Who would play Thomas Sullivan Magnum?
Robert P. Morrone
Let me start by saying that Magnum is my favorite, all-time television
series. There has never been a series that I have enjoyed more.
Now the other shoe drops...at the risk of being banned from this group...
As much as I hate to admit it, the role of Thomas Sullivan Magnum COULD NOT
be played by Selleck without drastically modifying the beloved character.
After observing Selleck in the Closer flop, you can see that Selleck has
aged past the youthful, delightful, character of Thomas Sullivan Magnum.
One of the problems with Closer was that TS couldn't pull off the immature,
whiny one-liners. He has matured and has transitioned out of the TM role.
One thing that made TM so endearing, was his immaturity...his whiny moaning.
Tom Selleck has matured past that point and he is now a refined actor. His
comedic timing along with his dramatic character portrayals are outstanding,
BUT The Closer proved that he can't do the immature thing any more.
My preference would be to roll back the hands of time, and add about 5 more
seasons.
Beverly Kai
Hi -Charlene:
Welcome. We talk about a liot of other things here - - -sort of
tangental Hawaii or TS topics. Highlander could fit in somehow - - -
-doesn't he put a flower behind his ear once in a while? That - -or
less - - would do it.
i agree that it is TM's little-boy charm which makes him endearing -
-but Rob has put his finger on why Closer died so painfully. 'Cute"
only goes so far.
Cute can be lethal. Look what almost happened to Sally Field until she
absolutely abandoned 'Cute".
Even Lucy got too old for it, eventualy. Even Tom Cruse is going to
have to grow out of it, eventualy - - but he has the talent, and the
wife, to do it.
And then there are Demi and Bruce . . . . . .
Come to think of it - - - -Cruse could easily do a TM type charaacter,
dissillusioned with the whole Top Gun thing, searching. . . . . . ...
And then there are Demi and Bruce. They prove the Peter Principle, or
one like it; You can be promoted to your level of incompetance. And
there you stay (see Dilbert)
I hope everyone had a good weekend.
CLowe27053
Robert P. Morrone wrote:
snip snip
>My preference would be to roll back the hands of time, and add about 5 more
>seasons.
Wouldn't that be great! To have about 5 more years of TSM.
Sorry, but I had to jump in on this.
I normally post on athighlander. A few days ago there was a mention of Magnum
PI on ath, so I did some searching and found this ng. I'm so glad this board is
here and sooooo happy I found it. I've been a Magnum fan for 18 yrs(gee, has it
been that long). I fell in love with that guy in the first episode and still
watch him on USA. It's just too bad he has such a late time slot(and only mon &
tue) what's that all about?
Anyhoo, if y'all don't mind a Highlander/Magnum fan here, I'll visit often.
Only to talk Magnum, of course.
Peace.
Charlene
Dave Snyder
Why live in the past? We've already seen Magnum in his thirties/early forties.
Let's see him in his fifties. Tom Selleck is Magnum the way James Garner is
Jim Rockford, the way Bob Denver is Gilligan (ok, maybe that's too much).
I'd like to see where Magnum is today, not some other actor doing a Magnum
imitation giving me five years of something I've already seen a better
verison of.
Dave
David Romas
In article <199806290627...@ladder03.news.aol.com>, clowe...@aol.com
says...
>here and sooooo happy I found it. I've been a Magnum fan for 18 yrs(gee, has it
>been that long).
Not quite but it will be, once December rolls around.
>watch him on USA. It's just too bad he has such a late time slot(and only mon &
>tue) what's that all about?
Please don't get me started on USA! :-| The network is part-owned by
Universal. For me, that pretty much explains it all.
>Anyhoo, if y'all don't mind a Highlander/Magnum fan here, I'll visit often.
Please do, Charlene! After MPI, HL is my own second or third favorite show
to gab about. :-)
Peace be with you,
David Romas
Magnum Memorabilia
* * * * * * * * * *
"My grandfather confided in me that the only thing you could count
in life is change. That no matter how much you wanted things to
stay the same, they never did. And that change itself isn't bad..."
