NBC Saves ‘Magnum P.I.’, Star Jay Hernandez Reacts: ‘Time to Dust Off the Aloha Shirt’
TL;DR:
- NBC has renewed Magnum P.I. for two seasons.
- The move saves the canceled show, which CBS axed in May 2022 after the season 4 finale.
- Star Jay Hernandez thanked fans for their “love and support.”
Thomas Magnum lives on. NBC has stepped in to save the recently canceled Magnum P.I. Star Jay Hernandez celebrated the news on Twitter, thanking fans for their support.
NBC orders 20 episodes of ‘Magnum P.I.’
According to a report from Deadline, NBC has ordered 20 episodes of the Hawaii-set police procedural. While details are still being finalized, those episodes will apparently be split into two seasons – the show’s fifth and sixth.
The renewal news doesn’t come as a total shock. Soon after Magnum P.I. was canceled, reports surfaced that producer Universal Television was shopping the show around to different networks and streaming services.
So far, there’s no official word yet on which cast members will return or when the new episodes will air. NBC recently revealed its fall premiere schedule, including air dates for returning series such as Law & Order: SVU and Chicago Fire.
CBS canceled ‘Magnum P.I.’ in May
CBS canceled Magnum P.I. in mid-May, shortly after the season 4 finale aired. That episode featured a long-awaited kiss between Magnum and Higgins (Perdita Weeks).
Magnum P.I. – a reboot of the 1980s series starring Tom Selleck – was a popular show, averaging 7.3 million viewers in season 4. But CBS and Universal TV could not come to an agreement over the show’s license fee, which reportedly led to the cancellation, according to Deadline. The decision not to renew the show was not an easy one, said one CBS executive.
“You have some tough decisions to make and you have lots of factors – and I’m not going to rule [the licensing fee] out as one of them,” CBS Entertainment president Kelly Kahl told TVLine. “It was a great team to work with, and one of the tougher decisions we had to make.”
Jay Hernandez, Perdita Weeks react to ‘Magnum P.I.’ renewal news
Hernandez took to Twitter to celebrate Magnum P.I.’s renewal.
“It was a bit circuitous but we did it! Your love & support helped get us over the finish line, thank you & thanks to @nbc for stepping up! Time to dust off the Aloha shirt! #ohana,” he wrote.
Weeks shared a smiling photo of herself on Instagram, along with the caption, “Off to see the Ohana,”
Zachary Knighton, who plays Rick Wright, referenced a classic ‘80s movie when he shared the big news on his Instagram, writing, “GOONIES NEVER SAY DIE.”
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