Why The New Magnum P.I. Won’t Make it to Season 2

A lot of folks don’t want to hear that a show that might turn out to be their favorite might not make it back for multiple seasons, let alone make it out of one season intact, but the truth of the matter when it comes to Magnum P.I. is that that the show had its chance, it even had its chance to come back and become something of a legacy, but that time has passed. The number of people that are likely to say otherwise are great enough in number to give a person pause and maybe consider another avenue of approach on an article like this, but coming from someone that watched the show back in its heyday the idea that Magnum could be brought back and be just as popular isn’t all that likely. It’s possible, but if it does reach season 2 it might mean that there isn’t a lot of interest in the various other shows that are spread across the vast network of television.

Here are a few reasons why Magnum might not reach a second season.

The changes aren’t bad, but they’ve become a bit too cliche.

Recall that in the first run-through with Tom Selleck that he was a former Navy SEAL. It was a cool thing to make a character into a SEAL or some other specialized soldier since it gave them a unique skill set and allowed them to become fleshed out in a way that made them even more interesting. Unfortunately now it’s something to say during a conversation and kind of discard afterwards, meaning it’s an idea that has been overused and therefore isn’t as effective. People still might widen their eyes a bit when they hear Navy SEAL, but the idea that every main character on every show is going to be a highly-decorated and trained member, or former member, of an elite military unit, is pushing the envelope a bit too much. After all, the current Higgins is a disavowed MI6 operative. You now, MI6, the same branch that James Bond and his peers work for? Yeah, it’s become that insanely elite. It might seem cool, but now and again it’s nice to see people in there that aren’t so highly placed but are still skilled in their own ways.

Back in the day the show really touched upon the Vietnam War era and how it had affected the characters.

You could argue that there have been some major conflicts throughout American history that, since the original show, could have been said to affect the current characters. There’s no denying the fact that those serving go through a great deal of stress and possible trauma that has to do with their service and where they’re sent. But the reboot isn’t really going into any of that on the same level that the original did. In the original show they depicted just how the Vietnam War impacted the main characters and how it shaped them into who they were. There was more story to it and less flash than you see now, as flash seems to be what the people want, which means it’s what producers and directors are going to give them. Unfortunately the flash takes away from the story in a way that seems to state that character development isn’t nearly as important as the glitz and glamour that comes with the show. People seem to remember Magnum for a lot of the glitz but none of the real impact it had on the characters.

The stunts and general attitude of the show have changed greatly from the original.

Let’s put it this way, the stunts back in the day couldn’t have been quite as flashy since the effects weren’t there and they weren’t part of the show anyway. People today want something bigger, flashier, they want stuff to go boom and watch the main hero smile while he performs each death-defying stunt. But what any Navy SEAL, former or current, might tell you is that none of them can ever recall jumping out of a car and grabbing onto a helicopter skid while smiling about it, especially after emptying a clip into a bad guy all while escaping a certain and fiery death. In other words this new show is way more flash than it needs to be and unfortunately is likely to be popularized because of it. What a lot of us remember from the original is that Magnum was awesome all on his own without the effects, and while he was kind of a pain in backside now and again he was still the kind of guy you idolized because he didn’t always need the flash.

If this show continues forward into another season it’s going to be because people have become used to lowering their standards when it comes to watching a great story, that much seems evident.

UPDATE:  As of Jan 30th, 2019 it looks like the show DID get approved for a new season!  So much for that.