Billy Joe Bob (2.1)

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#1 Post by **J.J. Walters** » Mon Mar 05, 2007 10:08 pm

This is the official MM thread for Billy Joe Bob (2.1). 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).

This thread is also linked in the episode page of the Episode Guide.

Original Air Date: 10/8/1981
Billy Joe Bob, a hotheaded Texan, engages Magnum's services when his sister, Carol Ann, goes missing. Magnum has his hands full trying to keep Billy Joe from beating up every local who gets in their way and trying to find Carol Ann, who has gotten in over her head with the wrong crowd.

N1095A · #2 Post by **N1095A** » Tue Aug 28, 2007 6:48 am

This episode has one of my favorite Magnum monemts. When Magnum is trying to talk TC into flying Billy Joe to check out a lead, TC is working on the chopper by banging in the open engine bay with a hammer. As the conversation continues, TC casually walks over to his tool box and gets a bigger hammer, then returns to the engine bay. It's a very subtle scene that I find very amusing. It's the old "You need a bigger hammer" joke.

As he is stealing TC's chopper, Billy Joe looks to his left showing the right side of the pilot's headset. Written in in large letters is the name D. JONES on the right earmuff. Being that it is supposed to be TC's headset, are we to assume TC stole it from some guy named Jones? In reality it was likely a headset belonging to pilotand aerial coordinator David Jones.

#3 Post by **J.J. Walters** » Mon Sep 17, 2007 10:14 pm

N1095A wrote:As he is stealing TC's chopper, Billy Joe looks to his left showing the right side of the pilot's headset. Written in in large letters is the name JONES on the right earmuff. Being that it is supposed to be TC's headset, are we to assume TC stole it from some guy named Jones? In reality it was likely a headset belonging to pilotand aerial coordinator David Jones.

Heh, good one N!

lutherhgillis · #4 Post by **lutherhgillis** » Tue Oct 09, 2007 6:46 pm

Wow, N1095A, that's a great spot! I would never have caught that one.

I like the way Billy Joe walks into the tidal pool fully clothed after tying one on the night before. He takes off his hat and dunks his head. That seemed to be exactly what a cowboy would have done!

Luther H Gillis

#5 Post by **J.J. Walters** » Mon Jul 07, 2008 7:43 pm

This one's a little rough around the edges, but it's nice to see the Marks Estate for the first time, and old pals Selleck and Whitmore, Jr together again.

Famous jazz/pop crooner (and Hawaiian local) Jimmy Borges makes a brief appearance in this episode (as Sgt. Leong)...

Jimmy goes back to the old days of Waikiki (Trappers, Keoni's, etc.) and is famous for his arrangements of Sinatra songs, among other things:

With Sinatra's own blessing, Borges was allowed to select from his musical library of more than 2,000 arrangements, the ones he wanted to use in concerts. He chose 68 of them, which Borges estimates are worth about $750,000. (Borges is reportedly the only singer ever allowed complete access to Sinatra's legendary musical arrangements.)

Pretty cool.

Jimmy will appear in three more episodes.

#6 Post by **J.J. Walters** » Wed Jan 14, 2009 11:33 pm

Thanks to Rubber Chicken's Magnum P.I. Filming Locations Guide, I've added another location to my "list of places to see" for whenever I can get back to Oahu - He'eia State Park on Kealohi Point (just north of Kaneohe). This is where Ito's crib (and helipad) was filmed.

It also just seems like a really beautiful, neat little (18 acres) "off the beaten path" park to visit. It contains a fishpond once used by Hawaiian royalty, a lighthouse, and walking paths. The other thing that is really interesting about this place are the CATS! "Gazillions" of feral cats apparently make this park their home! The "Friends of Heeia" take care of them. I just think that would be fun to walk around and check out all the cats! It might also be a little unnerving knowing so many of them will be watching you as you walk around (The Birds anybody?).

RC says in the guide that one of the cats can be seen during the scene where Magnum is being escorted to Ito. The next time you watch this episode see if you can spot the wild "Heeia Cat"!

rubber chicken · #7 Post by **rubber chicken** » Thu Jan 15, 2009 2:53 am

I've added that first link to the placemarks, thanks James. I don't know if there were that many cats when the show filmed there, but I can imagine people just off camera trying desperately to keep "gazzilions" of cats from running into the camera's view, with hilarious results.

The place must be absolute feline anarchy, every kitty for himself. It does remind one of The Birds, but I picture it being more along the lines of Escape from New York. They're even on a peninsula, same as the Manhattan Prison.

#8 Post by **J.J. Walters** » Thu Jan 15, 2009 7:04 am

LOL! Escape From Kealohi Point! In another blog someone else describes the population as "somewhere in the vicinity of a million to a billion of them." Heh. There's probably not a single mouse to be found anywhere close to the place!

It appears that the Humane Society's Feral Cat Program also manages the cat colonies at Heeia. There are apparently several different colonies on the peninsula. They share it with chickens, too. I don't know, these cats seem like they have it made to me - warm weather year round, lots of shelter, food delivery (and easy access to a banquet hall), a fishpond, lots of friends, great views. The feral cats around where I live don't have it nearly so well!

#9 Post by **J.J. Walters** » Thu Jan 15, 2009 11:02 pm

I found the cat:

The cat kind of jumps out of foliage and starts walking along with Magnum and his escort.... like he knew the cameras were rolling, or something.

Dervish · #10 Post by **Dervish** » Sat Feb 14, 2009 10:26 pm

I was surprised to see Ito play kendo early in the episode. It's not the most high profile martial art. I wonder if Seth Sakai was a kendo practitioner, or if a stunt double was performing? The latter may be plausible, since Ito's back is to the camera during the action segment of the scene, IIRC.

