Ah, Magnum, P.I.. That bastard. Now there was a show back in the 1980s you didn't watch with your girlfriend because, let's face it -- she thought Tom Selleck was better looking than you (that's right -- every one of you guys out there, even the handsome ones). Come on, you remember how it was. You were watching some kick-ass show like T. J. Hooker, which was aimed strictly at us male viewers, and your girlfriend couldn't have cared less; she'd stride right through the room with a disgusted, "How can you watch that crap?" ("But honey, it's got Shatner!" you'd yell, to no avail). But then the next night, a Magnum, P.I. episode comes on, and looks who's suddenly interested in male-dominated 1980s action TV. Guns and helicopter chases and dog attacks and Ferraris are her cup of tea now? And that intent look she had when she was watching Selleck - that spelled trouble for you, fella. You knew you lost her when you made a joke about Selleck's ridiculously hairy chest ("Shouldn't he have taken off his sweater before going swimming?"), and it didn't get a laugh.

All jealousy (and that particular girlfriend) aside, Magnum, P.I. was a great detective show that tried to add an element of youthful hijinks to an otherwise overworked private investigator format. Prior to Magnum, P.I., the private dick on TV was usually an adult, and by that I mean, an adult like our parents were adults. A good example is Mannix. Joe Mannix (Mike Connors) was the guy our fathers wanted to be. He acted like our fathers. He was responsible. He combed his hair. He had an office to maintain, a payroll to meet every week (for his knockout secretary). He wore windbreakers. He spent his weekends fishing up in the mountains. He talked like an adult. His left arm was shot sixty-seven times.

Thomas Magnum, on the other hand, was like some slacker older son. Sure, he was originally in Naval Intelligence in Vietnam, but now...he just kind of goofed around. He didn't own anything; he didn't have an office; he didn't have a car. It was like he moved back home (here, it's glamorous Hawaii) to his Dad's house (the unseen Robin Masters and Higgins, the estate's surly, petulant major domo, give Magnum shelter), where he stayed in the garage or basement (here, a guest house on a fabulous estate) and was constantly borrowing the car (a $50,000 Ferrari), and giving his elders umpteen amounts of grief. All he did was hang out with his old war buddies, and swim on the beach, while meeting and falling in love with beautiful women. Oh yeah, and he solved mysteries, too. The private eye has always been TV's most glamourous fantasy job. Forget being a TV lawyer or doctor, or even a cowboy (too few baths); being a TV private eye has always been the dream of most male TV watchers. And Magnum, P.I. took that fantasy to a new level. Forget old Joe Mannix's drudge work ethic - just hang out on the beach, man. Some chick will walk by, and boom! - you've got a case to work on (this actually happens in the first episode of Magnum, P.I.: The Complete Fifth Season).

I know that sounds dismissive, and of course, I'm exaggerating the analogy for fun (Selleck doesn't play Magnum like some addled slacker kid in any way, shape or form), but a big part of the initial appeal of Magnum, P.I. was this notion of this big, handsome guy running around Hawaii without a care in the world, chasing women and getting involved in dangerous mysteries. Later on in the series, the stories would become much more serious, involving Magnum's lost loves, a child missing from his life, and war friends who had come to sad ends. Magnum, P.I.: The Complete Fifth Season does have a much more serious tone than I remember the series having. The opening two part episode finds Magnum recovering from the loss of his former wife, only to find himself falling in love with looney Sharon Stone (hilariously, epically bad), who promptly commits suicide. Selleck's quite good at playing Magnum for laughs as well for romance and drama, and he's pretty much the single driving force behind the series' continued success. Despite whatever reasons Selleck didn't quite make it as a big star on the screen, as so many predicted (I thought he was quite good in some of his starring roles, particularly the underrated Runaway), Selleck's true home was, and is, television. He inhabits the small box comfortably, and he's the perfect kind of actor that people want to see week after week in their homes. It's a cliche, but it's true: TV audiences are inviting these stars over to their houses once a week; they have to like them a lot to do that. And Selleck certainly is likable, as well as being a fine, competent actor. He's particularly good playing off of John Hillerman's Higgins; their scenes together have a subtle rhythm and timing that speaks to a natural on-screen chemistry between the performers. These scenes show Selleck off to his best advantage, and they really provide the heart of the show. I'm less enamored of Magnum's friends, T. C. (Roger E. Mosley) and Rick (Larry Manetti), not because of any acting deficiencies on their parts, but rather because these characters never seemed to be particularly well written. They mainly exist to fill in some expository leg work if the plot needed it, or to comment on Magnum's exploits - usually from a comedic stance that didn't always work.

That being said, Magnum, P.I.: The Complete Fifth Season finds the show dropping significantly in the ratings (the 3rd season it was at a series' high 3rd place; the 4th season it was in 6th place; this 5th season it would drop way down to 15th in the Nielsen's, and the following season, Magnum, P.I. would drop out of the Top Thirty altogether). It's always guesswork to try and figure out why a show starts to drop out of favor with viewers; so many factors can be at work. Certainly, a slump can happen on an hour-long drama after four heady years of success. Some of the stories are a tad more morose, more serious here in Magnum, P.I.: The Complete Fifth Season than in previous seasons. But usually the answer to a series' ratings' decline is the simplest: competition. Magnum, P.I. rose to Nielsen heights against such shows as Best of the West, Harper Valley, Lewis & Clark, Joanie Loves Chachi and Star of the Family. Not exactly memorable 80s TV. But this season, Magnum, P.I.: The Complete Fifth Season had some new competition: The Cosby Show and Family Ties over on NBC. After two seasons of this sitcom tag-team pummeling, Magnum was down for the count. It would limp along for two more season until its cancellation in 1988. But it never really left the fans' memories, and it lives on today, in endless reruns and blog sites, where fans breathlessly discuss the merits of the show. As late as this year, there was further talk (it happens almost once a year, for the last twenty years) that a Magnum, P.I. movie was in the works. We'll see.

