse scene. Additionally, the ring from the envelope doesn't appear to be the same ring worn by Dan Cook after he was punched in the stomach and is seen grabbing on to the chain-link fence. The imperfection does not seem to appear on the ring worn by Dan in this scene. (Noted by IslandHopper)

6 When Thomas is waiting for Alice to arrive at the airport, the shot of the plane landing shows a white aircraft with a red stripe and a blue underbelly. In the next shot, as Thomas looks out at the plane, it's metallic grey.

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