N1095A · #11 Post by **N1095A** » Sun Mar 01, 2009 12:03 am

I really don't know which was more amusing, Billy Joe trying to talk without the accent or TM trying to talk with it. Either way, great scene in the bar.

IslandHopper · #12 Post by **IslandHopper** » Sun Mar 01, 2009 3:45 am

N1095A wrote:I really don't know which was more amusing, Billy Joe trying to talk without the accent or TM trying to talk with it. Either way, great scene in the bar.

One of the funniest scenes in the episode for me was when Magnum was trying to talk Billy Joe from killing Ito and he tries to convince Billy Joe that his sister was still alive and then frantically says "don't do it Pickles!" (or something like that). Pickles? The nickname Pickles took some of the drama out of that scene...and was funny instead. Even so, I thought it was an excellent episode.

Jay-Firestorm · #13 Post by **Jay-Firestorm** » Fri Apr 10, 2009 1:32 pm

Onto the second season, and not one of my favourite episodes.

[TV.com rating=7; Not my favourite storyline]

A hot-headed Texan with a penchant for socking people in the face hires Magnum to find his missing sister, who, unbeknown to him, has got in with the wrong crowd and fallen into prostitution. A mediocre start to the second season…

-----

The second season kicks off with this so-so episode. After leaving the first season on such a high with ‘J. “Digger” Doyle’ and ‘Beauty Knows No Pain’, two of my favourite MPI episodes, things come back down to Earth with a bump here.

The new season brings in a new recording of the theme tune (which would only be used for this season) and an updated mix of shots on the opening credits. I used to like “the old days” when shows would use shots from episodes; nowadays most opening credit sequences are over so quickly.
Anyway, also with the arrival of the second season, the King Kamehameha Club has a new location for external shots. Personally I prefer the one used in the first season. Also, Keoki (Patrick Bishop), a recurring Club worker, makes his first of a number of appearances in this episode.

James Whitmore Jr. (who would go on to play another character in the third season’s excellent opener ‘Did You See The Sunrise’) gives a fair performance as the hot-headed Billy Joe Bob of the title, but the character is also part of the problem with the episode, in that it is near impossible to really warm to him.

T.C., Rick and Higgins get very little to do in this story (Higgins doesn’t even appear until halfway through), and is probably another reason why I’m not overly keen on it.
And I find the plot just rather plain and uninteresting.
The sequence of Magnum and Billy Joe picking up girls to try and get a lead on Billy Joe’s missing sister feels like it should be really funny, but just comes off as so-so. In fact, the whole episode FEELS as if it should be better than it actually is.

Also, when Channel 5 in the U.K. reran the series in 2002-3, this was one of two episodes they skipped (the other being season seven’s ‘Out Of Sync’). I’m not sure if it was due to the bad guys using nunchaku (until very recently, they were banned in the U.K.), or the climatic scene with Billy Joe planning to hang Ito. Either way, I never got to see this episode until the release of the Season Two DVD set.

All-in-all, not one of my favourite episodes. There are worse, but as a season opener, I just find it rather disappointing.

-----

Other notes, bloopers and misc.:

* As mentioned above, this is the only season that will use this particular version of the theme on the opening credits.

* When Billy Joe arrives at the Club, and Rick comes to throw him out after he socked one of the workers, two lines of dialogue are noticeably added in post-production. (Billy Joe: “He got in my way, don't you make the same mistake.” Rick: “Cowpoke, you just pick up your hayseeds and get out of here.”) It is noticeable in that we see shots of T.C. and Magnum instead, and the audio is noticeably done in a studio.

* The Hawaiian Police Sergeant in this episode in some ways feels a bit like a prototype for Lt. Tanaka, introduced later in the season.

* When Billy Joe races off in the Ferrari, the shots of him putting the car in gear are seemingly stock footage used of Magnum (or his double).

* The closing credits of this episode are unusual in that they just feature shots of Billy Joe flying T.C.’s helicopter. Usually, there would be a selection of shots from throughout the story.

* The version of the theme used on the closing credits would only (if I remember) correctly, be used on one more episode, ‘The Sixth Position’ later in the season.

* As mentioned, Channel 5 skipped this episode in 2002. I seemed cursed to not see it, as I had not seen it on ITV regional re-runs either (one time, I was on holiday and the local region had it scheduled, but they changed it for a news programme at the last minute!). I’m not sure if 5 skipped it due to the use of nunchaku, or the hanging. Which ever it was, I’m surprised they didn’t edit around it, leaving a huge hole in the story – they did on other occasions, particularly on their run of ‘Starsky & Hutch’ which followed their run of MPI.

Jaybird · #14 Post by **Jaybird** » Wed Aug 05, 2009 12:18 am

For some reason I thought my second time through this episode would be a 'groaner.' Actually, I liked it very much. Is this the first appearance for James Cameron? And I was not expecting Carol Ann to reappear. So the plot has some twists and turns.

Coops · #15 Post by **Coops** » Tue Jan 26, 2010 1:50 am

I've been in Texas my entire life. I've been from El Paso to Orange. From the valley to Lubbock. From Big Bend to the Red River. And I've yet to see any part of Texas that looks like the background in the photo of Carol Ann when she was a cheerleader. However, there IS a Shamrock, Texas and it's claim to fame is the U-Drop Inn, as seen in the movie Cars. It's located up in the arid panhandle and in no way could be confused as, oh say, Oahu.

Billy Joe Bob (2.1)

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