Your movie 'wish list'

[eeyore]

Agreed here as well! I felt kind of guilty I guess all these years for not being on her side, NO more! Now that I know I wasn't he only one who felt that way and it wasn't just me!
That said, did anyone see Marta DuBois in Mc Bride? I was all prepared to not enjoy it, but she was good! Funny and likeable!!

[eeyore]

Ps one reason why I did not like Linda Lee Ellison was because she reminded me too much of Michelle both physically and emotionally. I felt like TM was trying to resurrect Michelle through her. JMHO.

[golfmobile]

eeyore,

Haven't watched McBride yet, but I saw it was on, so I DVR'ed it. Will watch it probably tomorrow night. Am curious to see "Michelle" in a favorable light!

So, glad to have you in the Michelle Anti-Fan Club.

golf

P.S. And I agree about Linda Lee Ellison! And I thought it was only me!

[eeyore]

Mc Bride is on this week? I'll have to DVR it myself! Thanks for the tip!
Whew glad I am not the only anti Linda Lee as well. She really put him in danger when she let him walk into the bust at the Temple.

[Lt. Cook]

My wish list
1.The estate
2. Two words: Macho Taco
3. VM02 hat
4. Someone saying to Magnum "The owner of that car you're driving must be..."
5. TS on a surfski

[VM02]

back to the Original thread for me. (Who knew there was so much Michelle-hate out there)

My Wish: Original Cast as much as possible in a what are they doing today type movie. Its a pity they passed on the Tom Clancy thriller in the mid 90s. (Magnum, USN?). But for me its about the interaction of the four characters, not so much the supporting details. Clearly some of the details were key to the show, but 20 years later, if we catch up with these characters, these details would not be the same. Its sad that Mr. Hillerman is retired, because the interaction between the two of them is central to the charm of the show, IMHO.

Perhaps RADM Thomas S. Magnum, recently retired, returns to Hawaii for a brief visit that turns into another case. Rick is for sure in trouble over something and TM persuades TC to help out.

Oh and Macho Tacos need to for sure be in.

[golfmobile]

VM02,

Did you see this from the Tom Selleck thread?

So what if we make the story that Higgins has inherited the estate when Robin Masters died, but then HIGGINS dies (I think it's pretty much of a "given" that John Hillerman doesn't want to do any more acting, so we must respect his wishes and leave him out of the cast) and HE leaves the estate to Thomas upon his death. When Thomas comes over (from the mainland, where he's been stationed in DC so that his family in the Tidewater could help with raising Lily and he's been working Intelligence at the Pentagon and has now retired), with Lily, who has gone to Annapolis and is a Naval officer, he starts investigating Higgins' death and determines that Higgins was murdered, so he has to solve that murder. He brings in TC and Rick to help him, as he usually does.

With Higgins dead, it would make for a perfect reason for lots of flashbacks of him from the show, with different scenes of his interacting in the original show with all the other three regulars from MPI (and even Lily!). So maybe we can have Josh Duhamel as Rick's son, James Lesure as TC's son, and the girl (Camille Guaty) who plays Piper on Las Vegas as Lily (gotta respect those dimples!), and they do a lot of the legwork and mystery solving, with advice and support from the older guys. Maybe we could make a little twist that Rick's son is the helicopter pilot from military service and TC's son is the weapons specialist. They both fall in love with Lily (not seriously, but the way Rick always fell in love with every pretty woman he ever met on the show -- this could even be mentioned), so we appeal to the younger generation for a little light-hearted romantic comedy inserted in the plot -- so we have the usual MPI plot of humor and action. But then at the end, light-heartedly, Lily's REAL fiance shows up (who can we cast here?? Steve Carell as his usual nerdy self for some more humor, but then he does something really smart and clever and wins everyone over so you see why Lily loves him) and the two "sons" fly off into the sunset looking for more adventure as the old fogey fathers exchange looks and just shake their heads.

That would include everyone but Mr. Hillerman, who, it seems, won't do it, but it would allow for a lot of flashbacks of scenes from the original series as different characters reminisce and talk about Higgins, like at a wake for him the night before the funeral or at the KKC after the funeral. And re-employ all the "good" characters from "Las Vegas," who are now unemployed since the show got cancelled. But now we TS fans are used to seeing him with them, so I think it could be a draw.

Now, that leaves a lot open. We really don't need Lily to go off and get married -- she has to stay on the scene and help the guys solve cases, a la The Mod Squad. And maybe as the guys fly off, TM, Rick, and TC can look at each other and cry out, "Oh, my GAWD!" in a salute to Higgins. And, of course, we have to explain Rick's having a son, since there wasn't one in the series, as the series DID show TC's offspring. So maybe Rick had an affair with Lisa Page/Sara Chapman from "The Woman on the Beach" in 1981 (which would make him just barely old enough for a current production), but she moved back to the mainland and never told him she was pregnant. He could come to Hawaii with Lesure, TC's son, because they met and became buddies in the Navy Seals or Green Berets (or the like) and in a subplot it could be revealed that he was actually Rick's son.

