Magnum P.I.: The Complete Second Season [6 Discs] [DVD]

Private eye Thomas Magnum (Tom Selleck) continues to enjoy the hospitality of his wealthy (and never-seen) benefactor, author Robin Masters, on Masters' lavish Oahu estate as Magnum P.I. enters its second season. Our hero must also endure the verbal slings and arrows of Masters' snobbish manservant Higgins (John Hillerman), not to mention a nip or two from Higgins' pet Dobermans, Zeus and Apollo. The season opener, "Billy Joe Bob," finds Magnum trying to locate the sister of a trigger-happy Texan. In later episodes, Magnum and his Vietnam buddies T.C. (Roger E. Mosley) and Rick (Larry Manetti) are neck-deep in intrigue as they attempt to help a Russian Olympic champ defect; Magnum is unexpectedly and disastrously reunited with his wife, Michelle (Marta DuBois), whom he assumed had been killed years earlier; Darren McGavin guest stars as Hemingwayesque novelist Mad Buck Gibson, whose ex-wife hires Magnum to keep her husband alive until she collects her back alimony; an assignment to protect a ballerina reveals a hitherto undisclosed facet of T.C.'s personality (but one that would be mentioned time and time again in future episodes); and in "Texas Lightning," a birthday party and a card game segue into one of the series' most thrilling helicopter chases. Weaving in and out of the proceedings is a new Magnum, P.I. recurring character, Lt. Yoshi Tanaka of the Honolulu police (played by Kwan Hi Lim). Another "new character" in every sense of the word is "Bronco" Elmo Ziller, the estranged half-brother of the persnickety Higgins (both roles are played by John Hillerman in a textbook example of "versatility"). The season finale, "Three Minus Two," is distinguished by the presence of two of Hollywood's most attractive leading ladies: Jill St. John and Beverly Garland. ~ Hal Erickson