Top 10 all-time favourite episodes

[Little Garwood]

Conceivably I could choose ten episodes from seasons one or three and be satisfied!

I've gone on about these episodes in their respective topics so I won't repeat myself as to why I like them so much.

My choices are based on a combination of so many factors: rewatchability, nostalgia, scenes that capture the essence of what I love about the show, locations, dialogue, music cues, etc.

Episode titles are followed by their season number.

1. Memories are Forever (2)
2. Ki'i's Don't Lie (3)
3. Did You See the Sun Rise? (3)
4. The Return of Luther Gillis (4)
5. The Case of the Red Faced Thespian (4)
6. No Need to Know (1)
7. Mac's Back (5)
8. The Kona Winds (6)
9. The Hotel Dick (6)
10. Faith and Begorrah (3)

[eltonsean]

Here's my top 10 episode list. In chronological order

Don’t Eat the Snow in Hawaii (1.1 & 1.2)
No Need to Know (1.5)
J. “Digger” Doyle (1.17)
Memories Are Forever (2.5 & 2.6)
Tropical Madness (2.7)
The Jororo Kill (2.13)
Try to Remember (2.15)
Did You See the Sunrise? (3.1 & 3.2)
Black on White (3.6)
Operation: Silent Night (4.10)


nothing from seasons 5-8. Boom, mic drop.

[ConchRepublican]

Here's my top 10 episode list. In chronological order

Don’t Eat the Snow in Hawaii (1.1 & 1.2)
No Need to Know (1.5)
J. “Digger” Doyle (1.17)
Memories Are Forever (2.5 & 2.6)
Tropical Madness (2.7)
The Jororo Kill (2.13)
Try to Remember (2.15)
Did You See the Sunrise? (3.1 & 3.2)
Black on White (3.6)
Operation: Silent Night (4.10)


nothing from seasons 5-8. Boom, mic drop.

Wavelength . . . Shared.

[Little Garwood]

Wavelength . . . Shared.

Yeah, but it took you quite some time:

I haven't completed watching the series in it's entirety yet, but here's what I come up with ~

1 - Limbo
2 - China Doll
3 - Home From the Sea
4 - J "Digger" Doyle
5 - Did You See the Sunrise?
6 - Death and Taxes
7 - Black on White
8 - Never Again ... Never Again
9 - The Jororo Kill
10 - Paper War

Wow . . . picking only 10 is tough . . .

I have changed a little in the last 5+ years

1 - Limbo
2 - China Doll
3 - Home From the Sea
4 - J "Digger" Doyle
5 - Did You See the Sunrise?
6 - Death and Taxes
7 - Lest We Forget
8 - Little Girl Who
9 - Don't Eat the Snow in Hawaii
10 - Black on White

Still way too hard . . .

But like we all know too well...picking only ten is WAY too hard!

[Lindenburger]

Hi!
It took me some time to realize how much of a Magnum P.I. fan I really am. It also took me some time to find this site, which seems to be the perfect place for us MPI lovers. Thanks!

1.
Black on White (s3.e5)
Did You See the Sun Rise? (s3.e1)


2.
Home from the Sea (s4.e1)
Little Games (s5.e12)
Memories Are Forever (s2.e5)
J."Digger" Doyle (s1.e17)
The Woman on the Beach (s2.e3)
Italian Ice (s2.e15)
Of Sound Mind (s3.e12)
No Need to Know (s1.e5)

[Marcus the Lifeguard]

Have been wanting to do this for a while. This list may not represent the "best" episodes. But these are the ones that meant the most to me...

1. China Doll - Magnum PI in it’s purest form as originally conceived.
2. Did You See The Sunrise - Two hours of cinematic quality perfection, and that ending.
3. The Curse of the King Kamehameha Club - The first episode I ever sat down and watched. It was a late night rerun and the spooky elements of this one helped to get me hooked. Love the look on Magnum’s face when Henry Lewis blows him off after being challenged to “a little one-on-one”.
4. Legacy From a Friend - Thanks to this episode featuring Sinjin Smith, I went to the beach and learned to play beach volleyball. Got pretty good too.
5. Ki’i’s Don’t Lie - Simon and Simon, Magnum PI, and Morgan Fairchild. More Island mythology.
6. Beauty Knows No Pain - I was drawn to the surfski and volleyball episodes, and to this episode from the early days of triathlon.
7. Home From The Sea - More surfski.
8. Black on White - My favorite Higgins centric episode.
9. Squeeze Play - Loved Magnum going for home.
10. Letter to a Duchess - This beat out Tropical Madness because of the surfski storyline.

[KingKC]

Here are my 10 favorites with season and episode number. (Subject to change without notice...lol)

1. Lest We Forget - 1.10
2. Don't Say Goodbye - 1.15
3. J. Digger Doyle - 1.17
4. Beauty Knows No Pain - 1.18
5. Elmo Ziller Story - 2.21
6. The Woman on the Beach - 2.3
7. Laura - 7.18
8. Mad Buck Gibson - 2.9
9. Luther Gillis File #521 - 4.2
10. Curse of the King Kamehameha Club - 1.11

As I said, these are my personal favorites probably because they stick in my mind for some reason. If I were asked to objectively list the 10 best I would probably include Did You See the Sunrise, Memories are Forever, Death and Taxes, Limbo and many others.

While I am at it I want to post what I thought were some of the weakest episodes some of which were still OK and memorable...just not very strong in comparison to others. No Particular Order here.