Now, why couldn't TS' production company pitch something like this to Universal or CBS or whomever? Doesn't everyone here think it would get an audience, probably a "to die for" audience, since the ratings on LV went up when all the MPI fans started watching it just for TS, and the Jesse Stone movies are successful.

I can't take credit for all of the above -- I think about half of it was eeyore's idea -- I just enhanced a little what he initially suggested.

Whaddaya think?

golf

[VM02]

Hiya Golf,

The plot you posted rings about right with me.

Sad that John H is unavailable, but Higgins death would certainly bring a reaction from Magnum and perhaps kick in another bout of the every-other-generation Magnum wanderlust. As key as the character of Higgins is to the Magnum "feel," I would rather have him absent save for flashbacks than be portrayed by another actor.

I am not familiar with most of the other actors you name, so I don't really have an opinion on them, I only did see the one Magnum ep of Las Vegas. But while I would be interested to see what Lily is up to, and to see how she and TM interact, i personally wouldn't want to focus much on the Guys family life at the expense of the focus on TM,TC,& RW. I would want to add as few new characters as possible.

I for one would love to see some sort of plot that centers around Higgins death, and his experience in WWII and somehow dovetails with what Admiral Magnum worked on during his second stint in the Navy. (which sounds a bit like the basic plot of Don't eat the Snow in Hawaii).

Perhaps the final scene is, case solved, TM packs up Higgins stuff from the study, but when he gets to the Bridge on the River Kwai, he ponders a moment and then sets it back. (Cut to "Produced by Tom Selleck" and the Colonel Bogey march)

Thought: Should be some dogs in that last scene: hera & athena?

Its a pity none of us have the Hollywood clout to get any of these Ideas made. And even mores the pity I think that the rumored Clancy written Movie never got of the ground.

[golfmobile]

VM02,

I was bringing the younger cast in because the "powers that be" nowadays in Hollywood are probably all younger than the MPI guys and THEY probably think they need to appeal to a younger crowd. But I have no objection if adding offspring for the rest of the guys is skipped.

And, yes, about the dogs, as someone in the other post mentioned that too (eeyore, was that you?). Maybe as TM sets down the bridge (but I thought it was destroyed in "Paper War" -- did Higgins rebuild it? Well, maybe not on the show, but granted he's had plenty of time in the last 25 years!), he hears someone come into the room and he turns and Lily is standing there with little Dob. Pinsch. puppies under her arms and holds them up: "Hera and Athena?"

One problem is getting to use the estate again, as I understand Eve Anderson has said "never again" because it just wasn't worth the aggravation. HOWEVER, if the production company were to pay to get the place back in shape again, maybe she would consider it? From recent reports of folks who have gone there and seen it (or tried to through the overgrown foliage on the beach side), the general consensus is that it has been allowed to get really run down. So maybe restoring it could be a hook to get Ms. Anderson to agree to its being used for just one more show.

Also, if a good script could be worked up, maybe TS, Roger M., and Larry M. could talk John Hillerman into doing at least a cameo from where he is now -- just find a location where he could be murdered in a brief scene, but at least we could SEE him 25 years later.

And I agree it would be absolutely delightful to have a lot of the former guest stars show up in cameos, but that could end up making it just a little TOO busy and cutesy, which we really don't want, I think.

Hey, if we could get a good synopsis worked up, we could always email it to Larry Manetti. We CAN get in touch with him and we know he answers emails (if somewhat succinctly). If we got him sold on the idea (and it probably wouldn't take much, as he's not exactly working full-time these days), maybe he would get in touch with TS, whose production company could pitch it.

Just another idea . . . .

golf

[Carol the Dabbler]

Hey, cool, guys -- I'd go see your movie for sure!

Here's my list of non-negotiables:

1. The original actors (insofar as they are willing).

2. Hawaii.

3. A good balance of humor, drama, and excitement (romance is optional).

4. A healthy sprinkling of tie-ins to the original series, including reuse of filming locations (especially Robin's Nest) and props, continuation of old running gags, cameos by former guest stars, etc.

Apologies to Tom Selleck, but I'd be just as happy to see this as a *well-made* TV movie as in the theater. The series was perfectly scaled for television, and I fear that attempts to "enlarge" it for a theatrical movie might do serious damage to its charm.

In fact, if They insist on doing a so-called Magnum movie w/o Our Guys, then once it bombs, maybe They will come to their collective senses and do a real Magnum TV movie. They would obviously have to do justice to the project in order to talk TS into it. I would NOT want to see this as another well-meaning "reunion" show that's all premise and no follow-through (e.g., the Mary & Rhoda and Dick Van Dyke Show reunions).

[VM02]

Golf

You are of course right about Hollywood thinking they need to put younger stars in to attract audience.

I love your idea with Lily and the puppies.