- Thomas Magnum, 1988, from the second to last MPI series episode
"You taught me that life's about change...about learning to accept
who you are, good or bad."
- Duncan MacLeod, 1998, from closing moments of the HL series finale
...Oh bonny Portmore
You shine where you stand
And the more I think on you
The more I think long.
If I had you now
As I had once before
I would cling to the memory
Of our love evermore...
- "Not To Be" (...and the scenes that at last broke me down. I did
OK holding it all back, until that final music montage -- the most
beautiful closing to the classiest series finale I've yet encountered)
David Romas
In article <6n72qk$9tm$1...@news-2.news.gte.net>, "Robert says...
>As much as I hate to admit it, the role of Thomas Sullivan Magnum COULD NOT
>be played by Selleck without drastically modifying the beloved character.
>After observing Selleck in the Closer flop, you can see that Selleck has
>aged past the youthful, delightful, character of Thomas Sullivan Magnum.
But isn't it true that for TM _not_ to have matured and transitioned in
some similar ways would be unbelievable? I'd hope TM today isn't
youthful and delightful in the same ways he was prior to the end of
the series finale. Knowing how that finale ended, my hope would be
that how he is today directly reflects ten years of living the way
his future was set up back then. That's my, probably confusing,
short response. Here's my long one (no guarantee that it's less
confusing)....
Not knowing what Tom Clancy had in mind those four or five years ago, I
nevertheless strongly suspect that his "TSM" would be very different
from the TSM we know and love from '80-88. Hearing of Clancy's interest
in writing the script, I envisioned something like "TSM meets Jack Ryan,"
a character somewhat less light-hearted and goofy and more geo-politically
conscious and financially adept than our original TSM. "TSM meets Mr.
Clark" would be less of a departure from pure TSM, but since Clancy
invented Mr. Clark based on TV's TSM in the first place, it gets confusing
and at the least redundant in many ways.
Yet I've enjoyed most of Clancy's "Ryan" books. My own fantasy became:
Clancy writes the base storyline and then the MPI experts (Abbott, Leder,
Huguely, Johnson, Selleck, ...Bellisario foremost, if they can get him)
write the actual script. A story on the typical Clancy global-issue scale
might be large enough for the "big screen" or a TV mini-series, and the
MPI pros would be there to write the characters the way they're written
best. These are the folks I would have confidence in to properly "age"
and change the characters in the ways that would be inevitable. Thomas
is beloved, as are the others. But if the "reunion" were set in the
present world, meaning they're all ten years farther along in life, they
would have to be different people in some ways.
I too would find it absurd if the powers that be tried to get us to buy
today's Selleck playing 1988's 43-year-old-but-still-23-in-the-head
Thomas Magnum. But today's Selleck playing 53-year old "I've been
balancing a renewed military career, a teenage daughter, and a
single-parent household for ten years now" Magnum; that I think I could
buy. Thomas made some fairly significant moves with his life right at
the end of the series finale, moves which I would expect would cause alot
of the "I live like I'm still 23" lifestyle to be driven away, or at
least set aside. No offense to those of you who are 23, by the way. It's
TM's own generalization of your age group, not mine. For myself, most
days I'm 29-but-19-in-the-head. 8^P
Actually, if a reunion movie or show were to start with the assumption
that the changes TSM made for himself in '88 have been what he's done
through to '98, it doesn't seem as out of place for his character to have
changed in some "Ryan-esque" directions. He'd probably be somewhat more
serious, more financially concerned; he'd be involved in providing for and
planning the future security of his daughter -- a daughter not all that
far from high school graduation...
[Lily'd be about sixteen and a half right now --
and I'm not ashamed to disclose that I'd enjoy seeing
how she's...progressing. ;-) Imagine in another ten
years, a fully grown female cross of Michelle Hue and
Thomas Magnum. Staggering! Forget "who'd play TSM,"
I wanna see what actress tries to fill *this* order!
