Post by nycgal on Aug 6, 2012 16:44:26 GMT -5
Ever notice how often Peter Lenkov mentions that he was a big fan of not just the original H50 but also the 1980's Hawaiian based crime drama, Magnum, PI which ran on CBS from 1980-1988?
Being a big Magnum fan back in the day and a current H50 fan, I started to really think about how much these 2 shows actually do have in common. The more I thought about it (and after doing a bit of on line research), I came to the conclusion that the current rebooted version of H50 has more in common with Magnum, PI than the original Hawaii Five-O series in terms of character profiles, overall production values and story telling devices.
If you start the comparison between the two shows with the two main characters, Thomas Magnum and Steve McGarrett, it is amazing how many similarities there are - see bios below as detailed on the respective show pages from Wikipedia.
Thomas Magnum:
Magnum is a Detroit-born third-generation naval officer, the son of a deceased naval aviator killed during the Korean War and named after his grandfather Thomas Sullivan Magnum, the first. He is also a 1967 graduate of the United States Naval Academy and Vietnam veteran, where he served as a Navy SEAL "operator". Magnum's specialized training includes expertise in counter-insurgency, as a sniper, and also in lock picking, safe cracking, and assorted firearms including his favored sidearm, the Colt M1911 pistol he carried in the Navy. Magnum played quarterback for the United States Naval Academy football team. He resigned from the U.S. Navy in disillusionment after approximately ten years of service, including three tours of service during the U.S. Military involvement in the Vietnam War, his final post being with the Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI), although the show referred to it as the NIA for Naval Intelligence Agency, in Hawaii. Asked why he resigned, Magnum explains, "I woke up one day at 33 and realized I had never been 23." Thomas begins the series at age 34, having resigned from the Navy one year prior.
Steve McGarrett:
Lieutenant Commander Steven J. "Steve" McGarrett, USNR, a former Navy SEAL with time spent in Office of Naval Intelligence. He is named after his grandfather, a USS Arizona casualty. McGarrett's father John is murdered in the pilot episode, and this forms the basis for the series' first story arc. Steve McGarrett is both physically and intellectually capable, being able to speak Hawaiian and Chinese fluently while also being able to engage a person in hand to hand combat as well as utilizing fieldcraft when needed. McGarrett utilizes close quarters combat as his primary means of taking down suspects, something he was taught during SEAL Training. He is an experienced Navy SEAL, as the governor once outlined his resume Annapolis, five years Naval Intelligence, six years with the SEALs. Steve begins the series at age 34 (or 33) right after his father is murdered by Victor Hesse.
From these 2 bios and what we know about the characters from watching the series, several things jump out that make these two characters amazingly similar to one another even though they were created 30 years apart - see the recap below for the specifics. If I didn't know better, I would say the H50 creators based their rebooted version of Steve McGarrett not on the Jack Lord character, but on the character of Thomas Magnum as played by Tom Selleck.
Exactly who are these characters?
Thomas S. Magnum vs Steve J. McGarrett
1. Crime fighting former Navy SEALs that now reside in Hawaii
2. Named after their grandfathers who were also in the Navy
3. Played quarterback for their football team
4. Graduated from The U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis
5. Fathers are deceased which deeply impacts who they are and how they behave
6. Fiercely loyal to their friends/team members - Rick/TC/Higgins vs Danny/Chin/Kono
7. Enlists the help of Naval Intelligence personal to get important info - MacRenyolds/Maggie Poole vs Catherine Rollins
8. Weaknesses are revealed through actions as well as character driven story telling
9. Not depicted as perfect, but rather flawed individuals that have been shaped by their own life experiences
10.Each has their own preferred beer of choice - Old Dusseldorf in a long neck vs Long Board Lager
Even when you look at both shows in totality, there are also many, many similarities - see the recap below.
Magnum, PI vs Hawaii Five-0
1. Character-driven procedural crime solving drama set and filmed in Hawaii and broadcast on CBS
2. Reoccurring minor characters that exist in the universe of each show from season to season
3. Killing off of important reoccurring characters - Lt Taneka, MacRenyolds and Magnum's wife vs Gov Jameson, Chief Fryer, Victor Hesse and Steve's dad
4. Pivotal characters come back from "the dead" - Magnum's wife in S2 vs Steve's mom in S3
5. Story arcs span from episode to episode and season to season
6. Filmed entirely on location and used as a platform to highlight the beauty of the Hawaiian Islands
7. Core characters have close personal bonds with each other that extend beyond their crime solving jobs
8. Viewer is given a glimpse into the main characters personal lives by meeting family members and seeing where and how they live
9. Use of speedy sports cars as main mode of transport - red Ferrari vs silver Camaro (I think the Ferrari was waaay cooler, however)
10. Use of reoccurring villains - Quang Ki vs Wo Fat
In an analysis of Magnum, PI, Rodney Buxton from the Museum of Broadcast Communications explains the genre introduced 30 years ago which is exactly the way H50 is constructed today.
