Now it's Magnum, now it's not!

[Danno]

Does anyone else find it hilarious when all of a sudden, an action scene takes place and it's clearly a stuntman and not Tom Selleck? How did they think they'd get away with this?

It seems to happen a lot... I find it part of the charm of the show and really funny, but man, it can be obvious.

[SelleckLover]

I think they probably didn't have much choice. Not that many men look like my Tom Terrific! They were probably just doing the best that they could at the time. But I agree with you that it is part of the charm of the show, like in the episode "The Eighth Part of the Village" when they leave in bloopers that Tom makes while filming at the Honolulu Zoo. Also when he and T.C. break into an apartment looking for clues, Tom calls the character that they are looking for "Ray" instead of "Roy". He does the same in the scene at the zoo. I love the fact that they left that in!

[MAGNUM308]

When i worked in a dive store in Santa Monica in the late eighties I worked with a guy that did some doubles for Selleck. He used to tell me that when they were on location Tom would have him dress up like him and run out of trailer to have everybody chase him so that Selleck could sneak out the back. The only thing is my friend only looked like Selleck a little bit and had different color hair.

[Waltstasz]

I always get a kick out of the stunt double thing too. It is pretty obvious most of the time.

[J.J. Walters]

Well you know, in fairness to Selleck, he did do quite a bit of his own stunts on the show, especially for a lead. Most of the brawl scenes* were him, for instance - and he does throw a near perfect "power punch".

For some scenes, obviously the riskier ones for sure, you just gotta go with the stunt double. I believe Selleck's main stunt double on Magnum was Tom Lupo. And like SelleckLover said, Selleck is such a unique looking guy, you're not gonna find someone who looks close to him, really, so the double "sticks out" that much more.

* Although the famous scene with Magnum getting his a$% kicked by two chicks DID use a stunt double. I got a flash video clip of it on the Video page, under 'Magnum Smackdown'.

[Shermy]

They're currently remastering original Star Trek episodes, using cgi to update things like planet exteriors, backgrounds, f/x, etc.

But I wonder if/how they are addressing the issue of Kirk's stuntmen? I mean, nothing dates an episode more than watching Kirk confront Khan, then suddenly...two other guys show up and start fighting!

[Danno]

Well you know, in fairness to Selleck, he did do quite a bit of his own stunts on the show, especially for a lead. Most of the brawl scenes* were him, for instance - and he does throw a near perfect "power punch".

Oh yeah, don't get me wrong, I'm not dissing the man at all!

I think there may be some scenes when he's driving the 308 when it's a stunt man as well. For good reason of course- but it's still a hoot imo...

[Shermy]

There's a surreal moment in Double Jeopardy where Magnum is playing a stunt double- and being doubled himself!

Incidentally, this episode opens with Magnum saying the cab driver is blasting "Orange Blossom Special" on the radio. It appears to be a stock cover, but I wonder if it were originally a famous version of the song (ie. Johnny Cash, etc.)?

[IslandHopper]

It's funny to see the action scenes with the stunt men for Magnum and TC. Now that we all have DVD players, you can pause and play in slow motion, and it is very obvious who the stunt men are. I'm sure the producers of Magnum P.I., never dreamed that the average consumer would have a piece of equipment such as a DVD player where you could pause or slow down the action and be able to identify the stunt men. As you know, you can tell even without pausing. Some episodes are more obvious than others. For example in the episode "Thicker Than Blood" (season 1) Magnum goes to TC's hanger to try to stop him from jumping bail, when they start fighting. In this scene, Magnum is wearing white shoes, but his stunt double has black shoes. There are many other episodes where these technical errors show up.

Have any of you noticed that Magnum's stunt double has appeared in episodes as an actual character? Unless I am mistaken, one such episode is "Mr. White Death." I believe Magnum's stunt double is one of the Mafia hit-men after Ernest Borgnine's character. He's shows up with a gun along with his partner at the wrestling arena locker room, where TC is actually posing as Mr. White Death.

In addition, it appears that Bob Minor is TC's stunt double. I knew TC's stunt double always looked familar. It's hard to tell because TC's stunt double usually keeps his head down when fighting, falling, etc., but it looks like Bob Minor. My son and I were watching the movie "Project X" the other day and Bob Minor appeared as one of the Military Policeman towards the end of the movie. Then it hit me that Bob minor is also the Stunt Coordinator for Magnum P.I. So it makes sense that Bob Minor is TC's stunt double. If I'm wrong, someone please let me know. Bob Minor had a guest starring role in episode "Round and Round" (Season 6), however, he was credited as Robert L. Minor.

[J.J. Walters]

Hi IslandHopper, welcome to MM!

Interesting tidbit there about the fight in Thicker than Blood. I'll have to take a look at that. And you're right about Bob Minor. He was the show's main stunt coordinator, and T.C.'s stunt double. In addition to Round and Around, he was also the bad guy in Legacy From a Friend.

[IslandHopper]

Thanks for the welcome James, glad to be here.

Although this doesn't involve a stunt double, another blooper to watch for involves TC in the episode "Faith and Begorrah" (season 3). When Magnum drags TC to his client's Gym to give him (Boxer-Client) a report on his wife's infidelity, TC is standing next to Magnum without a hat on. There is no hat in sight, not in his hand, etc. The camera turns and focuses on the boxer and when they turn back onto Magnum and TC, TC has an Atlanta Falcons hat on. Have you noticed this?

[J.J. Walters]

Awesome, more flubs to add to the Episode Guide. Thanks IslandHopper!

[Frodoleader]

Another shot with an obvious double is in the "The Look". At the end of the episode when TC's chopper flys up to the "lovers leap", you can see the pilot is obviously not African-American. The pilot of the chopper has a black ski mask on!