And I wonder what ever happened for little Kristin
Carerra (Lily) after MPI?];
...he'd be wrapped up in whatever his return to a Navy career involved,
and the nature of that career probably would require that he become more
politico-militarily aware and involved on a global scale. He quickly
sounds more and more like a model Clancy character, I suppose.
>My preference would be to roll back the hands of time, and add about 5 more
>seasons.
Yes. And I wouldn't think any less of Tom Selleck to learn that(/if) he
feels the same way! Our obvious shared bias toward MPI aside, can anyone
honestly weigh his movies since '87 and The Closer _over_ a few more
seasons of MPI? Heh, heh...no, sir. :-|
David Romas
Magnum Memorabilia
Peter & Gina
CLowe27053 wrote:
> Anyhoo, if y'all don't mind a Highlander/Magnum fan here, I'll visit often.
> Only to talk Magnum, of course.
>
> Peace.
> Charlene
No Charlene, You Can Choose Only One.
Just kidding, I too am a Highlander fan. I have three seasonsn of tapes
purchased (don't want to have to go through programming my VCR every
day like I did for MPI) and the last two taped from TV. This ng is a little
better in my opinion than the Highlander ng, because we don't post 300
messages about peoples toes or hair.
Hope to write to you soon, and welcome to this ng, you'll find it quite good,
Peter
Peter & Gina
David Romas wrote:
>
> Please do, Charlene! After MPI, HL is my own second or third favorite show
> to gab about. :-)
>
Don't you wish there was a Magnum,p.i. catalogue, even with half the cool
stuff they sell for Highlander?! Ahh- what a world it would be.
Peter
bob
Robert P. Morrone wrote:
snip> > As much as I hate to admit it, the role of Thomas Sullivan Magnum
COULD NOT
be played by Selleck without drastically modifying the beloved
character.>>snip
I agree to an extent. What made Magnum so uniquely likeable was that he
wasn't perfect, that he had a certain immaturity which made him endearing.
And I admit that while I love ALL the shows, my favorites all occurred in
the first few seasons. While I enjoyed the drama of the last two seasons,
where Magnum came to terms with his past and matured as a character, I
greatly missed the light-hearted, good natured Magnum of earlier years.
That being said, however, I don't see how TS could be replaced. In my mind
he WAS Magnum. No one else could have pulled off that part, imho. And
even if a TS replacement could be found, somehow, the writers would have to
make the new guy blend in with the existing actors and characters. And I
don't think I could suspend my disbelief long enough to enjoy a "new"
Magnum being all buddy buddy with TC and Rick, played by the original
actors. It would be like some weird twisted Twilight Zone episode. But if
we were to replace the whole cast and start with a bunch of new actors, I
think it would take a miracle to achieve the same chemistry of the original
players. And Magnum's success was due to two things: Hawaii as a
backdrop, and perfect chemistry between all the major characters - Magnum,
Higgins, TC, Rick, the LT, etc. Hawaii can be revisited, of course, but
recapturing those characters might well be impossible (sniff).
NoWay4me2B
'fraid as much as we may all hate to
have to admit it: You really can't go
back...............
(better not to try than go through all the
painful attempts the original Star Trek
cast subjected themselves to......seeing
Tom Selleck trying to do Magnum again
would almost be as painful as watching Shatner trying to keep that rug on his
head and act 30 again....and again...and again....)
David Romas
In article <35985F...@earthlink.net>, Peter says...
>
>David Romas wrote:
>>After MPI, HL is my own second or third favorite show to gab about.
>
>Don't you wish there was a Magnum,p.i. catalogue, even with half the cool
>stuff they sell for Highlander?
Well, mostly, yes, I guess. But a part of me is so proud of how
industrious and resourcful MPI fans have (had) to be over the years....
Things wouldn't have been quite that way had there been a "Magnum:
The Store", with nearly everything we dreamed of served up on a silver
platter (and priced like silver). But, my answer is yes. It would've
been SO cool!
