Magnum, P.I.
Don't Eat the Snow in Hawaii
Season 1, Episode 1 · Aired 1980-12-11
Synopsis
When Oahu-based private investigator Thomas Magnum's childhood friend and Naval comrade, Dan Cook, turns up dead, Magnum is adamant that the official cause of death, a burst bag of smuggled cocaine, is bogus. He enlists the aid of Dan's sister, Alice, in taking on the Navy to uncover the true nature of the top-secret assignment Dan was working on before his death. On original broadcast, episode aired as a pilot movie.
From the desk: Magnum, P.I. opens its catalog run with “Don't Eat the Snow in Hawaii” (1980-12-11). Charm-first detective TV that still reboots because the fantasy works. Selleck's mustache-as-brand and network scheduling wars.
In the series
This episode is part of Magnum, P.I. (1980–1988) on CBS.
Ferrari daydreams and Vietnam ghosts under the Hawaiian sun.
Key cast
- Tom Selleck as Thomas Magnum
- John Hillerman as Jonathan Quayle Higgins III
- Roger E. Mosley as Theodore "T.C." Calvin
- Larry Manetti as Orville "Rick" Wright