Two Birds of A Feather
From Moscow to Maui
One More Summer
Mixed Doubles
Kiss of the Sabre
The Sixth Position
The Taking of Dick McWilliams
The Great Hawaiian Adventure Company
Smaller Than Life
Paradise Blues

Thanks for your time

KingKC

[Styles Bitchley]

Here are my 10 favorites with season and episode number. (Subject to change without notice...lol)

1. Lest We Forget - 1.10
2. Don't Say Goodbye - 1.15
3. J. Digger Doyle - 1.17
4. Beauty Knows No Pain - 1.18
5. Elmo Ziller Story - 2.21
6. The Woman on the Beach - 2.3
7. Laura - 7.18
8. Mad Buck Gibson - 2.9
9. Luther Gillis File #521 - 4.2
10. Curse of the King Kamehameha Club - 1.11

As I said, these are my personal favorites probably because they stick in my mind for some reason. If I were asked to objectively list the 10 best I would probably include Did You See the Sunrise, Memories are Forever, Death and Taxes, Limbo and many others.

While I am at it I want to post what I thought were some of the weakest episodes some of which were still OK and memorable...just not very strong in comparison to others. No Particular Order here.

Two Birds of A Feather
From Moscow to Maui
One More Summer
Mixed Doubles
Kiss of the Sabre
The Sixth Position
The Taking of Dick McWilliams
The Great Hawaiian Adventure Company
Smaller Than Life
Paradise Blues

Thanks for your time

KingKC

Nice list, King. I see that you shy away from the goofier episodes. I tend to like some of those ones...but Mixed Doubles is just too ridiculous. I think I remember James actually liking that episode, however. Funny how varied we are in what clicks with us. Although I'm pretty sure Two Birds is universally disliked - even Selleck didn't like it!

[marlboro]

Yeah, nice list.

I think I'm one of the few people who enjoyed "The Taking of Dick McWilliams." I guess I just like Guy Stockwell for some reason.

[Diandra]

Sorry if this thread has been done before – it has, I couldn’t find it.
After finishing watching the whole series right through, it seemed like a good time to put together a list of my Top 10 all-time favourite episodes, and would be interested in seeing others.

I’m being really strict here – TEN, no more (no long lists; no “I had to do a Top 20” lol); This was hard, so many greats that I had to leave out. Some are fan favourites, others are personal ‘underdog’ favourites. I’ve counted feature-length eps as one story. (Season in brackets)

1. HOME FROM THE SEA (4) – My all-time favourite episode, I find this one almost hypnotic
2. MAC’S BACK (5) - The only ep that I really care for from the rock-bottom fifth season; I first watched this when suffering depression about 3am one morning, and was gripped
3. LITTLE GIRL WHO (7) – The best of the Michelle-connected stories in my personal opinion; some great scenes, and a great shootout
4. PAPER WAR (7) – Possibly the best ever Magnum/Higgins episode
5. BLACK ON WHITE (3) – Another good Magnum/Higgins story, with a great plot to boot
6. J. “DIGGER” DOYLE (1) – Good adventure with lots of things going for it, not least Erin Gray
7. CHINA DOLL (1) – The first regular ep after the Pilot, I love this one, for both it’s story, and the exotic feel it has to it
8. DID YOU SEE THE SUNRISE? (3) – Possibly the best of the feature-length episodes (although ‘Memories Are Forever’ comes close)
9. BEAUTY KNOWS NO PAIN (1) – This is my real underdog entry (s4’s ‘Let The Punishment Fit The Crime’ was another contender), people seem indifferent about this ep, but I love it
10. FAITH AND BEGORRAH (3) – I had to include one “Higgins’ half-brother” story, and this one just beat ‘The Elmo Ziller Story’ (personally I never really took to ‘Who Is Don Luis Higgins…’)


This was TOUGH. No ‘Memories Are Forever’, no ‘Death and Taxes’, no ‘Operation: Silent Night’ (they came out just over tenth place). Have a go yourself – but remember, I’m being STRICT – TEN, no more, no long lists!

Love this list!!

[Donuts ensucrats]

in no particular order except the first

1-Home from the sea (no surprises here. Always on my mind since I was 11 )
2-China doll
3-No need to know
4-Limbo
5-Black on white
6-Operation Silent night
7-Beauty knows no pain
8-Torah torah torah
9-The arrow that is not aimed
10-The woman on the beach

and many more: try to remember, tropical madness, the legacy of garwood huddle, all thieves on deck, kapu, Atumn warrior, Laura, The ugliest dog in hawaii.......

[Little Garwood]

I'm truly surprised at how everyone here loves China Doll. I saw it again last week as I go through my annual series rewatch and while it has its moments, I just don't share my fellow Magnum-Mania pals' high opinion of this one.

Then again, this is coming from someone who rates The Kona Winds among his top ten. In fact, I think it's safe to say that no one in general shares my top ten to any extent, either.

[Styles Bitchley]

I'm truly surprised at how everyone here loves China Doll. I saw it again last week as I go through my annual series rewatch and while it has its moments, I just don't share my fellow Magnum-Mania pals' high opinion of this one.

Then again, this is coming from someone who rates The Kona Winds among his top ten. In fact, I think it's safe to say that no one in general shares my top ten to any extent, either.

Best episode ever.

[KingKC]

I am not sure if China Doll was the best episode but I am sure it was one of the, if not the, most significant episodes. I clearly remember it from 1980 because of the shocking ending. It also had suspense and violence which sells. Those things got viewer's attention and kept them coming back even with some light-hearted episodes to follow. It did me! Remarkably it did not have a lot of investigating since TM was hired to protect a vase. Personally, though, it is not in my top ten.

KIngKC

[Donuts ensucrats]

I missed The kona winds but not in my top ten. Maybe in my top twenty