Here are the 22 episodes from Magnum, P.I.: The Complete Fifth Season

DISC ONE:

Echoes of the Mind: Part 1 & Part 2
It's double trouble for Magnum when he finds himself falling for sexy Diane DuPres, only to discover that her seductive twin sister, Deidre, claims that Diane is a paranoid hysteric with a history of attempted murder.

Mac's Back
Magnum thinks he's seeing ghosts when he stumbles upon a man who looks exactly like his old friend, Mac, who died in a car bomb explosion meant for Magnum.

The Legacy of Garwood Huddle
One crime might just justify another when Magnum helps a notorious bank robber find his hidden loot so he can pay the ransom on his kidnapped grandson.

DISC TWO:

Under World
TC finds himself in troubled waters when he agrees to make some curious inter-island deliveries, but before he can make the drop-off, his helicopter plunges into the sea.

Fragments
Fate deals Magnum a tricky hand when he's asked to protect a psychic from the murder she's seen in her visions.

Blind Justice
D.A. Carol Baldwin asks Magnum to look into the murder of a young mother, but one of his suspects is not what he seems and may be guilty of a far worse crime.

Murder 101
It's "Professor Magnum" when the charismatic P.I. moves to the head of the class to teach some local students the do's and don'ts of investigation work.

DISC THREE:

Tran Quoc Jones
Magnum finds himself surprisingly attached to his young client, a small Vietnamese boy who lost his mother and whose only hope in the world is to find his missing G.I. father.

Luther Gillis: File #001
When Robin Masters and Higgins both ask Magnum for help in cases that could have dire repercussions for them, Magnum recruits the rather blunt P.I. Luther Gillis to help him with some delicate matters.

Kiss of the Sabre
Truth is stranger fiction when Magnum is forced to take a snoopy novelist on his insurance fraud investigation after Robin Masters promises her exclusive use of the guest house and Ferrari.

Little Games
Magnum is dazzled by a stunning security expert who is watching over the estate during a priceless jewelry exhibition...until he discovers she's also the daughter of a notorious thief.

Professor Jonathan Higgins
It's marriage and other forms of mayhem when Magnum investigates a shady investment scheme and Higgins must make a Cinderella out of his punk-rock cousin before she marries the heir of an old Hawaiian family.

DISC FOUR:

Compulsion
Appearances can be deceiving when Magnum tries to convince Carol that she's not seeing signs pointing to the next case as being her last, and Higgins finds himself in a rough spot when his former Sandhurst comrades believe he's the owner of Robin's estate.

All for One Part 1 & Part 2
In this thrilling two-part episode, Magnum, TC, Rick and Higgins find themselves on dangerous foreign territory when they agree to help find an old Vietnam war buddy who is being held hostage in Cambodia.

The Love-for-Sale Boat
Mac is back and he takes Rick for a ride by "selling" him a luxury boat and four beautiful geishas. But some angry yakuza businessmen and the boat's actual owners aren't exactly pleased with the deal.

Let Me Hear the Music
Something is distinctly out of tune when a woman hires Magnum to track down five missing love songs that legendary country singer George Lee Jessup composed shortly before his tragic airplane crash.

DISC FIVE:

Ms. Jones
After a tedious trip to the Hall of Records, Magnum is somewhat reluctant to help one of the impertinent clerks find her missing husband. But when he discovers that the missing man has top-secret artificial intelligence knowledge, he's on the case in record time.

The Man from Marseilles
When a famous French detective contacts Magnum about a missing heir, Magnum eagerly says "bonjour" to the high-profile case of multiple identities, drug possession, and fraud.

Torah, Torah, Torah
The violent theft of a sacred Torah has Magnum and Rabbi Asher Solomon on a hunt where they will encounter death, destruction and double-dealing on their way to the priceless artifact.

A Pretty Good Dancing Chicken
Magnum's behind bars when he goes undercover as a convict in order to seek clues about the disappearance of a 17-year-old girl.

The DVD:

The Video:
Magnum, P.I.: The Complete Fifth Season looks pretty good here, but I did notice some fuzziness and grain in some of the shows; it's possible that it's source material problems, because other episodes look fine. Anyway, it's not a big deal -- it's TV, after all.

The Audio:
The Dolby Digital 2.0 English mono tracks sound fine; love that cool theme song.

The Extras:
The only bonus feature is an episode from the upcoming sixth season of Magnum, P.I., called The Treasure of Kalaniopu'u. If you're buying Season Five, chances are you're going to get Season Six, so I'm not sure what the come on is for this particular bonus.

Final Thoughts:
Magnum, P.I.: The Complete Fifth Season is a given for fans of the show. The stories are still tight, if a little moody, and Selleck is still having fun as Magnum. If you're new to Magnum, P.I. (hey, what's your problem?), you might want to start with the first season. Recommended.