Magnum, podcast - revisiting "Magnum P.I."

Old cars versus helicopters, karate and seppuku, a helpful anecdote from Higgins, and a kidnapped guy who’s such a jerk that nobody (except maybe his wife?) wants to see him again. We watch a broken-down old episode from a writer who would go on to do better things, because what else can we do? We’re on the executive board of the Anglo-Hawaiian Friendship Society, after all. Jason Snell, Philip Michaels and David J. Loehr Support this show and other shows like it on The Incomparable network by becoming a member. Members get early access to podcasts, bonus episodes, and more.

This final episode of season two is strangely a leftover from season one, so far as we can tell. So many scenes from the opening credits! Julia Nickson is back! We meet Chekhov’s Security Guard, whose name is Ox! The Law of the Economy of Characters and the Fallacy of the Talking Killer are both on display! And, most importantly, we introduce perhaps our biggest bit of Official Magnum Podcast Head Canon yet: Miłosz. Jason Snell, Philip Michaels and David J. Loehr Support this show and other shows like it on The Incomparable network by becoming a member. Members get early access to podcasts, bonus episodes, and more.

The most important supporting character in the show (the Ferrari) is sidelined and, oh yeah, Magnum is hospitalized! But is his amnesia a result of his head injuries, or is it more sinister? What does Thomas have in common with Superman and Batman? Jason focuses on island vibes, Phil gets to talk an awful lot about baseball, and we may or may not have subjected David to ’80s hypnosis. Jason Snell, Philip Michaels and David J. Loehr Support this show and other shows like it on The Incomparable network by becoming a member. Members get early access to podcasts, bonus episodes, and more.

Candy Clark returns as an ex-hooker who is a deeply unreliable partner. We get caught in the Island Breeze, which services a lot of local men who need their carpets cleaned on a regular basis, sometimes by an unlikely pair of janitors? Jason Snell, Philip Michaels and David J. Loehr Support this show and other shows like it on The Incomparable network by becoming a member. Members get early access to podcasts, bonus episodes, and more.

Presented by Famous Big Hi-Rise Hotel on Waikiki, it’s “The Hotel Dick!” Magnum quits his job (?) to become a hotel detective (??) and foil a thief called the Cat Man of Kauai (???) with the help of a hooker with a heart of gold (???!) and no help from his boss, a mean man who might be up to no good. This is a “Magnum” like no other. Jason Snell, Philip Michaels and David J. Loehr Support this show and other shows like it on The Incomparable network by becoming a member. Members get early access to podcasts, bonus episodes, and more.

Sun, surf, and fake Beach Boys muzak can only mean one thing: It’s time for flashbacks! In this episode, we see Magnum, T.C., and Rick as they were before the pilot episode. Magnum’s a struggling P.I. on his first case. T.C.’s flying someone else’s helicopter. Rick is still doing that weird not-Bogart impression. Unfortunately there’s also a plot in the present day, and they’re connected, and neither of them makes a lot of sense, and it’s kind of a disaster all around. But: One of the all-time great Higgins speeches! Also, Jason almost forgets the blockbuster segment he introduced to the show last time! Jason Snell, Philip Michaels and David J. Loehr Support this show and other shows like it on The Incomparable network by becoming a member. Members get early access to podcasts, bonus episodes, and more.

Norman Fell menaces in hallucinatory flashbacks, a centipede bite causes mayhem, a spider steals Herman the Shark’s valor, and there’s some guy named Michaels. Unfortunately, this episode wants to be “Home from the Sea”, and even re-uses footage from that episode, which just reminds us that we’d rather be watching that episode. Jason Snell, Philip Michaels and David J. Loehr Support this show and other shows like it on The Incomparable network by becoming a member. Members get early access to podcasts, bonus episodes, and more.

This earliest non-pilot episode of Magnum features weird music, dogs, shots from the opening credits, an unfortunate Chinese food joke, fast dialogue, and a kung-fu assassin with one fatal flaw: blinking. Jason Snell, Philip Michaels and David J. Loehr Support this show and other shows like it on The Incomparable network by becoming a member. Members get early access to podcasts, bonus episodes, and more.

Back to the early days of “Magnum” with this episode featuring dual Ferrers and dual Lockharts along with a single Scatman. This episode really sets the stage for what this show will be able to do, even with the unnecessarily complicated plot. But don’t hold it against the screenwriter—after all, he is a novelist. Jason Snell, Philip Michaels and David J. Loehr Support this show and other shows like it on The Incomparable network by becoming a member. Members get early access to podcasts, bonus episodes, and more.

Now lissen up, Pilgrim, there’s a fake Christopher Cross version of the Magnum Theme and a dead body in a trunk in this episode. We play a game of Bad Cop/No Cop with guest star Clyde Kusatsu! But… does it have the island vibes? Jason Snell, Philip Michaels and David J. Loehr Support this show and other shows like it on The Incomparable network by becoming a member. Members get early access to podcasts, bonus episodes, and more.

