Magnum Mania!

Paradise Blues

Episode ID: 78
Episode Number: 4.15
Air Date: 2/9/1984
Writer: Chris Abbott
Story: Chris Abbott, Chas. Floyd Johnson
Director: Bernard L. Kowalski
Producer: Reuben Leder
Exec Producer: Donald P. Bellisario

Recurring Characters

James Grant Benton (Kika), Patrick Bishop (Keoki)

Guest Stars

Leslie Uggams (Alexis Carter), Chuck Mangione (Jimmy Nolan), Nick Dimitri (Archie), Rick Marlow (Dave Mitchell), Buddy Van Horn (Jack)

Plot Outline

Love is truly blind when T.C. drags Magnum to a meeting with a gorgeous jazz singer, Alexis Carter, whom T.C. fell in love with years ago in Vietnam. Magnum warns that trouble follows Alexis wherever she goes, and sure enough, she reveals she's on the run from dangerous Detroit drug dealers.

Rating

7.0 (13 votes) MM Episode Forum Thread & Poll

Notes

1 This is the fourth "T.C.-centric" episode of the series.

2 Unusual for the show, there is no opening preview for this episode.

3 The opening scene (with Alexis running through the church to escape the bad guys) was filmed at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace in downtown Honolulu. (Noted by Tuan Vu)

4 T.C.'s house is seen for only the second time in the show, following "Did You See the Sunrise?" (3.1 & 3.2). The house will be seen again in "Missing Melody" (7.11).

5 Leslie Uggams (Alexis Carter) appeared with Tom Selleck in an episode of Marcus Welby, M.D. (1969-1976) back in 1974.

6 T.C.'s military luggage chest displays his rank as "1st Lt.". Previous episodes have shown his rank as "Captain" and "Warrant Officer".

7 T.C. was married while he was in Vietnam, something that will later be confirmed in "Missing Melody" (7.11), when we meet his former wife. No one ever mentions if this romance with Alexis Carter led to the demise of his marriage. T.C.'s house is also seen again for only the second time. (Noted by Mike Barnes)

8 Higgins and Alexis Carter are big fans of celebrated African-American jazz singer/songwriter Alberta Hunter.

9 The song that Alexis sings in the Vietnam flashback is "Nowhere to Run", made famous by Martha & the Vandellas. The song foreshadows events to come for her character. The song that she sings at the nightclub is "Here's That Rainy Day" by James Van Heusen [audio]. The song has been recorded by many artists, most notably Ella Fitzgerald and Frank Sinatra. Leslie Uggams does her own singing for both songs.

10 The scene with Kika driving Magnum around in the pedicab was filmed at the Fort Street Mall, in downtown Honolulu. This is also Kika's first appearance on the show. He will be seen in two more episodes.

11 The Ferrari has been upgraded! The 1979 308 GTS has been replaced with a new 1984 308 Quattrovalvole. Larry Manetti reportedly bought the GTS for himself when it was replaced by the Quattrovalvole.

12 The dramatic scene at the end with the sedan going off a cliff and crashing in flames is used again as stock footage in "Limbo" (7.22).

Quotes

1
Magnum: Ms. Wagner, my 11th grade English teacher, created a scandal in my hometown when she put All the King's Men on our mandatory reading list. She said she wanted us to understand the fatal attraction some men have for the very thing that will destroy them. Her love for the book got her fired and I never quite understood the attraction she was talking about, until the first day I saw Alex Carter and the way T.C. was looking at her. (Narration)

2
Rick: Hey, if you want, I should call Icepick and he'll have him a two-inch neck!

Flubs

1 In one of the Vietnam photos with T.C. and Alexis, T.C. is pictured saluting with his left hand. All salutes should be done with the right hand.

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