One thing that did recently cause pangs for me was listening to all the
HL fans' accounts of the great big "final" fan convention sponsored by
Davis/Panzer out in Anaheim this past April. My own academic advisor
here at WSU (whose computer I'm typing on) attended it and came back
with so much cool stuff and so many cool stories. To think that D/P
was able to bring back nearly all the major actors from the series
over the whole six seasons and that they transported and re-built
three complete interior sets at the convention site for the fans to
dismantle and purchase at auction, and so on and so forth! The mind
reels when I imagine what similar things could've been done at the
closing time of MPI, had Universal half the wit of Davis/Panzer Prods.
and half the industriousness of the MPI fan following!
A year and a half ago I was pawing through and climbing on MPI props,
furniture, and set decorations that all are turning to dust from rot
at the Diamond Head Studio. And just two and a half months ago fans
were _taking home_ all the HL props, furniture, set decorations, etc.
from the D/P-run convention in Anaheim. What a difference ten years
and two different TV companies can make!
Grrrr,
David Romas
Magnum Memorabilia
Robert P. Morrone
Glad to have you here Charlene...sit back...open up an Ole Dusseldorf...and
relax.
CLowe27053 wrote in message
<199806290627...@ladder03.news.aol.com>...
---<snip>---
CLowe27053
Hi David:
I was at the Anaheim convention and had the time of my life. The auction was a
very interesting part of the con. It went on most of Saturday 7 part of Sunday.
They auctioned everything from boxing gloves to the much loved T-bird. The
selling price of items ranged from $18.00 to $61,000.00. It was lots of fun. I
came home with a leather jacket that was worn by on of the guest stars for the
hefty price of $900.00 (way too much but it was worth it in my opinion. Guess
that's what counts, huh?)
All the stars attended with the exception of Elizabeth Gracen who was out of
the country trying to avoid process servers due to her affair with the Prez.
Final tally I heard was an attendence of somewhere around 3,500 people.
I think it'd be a lovely idea to have a MPI con even 10 yrs after the episode.
I'd sure be there if someone decided to do one. And why are they letting the
props ruin? It seems to me, that they could raise a lot of money for some
deserving charity right there in Hawaii. It would sure give me reason a reason
to make another trip to the most beautiful place in the world. Oh, how I love
it there after one week in the islands, I was ready to move. But <sigh> here I
am stuck in the Ariz. desert where it has been 110+ degrees for the last week.
Aloha.
Charlene
LadyDoc
Robert P. Morrone wrote:
>
>
> As much as I hate to admit it, the role of Thomas Sullivan Magnum COULD NOT
> be played by Selleck without drastically modifying the beloved character.
> aged past the youthful, delightful, character of Thomas Sullivan Magnum.
> whiny one-liners. He has matured and has transitioned out of the TM role.
> One thing that made TM so endearing, was his immaturity...his whiny moaning.
> Tom Selleck has matured past that point and he is now a refined actor. His
> comedic timing along with his dramatic character portrayals are outstanding,
> BUT The Closer proved that he can't do the immature thing any more.
>
> seasons.
Sorry to disagree but there is no way you could do this and still
maintain character integrity.
Of course, he's matured. So would the character. In the 10 years that
have elapsed, he's been back in the navy, and raised a daughter as a
single parent, presumably.
The experience of Vietnam created not only many story lines, but much of
the psychology and ethos of the character. To make him "young" again
would mean eliminating those experiences- and then you would not have
TSM regardless of who played him, at any age.
Teresa
LadyDoc
CLowe27053 wrote:
>
> Robert P. Morrone wrote:
>
> >My preference would be to roll back the hands of time, and add about 5 more
> >seasons.
>
> Sorry, but I had to jump in on this.
> I normally post on athighlander. A few days ago there was a mention of Magnum
> PI on ath, so I did some searching and found this ng. I'm so glad this board is
> tue) what's that all about?
Marco Smetz
On Mon, 29 Jun 98 20:44:49 GMT, djsn...@csrlink.net (Dave Snyder)
wrote:
>Why live in the past? We've already seen Magnum in his thirties/early forties.
