Magnum, P.I.

The Case of the Red-Faced Thespian - S4-E12

Plot hole: Magnum is incredibly slow to unveil the charade at the base of the episode; he does it based on something marginal (Robin Masters does not do "research" for his novels), but he completely overlooks the key plot point of 1-17 "J. Digger Doyle" was that he does not use a typewriter, but he dictates the novels.

Sammo

Show generally

Other mistake: Throughout the entire run of the series, the very first shot of the opening contains a mistake; the helicopter's tail rotor is on the right side (mirrored), going then to its actual position (left side) for the rest of the sequence.

Sammo

Adelaide - S1-E14

Revealing mistake: In the night shootout, Magnum cocks his pistol in a close-up that is obvious performed by a trained stunt double. Whoever is doing this is wearing the same clothes Magnum has but with the T-shirt in pristine condition straight from the washing machine, while Tom Selleck just took a dive in the dirt. Moreover, he wears the team ring upside-down. (00:22:50)

Sammo

Magnum, P.I. mistake picture

Season 1 generally

Revealing mistake: In the opening of the second third of the season (the one with the iconic Mike Post theme) there is a brief scene with a car propelled in the air by an explosion. It's an outtake from the pilot movie, since the banged up car is very recognizable, but it's also easy to see why it was an outtake; you can easily see cables used to make the car fly in the air. Also, that car was not in an explosion in that episode.

Sammo

Lest We Forget - S1-E10

Revealing mistake: In the final car chase, the military police radios for reinforcement; in the exterior shot that follows the one inside the limo with Rick on his back, foot on the cockpit, you can see quite distinctly the two stuntmen meant to be Magnum and Rick, and totally not looking like them. (00:46:30)

Sammo

The Black Orchid - S1-E16

Continuity mistake: The plane at the beginning of the episode stops with the propeller at 7:05. When Louise DeBolt walks past the propeller to get in the cockpit, the propeller is at 11:25, and goes back to 7:05 next time it's shown. (00:02:10 - 00:03:10)

Sammo

Jororo Farewell - S4-E11

Continuity mistake: During the paperboy run, TC stops the van and asks Benny a question. Benny was holding the paper vertically, but his arm is down in the next shot, and up again next, and so on. (00:32:40)

Sammo

Jororo Farewell - S4-E11

Character mistake: The coach of the Jororo team makes a joke about being cut by the king "Like Robespierre did to Louis XV in '89." That would have been Louis XVI (and not in "89" but (17) 93, although the year of the French Revolution is correct). (00:25:10)

Sammo

Jororo Farewell - S4-E11

Revealing mistake: The prince and TC's protege have a fight when the spoiled kid is eliminated. They are supposed to be angry and serious, and the teammates too have worried faces, but in the shot when TC tells him that he's out of the game, against any logic the young actors are caught laughing. (00:23:20)

Sammo

Jororo Farewell - S4-E11

Continuity mistake: Magnum gets back to his pad and of course the kid everyone's looking for just crashed there. In the first shot, overhead, you can see that Magnum's coffee table features several magazines, and in the corner, at the same level, a bowl. Magnum fetches a can of beer and sits by Danny, but the magazines now are in a different line, with the bowl above them. (00:13:20 - 00:13:50)

Sammo

Squeeze Play - S4-E7

Continuity mistake: During the poker game at the beginning, the positions of Robin and Buzz's cards change a few times - Buzz unveils his winning 4 Ks to the left of the deck, but it is to its right immediately after, and Robin's cards are on or a bit away from the table's border. (00:02:30)

Sammo

Letter to a Duchess - S4-E6

Other mistake: Magnum and Vivian are not listening to the TV at loud volume (they have a quiet time watching and talking without raising their voice), but Higgins, all of a sudden hears it all the way from the main house and is greatly bothered by it.

Sammo

Upvote valid corrections to help move entries into the corrections section.

Suggested correction: Right at the beginning of that scene, yes, but he's looking at himself in the mirror. When the camera pans back, the mouse under the eye is in the correct position.

Sammo

Transitions - S8-E11

Visible crew/equipment: While Luther is walking with Suzi and Cleo sharing his "weapon, opportunity, motive" ideas, just as he says, "That is rule number two," the boom mic with its fuzzy windscreen pops up into view in front of Suzi's knee, at the bottom of the screen. (00:25:45)

Super Grover

Resolutions: Part I - S8-E12

Continuity mistake: When Magnum is with Dave at the radio station requesting his help as an audio engineer, Magnum's wearing the white Polo Ralph Lauren safari animal print shirt, and when it cuts to Magnum at the security office at Lee's building, now the animal print pattern is different, though he's still wearing the same style shirt. (00:28:40 - 00:29:55)

Super Grover

Mac: Time has little to do with infinity and jelly donuts.

More quotes from Magnum, P.I.

A.A.P.I. - S7-E5

Trivia: At the awards ceremony, three men seated at a table together resemble three detectives from 1970s TV shows. Detective Mike Stone (played by Karl Malden) from ABC's Streets of San Francisco; Detective Frank Columbo (played by Peter Falk) from NBC's Columbo; and Detective Theo Kojak (played by Telly Savalas) from CBS's Kojak. (00:07:20)

Super Grover

More trivia for Magnum, P.I.

Join the mailing list

Separate from membership, this is to get updates about mistakes in recent releases. Addresses are not passed on to any third party, and are used solely for direct communication from this site. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Check out the mistake & trivia books, on Kindle and in paperback.