Magnum P.I.: Season Four [6 Discs] [DVD]

Tom Selleck returns as the title character in Magnum, P.I. as the Hawaii-based detective series enters its fourth season. The opening episode is the now-legendary "Home From the Sea," in which Magnum, stranded on the remnants of a surf ski in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, helplessly witnesses his whole life flashing before him. After surviving this ordeal, Magnum makes his first acquaintance with seedy, middle-aged "hard-boiled" private eye Luther H. Gillis (Eugene Roche), who in his typical take-charge fashion even provides voice-over narration for most of the story! On a more somber note, Magnum's friendship with his former Vietnam comrade in arms T.C. (Roger E. Mosley) takes a nosedive when T.C.'s footloose sister Wendy is murdered while on a date with our hero; this episode also introduces another recurring character, retired mob functionary Ice Pick Hofstetler, played by the great Elisha Cook Jr. Also making her first appearances this season is Kathleen Lloyd as assistant DA Carol Baldwin, a role played by Patricia McCormack during the previous season. Carol's function is similar to that of Higgins (John Hillerman), the snooty overseer of the estate where Thomas has been hired as security, to not-so-gently "persuade" Magnum to provide unofficial assistance in otherwise unsolvable cases. Among the guest stars appearing on Magnum P.I. during season four are Carol Channing, Leslie Uggams, Carol Burnett, Dick Shawn, and Patrick Macnee. The season closer, "I Witness," focuses on the King Kamehameha Club, co-owned by Magnum's never-seen boss, Robin Masters, and his war buddy Rick (Larry Manetti) -- and may be the only live-action TV episode in history to feature a talking pig as one of the villains!~Hal Erickson