Home TV News US Network Developing ‘Magnum, P.I.’ Reboot (again)

US Network Developing ‘Magnum, P.I.’ Reboot (again)

by Dave Elliott
US Network Developing Magnum P.I. Reboot (again)

US Network Developing Magnum P.I. Reboot (again)

The trend of rebooting old tv shows continues, and this time it’s an 80’s classic CBS are looking to bring back – ‘Magnum, P.I.’

For those of you unfamiliar with the original series, it ran from 1980-88 and starred the world’s greatest acting moustache (carried on the face of Tom Selleck) as former Navy SEAL turned Hawaii based private investigator, Thomas Magnum. He lived in the guest house of a beachfront mansion owned by famed author Robin Masters, in exchange for Magnum proving his expertise in security for the estate. This allowed the show to give Magnum access to the estate’s facilities, including the famed Ferrari 308 GTS, and provided a glamorous backdrop for someone on a P.I.’s salary. He’s helped out by his former Marine buddies Theodore “T.C.” Calvin, who runs the local helicopter charter service, and Rick Wright, who owns a local bar, along with British estate manager Higgins.

The new version of ‘Magnum, P.I.’ comes from Peter Lenkov and Eric Guggenheim, two of the people behind CBS’s long-running ‘Hawaii 5-O’ reboot. Lenkov was also showrunner on the ‘MacGyver’ reboot, so is no stranger to bringing 80’s action shows back to the screen. The basic premise of the new iteration is pretty similar to the original, with a few tweaks. Thomas Magnum, decorated ex-Navy SEAL, returns from Afghanistan and becomes a private investigator, and ex-Navy buddies TC and Rick are both still there to help him. The big change is the gender switch of Higgins, who becomes Juliet Higgins, a disavowed former MI:6 agent. Together they, solve crimes, taking on cases no one else will touch, along with exploring the bond between a group of ex-military guys as they deal with the aftermath of war.

If you’re thinking “wasn’t there already a ‘Magnum, P.I.’ show in the works?” you are correct. ABC tried to make a reboot/sequel happen last year, using the idea of Magnum’s daughter returning home to take over her father’s detective agency, but the network chose not to pick it up. However, CBS is arguably a much better fit for the show due to the other Hawaii-based series they already have on their roster.

Given the uncertainty of what may happen with ‘Hawaii Five-O’ next season, with actors contracts being up, and the cast changes this year, it’s possible ‘Magnum, P.I.’ is being lined up as a fitting replacement. Even if ‘Hawaii Five-O’ does continue though,‘Magnum, P.I.’ makes the perfect crossover show for CBS, who have already crossed over H5-O with ‘MacGyver’ and ‘NCIS: LA’.

Assuming this version does go to series, John Davis and John Fox, who produced ‘The Blacklist’, will exec produce along with Lenkov & Guggenheim, and the show would be a co-production between CBS Television Studios and Universal Television, who made the original.

‘Magnum, P.I.’ has been given a large pilot-production commitment for the show, so CBS is very keen to make it work. We’ll bring you more news as we get it!

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