"Though originally dominated by an episodic narrative structure, Magnum, P.I. moved far beyond the simple demands of stock characters solving the crime of the week. Without using the open-ended strategy developed by the prime-time soap opera in the 1980s, the series nevertheless created complex characterizations by building a cumulative text. Discussion of events from previous episodes would continually pop up, constructing memory as an integral element of the series franchise. While past actions might not have an immediate impact on any individual weekly narrative, the overall effect was to expand the range of traits which characters might invoke in any given situation. For the regular viewer of the series, the cumulative strategy offered a richness of narrative, moving beyond the simpler "who-done-it" of the hard-boiled detective series that populated American television in the 1960s and 1970s."
And finally, the thing that is most coincidental about these two series is that on the show, Magnum actually recognized the existence of the fictional elite police unit that appeared in the series Hawaii Five-O. In the pilot episode, Magnum references the unit's chief McGarrett by name. This was a tribute to the long-running show starring Jack Lord, that ran on CBS from the fall of 1968 through to the summer of 1980—to be replaced, in essence, in the fall of 1980 by Magnum. P.I..
So, now in order to bring things full circle in this little fictional TV universe, I think it is time for Thomas Magnum to make a guest appearance on the current version of H50. While I realize this would be quite difficult seeing that Tom Selleck is a bit busy these days on "Blue Bloods", it still would be fun to see Magnum show up to help Steve and Danny solve a case.
If you'd like to see this happen, you can tweet @plenkov or send him a note the old fashioned way to:
Mr. Peter Lenkov
c/o Eye Productions, Inc.
Hawaii Five-0 Production Office
605 Kapiolani Blvd.
Honolulu, HI 96813
Who knows, maybe CBS, Tom Selleck and the TPTB at H50 would be up for it.....should would be fun for fans of both shows and could be a ratings win.
Being a big Magnum fan back in the day and a current H50 fan, I started to really think about how much these 2 shows actually do have in common. The more I thought about it (and after doing a bit of on line research), I came to the conclusion that the current rebooted version of H50 has more in common with Magnum, PI than the original Hawaii Five-O series in terms of character profiles, overall production values and story telling devices.
If you start the comparison between the two shows with the two main characters, Thomas Magnum and Steve McGarrett, it is amazing how many similarities there are - see bios below as detailed on the respective show pages from Wikipedia.
Thomas Magnum:
Magnum is a Detroit-born third-generation naval officer, the son of a deceased naval aviator killed during the Korean War and named after his grandfather Thomas Sullivan Magnum, the first. He is also a 1967 graduate of the United States Naval Academy and Vietnam veteran, where he served as a Navy SEAL "operator". Magnum's specialized training includes expertise in counter-insurgency, as a sniper, and also in lock picking, safe cracking, and assorted firearms including his favored sidearm, the Colt M1911 pistol he carried in the Navy. Magnum played quarterback for the United States Naval Academy football team. He resigned from the U.S. Navy in disillusionment after approximately ten years of service, including three tours of service during the U.S. Military involvement in the Vietnam War, his final post being with the Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI), although the show referred to it as the NIA for Naval Intelligence Agency, in Hawaii. Asked why he resigned, Magnum explains, "I woke up one day at 33 and realized I had never been 23." Thomas begins the series at age 34, having resigned from the Navy one year prior.
Steve McGarrett:
Lieutenant Commander Steven J. "Steve" McGarrett, USNR, a former Navy SEAL with time spent in Office of Naval Intelligence. He is named after his grandfather, a USS Arizona casualty. McGarrett's father John is murdered in the pilot episode, and this forms the basis for the series' first story arc. Steve McGarrett is both physically and intellectually capable, being able to speak Hawaiian and Chinese fluently while also being able to engage a person in hand to hand combat as well as utilizing fieldcraft when needed. McGarrett utilizes close quarters combat as his primary means of taking down suspects, something he was taught during SEAL Training. He is an experienced Navy SEAL, as the governor once outlined his resume Annapolis, five years Naval Intelligence, six years with the SEALs. Steve begins the series at age 34 (or 33) right after his father is murdered by Victor Hesse.