>Let's see him in his fifties. Tom Selleck is Magnum the way James Garner is
I agree with you in this point. Exactly this feature - playing 10
years later - would make the thing very interesting! It would end up
in kinda comedy-movie if the ywould try to play scenes just "a week"
after Thomas went away from Robin's Nest (or really did it ???)
I would prefer a story like Thomas has his "own" ship and comes back
to Hawaii to get into a great adventure with all his old buddies.
We'll see ! (I hope...)
--
---Marco Smetz--------------------------------------//--
-[msm...@tkc.de]-[sm...@fh-kr.KR.FH-Niederrhein.DE]//--
--------[http://mehrwert.net/magnum/index.htm]---//--
Marco Smetz
>I too would find it absurd if the powers that be tried to get us to buy
>today's Selleck playing 1988's 43-year-old-but-still-23-in-the-head
I totall agree with you within this point. We all would like to "know"
what happened during the past 10 years and how the charakters went
on...
>TM's own generalization of your age group, not mine. For myself, most
>days I'm 29-but-19-in-the-head. 8^P
Thomas Magnum could not have lived on the way he did between '80-88.
With a little daughter on his side he surely had to change his style
of living drastically... and surely did when we'll gonna see this
movie finally.
Marco Smetz
>Et tu David?
>Don't you wish there was a Magnum,p.i. catalogue, even with half the cool
>stuff they sell for Highlander?! Ahh- what a world it would be.
Sometimes I wish it would be like that. In germany it's surely easier
to find a YETI hanging around in your garden and swimming in your
swimming pool than to even get a little picture of Tom Selleck or any
other Magnum,pi actor :-(
But on the other hand, it makes the thing very exciting to collect
pictures and other things like that from all over the world ...
Peter & Gina
>I think it'd be a lovely idea to have a MPI con even 10 yrs after the >episode.
>I'd sure be there if someone decided to do one
We could have it at Mag Mem in Detroit,
Hey David, can you spare a few cots?
Peter
Peter & Gina
David Romas wrote:
>
> Well, mostly, yes, I guess. But a part of me is so proud of how
> industrious and resourcful MPI fans have (had) to be over the years....
You are right. I have to admit that it is a little more fun searching to find
anything and everything Magnum. (It wasn't easy finding a Magnum, p.i.
action figure with Ferrari, but...)
! The mind
> reels when I imagine what similar things could've been done at the
> closing time of MPI, had Universal half the wit of Davis/Panzer Prods.
> and half the industriousness of the MPI fan following!
Davis /Panzer also has the forsight and wit to understand that a major
motion picture with their TV star can and will be profitable. Too bad
Universal can't get their heads out of their@*#$# .(It is still family
hour)
> Grrrr,
>
> David Romas
> Magnum Memorabilia
Peter
P.S- I have a few doubles of Highlander tapes e-mail me if you would like
them.
Robert P. Morrone
LadyDoc wrote in message <359AA7...@philly.infi.net>...
---<snip>---
>Sorry to disagree but there is no way you could do this and still
>maintain character integrity.
What are you disagreeing with? What I said is that you could not have
Selleck play the same character in the same manner. Yould have to change
the personallity of the character to make Selleck believable as Magnum.
He'd have to play him 10 years later.
ANIM8Rfsk
((But <sigh> here I am stuck in the Ariz. desert where it has been 110+ degrees
for the last week.))
Hey, then there's two of us! But you know what they say about summer in
Arizona: Just wait 8 months and it'll go away . . .
CLowe27053
anim8rfsk wrote:
>Hey, then there's two of us! But you know what they say about summer in
>Arizona: Just wait 8 months and it'll go away . . .
"But at least it's a dry heat"
Don't you just really get tired of hearing that line. Especially when you've
gone through 8 months of this stuff.
Charlene
ANIM8Rfsk
gone through 8 months of this stuff.))
Especially when it's over 100 degrees and IT'S RAINING! How much wetter does
the heat need to get!?!?!? ;-)