Magnum PI, arguably the centerpiece of CBS’ reboot-heavy upcoming season, has a lot of question marks, not the least of which is how Jay Hernandez will fill the moustache of Tom Selleck as Thomas Magnum. But our first look indicates he’s up to the job, even as the show opts for slightly goofier action theatrics than the original.
The basic pieces are still in place: Magnum is a military veteran, this time of Afghanistan, crashing in the guest house of a mysterious, absurdly rich author. With his chopper pilot buddy TC (Stephen Hill) and mildly sketchy buddy Rick (Zachary Knighton of Happy Endings fame), he hangs out, drinks beer with his buddies, and solves the occasional case, despite the contempt of one Juliet Higgins (Perdita Weeks), getting an upgrade from the stuffy butler of the original. But, of course, there is trouble in paradise, with the brutal murder of a Ferrari, oh, and also, one of Magnum’s war buddies also gets killed by mysterious goons. Magnum takes the case and both property damage and unlikely action heroics ensue.
It looks pretty diverting, although we doubt the actual show will have quite so many expensive exploding trucks and Hernandez leaps. There’s also a hint or two that Magnum will fall afoul of the team over at Hawaii 5-0, which seems like natural synergy. Why not cross over with NCIS: LA and MacGyver while we’re at it? Seriously, watching MacGyver and Magnum buddy-cop it across Hawaii would probably fill every ’80s kid with joy, especially if we throw The A-Team in there somehow.
(via CBS)