From these 2 bios and what we know about the characters from watching the series, several things jump out that make these two characters amazingly similar to one another even though they were created 30 years apart - see the recap below for the specifics. If I didn't know better, I would say the H50 creators based their rebooted version of Steve McGarrett not on the Jack Lord character, but on the character of Thomas Magnum as played by Tom Selleck.
Exactly who are these characters?
Thomas S. Magnum vs Steve J. McGarrett
1. Crime fighting former Navy SEALs that now reside in Hawaii
2. Named after their grandfathers who were also in the Navy
3. Played quarterback for their football team
4. Graduated from The U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis
5. Fathers are deceased which deeply impacts who they are and how they behave
6. Fiercely loyal to their friends/team members - Rick/TC/Higgins vs Danny/Chin/Kono
7. Enlists the help of Naval Intelligence personal to get important info - MacRenyolds/Maggie Poole vs Catherine Rollins
8. Weaknesses are revealed through actions as well as character driven story telling
9. Not depicted as perfect, but rather flawed individuals that have been shaped by their own life experiences
10.Each has their own preferred beer of choice - Old Dusseldorf in a long neck vs Long Board Lager
Even when you look at both shows in totality, there are also many, many similarities - see the recap below.
Magnum, PI vs Hawaii Five-0
1. Character-driven procedural crime solving drama set and filmed in Hawaii and broadcast on CBS
2. Reoccurring minor characters that exist in the universe of each show from season to season
3. Killing off of important reoccurring characters - Lt Taneka, MacRenyolds and Magnum's wife vs Gov Jameson, Chief Fryer, Victor Hesse and Steve's dad
4. Pivotal characters come back from "the dead" - Magnum's wife in S2 vs Steve's mom in S3
5. Story arcs span from episode to episode and season to season
6. Filmed entirely on location and used as a platform to highlight the beauty of the Hawaiian Islands
7. Core characters have close personal bonds with each other that extend beyond their crime solving jobs
8. Viewer is given a glimpse into the main characters personal lives by meeting family members and seeing where and how they live
9. Use of speedy sports cars as main mode of transport - red Ferrari vs silver Camaro (I think the Ferrari was waaay cooler, however)
10. Use of reoccurring villains - Quang Ki vs Wo Fat
In an analysis of Magnum, PI, Rodney Buxton from the Museum of Broadcast Communications explains the genre introduced 30 years ago which is exactly the way H50 is constructed today.
"Though originally dominated by an episodic narrative structure, Magnum, P.I. moved far beyond the simple demands of stock characters solving the crime of the week. Without using the open-ended strategy developed by the prime-time soap opera in the 1980s, the series nevertheless created complex characterizations by building a cumulative text. Discussion of events from previous episodes would continually pop up, constructing memory as an integral element of the series franchise. While past actions might not have an immediate impact on any individual weekly narrative, the overall effect was to expand the range of traits which characters might invoke in any given situation. For the regular viewer of the series, the cumulative strategy offered a richness of narrative, moving beyond the simpler "who-done-it" of the hard-boiled detective series that populated American television in the 1960s and 1970s."
And finally, the thing that is most coincidental about these two series is that on the show, Magnum actually recognized the existence of the fictional elite police unit that appeared in the series Hawaii Five-O. In the pilot episode, Magnum references the unit's chief McGarrett by name. This was a tribute to the long-running show starring Jack Lord, that ran on CBS from the fall of 1968 through to the summer of 1980—to be replaced, in essence, in the fall of 1980 by Magnum. P.I..
So, now in order to bring things full circle in this little fictional TV universe, I think it is time for Thomas Magnum to make a guest appearance on the current version of H50. While I realize this would be quite difficult seeing that Tom Selleck is a bit busy these days on "Blue Bloods", it still would be fun to see Magnum show up to help Steve and Danny solve a case.
If you'd like to see this happen, you can tweet @plenkov or send him a note the old fashioned way to:
Mr. Peter Lenkov
c/o Eye Productions, Inc.
Hawaii Five-0 Production Office
605 Kapiolani Blvd.
Honolulu, HI 96813
Who knows, maybe CBS, Tom Selleck and the TPTB at H50 would be up for it.....should would be fun for fans of both shows and could be a ratings win.
