40th Anniversary Watch Party

[Styles Bitchley]

Very syrupy, for sure. I thought it was funny for the first two minutes. I made it to the gift store and then realized I'd better quit at that point...

Yes for sure, The 'Father and Son' Singing is a piece of mastering...

Why Eileen Brennan talks about 'ancient culture' regarding Disney World ? it intrigued me.

It made me sad to see Dana Plato again, when you know what her life was like afterwards.

Agreed.

[T.Q.]

Just in case I didn't feel old enough talking about that old 10 year anniversary of Walt Disney World show...

I just saw the TV ad for the 50th Celebration of Walt Disney World.

[Styles Bitchley]

Yep. 1972 was half a century ago, amigos. Getting long in the tooth.

[eagle]

Man, there are serious Clark W Griswold vibes here, from the station wagon to the RV to the singing to being pulled over by the cop.

[T.Q.]

January 28, 1982

[CBS 8:00] Magnum, P.I.
Try To Remember
Season 2, episode 14

With Mark Withers (Dave Gilbert), Nancy Lee Grahn (Wendy Gilbert), Kwan Hi Lim (Lt. Tanaka), Glenn Cannon (Dr. Ibold), Clay Wai (Parking Attendant), Norm Compton (Ambulance Attendant), Laurie Foi (Hostess), Tony Compton (Mechanic), Francesca Dodge (Juanita Keole).

The Ferrari, with an unconscious and injured Magnum in it, is found at the bottom of a cliff. Magnum is rushed to a hospital but when he regains consciousness is found to have amnesia and cannot remember what happened.

[Styles Bitchley]

I like the way the pieces of this case slowly come together.

[ZelenskyTheValiant (Ivan)]

"Try to Remember" is definitely one of the best from season 2. The introduction of Lt. Columbo... errr... Lt. Tanaka is a big plus!

I'm a big fan of amnesia stories in general. One of my favorite Five-O's is "Journey Out of Limbo" (season 5) where Danno is dumped out of the back of a dump truck carrying sand, with no recollection of how he got there or what happened. T.Q. remembers. Also one of my favorite Knight Rider's is "Knightmares" where an explosion causes Michael Knight to lose his memory and revert to his previous identity of Michael Long.

[Pahonu]

The thing I remember most about this episode, which I do enjoy, is the “evidence” that the seat in the Ferrari had to be moved back for Wendy’s tall husband Dave. As a 6-7+ person, I know that Selleck is 6-4, and that padding had to be removed from the Ferrari’s seat just to fit Selleck in it. There’s no way the seat wasn’t already as far back as possible. I must admit that I didn’t notice this in its first run when I was 10 or 11, but by the late 80’s reruns it seemed absurd to me as I was at my full height and struggled to fit comfortably in many cars.

[T.Q.]

"Try to Remember" is one of my favourite episodes.

[My Little Voice]

This episode is one of my favorites from season 2. There is a point in the scene where Magnum goes to see Wendy and Dave at their condo where Dave comes over and stands by Magnum. I remember noticing that Dave is taller and thinking "wow, don't see that very often." Kind of cool that it came back as a light bulb moment later in the episode, but Pahonu's point about the seat probably already being all the way back for Magnum is more logical!

[Pahonu]

This episode is one of my favorites from season 2. There is a point in the scene where Magnum goes to see Wendy and Dave at their condo where Dave comes over and stands by Magnum. I remember noticing that Dave is taller and thinking "wow, don't see that very often." Kind of cool that it came back as a light bulb moment later in the episode, but Pahonu's point about the seat probably already being all the way back for Magnum is more logical!

They had to remove padding from the seat just to get TS to fit. A colleague of mine who is 6-3 told me about a chance he had to drive a 308 years ago, but his legs were so cramped that he couldn’t properly operate the clutch and couldn’t drive it.

[ENSHealy]

This is one of my favorite episodes. The introduction of Tanaka, his taking Magnum's hat, the hypnosis, with its revelation of the wine pilfering, all great stuff. But a few things have always bothered me:*

1. Whether it's over-acting by Nancy Grahn, or just the lines she's given, Wendy basically screams "It was me! I did it!" through the whole episode.
2. Point taken about the seat in the Ferrari being all the way back (and more) already for Tom Selleck, but that's an IRL issue. In the Magnuverse, that problem doesn't exist (and targa tops magically disappear when you slide them open) so a tall dude could have moved the seat back. But the issue I've always wondered about is, if nobody at the garage drove the car, how did they move it around? How did it get from where TC and Rick were looking through it to where TM got in it? Did they put it in neutral and push it everywhere? Seems unlikely. Plus, there was more than body damage, that front end was wrecked. You know they would have had to do a test drive. So even if they've got a 6'7" mechanic named Pahonu, the theory behind the big clue is shot.
3. How did Magnum get the poison in the wine? The scene opens with Dave pouring the wine, so presumably they were all there when the wine was poured and TM couldn't have slipped something in the glasses. Did TM show up with an already opened bottle of wine? Seems a little tacky...and probably suspicious to a couple of folks who'd already pulled the spike-the-wine trick themselves. If he'd put the cork back in, the foil would be gone? If he'd used a needle through the foil and cork, the foil would have a hole in it. (Would the cork re-seal itself?) Was it a screw top bottle that had already been unscrewed once? Tacky and suspicious again.

But as I said, none of that takes away from my considering this a great one.


*I know some folks take issue with flub finding and plot hole excavation, and say we should just chill out and enjoy this show...but I'll bet even Gisele has a few habits that annoy TB12 every once in a while. Doesn't mean he doesn't want to stay married to her.

[T.Q.]

Do we ever really find out why there was a parking stub for the Crouching Lion Inn and a business card for the Antiques shop? Or we just assume it was Dave doing a bunch of extra stuff to muddy the waters.

[charybdis1966]

I’m rather late to this watch party but my season 2 DVD view has just about synced up with this thread now.
Watching this the first time round I was struck by how dark the tone of this was due to seeing TM so badly injured.
My first thought at seeing the red Ferrari trashed was fear that we’d seen the last of it.
Watching it now it seems obvious who the villain is quite early on. I do like Tanaka’s introduction as a Colombo type police detective - with the same disarming manner.

[Styles Bitchley]

I’m rather late to this watch party but my season 2 DVD view has just about synced up with this thread now.
Watching this the first time round I was struck by how dark the tone of this was due to seeing TM so badly injured.
My thought at seeing the red Ferrari trashed was fear that we’d seen the last of it.
Watching it now it seems obvious who the villain is quite early on. I do like Tanaka’s introduction as a Colombo type police detective - with the same disarming manner.

What a blast having an old timer along for the ride! Great to see your posts again! I’ve really got to find time for this week’s episode!