1980s Actors that you'd have guest star in Magnum, PI...

[Robert]

Liam Neeson-A IRA thug looking for Higgins. (He did have an early role like this on Miami Vice)

Boy George- A distant relative of Higgins who shows up.

Michael Ironsides- Magnum may be the only action show he hasn't played a bad guy on to my knowledge.

[BWheelz54]

I was watching some Hammer Studios movies, and a great actor I don't appreciate enough appeared in both of them. I would have liked to have seen Mr. Denholm Elliott (many might remember him as Indiana Jones' department head and friend in Raiders of the Lost Ark) play a role on Magnum. He would've been a great pal, or nemesis, to Higgins. I can really imagine him as Higgins' best friend from the regiment and boarding school, who stops by to visit, and then hangs out more with Thomas as those two have so much in common - an episode where we learn that Higgins, deep down, really appreciates some carefree friends. Here's a link to Denholm's IMDB page in case it refreshes some memory. What a memorable actor!
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001186/?ref_=nv_sr_1

[ConchRepublican]

Peter Falk



Colombo & TM working together on a case!

I would have loved this. I could actually see them getting along.

Columbo - I'm sorry Magnum, one more thing ....
Thomas - what, WHAT! This is the 10th time you said "one more thing" WHAT!!

[Luther's nephew Dobie]

Colombo & TM working together on a case! [/quote]

I would have loved this. I could actually see them getting along.[/quote]


Hi Guys,
I agree, Peter Falk and Tom Selleck would be a great duo, with Selleck the exasperated straight man to Falk's comic foil. Ten years ago Falk filmed The Thing About My Folks here in Garwood, NJ.
Several scenes took place in The Garwood Rest, the local watering hole.
Typically for Hollywood, in the movie it is identified as being in NY.
Just like Rodney Dangerfield, Jersey 'don't get no respect'.
I had to work and missed out, but they used the regulars there for the extras in the bar scenes.
Everyone who was there says Falk was terrific, hanging with the natives, shooting pool with them and drinking beer, feeling totally at ease because "you guys make me feel like I can just be myself and you don't give a s---- about Falk the star".
One of the dimmer neighbors asked him, while he was in the parking lot, if it was true he had a glass eye.
Falk didnt miss a beat and said,
"It's that damn Jack Lemon's fault for telling everybody. I was talking to him one day and it
came out in the conversation".

[thechickinthemiddle]

My picks would be:

Meg Foster: She could easily be cast as a sort of character who you wouldn't be sure is on our heroes' side or not, and of course be a pretty welcome change for a love interest.

Ken Howard: I'm actually quite surprised the late Mr. White Shadow himself never appeared! He was on Murder, She Wrote plenty of times, even in one episode taking place in Hawaii after Magnum's run.

Alan Rickman: Another dearly departed great, he was indeed in Quigley Down Under with TS, but how great of a villain of the week would he have been in episodes like "Legend of the Lost Art" or "Deja Vu"? (Nothing against Julian Glover, but he was too obviously the villain. )

Kate Mulgrew: It would probably be as a rich lady type like some of her MSW characters, but also be a client of Magnum's or host something at the estate.

Rita Wilson: Neat to see since she was in a late episode of Hawaii Five-O. Maybe in a similar sort of role to J. Digger Doyle.

James Coburn: He'd fit right into episodes dealing with spy/military plots, maybe playing an agency head like in the otherwise godawful Hudson Hawk.

And yessssss, 80s Madeline Kahn! She had such range that I can easily imagine her as a complement for Magnum or Higgins Maybe like a master of disguise tripping them up, or a famed stage actress driving Higgins nuts like Elizabeth Barrett in "Birdman of Budapest". Add in the "cast reunion" factor with John Hillerman and it's perfect!

I also second Liam Neeson, especially if it involves bringing back Brigadier Ffolkes.

Love the Peter Falk story too!

[Luther's nephew Dobie]

My picks would be:

Ken Howard ,Alan Rickman, Rita Wilson, James Coburn
And yessssss, 80s Madeline Kahn!
I also second Liam Neeson, especially if it involves bringing back Brigadier Ffolkes.
Love the Peter Falk story too!

Hi Chick,
I really like your picks. Ken Howard would be good if only because for once a guest star wouldn't be overwhelmed by Selleck's size when in the same shot.
Madeline Kahn certainly can.
80's stars on Magnum? How about Larry, Darryl and Darryl from Newhart, Norm & Cliff from Cheers, Luther Van Dam from Coach and Laverne & Shirley all invited by Robin to stay at a Murder Mystery Weekend at Robins Nest that goes awry when Alf is found floating in the tidal pool, after Higgins had threatened mayhem when Alf landed his UFO in Higgin's rose garden.

[thechickinthemiddle]

LMAO! What a scenario! All that's missing is Edie McClurg in an unspecified secretarial role.

You're so right about Ken's height though. I never realized how tall he was until I saw pics of him and Carol Burnett at the 2016 SAGs.



Other stars: Martin Mull, Harvey Korman and Tim Conway (in also a Murder Mystery Weekend scenario), Vernon Wells, and Patti LuPone.

[Work The Lock]

I would have liked:

Charles Bronson - imagining him as Higgin's American counterpart in an Allied WWII operation, who drops into Robin's Nest with some dark, unfinished business (don't they all?). Imagine him, Magnum and Higgins telling war stories over whiskies.

Tom Cruise - Cocky kid is the hot new PI in the island who is draining Thomas' business away and maddeningly going toe to toe with his charm offensives on the ladies. Would have been a fun early-season light episode.

[thechickinthemiddle]

I can definitely imagine those! Surprisingly, they didn't work that "good with the ladies" angle that much with RJ in "Summer School".

[marlboro]

Richard Lynch
Brian Dennehy
Brion James
Billy Drago
Dabney Coleman
Maury Chaykin
Eddie Deezen
Christopher Lloyd
Brian Thompson
David Ogden Stiers
David Warner
William Forsythe
George Kennedy
F. Murray Abraham
Sam Kinison

Karen Allen!
Mia Sara
Kelly LeBrock
Lynda Carter
Daphne Zuniga
Diane Lane
Anne Ramsey
Brigitte Nielsen (she would have been great in that Russian defector episode)

[Steve]

Richard Lynch
Brian Dennehy
Brion James
Billy Drago
Dabney Coleman
Maury Chaykin
Eddie Deezen
Christopher Lloyd
Brian Thompson
David Ogden Stiers
David Warner
William Forsythe
George Kennedy
F. Murray Abraham
Sam Kinison

Karen Allen!
Mia Sara
Kelly LeBrock
Lynda Carter
Daphne Zuniga
Diane Lane
Anne Ramsey
Brigitte Nielsen (she would have been great in that Russian defector episode)

Good list but remember, Eddie Deezen was in Squeeze Play.......

[marlboro]

Damn, I completely forgot about that.

[MagnumILWU]

I'm also a big Mike Hammer fan! Stacy Keach, as Mike Hammer, going to Hawaii, would have been different! His interaction with Magnum and Higgins, would have been something to see!

[Derek]

Richard Dean Anderson would have been nice. In a crossover episode, probably...

[Mrs. Higgins]

I know the shows were on two different networks BUT...

Could you imagine a Magnum/Knight Rider crossover? I'd die laughing at Higgins vs. KITT in an arguement over the accuracy of one of his war stories.