Magnum, P.I.
A Little Bit of Luck, a Little Bit of Grief
TV Flash files “A Little Bit of Luck, a Little Bit of Grief” as hour 126 of 162 in the TV Flash guide — Magnum, P.I. (1980–1988) on CBS, season 6, episode 20, aired 1986-04-03, 60 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S06E20: listed hour 126 of 162 in the Magnum, P.I. guide, hour 20 of 21 in season 6. It aired 1986-04-03 (60 min). The listed hour before it is “Who is Don Luis Higgins, and Why is He Doing These Terrible Things to Me?” (S06E19). Next is “Photo Play” (S06E21).
Catalog log
Broadcast listing — not a TV Flash recap.
T.C. and Magnum are fighting the demolition of T.C.'s clubhouse for underprivileged and troubled youths, which has been ordered to be destroyed by a greedy, obnoxious local land developer. Meanwhile, Rick, on a trip away, wins the $1,000,000 jackpot in the Western States Lottery. Now a rich man, he meets a young woman who becomes his fiancee, but with his new wealth, he begins to neglect his responsibilities at the King Kamehameha Club, and gets mixed up with a couple of crooked poker players. Rick is so wrapped up in his whirlwind new life that he risks losing his job, and even more importantly, his friends, not to mention his newly acquired wealth.
Viewer FAQ
Where does A Little Bit of Luck, a Little Bit of Grief sit in the Magnum, P.I. guide?
S06E20 is listed hour 126 of 162 — hour 20 of 21 in season 6, season 6 episode 20.
When did Magnum, P.I. S06E20 air?
A Little Bit of Luck, a Little Bit of Grief aired 1986-04-03 and is listed at 60 minutes.
Where should I start?
The two-hour premiere is the fantasy contract: estate, Ferrari, grin. Then jump to the hours that let Vietnam and the ensemble carry the argument. You will know within two episodes whether you want the cases or the bruised heart.
In the series
Why this series still plays
Watch it for the double exposure: Hawaiian PI pleasure on the surface, veteran friendship and unfinished war underneath. Selleck sells the grin; the hours that last are the ones that let the grin fail without sinking the show.
The Ferrari is a punchline that photographs like a wish. Tom Selleck slides into frame with a mustache the network could have trademarked, a guest house on someone else’s estate, and a private-investigator premise built to sell Hawaii to the mainland. That is the surface contract of Magnum, P.I., and it is not a small one. Donald P. Bellisario and Glen A. Larson knew how to package adventure. The cut, when it is honest, keeps introducing a second show: three veterans whose jokes are a coping system, a butler who…
Filed against
- Tom Selleck as Thomas Magnum
Tom Selleck’s Magnum made Ferrari daydreams and Vietnam ghosts into 1980s appointment TV on Magnum, P.I. — mustache-as-brand, Hawaiian sun as plot armor, eight seasons of charm with a bruised structure underneath. Reboots chase the…
- John Hillerman as Jonathan Quayle Higgins III
John Hillerman’s Jonathan Quayle Higgins III is Magnum, P.I.’s foil as class structure: British rectitude versus the man living in the guest house. Hawaiian daydream on the surface, estate rules underneath. On TV Flash he is the butler…
- Roger E. Mosley as Theodore "T.C." Calvin
Roger E. Mosley’s Theodore “T.C.” Calvin is Magnum, P.I.’s war under the Hawaiian sun — chopper, friendship, the argument that Vietnam did not end at the airport. Tom Selleck sold the grin; T.C. and Rick made the grin a unit. TV Flash…
- Larry Manetti as Orville "Rick" Wright
Larry Manetti’s Orville “Rick” Wright is Magnum, P.I.’s club-and-friendship argument — Hawaiian daydream on the surface, Vietnam unfinished underneath. Not a disposable sidekick; one-third of the veteran joke that is also a coping system.…