Magnum Mania!

The Look

Episode ID: 72
Episode Number: 4.9
Air Date: 12/8/1983
Writer: Louis F. Vipperman
Director: Harry Falk
Producer: Reuben Leder
Exec Producer: Donald P. Bellisario

Recurring Characters

Gillian Dobb (Agatha Chumley), Jean Bruce Scott (Lt. Maggie Poole)

Guest Stars

Gretchen Corbett (Holly Hudson), Raymond O'Keefe (Benny), Stephen Young (Don Cassidy), Ralph Strait (Ralph), Joe Moore (Russ Griffith), Nevada Woodward (Julie Meade), Devon Guard (Lori)

Plot Outline

A familiar voice on the radio leads Magnum to Holly Hudson, a popular Saigon disc jockey. Magnum discovers that Holly's been the recent victim of some very vocal death threats, but she's more concerned about the whereabouts of her missing fiance.

Rating

8.0 (16 votes) MM Episode Forum Thread & Poll

Notes

1 Rockford Files alum Gretchen Corbett (Holly Hudson) makes her second guest starring appearance on the show. She previously appeared in "The Curse of the King Kamehameha Club" (1.11). Gretchen and John Hillerman were in a 1976 episode of Wonder Woman together, one which also featured Robert Loggia (Phillipe Trusseau from the "Pilot Movie").

2 Magnum mentions that he moved away from Tidewater, Virginia when he was "very young". This will be contradicted in several later episodes, most notably in "Going Home" (6.7) where we learn that Magnum graduated from Tidewater High School!

3 Several of Universal Studio's stock cover versions of various songs can be heard in this episode. The songs, with the original artists, include the following:

• "Sittin' On (the Dock of the Bay)" - Otis Redding
• "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" - The Rolling Stones
• "She's Not There" - The Zombies
• "Yesterday" - The Beatles
• "Up on the Roof" - The Drifters
• "Crocodile Rock" - Elton John
• "All You Need Is Love" - The Beatles
• "A Hard Day's Night" - The Beatles
• "When I'm Sixty-Four" - The Beatles

4 When T.C. goes to visit Lt. Maggie Poole he wears a Marine jacket that says "Capt. Theodore Calvin, USMC". He says he is going to a reserve meeting, which would mean his current reservist rank is Captain. In the Vietnam War flashback scene, T.C. is clearly shown wearing Warrant Officer insignia which suggests that his change in status from Warrant Officer to commissioned reserve officer is intentional. (Noted by Stephen Huntley)

5 The King Kamehameha Club Jeep Wagoneer is seen again. It will only be used a couple of times in the show.

6 The "KTDE" radio station scenes were filmed at a location just east of Waimanalo Beach, on Kamehame Ridge [map]. The site was a Nike missile "administrative" installation up to the mid 1960s, and later a Witness Protection System safe house. Today it is a Winners' Camp for teens. Kamehame Ridge will later be used to film many of the "trapped under a plane" scenes in Season Seven's "Solo Flight" (7.16). (Noted by rubber chicken)

7 The climactic scene at the scenic overlook was filmed at a spot not too far from the "KTDE" radio station location [map]. This location is used by hang gliders and was used for the final scene of Season Two's "Mad Buck Gibson" (2.9). (Noted by rubber chicken)

8 During WWII, Higgins was in Burma and participated in "Operation Neville", an assault on a bridge over the Irrawaddy river*. The operation failed, due in part to the fact that Higgins' men spent most of the night before drinking a potent concoction called "Bullfight Brandy". (Noted by Stephen Huntley)

* Probably as part of the Irrawaddy River operations in early 1945.

Quotes

1
Holly: It's always been like this, even in 'Nam. Everybody had some idea about who I was, who they wanted me to be. They hear my voice on the radio, they think they know me.
Magnum: They want to know you.
Holly: No, they don't! No....they don't. They don't want to know me, Holly Hudson. They want to know some larger than life fantasy.
Magnum: Kinda goes with the terretory.
Holly: Yeah, well I'm changing terretories.

2
Ralph: Mr. Magnum, thanks for the invite. This English ale's got the kick of a Molokai mule. And any time you wanna break into a place I'm guarding...Open sesame!

Flubs

1 In one of the most glaring continuity errors of the entire series, the birthday sign attached to the left skid of T.C.'s helicopter is present as T.C. and Magnum leave the estate, but in the next shot, as T.C.'s Chopper is in mid-air, it's gone. When they arrive at Kaheo Point, the sign has returned!

2 Agatha Chumley has been good friends with Higgins since they first met in 1975 and yet, she doesn't know his birthday?

3 The Oldies radio station where Holly Hudson works features posters of several 80s musical artists, including Quiet Riot (Hair Metal) and Boy George (Glam Pop). An Oldies radio station would never have these types of posters on the walls. (Noted by Wally)

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