Magnum Reloaded: ‘Magnum P.I.’ joins ‘Hawaii Five-0’ on CBS’ ‘most dominant night’

Fans of the rebooted “Magnum P.I.” got some interesting news last week when CBS announced the latest Peter Lenkov creation will join their Friday night lineup. CBS called Friday its “most dominant night” and added “Magnum P.I.” will “create a tropical duo” as it will follow “Hawaii Five-0.” Fans of both shows were thrilled with the move of “Magnum P.I.” from Monday night, as the potential for a crossover between the two Hawaii-based shows seems even more likely now that the two shows will run back-to-back.

The first season of “Magnum P.I” ended April 1, months after they had been renewed for a second season. After seeing several “Five-0” characters meshed into the storylines of “Magnum,” fans felt that a crossover was fairly inevitable. Yet while “Five-0” characters Dr. Noelani Cunha (Kimee Balmilero), Kamekona (Taylor Wily) and Sgt. Duke Lukela (Dennis Chun) have crossed over into Magnum’s (Jay Hernandez) world, there has not been a true crossover of the two shows where one show starts a storyline and is later concluded in the second show. With the news of “Magnum P.I.” joining the Friday night lineup with “Hawaii Five-0” and “Blue Bloods” — which coincidentally stars Tom Selleck who originated the role of Thomas Magnum in the 1980s — a future crossover event seems inevitable.

NEW TIME SLOT

In the fall, “Hawaii Five-0” will kick off the Friday night prime-time lineup (7 p.m. HST) and become the lead-in for “Magnum P.I.” CBS gave “Magnum” this promotion from its Monday night lineup because the show “improved its Monday time period this season by +35% in viewers.” Currently another Lenkov reboot, “MacGyver,” airs after “Five-0” on Friday nights. But after a rocky third season, the action-drama is now scheduled to be a mid-season replacement in 2020.

CBS most likely put “Magnum P.I.” in between “Hawaii Five-0” and “Blue Bloods,” two well-established shows, with the hope their audiences would help drive the overall ratings of the reboot. While fans of the classic “Magnum P.I.” have been mostly critical of the new show, mainly because of the lack of Selleck in the reboot, the show has slowly gained some momentum within its storylines and viewership. This new time slot may give “Magnum” the potential for longevity that it needs.

Friday night is certainly one of the keys to the continued success of “Hawaii Five-0.” The hope that “Magnum P.I.” will be able to blossom like “Five-0” was able to do after they moved from Monday to Friday after the third season — is bolstered by this strategic move.

CROSSOVER HOPES

The talk of a crossover started almost immediately after the “Magnum” reboot was announced. While “Five-0” has certainly crossed over into “Magnum” — none of the “Magnum P.I.” cast have gone over to Five-0 headquarters to check in with the most powerful task force in Hawaii. Fellow SEAL brothers Magnum (Hernandez) and McGarrett (Alex O’Loughlin) have yet to run into each other and swap war stories, and Rick (Zachary Knighton) and TC (Stephen Hill) have not come by Kamekona’s (Wily) Shrimp Truck to get some intel or borrow a helicopter.

It would also be interesting to see Duke (Chun) mentoring Katsumoto (Tim Kang) on how to deal with Magnum when he turns rogue again, as Duke has many years of experience dealing with McGarrett and his unique form of investigation. We are certainly thankful about how much we see of Noelani (Balmilero) when she is bribed and begged to help Magnum with his cases, but we’re still waiting to see her girls’ night with Higgins (Perdita Weeks).

Still, our biggest hope is to see a shared storyline, where one of Magnum’s cases takes him to work with Five-0, or vice versa. Fans know when they see Magnum walk through the doors of Five-0 headquarters seeking the help of fellow SEAL McGarrett — the crossover event they have been waiting for will have finally arrived.

BORROWING FROM FIVE-0

Oahu is not that big of an island — and it seems odd that Magnum has not run into McGarrett or even mentioned his name. And with two members of Five-0, McGarrett and Junior (Beulah Koale), being SEALs — it’s equally strange that neither of the Navy men have mentioned Magnum. But, perhaps we’re just hoping for a bit more of an overlap of the two shows.

If nothing else the move to Friday night is a positive change for both shows. It certainly gives “Magnum” the opportunity to grow its audience with fans of “Five-0” sticking around to watch, and fans of “Blue Bloods” tuning in before their show airs. Some fans of “Hawaii Five-0” are skeptical about the change, but as the show enters its 10th season it doesn’t seem like anything will break it. We just hope the same can be said about “Magnum P.I.” and its potential future.

Wendie Burbridge writes the “Five-0 Redux” and “Magnum Reloaded” blogs for staradvertiser.com. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram.