This is the official MM thread for Black on White (3.6). All discussions and reviews for this episode should go here. If you wish to rate the episode, please do so with the poll. The avg. score will be the official 'community rating', which will be used on the episode page (updated monthly).
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Original Air Date: 10/28/1982
There's something in the air when Higgins is told that he must be quarantined with Magnum after they are exposed to a deadly African virus. But is this the real reason?
Black on White (3.6)
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J.J. Walters
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Black on White (3.6)
Last edited by J.J. Walters on Fri Dec 28, 2007 4:38 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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J.J. Walters
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A wonderful episode with a great story line and a delicious, unexpected twist at the end. Ian McShane (Deadwood) turns in a fantastic guest starring appearance. There are some great Magnum-Higgins scenes in this episode. And you've got some great Higgins flashbacks, the gorilla mask, the TomyTronic Pac-Man game and, as T.C. would say, Bebe Kiamonni baby, Be-be Kia-monni. 
Higgins: It's not a scratch! It's a bloody gouge!
When I watched this episode, it made me wonder how on earth Ian McShane got a guest role. I mean, he's mostly a British actor, and until Deadwood, had not really seen him on the small screen in the States, and his biggest claim to fame would have been Lovejoy (a BBC series which was rerun on PBS and/or A&E) and even that series happened after this appearance on MPI. Not that I'll every find out the answer, it's just that it makes me wonder about the vagaries of casting.
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lutherhgillis
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Grape,
It seemed to me that almost anyone could get a guest spot on MPI back then. Look at the group who appeared over the years. I think they just searched for a British actor who was about the right age who was available. That probably narrowed it down quite a bit. McShane did a great job in my opinion.
I must say again that I appreciate the way the MPI show dealt with soldiers and their war experiences. War is not pretty and people sometimes have problems dealing with what they did during the war. This episode is another example of depicting the realities of war.
LHG
It seemed to me that almost anyone could get a guest spot on MPI back then. Look at the group who appeared over the years. I think they just searched for a British actor who was about the right age who was available. That probably narrowed it down quite a bit. McShane did a great job in my opinion.
I must say again that I appreciate the way the MPI show dealt with soldiers and their war experiences. War is not pretty and people sometimes have problems dealing with what they did during the war. This episode is another example of depicting the realities of war.
LHG
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J.J. Walters
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Perhaps because he did such a good job in Season One's "Skin Deep"?grapeshot wrote:When I watched this episode, it made me wonder how on earth Ian McShane got a guest role.
Your point is well taken, though. He hadn't appeared in many American TV shows, although he was in an episode of Police Woman and Space: 1999 in the 70s. Heh.
Higgins: It's not a scratch! It's a bloody gouge!
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SelleckLover
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Typically when you want to work in Hollywood, you get an agent and your agent gets you work. I know when my husband worked as an extra, his agent got him all his jobs. (You can see him in "Mighty Ducks Part II" in the last few minutes of the movie as a reporter, among others.) Perhaps McShane's agent got him those roles when he happened to be in Hawaii. (?)
Lynne Moody emerging out of a moonlit tidal pool is one of my all time favorite shots, right up there with Erin Gray in her bikini on the beach and Mimi Roger sitting on the breakwall of the Estate. Oh, and I also love the exchanges between Higgins and Magnum in the beginning, reminds me of some of the exchanges between my wife and I..........
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IslandHopper
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I'm embarrassed to admit this, but I didn't even realize Ian McShane was in this episode. I knew he was in "Skin Deep" but he looks so different in this episode, I didn't even recognize him. I don't know if his hair is shorter or maybe he lost weight, but he looks totally different than he did in "Skin Deep."
My wife and I were watching "We Are Marshall" (great movie), and Ian McShane played the father of one of the players that was killed in the plane crash. Throughout the movie I knew I had seen this guy before, and didn't know who it was until the ending credits. He did an excellent job with his role. If you haven't seen it yet, "We Are Marshall" is worth seeing. . . A real tearjerker.
My wife and I were watching "We Are Marshall" (great movie), and Ian McShane played the father of one of the players that was killed in the plane crash. Throughout the movie I knew I had seen this guy before, and didn't know who it was until the ending credits. He did an excellent job with his role. If you haven't seen it yet, "We Are Marshall" is worth seeing. . . A real tearjerker.
The answer is obvious, old man. Logic is irrelevant. It's simply Tropical Madness. (J.Q. Higgins)
watched this one again last night and my husband noticed 2 "maybe-flubs" 1. Where did Higgins get that black tuxedo. He was dressed different when running into the guesthouse and wasn`t allowed to go out again, cause of the Quarantine sign.
2. When Higgins opens the refridgerator it is filled up with beer, later when Magnum opens again to get a glass of milk it is filled completely different (yeah, I know - but I don`t want to believe he drank it all *G*)
oh and somethink funny to add, Higgins tells Magnum he ate too much different things, like Hotdogs, Popcorn Pretzels and "God knows how many Fig Newtons" - in German they translated Fig Newtons with "Newton Feigen" which just means the figs (botanical) and not the cookie.
2. When Higgins opens the refridgerator it is filled up with beer, later when Magnum opens again to get a glass of milk it is filled completely different (yeah, I know - but I don`t want to believe he drank it all *G*)
oh and somethink funny to add, Higgins tells Magnum he ate too much different things, like Hotdogs, Popcorn Pretzels and "God knows how many Fig Newtons" - in German they translated Fig Newtons with "Newton Feigen" which just means the figs (botanical) and not the cookie.
Sometimes I get so lucky, even I don`t believe it (TSM)
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Jodykmg365
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I watched this last night. Great episode. Some of the best Higgins/Magnum moments here.
In the scene toward the end with TM talking about paradise, he alludes he specifically came to Hawaii to get away from the horrors of war.
Is this flub:
When Clutterbuck arrived at the estate to tell Magnum that Higgins life was in danger, (A scene we have described, but don't see) How did he get his spear in? Did he have a really long guitar case with him? Theres a good chance Magnum or Rick helped him with his luggage. Did they not notice a 6' long tubular package and ask "What is this?"
In the scene toward the end with TM talking about paradise, he alludes he specifically came to Hawaii to get away from the horrors of war.
Is this flub:
When Clutterbuck arrived at the estate to tell Magnum that Higgins life was in danger, (A scene we have described, but don't see) How did he get his spear in? Did he have a really long guitar case with him? Theres a good chance Magnum or Rick helped him with his luggage. Did they not notice a 6' long tubular package and ask "What is this?"
