Three Minus Two

Episode Number: 40
Season Number: 2.22
Air Date: 4/1/1982
Writer: Robert Van Scoyk
Director: Sidney Hayers
Producers: Rick Weaver, Andrew Schneider
Exec Producer: Donald P. Bellisario

Guest Stars

Jill St. John (Jan Kona), Beverly Garland (Florence Russell), Denny Miller (Ox), Robert Harker (Bart Lindsey), Wayne Ward (Wayne Lochman), Don Lamond (Alan Russell), Dick Jensen (Sgt. Kaio), Teri Ann Linn (Wendy), Julia Nickson (Lani), Shirley Rogers (Miss Jones - uncredited)

Episode Brief

A beautiful leading fashion designer hires Magnum to protect her when one of her two partners in their designer clothing company is murdered, and she suspects that the other partner may have been behind it. But the assignment proves tricky as several people had a strong enough motive for the murder, and someone is planning a revenge killing.

Rating

7.8

(46 votes)

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Notes

¹ Despite being the last episode shown in the season this evidently was one of the first produced, as demonstrated by a number of shots from this episode that have been used in the opening title sequence for the entire second season: (1) Magnum holding the girl as she learns to snorkel (the famous "snorkel shot"), (2) Magnum almost dropping the expensive camera as Higgins hands it to him, (3) T.C. holding the camera and smiling as he directs the female models, and (4) a car exploding.

² Robin Masters's camera (the one that T.C. uses at the photo shoot) appears to be a Hasselblad 1000F model (with a Vivitar 283 flash). (Camera ID'd by Sam & Frodoleader)

³ The shot of Magnum pretending to nearly drop the Hasselblad camera is edited different in the episode versus what is seen in the opening credits. On the credits, he pretends to drop it, and flips the equipment case lid down. In the episode itself, he goes to drop it, and we cut to some close-up reaction shots, with the lid heard to close off-camera. (Noted by Jay-Firestorm)

⁴ Denny Miller (Ox) will appear in a lead guest star role in Season Four's "A Sense of Debt" (4.8) as bare-knuckle fighter Leon Platt and, in a smaller role, Season Six's "Photo Play" (6.21). Denny is best known for his guest-starring roles on The Brady Bunch (as Carol Brady's egomaniacal high-school boyfriend Tank Gates in the episode "Quarterback Sneak") and Gilligan's Island (as lost surfer Duke Williams in the episode “Big Man on Little Stick” and as a method actor playing "Tongo the Ape Man" in the episode “Our Vines Have Tender Apes”), and for his brief portrayal as Tarzan in the late 1950s.

⁵ Local Hawaiian singer, dancer, Waikiki showroom star Dick Jensen (Sgt. Kaio) makes his first appearance on the show. He will later be seen in "Blind Justice" (5.7), "The Kona Winds" (6.4), "Death and Taxes" (7.6) and "Kapu" (7.10) (in his most memorable role as Mano the Hawaiian Chief)

⁶ The actresses who play the two beautiful swimsuit models, Julia Nickson (Lani) and Teri Ann Linn (Wendy), will be seen again in the show. Julia Nickson will appear in "Legacy From a Friend" (3.19) as a street merchant, and Teri Ann Linn will play "Legs", a lady who meets an unfortunate, unexpected end in "Faith and Begorrah" (3.23). The lady ("Miss Jones") who appears in the famous "snorkel shot" scene with Selleck (used in the opening title sequence for Seasons 2-8) is Shirley Rogers (uncredited). Shirley appeared in the denouement of Season One's "Don't Say Goodbye" (1.15) and was also an extra on the show for many years. Julia Nickson memorably appeared in Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985).

⁷ Magnum mentions his Dad and some advice that he gave one time; "Never throw a punch at a redwood tree!".

⁸ Don Lamond (Allan Russell) appeared in several Three Stooges films in the 1960's and hosted The Three Stooges local television show in Los Angeles, California on KTTV Channel 11 (which helped in the resurgence of The Three Stooges popularity). At the time of this episode, he was a radio host on KGU-AM Radio in Honolulu.

⁹ This episode features a rare peak inside the estate's boathouse (the guesthouse in the show) via the lanai door.

¹⁰ During a scene at the King Kamehameha Club beach bar, Rick is seen drinking a "Coops" beer with the label clearly visible.

Quotes

¹
(Hawaiian music playing in the background)
Alan Russell: For Lani, it's a simple cover-up of jade green, with a touch of hibiscus in her hair. And more than a touch of sexiness in this daringly cut two-piece. A beautiful swimsuit for a beautiful lady.
(audience claps, next swimsuit model appears)
Orchids for Wendy. Now, Wendy's an old-fashioned girl. New-fangled swimsuits may be all right for some, but Wendy... Wendy sticks to tradition; the traditional bikini. Another touch of the islands from Jan Kona.

²
Magnum: Higgins, if you never play games, how do you ever have any fun?

³
(to Magnum)
T.C.: I knew this investigative business was easy, else you wouldn't be in it!

⁴
Magnum: I'm supposed to meet Jan Kona here.
Rick: Oh yeah!
Magnum: What do you mean, oh yeah?
Rick: Nothin', except she's one sexy lady, pal.
Magnum: How well do you know her?
Rick: Not as well as I'd like to. Her real name is Janie Cougin. She used to be a waitress. Thomas, she used to wear this little costume and she wore these black mesh stockings. She had legs all the way up to her neck. It was to die when you see this dame!

Flubs

¹ A boom mic is briefly seen at the bottom of the screen at the 4:36 mark. (Noted by Bernd-Christian Schulze)

² At ~ the 29:00 mark, Sgt. Kaio comes to the Estate and informs Higgins, Magnum and Jan Kona that Bart Lindsey has been murdered. As the scene unfolds, Magnum suddenly says, "The bomb that blew up Lindsey's car could have been planted anytime yesterday..." At no point during this short scene does Sgt. Kaio tell Magnum (or anyone) that Bart Lindsey died from a car bomb (and Magnum did not know about Lindsey's death before the police sergeant arrived). (Noted by Richard Sekmistrz)

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