Magnum P.I. showrunner Eric Guggenheim was joined by series stars Jay Hernandez and Perdita Weeks on Monday to speak about the show’s new move to NBC for Season 5 at the Television Critics Association Press Tour in Pasadena, California. While the move itself was talked about quite a lot, there was also a bit of discussion about the Magnum and Higgins romance – affectionately called “Miggy” by the show’s fandom – and about the decision to get the two of them together by this point.
“I think if you had asked us way back when we were doing the pilot when they would get together, we probably would have said ‘maybe by the end of Season 5,” Guggenheim said when asked if this was always the plan. “But, you know, the chemistry between these two actors is just amazing, and it was becoming harder and harder, honestly, to keep them apart.”
When the writers’ room got together for Season 4, the question was asked if that would be the year to get them together. A dialogue started about the pros and cons, and speculation of what that would look like. “The more we talked about it, the more excited we got about putting them together,” he continued.
“I think a lot of people [like fans] actually were worried that it would lose something; the antagonism, or something, but I will reassure everyone that that very much remains,” Perdita Weeks assured to laughter from the room. “We still bicker constantly,” Hernandez added. He also spoke about how the new season has taught him some things about Thomas Magnum.
“I think it’s interesting, because we’ve lived in these characters for so long, and we feel like we know them intimately, and then sometimes we get scenes or moments and it’s like, ‘huh, I hadn’t thought it was going to be like that, but all right. Let’s do it. Let’s go that direction.’ Without spoiling a storyline, Magnum is a bit more of a romantic than I imagined in moments, which I think is quite nice, actually,” he said. And for those fans who might have worried: Those moments in the trailer are not a dream. It’s real.
“It’s real, and the rest of the season is kind of showing where that goes, with two people who are obviously meant for each other, but then having to navigate working together, being in dangerous situations,” Perdita Weeks promised. “I think people are really going to enjoy it. It’s even more fun than it has been before.”
“I think it’s more romantic,” Eric Guggenheim added. “I think that would have happened, you know, regardless, just once we put them together. For sure, this seasons is sexier. It is more romantic. It’s more emotional, I feel.”
The new season of Magnum P.I. begins February 19 on NBC. Take a look at some photos from the season premiere “The Passenger” here and if you’d like a gallery of cast photos for Season 5, you can find them below!
