Best Magnum Writer?

[Turkey]

So I thought I'd ask who the MM community felt was the best writer on the show?

Obviously Bellisario wrote a fair few cracking episodes and I seem to remember really enjoying a lot of Bruce Cervi's episodes (Death & Taxes is the obvious one that springs to mind for me). There's also Robert Hamilton (Mad Buck & The Elmo Ziller Story were two of his). Did anyone else have any writers they particularly liked?

[Turkey]

Back!

So, here's my 'methodology' such as it is - I went to our Top 40 page and hit a fair few of my fav eps, found the writer and jumped to their IMDB credits.

There's a bit of crossover here and there when two writers were involved with a single script and I cut a few episodes that were 'story/teleplay' credits too, to shorten the list a little, otherwise, here it is!


Andrew Schneider
- Of Sound Mind (1983)
- The Last Page (1982)
- Try to Remember (1982)
- The Jororo Kill (1982)
- From Moscow to Maui (1981)
- The Woman on the Beach (1981)


Robert Hamilton
- Murder by Night (1987)
- Let the Punishment Fit the Crime (1984)
- The Case of the Red-Faced Thespian (1984)
- Letter to a Duchess (1983)
- Legacy from a Friend (1983)
- The Elmo Ziller Story (1982)
- Texas Lightning (1982)
- Mad Buck Gibson (1981)
- Tropical Madness (1981)
- Beauty Knows No Pain (1981)
- The Black Orchid (1981)
- Adelaide (1981)


Donald P. Bellisario
- Mac's Back (1984)
- Echoes of the Mind: Part 1 (1984)
- Home from the Sea (1983)
- Faith and Begorrah (1983)
- ...By Its Cover (1983)
- Two Birds of a Feather (1983)
- Black on White (1982)
- Did You See the Sun Rise? (1982)
- Italian Ice (1982)
- Memories Are Forever (1981)
- J."Digger" Doyle (1981)
- Thicker Than Blood (1981)
- Lest We Forget (1981)
- Skin Deep (1981)
- China Doll (1980)
- Don't Eat the Snow in Hawaii: Part 2 (1980)
- Don't Eat the Snow in Hawaii (1980)


Chris Abbott
- Resolutions: Part II
- Resolutions: Part I
- Transitions (1988)
- Unfinished Business (1988)
- Infinity and Jelly Doughnuts (1987)
- Limbo (1987)
- The Aunt Who Came to Dinner (1987)
- Laura (1987)
- L.A. (1986)
- The Kona Winds (1985)
- Compulsion (1985)
- Tran Quoc Jones (1984)
- Blind Justice (1984)
- I Witness (1984)
- Rembrandt's Girl (1984)
- Operation: Silent Night (1983)


Bruce Cervi
- Tigers Fan (1987) .
- Limbo (1987)
- The People vs. Orville Wright (1987)
- Forty (1987)
- Death and Taxes (1986)
- Way of the Stalking Horse (1986)
- Summer School (1986)
- Rapture (1985)


Jay Huguely
- Legend of the Lost Art (1988)
- Pleasure Principle (1987)
- Limbo (1987)
- Out of Sync (1987)
- Solo Flight (1987)
- On the Fly (1987)
- Autumn Warrior (1986)
- Novel Connection (1986)
- Paper War (1986)
- Who Is Don Luis Higgins... and Why Is He Doing These Terrible Things to Me? (1986)
- Mad Dogs and Englishmen (1986)
- Paniolo (1985)
- Let Me Hear the Music (1985)
- Kiss of the Sabre (1984)
- Holmes Is Where the Heart Is (1984)
- A Sense of Debt (1983)


Reuben Leder
- A.A.P.I. (1986)
- Straight and Narrow (1986)
- A Little Bit of Luck... a Little Bit of Grief (1986)
- All Thieves on Deck (1986)
- I Never Wanted to Go to France, Anyway (1986)
- The Treasure of Kalaniopu'u (1985)
- Round and Around (1985)
- The Hotel Dick (1985)
- The Man from Marseilles (1985) )
- All for One: Part 2 (1985)
- All for One: Part 1 (1985)
- Luther Gillis: File #001 (1984)
- Under World (1984)
- I Witness (1984)
- Dream a Little Dream (1984)
- The Return of Luther Gillis (1984)
- Operation: Silent Night (1983)
- Squeeze Play (1983)
- Luther Gillis: File #521 (1983)
- The Big Blow (1983)
- Forty Years from Sand Island (1983)
- Mixed Doubles (1982) )
- Mr. White Death (1982)
- Past Tense (1982)
- Try to Remember (1982)
- Wave Goodbye (1981)

[Styles Bitchley]

Hard not to go for Bellisario - so I did. But Chris Abbott is a close second. I have to admit, however, that this is just based on the episodes I like the most. I may have a different answer if I were to methodically go through each episode and check which stories had the least number of loose ends or which believable plots. This latter approach may be more appropriate for truly judging a writer.

