Perhaps there will come a day when no TV shows are left to bring back from the dead, with the broadcast serpent finally having consumed itself entirely, but it's nowhere in sight. The latest former primetime smash to head back to the drawing board is the 1980s hit Magnum P.I., and ABC is going into development on a sequel to the Tom Selleck-starring drama that's simply titled Magnum.
While the process is still in the earliest of stages, ABC locked down a script commitment plus substantial penalty for Magnum, which will focus on Thomas Magnum's daughter Lily, whose nickname is apparently "Tommy." Lily had a career in Navy Intelligence before one blown operation put an end to all that, and she's still trying to figure out what happened as she takes on a new gig as the head of her father's P.I. business in Hawaii. With sunny skies and golden beaches surrounding her, Lily will work with a group of colleagues to take on the world of international crime and espionage. Private detectives can totally drink mai tais while on the job, right?
This new take on island-based crimefighting comes from John Rogers, creator of Leverage and The Librarians, and Eva Longoria's production company UnbeliEVAble Entertainment. Rogers will be writing the script and executive producing. According to Deadline, Ben Spector and Longoria were looking for projects in Universal TV's catalog to use for their overall deal with the studio, and once Magnum P.I. got their attention, it didn't take long to connect the dots that the show should obviously center on the daughter that Magnum took custody of in the series finale back in 1988.
Because let's face it. There are some projects out there that, even though they have iconic lead actors, can still get worked out as a complete reboot - MacGyver is using a "younger" version of the character portrayed by Richard Dean Anderson, for instance - but no one in their right mind should ever try to replace Tom Selleck as Thomas Magnum. From the mustache to the breezy attitude that could get fierce with the quickness, Selleck was key to making that show fantastic. (That mustache is almost too signature, really.) Now they just have to find the right actress to bring that Magnum swagger. Swagnum?
In Magnum P.I., which premiered back in 1980 and ran for eight seasons, the character Lily appeared for four episodes, so she's got her place in this universe. And if this project ends up going to series, you just KNOW they're going to get Tom Selleck to reprise his role as a proud papa handing the reins to his kid. And then they will share the reins and will go on justice-delivering adventures together, and there's also beach dragons.
There's no telling just what will end up happening to Magnum, but it won't be hard to land a solid enough premise to get a series order. And maybe they can have Robin Masters' daughter as someone that never appears on screen.
