Two of the creative forces behind CBS' successfulHawaii Five-0reboot are joining forces for another reboot of a CBS classic series. Writers Peter Lenkov and Eric Guggenheim are writing the pilot script for a new updated version of the iconic 1980s seriesMagnum P.I.for CBS, with the network handing out a “sizable pilot-production commitment” for this potential new series. While there is certainly no guarantee that this show will make it to series,TV rebootsare becoming more popular than ever, so it wouldn’t be surprising to find this show on CBS' lineup next fall.
This new show will feature a storyline that is seemingly quite similar to the original, following Thomas Magnum, a former Navy SEAL who comes home from Afghanistan, using his military skills to start his ownprivate investigationfirm. He’s aided by a group of fellow former veterans such as Theodore “TC” Calvin and Orville “Rick” Wright, along with disavowed MI:6 agent Juliet Higgins. Tom Selleck starred as the title character in the original series, with John Hillerman playing Higgins, Roger E. Mosley playing TC and Larry Manetti playing Rick. The original series, created by Donald P. Bellisario and Glen A. Larson and produced by Universal Television, aired on CBS for eight seasons between 1980 and 1988.
It’s worth noting that ABC tried to put together aMagnum P.I. rebootlast year, with John Rogers (Leverage) writing the script and Eva Longoria and Ben Spector producing through their company UnbeliEVAble Entertainment’s overall deal with Universal TV, which produced the original series. That project was set to follow the daughter of Thomas Magnum, Lily, who was featured in six episodes of the show. In the series finale, Magnum gets custody of his daughter Lily and promises to provide a stable home for her. That show would have seen Lily returning to Hawaii to take over her father’s private investigation firm, but it never made it to series.
What’s interesting is CBS and CBS TV Studios are currently the home to the originalMagnum P.I.star Tom Selleck, who has starred on the network’s hit Friday night seriesBlue Bloodssince it debuted in 2010, the same year CBS debuted theHawaii Five-0reboot that Peter Lenkov co-created. Peter Lenkov also co-created CBS’MacGyver reboot, which kicked off its second season last month, along with the summer seriesSalvation, which recently received a second season renewal. Even if thisMagnum P.I.reboot doesn’t move forward, there are a slew of TV reboots that are in development at several other networks.
NBC is developing reboots ofNancy Drew, the surfing movieBlue CrushandThe Munsters, while Fox is developing TV reboots for moviesTrue LiesandThe Nice Guys, ABC is developing a new version ofThe Jetsons, The CW has a new version ofRoswellin development and Amazon is moving forward on aStarsky and Hutchreboot. Whether or not all of these shows move forward or not remains to be seen, but it seems networks and streaming services will still keep developing more and more reboots. Eric Guggenheim is also the brother of The CW’sArrowverseproducer Marc Guggenheim, who has served as a writer and producer onHawaii Five-0and has also written forParenthood, while also writing the 2004 feature filmMiracleabout the 1980 US Olympic hockey team.The Hollywood Reporterbroke the news of this reboot, and hopefully we’ll have more news soon.
