CBS finally let the cat out of the bag and the message was somewhat of a surprise: No more than four.
Alas, “Magnum P.I.” – waiting for weeks for a green light – was shown the red/stop light yesterday (May 11) that a fifth season, which would have launched filming this summer, is off the books.
Thus, the May 6 episode – with co-stars Jay Hernandez as Thomas Magnum and Perdita Weeks as Juliet Higgins, exchaging smitten “I like you” sentiments after kissing each other – was the season’s finale and the series’ ending.
The cast has reason to be disappointed, perhaps the viewing fan base more so. The reboot of the original Tom Selleck-led procedural was far more popular, sustaining a 8-year run in the height of Hollywood discovering and setting up anchor to film episodic shows that depicted the sun, surf, and lifestyle – plus the rampant crime in paradise – that viewers all over the world watched. The foundation then was set by the Jack Lord-era of “Hawaii Five-0,” the first episodic crime-in-paradise CBS shot here, which lasted for 12 seasons.
The “Magnum” reboot originally was a Monday night show but shifted to a better night Friday before the shutdown. Ratings were pretty good – not great— dipping down to 7.4 million viewers and a 0.7 demographics rating in season 4, a skosh below numbers during Season 3. In recent years, ratings and demos no longer seemed as important or relevant during earlier decades, when the demos, based on advertising rates – the higher the demo ranking, the more it would cost for primetime ads — mattered more.
CBS still has one other island show, “NCIS: Hawai‘i,” which completed its first year of production, and the show, led by Vanessa Lachey as lead agent Jane Tennant, recently earned its season 2 go-ahead, with filming set for this summer for the fall season. Thus, the NCIS brand apparently still has life and luster.
Other shows aiming cameras here include Disney* “Doogie Kamealoha, M.D.” starring Perton Elizabeth Lee. and Jason Scott Lee, with season 2 filming set this summer; and HBO Max’s “Kenui Road,” a lifeguard lifestyle drama written and directed by John Wells and set on the North Shore with principals Robbie Magasiva, Andrew Creer and Tessa de Josselin, which has a pilot in the can with air date not yet set. …
And that’s Show Biz. …