Revealing mistake: Throughout the episode, the makeup used to age Elisha Cook Jr. is not of the highest quality, and seems about to fall off his face in the dinner scene.
Revealing mistake: Higgins is explaining the story of Bannister, which he conveniently happens to know all about. In Magnum's reaction shot, you can see that he starts giggling a moment before Higgins actually gets to the amusing part (that he was specialist at posing as a female). (00:17:50)
Revealing mistake: The killer nun is making "his" escape; shoots dead one secret service guy who in the spirit of 80s network television shows not a drop of blood and is propelled through the air as if he was hit by a cannonball and not some little silenced pistol. (00:45:25)
Revealing mistake: When Magnum shoots the nun, the one who falls off is a stuntman who would pass off as Gargamel but not as Christopher Morley. (00:46:25)
Revealing mistake: Chased by the bad guy who shoots over 9 times, Magnum makes a sharp, almost "U" turn; the car slows down during the turn, enough for the viewer to appreciate how thoroughly unlike John Hillerman his stunt double is, with his head full of hair. (00:33:10)
Revealing mistake: When Magnum chases after Randolph at the airport tarmac and finally catches him, there's an outline of elbow pads on Magnum's sleeves. Earlier, there was a shot from behind Magnum as he pulled the gun from his waistband, and his sleeves were normal.
Italian Ice - S2-E15
Revealing mistake: Magnum finds the unpleasant surprise of a large scratch on Robin's Ferrari. In close-up he runs his hand along the "bloody gouge", as Higgins later calls it, but it's a badly constructed prop; look at the turn signal, tiny and circular, nothing like the larger rectangular one of the car. (00:23:40)
Italian Ice - S2-E15
Revealing mistake: The 'mysterious stalker' is looking at Magnum opening the door of Ferrari for Margo, through a camera lens. When later we see the photo developed, it does not match that angle at all. (00:24:20 - 00:32:40)
Italian Ice - S2-E15
Revealing mistake: In the interior shots of the chopper approaching the estate, the sky is completely unmoving. In this scene gotta give props to Lenny Montana, the mature bodyguard, who not only has the best Italian accent in the episode, but also acts the heck out of the situation holding on to the grab handle and pulling and scooting with his big body (although they are not a train or a stagecoach, so they wouldn't really move like that). (00:27:30)
Italian Ice - S2-E15
Revealing mistake: TC is flying his chopper to Robin Masters' residence, with the three Italian stooges aboard. The chopper's tail rotor is suddenly on the wrong side. (00:28:30)
Revealing mistake: The sailor that Magnum KOs when the alarm rings goes down in the fakest way possible. With a long delay and cushioning his fall with his arms way early. (00:17:45)
Revealing mistake: When the bad guys are in search of Magnum but have to get back to refill their tank, they are sitting in a helicopter on the ground, with the sky (where you can also spot a jet plane) totally unmoving. (00:23:50)
Revealing mistake: When TC, Rick, and Higgins rescue Magnum and JL in the chopper, TC is wearing a short sleeve light blue tee shirt, but once they take off with Magnum hanging onto the side of the chopper, in Magnum's closeup TC is wearing a yellow tee shirt. Also note, the pilot in this shot is wearing dark brown spandex-type long sleeves under his short sleeved yellow tee shirt, to give the appearance of being the same skin color as TC. (00:39:20)
Revealing mistake: To board the helicopter as it takes off is a stunt double with a bulkier core than Tom Selleck's and lighter brown hair. (00:39:25)
The Elmo Ziller Story - S2-E20
Revealing mistake: Magnum sits down with Elmo and answers that no, he has not had any breakfast. Before he breaks out in a "WHAT are you eating?" you can see John Hillerman failing to pick up anything with the fork but pretending to be eating anyway. (00:14:15)
The Elmo Ziller Story - S2-E20
Revealing mistake: When Elmo gets bumped and tossed around by the bull, the stuntman is wearing thinner fake moustache than John Hillerman's. (00:32:55)
Revealing mistake: In the car explosion, the dummy inside the car is actually quite well done, but the camera lingers too long on it giving away the complete lack of any movement before the blast. (00:27:50)
Revealing mistake: During Magnum's fight with the security guard, the guard sells the punch a mile before it hits, and in the end supposedly goes KO, but is still breathing hard and moving. (00:42:30)
Did You See the Sun Rise? - S3-E1
Revealing mistake: TC's arrival is announced by the loud sound of his helicopter, which makes Higgins' desk comically shake. Fun sight gag, but looks totally phony, since everything in the room, including the plants, is completely still. (00:09:00)
Did You See the Sun Rise? - S3-E1
Revealing mistake: MacReynolds is summoned by his superior officer on the observation site. The officer holds his binoculars perfectly still and mostly horizontal, but in the POV shots the visual keeps shifting higher and higher following the missile's trajectory. (00:12:00)
