PILOT REVIEW: Magnum P.I.

MAGNUM P.I.

Starring: Jay Hernandez, Perdita Weeks, Zachary Knighton, Stephen Hill

Developed by Peter M. Kenkov & Eric Guggenheim
Based on the Series "Magnum P.I." Created by Donald P. Bellisario & Glen A. Larson
Written by Peter M. Kenkov & Eric Guggenheim, Based on a Teleplay by Donald P. Bellisario & Glen A. Larson, Directed by Justin Lin

IN SHORT: Smaller Mustache, Same Action

THE PREMISE:
In a reboot of the classic 1980s Tom Selleck-led drama, Magnum P.I. centers on a private detective living in luxury in Hawaii as a security guard at the guest house of a famous author. Magnum's team includes friends Rick and TC (Zachary Knighton & Stephen Hill). The third friend in the original was Jonathan Higgins, but that has now changed to a woman, Juliet (Perdita Weeks) who is still British like the original.

THE REVIEW:
I've never seen a full episode of the original Magnum P.I., but I have a good idea of the kind of show it was. This seems to be a good successor to the original in the same way its cousin, Hawaii Five-0 is, but that doesn't stop it from being a pretty traditional CBS drama with perhaps a bit more action. If you've read my blog before, you won't be surprised that I am quite please there's a traditional theme song but why must that only be the case for reboots? Why can't all shows have a solid 30 second theme song these days? Such a disappearing and important art form on TV.

After the theme song, the show settled into a pretty routine story about Magnum investigating the death of a friend that involved a lot of car chases in ferraris and things getting blown up. It felt so much like the premiere of Hawaii Five-0, a CBS drama that originally aired on Monday and was one of the first shows I reviewed for this blog. The glamorous setting of Hawaii and the beautiful estate where Magnum lives helped the fun of the show, but it just couldn't totally escape being another routine procedural drama. It didn't bring anything new to the genre and that's okay, but I am getting a little tired of scenes like a tough macho man being inspiring to a little kid.

Overall, the performances were solid. Jay Hernandez is definitely likable. Whether he can compare to Tom Selleck in this role is a question for fans of the original but I thought he was charismatic. Perdita Weeks was given a lot to do in the pilot and she was strong throughout with a good dynamic with Magnum (maybe resist the urge to hook them up, producers?) The other two friends were less memorable in the pilot, particularly Stephen Hill who seemed to get lost in the episode.

THE BOTTOM LINE:
This is a classic CBS drama in the sense that it's such a standard procedural. That used to be a nearly sure-fire recipe for success but that has changed in recent years. I don't think this will break through but it might be enough comfort food to the older CBS viewer to become the next syndication machine show.