Best and weakest seasons!

[Turkey]

I think around a year since I last posted in this thread and it's still

1
4
2

But if 7 was more solid overall, it might have got in the top three

[ConchRepublican]

Another fan of the first season. Nice.

Still love it from the first to the last episode, yep!

It's my go to for "comfort viewing".

[No need to know!]

For me this changes from like year to year. I watch every episode in order atleast once a year, no shit
Right now from best to not the best (every season is good)

Season 2
Season 1
Season 3
Season 4
Season 5
Season 7
Season 6
Season 8

[Magnum's moustache]

Another fan of the first season. Nice.

Still love it from the first to the last episode, yep!

It's my go to for "comfort viewing".

Exactly. Personally, it's also one of those seasons that will cheer you up or make you feel good just by watching it

[KingKC]

STRONG fan of Season One.

KingKC

[KingKC]

I thought I would do some math and determine the average episode rating by season. Here are the results from highest to lowest:

Season 7 = 8.4909
Season 1 = 8.3722
Season 8 = 8.3308
Season 4 = 8.2714
Season 3 = 8.2304
Season 2 = 8.2064
Season 5 = 8.15
Season 6 = 7.9619

Here are some other facts about each season

Percentage and number of shows rated 9.0 or higher per season

Season 1 = 16.67% = 3 shows
Season 2 = 9.09% = 2 shows
Season 3 = 8.7% = 2 shows
Season 4 = 9.52% = 2 shows
Season 5 = 9.09% = 2 shows
Season 6 = 0% = 0 shows
Season 7 = 22.73% = 5 shows
Season 8 = 15.38% = 2 shows

Percentage and number of shows rated 7.9 or lower per season

Season 1 = 16.67% = 3 shows
Season 2 = 36.36% = 8 shows
Season 3 = 17.39% = 4 shows
Season 4 = 14.29% = 3 shows
Season 5 = 36.36% = 8 shows
Season 6 = 42.86% = 9 shows
Season 7 = 13.64% = 3 shows
Season 8 = 23.08% = 3 shows

Highest and lowest rated episode per season:

Season 1
Tie for High = 9.0 = Don't Eat the Snow in Hawaii Part 1 and 2
Low = 7.6 = Missing in Action

Season 2
High = 9.4 = Memories are Forever Part 1
Low = 7.2 = The Taking of Dick McWilliams

Season 3
Tie for High = 9.5 = Did You See the Sunrise Part 1 and 2
Low = 6.8 = Two Birds of a Feather

Season 4
High = 9.3 = Home From the Sea
Low = 7.0 = Smaller than Life

Season 5
Tie for High = 9.0 = Echoes of the Mind Part 2 and Mac's Back
Low = 7.6 = Let Me Hear the Music

Season 6
High = 8.8 = Way of the Stalking Horse (No episode rated at 9 or higher)
Tie for Low = 7.3 = This Island Isn't Big Enough and A Little Bit of Luck and A Little Bit of Grief

Season 7
Tie for High = 9.4 = Death and Taxes and Limbo
Low = 7.7 = Missing Melody

Season 8
High = 9.4 = Unfinished Business
Low = 7.4 = The Great Hawaiian Adventure Company

[marlboro]

Let Me Hear the Music is the lowest rated season 5 episode? Inconceivable! I liked that one. I can't believe it's less popular than Kiss of the Sabre and Tran Quoc Jones. It's got Elvis' bodyguard, Matt Dillon's sidekick, and the original Orion slave girl - what more could you ask for?

[KingKC]

Kiss of the Sabre rated at 7.7 and Trans Quoc Jones rated at 7.8

A second check shows that the episode of A Pretty Good Dancing Chicken tied Let Me Hear the Music with a 7.6 rating.

Actually I liked Let Me Hear the Music better than several others but I am just taking the average of all those who voted.

KingKC

[Styles Bitchley]

Great to see those stats all in one place, King. Very revealing. Thanks for posting.

[KingKC]

[quote="KingKC"]I thought I would do some math and determine the average episode rating by season. Here are the results from highest to lowest:

Season 7 = 8.4909
Season 1 = 8.3722
Season 8 = 8.3308
Season 4 = 8.2714
Season 3 = 8.2304
Season 2 = 8.2064
Season 5 = 8.15
Season 6 = 7.9619

I would really like to hear from some of the more experienced and informed forum members as to why Season 6 turned out to be the season which clearly "brings up the rear." I don't know enough about the writers, directors or producers to determine if they were the problem.

I did look at a few things and found out that there weren't many "babes" in this season. Nancy Stafford and Cynthia Sykes were the two best looking in my opinion. But there were 21 episodes that season so 19 episodes didn't have a "babe" for me.

I also noted that the guest stars were not really close to A-list actors. The most notable names that I recognized were Alan Hale, Jr., Meredith McRae and Frank Converse.

Could it be that MPI was losing its touch after five years? Does anyone have the Neilsen, et al. type ratings for that season compared to others? (It came back super strong in Season 7 though!)

