Heyes, Douglas

Magnum, P.I. - The Complete First Season

Studio: Uni Dist Corp. (mca) Release Date: 04/12/2005 Run time: 1113 minutes Rating: Nr

A ratings hit for eight seasons on CBS, the action-mystery series Magnum, P.I. makes its DVD boxed set debut in an impressive five-disc package that offers not only the entire first season, but some rarely seen episodes. Positioned in the old Hawaii Five-O time slot (Thursdays at 9) in December of 1980, Magnum quickly became a hit, thanks to the combination of smart and witty scripting, gorgeous locations, and the considerable charm of lead Tom Selleck as former Naval Intelligence officer Thomas Magnum, who gives up his position to become a private investigator on Oahu with the help of fellow Vietnam vets T.C. (Roger E. Mosley) and Rick (Larry Manetti). Magnum also provided security for the lavish estate of wealthy (and never-seen) mystery writer Robin Masters, which gave him access to the author's expensive vehicles (including a prized Ferrari), much to the disapproval of Masters's manservant Higgins (Jonathan Hillerman).

A rare series that skillfully blended action, humor, drama, and suspense, Magnum, P.I.'s first season gets the boxed set treatment its fans have been hoping for, with all 18 first-season episodes (including the two-part pilot, "Don't Eat the Snow in Hawaii") included on four discs. The fifth disc contains four rarely shown bonus episodes, including season 3's "Ki'ls Don't Lie," which featured a crossover plot with Simon and Simon, as well as its conclusion ("Emeralds Are Not a Girl's Best Friend"), which kicked off S&S's second season; the latter episode has never been aired as part of Magnum's syndicated package, which is another reason for fans to pick up and enjoy this long-awaited set. --Paul Gaita

Magnum P.I.: The Complete Eighth Season

Studio: Uni Dist Corp. (mca) Release Date: 03/04/2008 Rating: Nr

Magnum, P.I. - The Complete Second Season

Studio: Uni Dist Corp. (mca) Release Date: 04/12/2005 Run time: 1083 minutes Rating: Nr

Return to the Big Island for more adventure with Tom Selleck's charmingly roguish detective hero, Thomas Magnum, courtesy of this three-disc set, which compiles the entire second season (1981-1982) of Magnum, P.I.. The 22 episodes included here (among them the two-part "Memories Are Forever") crystallize the key to the series' success: an appealing blend of action, drama, mystery, and comedy, cemented by Selleck and his likable castmates, especially John Hillerman, who would earn a Golden Globe for his work on Magnum in '82. Highlights of the season include Magnum's attempt to stop an international assassin ("The Jororo Kill," with Tyne Daly), the arrival of Hemingway-esque author Mad Buck Gibson (Darren McGavin) in the episode of the same name, and the aforementioned two-parter, which reunites Magnum with a woman he thought to have died after marrying her while serving in Vietnam. The usual array of classy guest stars are also on hand for this season; in addition to the aforementioned actors, there are turns by Mimi Rogers, Vic Morrow, Vera Miles, Jill St. John, and Elisha Cook Jr. (who plays a much different character than his recurring role as "Ice Pick" in future seasons). And Magnum obsessives should note early appearances by Gillian Dobb, who played Agatha Chumley in numerous subsequent episodes, as well as one of Higgins's colorful, estranged half-brothers in "The Elmo Ziller Story." It's unfortunate that the set itself doesn't match the quality of the Episodes--extras are limited to second-season episodes from Knight Rider and The A-Team--but Magnum fans should be pleased to have all the episodes in a single set, and best of all, commercial-free. --Paul Gaita

Magnum, P.I. - The Complete Third Season

Studio: Uni Dist Corp. (mca) Release Date: 01/31/2006

Magnum P.I. - The Complete Seventh Season

Studio: Uni Dist Corp. (mca) Release Date: 10/30/2007

Magnum P. I. - The Complete Sixth Season

Studio: Uni Dist Corp. (mca) Release Date: 02/27/2007

Magnum P.I. - The Complete Fourth Season

Tom selleck returns as thomas magnum televisions most charismatic detective in the complete fourth season of magnum p.I. Studio: Uni Dist Corp. (mca) Release Date: 04/04/2006

Magnum P.I. - The Complete Fifth Season

All 22 episodes from season 5. Studio: Uni Dist Corp. (mca) Release Date: 10/10/2006 Rating: Nr

Cheyenne - The Complete First Season

Studio: Warner Home Video Release Date: 06/06/2006 Run time: 631 minutes Rating: Nr

No collection of classic TV Westerns is complete without Cheyenne, the trailblazing 1955 series that premiered within weeks of Gunsmoke. The strapping Clint Walker stars as Cheyenne Bodie, the iconic role that earned him his place in the Hall of Great Western Performers at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City. Cheyenne is a classic Western hero in the drifter tradition, accepting jobs ranging from frontier scout to trail boss. In this first season, he is accompanied at times by sidekick Smitty (L.Q. Jones). "It takes about a minute to know a man," one character remarks during the course of Cheyenne's first season. But we size up Cheyenne in an instant. He is a man of honor, straight shooting and plainspoken. In one episode, he declines an offered position of ranch foreman. "I don't like the job," he states, "and when I don't like a job, I turn it down." When a woman refers to Indians as "savages" in the first episode, Cheyenne enlightens her, "The Indians think we're the savages." Several episodes, including "Quicksand" and "The Last Train West," echo the John Ford masterpiece, Stagecoach, as Cheyenne finds himself amongst a diverse and disparate group of people who are thrown together by circumstance.

Cheyenne was part of a new breed of "adult Western." The episode "Johnny Bravo" (was this the inspiration for Greg's rock star nom de plume on The Brady Bunch?) deals with a rancher who disapproves of his daughter's affair with a Mexican. Keep a sharp lookout for actors who would later become Hollywood's most wanted. A pre-Maverick James Garner appears as different characters in three episodes. Dennis Hopper is hot-triggered gunfighter the Utah Kid, in "Quicksand." And that's the future Miss Hathaway, Nancy Kulp, as a sassy waitress in "Johnny Bravo." Cheyenne was originally broadcast as one of three rotating series under the banner, Warner Brothers Presents, but it quickly established itself as the runaway hit. Like the best Westerns, it is anything but quaint nostalgia. With its timeless setting, compelling stories, charismatic hero, and positive values, the sun will never set on Cheyenne. --Donald Liebenson

Cheyenne (Television Favorites)

Studio: Warner Home Video Release Date: 09/27/2005 Run time: 143 minutes