This could be brilliant! Now where’s the “Black Sheep Squadron” movie?!

A Magnum, P.I. movie is a tempting idea, and Clooney, of anyone around today, probably has the charisma and laid-back cleverness to do it well. But the show, at least from my mid-’80s perspective, had a great combination of comedy, drama, historical weight, and action. The historical weight was a little heavy-handed at times, but the show managed a nice balance of the action and the comedy without ever being too much of one or the other. A movie based on a dated tv show is always tough, and decisions about whether to project the show’s plot into the future or to set the film in the same time period as the show have a lot to do with whether or not the movie goes over well. If anyone would like to peruse my copy of Aloha, Magnum (thanks, Scott – I think I’ll try one of Rick’s recipes one of these days), or my ring-bound collection of blow-by-blow plot summaries from “Magnum” in syndication on Channel 2 every afternoon at five for about three years, drop me a line.