Tom Selleck is every inch the gallant private eye, helping women in distress. His charm and the scenery make you overlook some sketchy plots & guests
Good: Tom Selleck as Magnum: he looks the part, and has a wonderful voice for narration.The scenario in gorgeous Hawaii scenery: Magnum is a modern knight errant, supported by his ex-Vietnam war buddies, TC & Rick. The program consistently portrays the traditional knightly values.of helping women in distress. Despite a little flirting, Magnum never seeks to take advantage of his female clients. Higgins, an old British Empire soldier, holds down the castle, like the fussy Sir Kaye from the Arthurian tales. Despite a culture clash, both Magnum and Higgins uphold the same knightly code, and there is a strong mutual respect.
Mediocre: The picture quality is not as good as Hawaii 5-O from 10 years earlier. The writing is very hit and miss: several episodes look to be re-edited on the fly when guest stars don't work out. On the other hand, the double episode with Magnum's lost wife is well written, with high class guest stars.
Magnum's charm goes a long way to papering over the cracks in the plots. However, the show does not compare well to the very high quality of early series of Hawaii 5-O