[Turkey]

Hard not to go for Bellisario - so I did. But Chris Abbott is a close second. I have to admit, however, that this is just based on the episodes I like the most. I may have a different answer if I were to methodically go through each episode and check which stories had the least number of loose ends or which believable plots. This latter approach may be more appropriate for truly judging a writer.

I've finding the same - I Bellisario wrote too many of my favs, though I could have voted Chris or Leder even, tough to choose.

Maybe I ought to have made a poll for funniest writer/episode, as that might have changed my vote too


I think the loose ends test would be a good one too, along with dialogue. Sign of a great writer seems to be cracking dialogue!

[BWheelz54]

Bellisario wins the vote pretty easily in my book. Bell seemed to write episodes with more of an international and espionage flare to them that gave Magnum an exotic kind of feel. I always thought his plots were more nuanced, and his characters more interesting. "Lest We Forget" is by far my favorite Magnum episode, and I point my friends to Digger Doyle, China Doll, Don't Eat the Snow in Hawaii and Black on White to show them the episodes that made me fall for this television show. Bellisario just did such a great job of making Magnum simultaneously contemporary and nostalgic during the 80s, while also making such a strong show that continues to stand so well after thirty years. The other writers had some great ones on their lists, but Bell gets my vote for consistently nailing all his episodes. I do think Magnum took a notable change in course after Bell stepped away from the show, and I'm not sure that the change was for the better.

[Styles Bitchley]

Bellisario wins the vote pretty easily in my book. Bell seemed to write episodes with more of an international and espionage flare to them that gave Magnum an exotic kind of feel. I always thought his plots were more nuanced, and his characters more interesting. "Lest We Forget" is by far my favorite Magnum episode, and I point my friends to Digger Doyle, China Doll, Don't Eat the Snow in Hawaii and Black on White to show them the episodes that made me fall for this television show.

...and then there's Two Birds of a Feather!

[BWheelz54]

Good point Styles! Maybe I forced myself to forget Two Birds of a Feather. That one didn't really fly. Ok, other than that one.

[Steve]

I never noticed that three writers were involved with Limbo, not to mention the great Chas. Floyd Johnson and Selleck.........
Bet those were some great around the table discussions............By the way, great poll question Turkey!

[Turkey]

I do think Magnum took a notable change in course after Bell stepped away from the show, and I'm not sure that the change was for the better.

Agreed - the late-series Vietnam-based episodes especially didn't feel as good to me, when I think back on them.

I'm expecting Bellisario to win this one

[Turkey]

...and then there's Two Birds of a Feather!

Seem to remember the opening temple sequence being good in that one - but I've never watched it since that first time, least fav episode, I think.

[Turkey]

I never noticed that three writers were involved with Limbo, not to mention the great Chas. Floyd Johnson and Selleck.........
Bet those were some great around the table discussions............By the way, great poll question Turkey!

Thanks, Steve

Must have had a huge team for Limbo, huh? Especially as they would have thought, at the time, that it'd be the last episode.

[Little Garwood]

Bellisario is my pick. Thanks to Turkey for the handy-dandy (and time-saving!) list of who wrote what.

Reuben Leder would be my choice for second-best writer.

Special mention goes to Deborah Pratt for the two outstanding episodes she wrote, "Little Games" and "Little Girl Who." It's unfair to ask, but I wonder if Bellisario had any input into those scripts.

[rtc]

Please excuse this totally OT comment...
good news,when the Encore Classic Channel's
7pm ET Magnum runs Resolutions2 on Thursday
October 7,they will begin all over on Friday the
8th with the pilot episode.
While looking for the schedule,came across a
Dish Network schedule that called MPI "one
of their top rated shows"...but of course.

[Styles Bitchley]

Please excuse this totally OT comment...
good news,when the Encore Classic Channel's
7pm ET Magnum runs Resolutions2 on Thursday
October 7,they will begin all over on Friday the
8th with the pilot episode.
While looking for the schedule,came across a
Dish Network schedule that called MPI "one
of their top rated shows"...but of course.

That's about as OT as it gets.

[KingKC]

I think Bellisario was clearly the best as he set the best tone for the new series and Greyhoski wasn't too bad in the early seasons. Hamilton and Leder seemed to carry the series for quite a while and Huguely and Cervi kinda brought home the final seasons. That is just an overall impression without listing individual episodes.