Hope to hear some opinions.

KingKC

[KingKC]

Okay, I know I am obsessing on this seasonal rating stuff but I have some more information some of you might find interesting.

The Nielsen ratings for MPI from more than one source seem to be:

Season 1 - 14
Season 2 - 17
Season 3 - 4
Season 4 - 6
Season 5 - 15
Season 6,7,8 - Not in Top 30

I did find an article in the LA Times - April 23, 1986 - claiming that MPI fell to 48th in the rankings for Season 6 primarily due to The Cosby Show as new competition. It looks like the members of this website thought Season 3 and 4 were pretty middle of the road while overall it looks like more people watched MPI in those years. I guess it also depends on competition for Nielsen Ratings.

I might point out that the TRIVIA section of the website (Paragraph 1) mentions that MPI topped out at #3 one year and averaged a rating of 17 over the course of the series. I cannot confirm that #3 rating and the math doesn't quite work out to a 17th overall place if the ranking of 48th is true for Season 6 and Seasons 7 and 8 are over 30. If those rankings are correct and MPI ranked 31 in both Season 7 and 8 then the average series rating was 20-21 which still isn't too bad. Maybe the author of TRIVIA used ratings other than Nielsen. I am too new and ignorant of all the workings of this website to be making too many critical remarks.

I still invite comments on what you think is the reason Season 6 got rated so low by the forums.

KingKC

[KingKC]

Okay...I admit it...I have gone completely mad with statistics!!!

Number of top 40 Episodes per season - (Since there was a tie for 40th place 46 episodes were listed)

Season 1 - 6 of top 40
Season 2 - 7 of top 40
Season 3 - 6 of top 40
Season 4 - 8 of top 40
Season 5 - 5 of top 40
Season 6 - 2 of top 40
Season 7 - 7 of top 40
Season 8 - 5 of top 40

Once again Season 6 comes in dead last. Any reasons????

KingKC

[Styles Bitchley]

Interesting stuff you bring to light. I'm a fan of statistical analysis also. Once you get into the numbers and start seeing patterns it's almost addictive.

Season six coming in last is a bit of a surprise, as it's got quite a few good episodes in it. But as it goes with statistics, there may be a few dogs that drag down the overall rating of a given season (i.e., This Island Isn't Big Enough and A Little Bit of Luck and A Little Bit of Grief). I also note that the highest rated episode for that season was the lowest rated, highest rated (you'll forgive the turn of phrase) episode for a season over the entire series.

Judging by my engagement with the forum over the years, there tends to be an agreement that Season Five was a low point (although not all would agree with that). Five is my least fave season, but it has some gems.

[MagnumFan]

I'm not sure what the weakest season is, but of the first half of the show, so far, on my re-watches, I'd say Season 2 may be the strongest. If not the strongest, I'd say it's the Season where Magnum, P.I. found it's groove and where a lot of the side character we'd come to love over the next 7 years would be introduced. Season 1 has some great episodes, but the show hasn't yet found itself. By the last few episodes of Season 1, we're getting there; Beauty Knows No Pain is a classic. But some of the very early episodes feel a bit off. You have Rick in the Pilot running a racy upscale Disco/coke club, which seems out of character for Rick and the show; Higgins' characterization doesn't jibe a little with the Higgy we come to know and love; he feels more like a thorn in Magnum's side/minor villain in TM's life rather than the begrudging mentor/ally figure we know him best as; The relationship in the beginning is one of mutual scorn rather than grudging respect and at the end of the day, close friendship. While Thomas never has time to listen to Higgins' stories, in Season 1 he treats them with scorn and vocal annoyance, and Higgins in turn looks at Magnum as sort of an uncultured rube, a loser. By Season 2, a lot of that antagonism is gone, even if they continue to have little petty feuds throughout the rest of the series.

But, come Season 2 and the show has finally figured out the tone overall, and some of the signature themes/storylines that would color the rest of the series are introduced here (IE the Michelle storyline). It's the season where all of the relationships are firmly established and sets us truly on course for the classic series the next seven years would deliver.

Watching those early seasons, it's wild to show how the '80s changed over time, in terms of fashions, music etc. The Pilot, everything is still wide lapels, Disco type fashion, Leisure Suits, and '70s hair.

Thomas has a much thicker mustache in the First and Second Season respectively, and the Hawaiian/Aloha shirt doesn't even become part of his signature wardrobe until Season 2 - he spends most of Season 1 wearing polo-type shirts, and has much bigger, curlier hair himself.







Compared to the last season

[Donuts ensucrats]

For me, from best to worst

3 (it's where I enjoy Magnum-Higgins relationship better and the life in the Estate also)
4 (it contains Home from the sea, operation silent night...not awful episodes here)
1 (i like the hawaii background and the 70¡'s mood)
2
7
5
8
6


It's difficult because some seasons are on the same level. For example 1-2