Magnum P.I. has come to an end on NBC in the 2024 TV season after five seasons, despite fan efforts at a rescue and leading man Jay Hernandez pitching an idea for how the show could continue. While any show almost hitting 100 episodes is impressive in this day and age, the 2018 reboot didn't last quite as long as the original series that starred Tom Selleck as the title character for eight seasons. With his show concluding, Hernandez gave a shout out to Selleck that puts a spin on his whole journey as Thomas Magnum.
Jay Hernandez took to X (formerly known as Twitter) while the series finale was airing on NBC to interact with fans. In response to one who said that they never thought they'd be interested in a reboot of the iconic Tom Selleck series, Hernandez shared:
Ditto-as a Tom Selleck fan I ALSO thought I would never be interested in a reboot. I seriously felt the same way! But hey, gave it a shot. Thank you for your kind words!
For all the people who had doubts about a reboot of the show that starred Tom Selleck, it turns out that even Jay Hernandez didn't expect that he'd ever be interested in stepping up as the next Thomas Magnum! Fortunately for fans, he did indeed give it a shot for four seasons on CBS and then one final season on NBC. Even without the Tom Selleck mustache!
NBC gave the show a solid sendoff by airing two episodes of Magnum P.I. action back-to-back on January 3, both of which are available streaming now with a Peacock Premium subscription. The finale does seem to be the end of the road for the series, although I for one would love to see Hernandez's idea of a standalone movie come together.
If Tom Selleck is any example, a starring role on Magnum P.I. can lead to a long and successful career on the small screen. The actor spoke about never expecting to get as "lucky again" as he was with Magnum running for eight seasons and nearly 200 episodes on CBS. As any fan of Blue Bloods can attest, the Hawaii-set show certainly wasn't the end of his time in long-running TV shows!
While Blue Bloods is confirmed to end after the upcoming Season 14, the final credits will roll after nearly 300 episodes with Tom Selleck as Commissioner Frank Reagan. His plans for after Blue Bloods reportedly include retirement rather than pursuing another drama with the potential to run for hundreds of episodes. Fans of both Blue Bloods and the original Magnum P.I. got a treat back in the spring, when Selleck's former Magnum co-star Larry Manetti arrived on the CBS drama as a guest star.
And in a fun twist, you can actually revisit both versions of Magnum P.I. streaming on the same platform now. The first four seasons of Jay Hernandez's show are available streaming on Amazon Freevee for free with ads, and all eight seasons of Tom Selleck's show are on the same service. For more of Selleck, you can find Blue Bloods with a Paramount+ subscription.
