Ready for another reboot? CBS brings the latest television reboot Magnum P.I., which originally was a 1980’s series starring Tom Selleck (and his moustache). The new series gives it a whole new take with Jay Hernandez and Perdita Weeks as our leads.
Magnum P.I. is a modern take on the classic series centering on Thomas Magnum, a decorated former Navy SEAL who, upon returning home from Afghanistan, repurposes his military skills to become a private investigator. A charming rogue, an American hero and a die-hard Detroit Tigers fan, Magnum lives in a guest cottage on Robin’s Nest, the luxurious estate where he works as a security consultant to supplement his P.I. business. The “majordomo” of the property is Juliet Higgins, a beautiful and commanding disavowed MI:6 agent whose second job is to keep Magnum in line, with the help of her two Dobermans.
When Magnum needs back-up on a job, he turns to his trusted buddies and fellow POW survivors, Theodore “TC” Calvin, a former Marine chopper pilot who runs Island Hoppers, a helicopter tour business, and Orville “Rick” Wright, a former Marine door-gunner-turned-impresario of Oahu’s coolest nightclub and the most connected man on the island. Suspicious of Magnum’s casual attitude and presence at his crime scenes, Detective Gordon Katsumoto finds that he and Magnum are more alike than either of them care to admit. With keys to a vintage Ferrari in one hand, aviator sunglasses in the other, and an Old Düsseldorf longneck chilling in the fridge, Thomas Magnum is back on the case!
At the Television Critics Association press tour, executive producer Peter Lenkov spoke of updating the 80’s favourite, which included adding a strong female voice.
“First and foremost, I thought it was a boys club,” Lenkov said of the original series. “If you’re going to do it in 2018, you need a strong female voice.” In the new series, Higgins will instead be played by Perdita Weeks, and was originally portrayed by a man, John Hillerman.
“I love that conflict in the original show between Higgins and Magnum,” he said. “There was real respect at the core of it. And on the surface they would butt heads. And I thought playing it a little differently with a female character just felt really fresh … and ultimately we’ll see where it goes as the relationship grows.”
Lenkov was asked about why he didn’t make other supporting characters female, but he said he wanted to preserve the “brotherhood” often shared between male military veterans.
“I did want to keep the bromance in terms of the relationship between guys in the service together,” he said. “I felt like I could get more mileage out of a female character in a conflict role.”
Starring Jay Hernandez (Suicide Squad) as Thomas Magnum, Perdita Weeks (Ready Player One) as Juliet Higgins, Zachary Knighton (Happy Endings) as Orville “Rick” Wright, Stephen Hill (Luke Cage) as Theodore “TC” Calvin, and Tim Kang (The Mentalist) as Detective Gordon Katsumoto.
Magnum P.I. premieres Monday, Sept. 24 at 9/8c on CBS.