It’s our 100th episode spectacular! Major General Eyepatch threatens our friends with death! Rick faces death by remembering some guys on the 1969 Cubs, but can Phil remember those guys? Is Robert Forster chewing the scenery… for the CIA? Which episode template of “Magnum, p.i.” is this, anyway? And Clyde Kusatsu is the George freakin’ Washington of Cambodia. Jason Snell, Philip Michaels and David J. Loehr Support this show and other shows like it on The Incomparable network by becoming a member. Members get early access to podcasts, bonus episodes, and more.

Academy award nominee Robert Forster chews all available scenery in part one of this two-part episode featuring a rogue mission to Cambodia. The gang travels upriver to the heart of darkness to the strains of a very bad Creedence Clearwater Revival cover. Death to the papists! Jason Snell, Philip Michaels and David J. Loehr Support this show and other shows like it on The Incomparable network by becoming a member. Members get early access to podcasts, bonus episodes, and more.

It’s time for another Summer of Magnum, unless you’re one of our many Australian listeners, in which case you’ll just warm yourself with shots of 1980s Hawaii. In this episode, we spend a surprising amount of time doing nothing other than announcing our return and telling you what episode we’re watching next. Consider this a shakedown cruise. Jason Snell, Philip Michaels and David J. Loehr Support this show and other shows like it on The Incomparable network by becoming a member. Members get early access to podcasts, bonus episodes, and more.

We preview our 2025 Member Special, which is about S3E1 of “Vega$”, “Aloha You’re Dead,” starring Robert Urich. It aired a month before the first episode of “Magnum” and features a lot of familiar locations, including Robin’s Nest itself. You can listen to that episode if you become an Incomparable member. In this teaser episode we also read a letter, discuss swearing, Jason brings up some recent news, and it’s basically our usual nonsense. We’ll be back later this year with a full season! Jason Snell, Philip Michaels and David J. Loehr Sponsors Incomparable Memberships!: Sign up, support our show, and get access to exclusive podcasts! Support this show and other shows like it on The Incomparable network by becoming a member. Members get early access to podcasts, bonus episodes, and more.

We wrap up this season of “Magnum, podcast” with a blockbuster two-hour special that introduces us to Magnum’s ex-wife, yet not wife in the eyes of the Catholic Church or the Vietnamese government, Michelle. For an episode that we didn’t like, we try to find positive things where we can. And we muse about how introducing Michelle in season 2 might have pulled the rug out from under all of Magnum’s future romance ambitions. Keep those emails coming to magnum@theincomparable.com and we’ll see you next year! Jason Snell, Philip Michaels and David J. Loehr Support this show and other shows like it on The Incomparable network by becoming a member. Members get early access to podcasts, bonus episodes, and more.

The ghosts of Pearl Harbor hang over this episode, which doesn’t really have a villain, except for that mobster who’s not really necessary for the plot, and that Admiral who’s just a stickler for the regulations, and… hey, Rick, can you do some research into old crimes? Anyway, Jason gets excited about his new TV show pitch, “Boat Cops,” and we end the episode in a sandwich reverie courtesy of Listener Adam. Jason Snell, Philip Michaels and David J. Loehr Support this show and other shows like it on The Incomparable network by becoming a member. Members get early access to podcasts, bonus episodes, and more.

Just like the proverbial dog who got run over by the pineapple truck, we’ve caught hold of an early “Magnum” episode that contains all the core tropes. Sexy stewardesses? Yup! The Lads chasing Magnum? Check! Rick’s character not entirely locked down? Uh-huh! Also, it’s some light entertainment about the Troubles in Northern Ireland with a surprise twist! Drink your wine. Life goes on. Jason Snell, Philip Michaels and David J. Loehr Support this show and other shows like it on The Incomparable network by becoming a member. Members get early access to podcasts, bonus episodes, and more.

Just before he was the dad in “A Christmas Story,” Darren McGavin took a trip to Hawaii to play pulp novelist Buck Gibson, a daredevil friend of Robin Masters. Do his misadventures teach us important lessons about how we appreciate our lives? What’s in a Bazooka? And we have several head-canon explanations for an anecdote about Magnum’s dad. Jason Snell, Philip Michaels and David J. Loehr Support this show and other shows like it on The Incomparable network by becoming a member. Members get early access to podcasts, bonus episodes, and more.

They’re always after his Lucky Charms! Higgins’s Northern Irish half-brother arrives in Oahu and it’s all light comedy despite what’s going on back home. Meanwhile, Magnum investigates an unfaithful wife and, wow, does the tone of this episode shift dramatically from moment to moment. Jason Snell, Philip Michaels and David J. Loehr Support this show and other shows like it on The Incomparable network by becoming a member. Members get early access to podcasts, bonus episodes, and more.

A guy in a blue sedan. A man with gold teeth. A woman (Marcia Wallace!) has come to Hawaii searching for her missing fiancé. Sounds like the plot to a good ol’ detective show, but forget all that—instead, it’s time to train for the Ironman Triathlon! Jason Snell, Philip Michaels and David J. Loehr Support this show and other shows like it on The Incomparable network by becoming a member. Members get early access to podcasts, bonus episodes, and more.