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Culture > Diversion

Thomas Magnum goes fast and furious in TV show reboot

Tom Selleck’s mustache can’t save this one from bad CGI

This dude has nothing on old-school Tom Selleck. SCREENSHOT FROM CBS

One of the most famous TV shows of the 1980s saw Tom Selleck and his magnificent mustache solve crimes as Thomas Magnum. He was assisted in his weekly escapades by loud Hawaiian shirts and the other star of the show, a red Ferrari 308 GTS. One of the most popular TV cars of all time, the pretty Italian helped the series become a cult hit. And now, CBS, the American television network that first aired the program almost 40 years ago, has just released details of a reboot.

Did they or didn't they? What do you think? SCREENSHOTS FROM CBS

The original Magnum, P.I. ran in the US from 1980 to 1988, and was picked up by countless other networks around the globe, making it one of the most watched TV shows in pop culture history. Now CBS is trying to build on that success with the expertise of Hawaii Five-0 (also the reboot, not the original) producer Peter Lenkov and Fast & Furious director Justin Lin. Starring Jay Hernandez (that dude from Crazy/Beautiful) as Thomas Magnum, the new series seems to be much more action-focused, and the involvement of Lin makes us think that this could be a good one for car buffs—even if the first glimpse of it left us with an unpleasant taste of badly done CGI.

Okay, this scene is just a little too 'Fast & Furious'. SCREENSHOTS FROM CBS

The storyline is still along the original one, with Magnum living on the sprawling estate of famous author Robin Masters in Hawaii and working as a private investigator, but some twists have been introduced. Most notably, Higgins, the estate’s caretaker and permanent thorn in Magnum’s side, is no longer Jonathan but Juliet. Magnum’s backstory has also been spruced up, with him now being a former Navy SEAL who comes back from Afghanistan. And if the trailer is anything to go by, then we’re in for a faster-paced format that could either be a refreshing change or a total car crash. We’ll be able to find out once the show launches later this year.



Frank Schuengel

Frank is a German e-commerce executive who loves his wife, a Filipina, so much he decided to base himself in Manila. He has interesting thoughts on Philippine motoring.



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