Magnum, P.I. (TV Series) Murder by Night (1987) User Reviews

A fun Episode of Magnum PI

[RichN36 · 8/10 · 26 November 2014]

Not that they ever took themselves over serious on this show, but I always enjoyed the ones where they just had a Fun show that played with the style of the show.

You could tell that the regular actors where all having fun doing something other then their normal rolls and able to do a little stretching of their acting chops.

Two of the added bonuses to this show were the supporting cast of the Beautiful Jennfer Runyon playing the spoiled Rich Love Struck Girl and Henry Jones as the Butler.

The Mystery was a through back to the old Film's and dime novels of the 40's and did keep you guessing till the end. A nice time killer for the afternoon.

Welcome back, good Magnum

[feindlicheubernahme · 8/10 · 21 December 2023]

After a cracking start with four great episodes, season 7 fell off a cliff into a sea of ridiculous revelations (Magnum's possible daughter, TC's family), boring plots (most of them) and mawkish sentimentality (the "mentors" episode.) Murder by Night is a welcome return to form, with our cast transported back to the early 40s for the investigation into the murder of a newspaper baron.

The only problem I have with the episode is the end of the investigation, when Alicia, Christine and Sam are all arrested for murder or being accomplice to murder. Unless I missed something, Alicia is guilty only of having assaulted a dead body, with the intention of framing Christine, who turns out to be in fact guilty. She wouldn't even get prison time for that, much less lose her entitlement to the inheritance. But then again, seeing as the whole thing is a story written by Magnum, the mistake could be seen as his, not the scriptwriters'.

Lots of fun

[safenoe · 8/10 · 13 April 2023]

I like the Magnum experimentation episodes, and here this episode, Murder by Night, pays homage to the 1940s crime movies with the black and white production, dramatic music, credit fonts. You could tell the cast were having heaps of fun in this homage, and so do we the audience who are in on the fun.

It's hard to believe this episode was produced nearly 40 years ago but it stands the test of time. I must admit I haven't bothered to watch the reboot, because the only true Magnum, P. I. is the original one.

The end credits featured a scene with Magnum coughing up on smoke from a cigar, a nice touch indeed.