One Picture is Worth (7.3)

[J.J. Walters]

This is the official MM thread for One Picture is Worth (7.3). 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: 10/8/1986
Art proves to be a very expressive medium when Magnum protects a deaf painter from the killer who knows she witnessed his last crime.

[rubber chicken]

No comments yet? I like this episode. We find out (unless we knew before and I forgot) that Higgins knows sign language and likes to paint. We also get a story about his learning to paint in the South Pacific. And his impression of Magnum was great, the way he was smiling really did remind me of Magnum even though Magnum and Higgins don't look anything alike. Mr. Hillerman shows his talents again.

TC further shows himself as a renaissance man when he knows and collects the paintings of Linda Andrews. There should have been an entire episode spent in TC's house on the hill with him showing us around his home and speaking of his passions late into the night.

And we get another obvious stuntman shot when "Magnum" jumps over the railing and fire. When I saw that shot in the episode preview segment I thought it was one of the bad guys that was going to be in the show. Then in the show I saw that they were trying to pass it off as Magnum - I got a chuckle out of that.

[IslandHopper]

I like this episode too. As RC pointed out, we learn more about TC and Higgins. TC's love for art in addition to his passion for the ballet, and Higgins' artistic abilities.

We also get to see the stunt doubles taking part in the episode separate and apart from their usual stunt double duties. When Linda Andrews walks into the Bank to deliver the painting at the beginning of the episode you see a window washer inside along with the security guard. The window washer is played by Bob Minor, TC's stunt double and the security guard is TS's stunt double (don't know his name). Bob Minor has had roles in "Legacy Of A Friend" and "Round And Around." TS's stunt double has had roles in "Mr. White Death" and "All Thieves On Deck." I didn't check the credits, but was the art gallery owner Linda Ryan? If so, she's played in quite a few episodes.

I liked Linda's house overlooking the ocean, but it didn't look like it belonged there. It kind of looked like it was prefabricated and placed there specially for the episode. This would make sense considering that they set it on fire and blew it to bits. Did anyone else get that impression?

[Doc Ibold]

IH, I thought the same thing

[J.J. Walters]

A pretty good episode, all-in-all. Much better than I remembered it from 20+ years ago.

Season Seven starts off with two episodes in a row where multiple innocent bystanders are indiscriminately mowed down by weapons fire from the bad guys at the beginning of the episode. "L.A." saw two kids get killed by Uzi's in an alley, here four people are blasted away with shotgun slugs at a bank. Even for this type of show, I find this shocking and depressingly grim! Expect anything and everything on MPI, I guess. And that's a good thing.

And another great ending. One of the best "shootouts" of the series, IMHO.

Love Carol's new haircut. Love it!

Oh and IH, Selleck's stunt double is Tom Lupo. Here he is in action from this episode:

[IslandHopper]

Oh and IH, Selleck's stunt double is Tom Lupo.

Thanks James. Is he ever credited with the parts he has actually played, such as the "Security Guard" in this episode; "Henchman #1" in Mr. White Death; or "Guy Who Gets Shot For Trying To Steal The Aumakua" in the beginning of All Thieves On Deck?

[J.J. Walters]

No, not that I'm aware of. The stunt doubles are not credited, either. It should be noted that Tom Lupo is not the only stunt double on MPI for Selleck. John Nordlum (also Jack Lord's stunt double in Hawaii Five-0) and Herman Cobile were also used as stunt doubles and stand-ins, and there may have been others. Truthfully, it's almost impossible to tell who it really is in any one scene. I do know that Tom Lupo was Selleck's MAIN stunt double, however. He appeared in several of Selleck's films as well, including Runaway, Three Men and a Baby, Her Alibi, An Innocent Man and Mr. Baseball.

Here's a page with the most info on him I could find, and with the only "head shot" I could find on him also (that's right, he was in a couple of Star Trek: The Original Series episodes!):

http://memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/Tom_Lupo

[IslandHopper]

Thanks for that James. I don't think he is the same stunt double we usually see in the series. It's hard to tell from the picture because it was from 1966 and he is without the mustache. TS' stunt double we usually see is the guy who played the window washer in this episode and Henchman #1 in "Mr. White Death." The link you provided also provided a link to IMDB link which shows that Tom Lupo was the stunt coordinator in "North Shore" (1987), and that he was also the stunt coordinator on MPI from 1987 to 1988. We discsussed this in the "Mr. White Death" thread, that the director or producer of North Shore mentioned that their fight scene was coordinated by someone from Magnum, P.I. He must have been referring to Tom Lupo. IMDB only credits him with being TS' stunt double in the pilot episode of the series.

[J.J. Walters]

IMDB only credits him with being TS' stunt double in the pilot episode of the series.

That's because that is the only episode where a stunt double receives on-screen credit. The pilot was first aired as a "movie" and features a lot more credits than what is normally shown on a standard episode. With Tom Lupo being Selleck's "main" stunt double, it's probably safe to assume he was in quite a few MPI episodes. If we could only get a circa 1980s picture of him...

[rubber chicken]

North Shore is a great movie. Turtle was awesome.

And that makes sense that Tom Lupo worked on the film, he was probably on Oahu already. Neat tie in IH.

[IslandHopper]

North Shore is a great movie. Turtle was awesome.

And that makes sense that Tom Lupo worked on the film, he was probably on Oahu already. Neat tie in IH.

Thanks RC. Yeah, North Shore is one of my favorite movies. If you don't already have the DVD, you may want to get it. There are some great bonus features including the interviews with the cast including John Philbin (Turtle) and the Directors/Producers commentary which reveals a lot of information on sets, the actors, filming techinques, etc.

[rubber chicken]

That's cool. I think I'll ask for it this Christmas.

[MyGod!]

re-watched last night, it does have a very well-done action scene, and good team-work between TM and the painter. Typical of season 7 that while average for that season, it's still above-average in terms of the overall Magnum pantheon.

[J.J. Walters]

Does anybody know the name of the classical piece that is heard at the beginning of this episode? Composer?

Here is the audio...

Thanks

[N1095A]

Tom Lupo looks a little like another favorite of mine, Walter Matthau.