‘Magnum P.I.’ Cast Reacts to NBC Cancellation
Magnum P.I. will be working his final cases in the back half of Season 5. NBC has canceled the action-drama reboot — a year after resurrecting the show following its cancellation by CBS — and cast members are already saying their goodbyes.
According to Deadline, NBC decided that the current, 20-episode fifth season will be the final season. The first half of the season aired from February to April, and the second half will air sometime next season, but NBC had to decide by June 30 whether to extend the cast options. And since it’ll be months until the network sees how the second half of Season 5 will perform, NBC brass apparently decided to cut bait.
Following the cancellation news, Magnum P.I. actor Zachary Knighton, who plays Orville “Rick” Wright on the series, expressed gratitude on Twitter. “It’s been a helluva ride!” he wrote. “Thanks to all the fans for five incredible years. Love you all. Excited for what’s next!”
Karen Neal/CBS
Costar Stephen Hill, who plays Theodore “TC” Calvin, shared similar sentiments in his Instagram Story. “That was a STRONG run,” he wrote. “Changed my life. Thank you to everyone for watching! Thank you to all of the cast and crew! Thank you, Hawaii! I can’t wait for you to see the rest of season 5. Mahalo nui loa! Aloha aku no, aloha mai no.”
Magnum P.I. debuted on CBS in 2018 as a reboot of the 1980s series of the same name, which starred Tom Selleck. In the updated version, Jay Hernandez plays the titular private eye, a former Navy SEAL living and solving crimes in Hawaii.
Aside from Hernandez, Knighton, and Hill, the Magnum P.I. cast includes Perdita Weeks as Juliet Higgins, Amy Hill as Kumu, and Tim Kang as Gordon Katsumoto. The series in a co-production of Universal TV and CBS Studios, and Eric Guggenheim, Justin Lin, John Davis, and John Fox are executive producers.
The first half of Season 5 averaged 3.35 million viewers and a 0.27 rating in the 18–49 demo, down about 36 percent in both metrics from last season, according to TV Series Finale. It’s possible that a streaming network like Netflix may give Magnum P.I. a third shot at life, though that prospect is complicated by the show’s streaming rights, Deadline notes: The current season streams on Peacock, and past seasons stream on Paramount+.
Magnum P.I., Season 5B, TBA, NBC
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