Computer Date (2.14)

[Doc Fred]

What makes me keep coming back to watch this episode is the banter between Thomas, TC and Rick about Higgie Baby's lost love, Lady Ashley. It's the highlight of the show, and never fails to bring me laughs.. Love the "40 years uglier" from TC.

[I...]

Certainly a breath of fresh air after the worst episode of Season 2 (The Jororo Kill). Only thing bugging me was that Paolo guy reminded me of Justin Bieber don't know why.

[J.J. Walters]

Certainly a breath of fresh air after the worst episode of Season 2 (The Jororo Kill). Only thing bugging me was that Paolo guy reminded me of Justin Bieber don't know why.

That's hilarious, because I thought he looked like David Archuleta!

BTW, welcome to the site!

[Seaver41]

Love the denouement in this one. Higgins is relieved to find out that Lady Ashley (whom he hasn't seen in "decades") is no longer "built like the Prince Albert Memorial" (LOL), and has aged in a similiar manner as him (i.e. she's put on a little weight). How surprised he must have been then, when in a couple of years (in "Echoes of the Mind"), she returns and sports the body of a runway model (and is about 6 inches taller)*!

* This is, of course, due to "Lady Ashley" being played by two different actresses, but still!

One other thing, T.C. is seen wearing a hawaiian shirt in this episode. For the life of me, I can't recall seeing him wear a hawaiian shirt in any other episode. How about you guys?

for a change the shirt was buttoned

[Seaver41]

This episode was quite/fairly good in my opinion although it did benefit from Nancy DeCarl's presence in full icey blonde mode, as she played in Buck Rogers.

The story wasn't the most intriguing and there was no particularly clever twist either but the character development made up for some deficiencies in the episode.

writing may have been off, but what I find with television back then is that the throw in cast of the week is piss poor. The spy I would surmise didn't do much acting after that spot. Magnum plays his part well and even Mac handles his.....but the spy actor is pure amateur.

I would also add the chairman who hires Magnum is very good in his dialogue. The security guard was ridiculous.

[Seaver41]

Just a quick comment on the car that tried to run Magnum down and was then chased by Magnum. Some may already know this, but it's a 1977 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme.

I drove one as a teenager in mid 80's..........freaking boat and gas guzzler......but a ton of power and smooth as silk ride.

[Seaver41]

I liked the episode.....had some good laughs and decent plot.........in between though, the guest cast was largely bad save for the chairman.

Rare that you ever see a tv character make the bold statement TC did in describing Lady Ashley........and I laughed my ass off.

[Seaver41]

one more thing..........was that a flub when Magnum and Mac entered the computer room.......in the hallway it certainly looked like a daylight reflection was lighting the hallway.

[AmandaByNight]

I just watched this episode on Sleuth. I just found out that Claudia is Larry Manetti's real wife. I think they met when they both were on Battlestar Galatica in the late seventies. Their son was born in 1980.
Great little tidbit, loved this episode. Loved the end when Rick asks Magnum if he was trying to get him shot. Magnum tells him I knew what I was doing, just trust me.

I thought I read that Larry's wife Nancy Decarl was on Battlestar Galactica,
but now I can't find it.
They met before she appeared on the episode "Computer Date" because their son was born in October or November of 1980.

Larry's son made a short film called Scrambled Eggs:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0427822/

My friend Ron Morehouse was in it and he told me he actually had dinner with the Manettis and he said they were a great family (he was even in their house!). Anyway, I haven't seen the film, but it looks like Lorenzo has some nice credits to his name and I wish him all the best!

[Visiting Stewardess]

Wow! Amazing how different people's tastes are!
This is the first episode I gave a straight 10.
But maybe I got carried away in the euphoria of watching this episode with friends who recently "outed" themselves as Magnum fans and have begged me to watch an episode together.
We got popcorn, chips and beer and I put on this random episode, as I hadn't watched Magnum for a bit now and I forgot which episode I left off on.

We decided this was a very good episode because it had it all, suspense, fun, a comprehensible plot and Magnum finally being caught by a traffic cop!

I grasped pretty quickly that it was a setup after Magnum pulled back from the case and explained the fact to my guests, when just shortly after my suspicions about it got confirmed. The guys were pretty impressed with my deductions, maybe I should change my profession and become a private eye ... sorry, investigator, myself.

Also found it funny that Magnum was "almost wearing a suit", a look with soon after became quite popular and is not completely uncommon today.

The guy who plays Randolph also played a colonel in M*A*S*H around the time and he had that same irritating almost permanent grin on his face.

[Styles Bitchley]

I love this episode too. I think I like different episodes for different reasons. This one is just plain fun - and I love reminiscing about the state of computer technology in the 80s.

[snp389]

I reckon the best parts of this Ep is the relationship between TSM & JQH.

[txz045]

I'm curious if anyone has been able make-out what it says on the sign off to the right of the screen when the white-limo is leaving the estate through the front gate. I've noted the same sign on the back gate going out to the tidal pool a few episodes before this. But the camera angle was to the side and I was unable to make it out.

[rubber chicken]

I believe it reads:

PRIVATE PROPERTY
(not sure, might start with T?)
GUARD DOGS
ON DUTY

In what previous episode does the sign appear? It might help me.

[Netsrak]

I see that the Porsche/Ferrari chase is not listed in rubber chicken's awesome location guide... The chase appears to have been filmed on the north side of Diamond Head, on roads outside the crater and along Diamond Head Road.

Not sure where Higgins' initial jogging location is, but once the chase starts, they're on the narrow roads just north of the main tunnel into the crater... Then Magnum comes wheeling out onto Diamond Head Road between Trousseau Street and Makapu'u Avenue... Then the two cars are seen heading southeast on Diamond Head Road passing 18th Avenue (only a few hundred feet from the entrance to the Hawaii Film Studio on 18th!)... A few more shots probably filmed along Diamond Head Road follow, including a shot of the Ferrari's side mirror in which you can see (above the mirror) the sign in front of the American Red Cross building just past 18th... And then the big U-turn stunt takes place at a pullout on Diamond Head Road just north of 22nd Avenue.

(Curiously, a spraypainted "3" can be seen in the road during the U-turn stunt... I imagine this is probably a mile mark from some sort of running race held around that time, as Kapi'olani Park on the opposite side of the crater is a pretty common start/finish location for such races, and there are quite a few spraypainted numbers all around Diamond Head Road. Mile 9 on the current Honolulu Marathon course is just up the road from here.)

My guess is that Higgins' "outraced a Panzer tank" speech that follows the car chase was also filmed on Diamond Head Road, on the south side of the crater, heading westbound toward Waikiki. Sure looks like it, anyway.

I believe it reads:

PRIVATE PROPERTY
(not sure, might start with T?)
GUARD DOGS
ON DUTY

In what previous episode does the sign appear? It might help me.

A clearer shot of the sign is seen in "Double Jeopardy" (2.19) as Magnum follows one of the Sushi Brothers over the estate wall (around the 3:42 mark). Although a ladder partially obscures the sign, the small text of the second line can be made out to read "TRESPASSERS WILL BE PROSECUTED".