Magnum, P.I.: The Complete First Season

Season 1 is a great introductory season. However, it's also one of my least favorite seasons. That's not to say it's a bad season, because it's not. However, season 1 doesn't have any of the truly outstanding episodes of future seasons, such as "Memories Are Forever" (season 2), "Did You See The Sunrise?" (Season 3), "Home From The Sea" (season 4), "Echoes Of The Mind" (season 5), "Limbo" (season 7), and "Unfinished Business" (season 8). Thus, I'm giving season 1 a 4 star rating.

The episodes from season 1 are:

"Don't Eat The Snow In Hawaii" - This is the 2 hour pilot. "Don't look at the dogs. Work the lock. Work the lock. Don't look at the dogs. Oh! You looked at the dogs." This is a great introduction to the series. However, if you really want to recruit new fans, I recommend you show them the season 4 episode "Home From The Sea."

"China Doll" - This is a good action/adventure story.

"Thank Heavan For Little Girls And Big Ones Too." Magnum gets hired by 5 little girls. Not one of my personal favorite episodes.

"No Need To Know." - This is my favorite episode from season 1. Alfred Hitchcock said that having a bomb go off isn't suspenseful. What is suspensful is knowing that there's a bomb that's about to go off. The last several minutes of this show are Hitchcock all the way.

"Skin Deep" - This is the episode where Magnum seems to think, "Well, as long as she's dead, I might as well eat the food in her refrigerator." And I love Higgins's graphic descriptions of the effects that a gunshot wound has on the human body when fired from various distances. This is one of the better episodes from season 1.

"Never Again Never Again" - Magnum realizes that "Kessler is a Jew." Yes. And later he would become Doc Ibold. Good episode from this season.

"The Ugliest Dog In Hawaii" - Actually, the dog looks fine to me. But this episode if just too formulaic.

"Missing In Action" - A mysterious plot involving the military doesn't save this relatively boring episode.

"Lest We Forget" - Another routine episode with too much forumla.

"The Curse Of The King Kamehameha Club" - Since the Club plays such a big role in the series, why not give it its own episode?

"Thicker Than Blood" - Magnum and T.C. get into a big fight.

"All Roads Lead To Floyd" - The old guy is a really, really bad driver. Boring episode.

"Adelaide" - A good story about a woman and her horse. Women sure do love horses. Pretty interesting story. And the horse knows how to defend himself.

"Don't Say Goodbye" - The Ted Danson character gets killed by a boat propellor.

"The Black Orchid" - This is a very enjoyable episode, with some nice homages to Bogart type characters and stories. This is one of my favorite episodes from season 1. The presence of guest actress Judith Chapman makes this a very interesting episode. She will return in the far superior season 2 episode "The Woman On The Beach," which, in my opinion, is better than anything from season 1.

"J. Digger Doyle" - We get to see and hear Robin Masters in this episode. Notice how he gets his ideas from everyday occurences.

"Beauty Knows No Pain" - Magnum gets a little more exercise than he had wanted.

Magnum P.I. is my favortie TV show, and I think I have a right to point out its flaws. I never did like the idea of just blindly praising every episode. I recommend season 1 to all Magnum fans. But please keep in mind that most of the future seasons are better.

And add me to the list of people who wants to see a reunion movie while they are all still alive. I can't imagine Higgings is getting any younger.