Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Welcome to my "Magnum P.I." Blog!

I recently disposed of some items on eBay that I was given during the years I worked as the Set Decorator on  "Magnum, P.I."  I was really surprised at how much interest there still is in the show in the USA and especially in Europe.  It was suggested that I share my stories and photos with the world (Thanks Marco!)  I've never done a blog before so please stay with me while I get set up.  

I worked for a theatre up the hill from the film studio where "Hawaii 5-0" and later Magnum were filmed.  The Set Decorator who did all 12 years of 5-0 and the first 3 years of Magnum before retiring was Buck Henshaw.  He was an amazing and talented man (more on him later) who was born and raised here in Hawaii.   He used to hire me to build and fix things--like building Higgin's "Bridge on the River Kwai" and crashed jet tail sections among others.  That was my foot in the door.  When he retired after Season 3, I was hired as the assistant to the decorator who replaced him at the beginning of Season 4.  After 5 episodes he was fired and I was suddenly the decorator on a top 10 TV show!  There were a lot of politics involved at that time which I may not go into, but in any case, I did the rest of season 4, 5, and 6.  Then I was fired and hired back a month later as the assistant to the person who had replaced me.  Yes, politics again.  I stayed in that position for season 7--which was the worst year of my life in many ways besides that job.  I did not go back for the last year, Season 8.  My same crew and I did go on to do other Hawaii shows like "One West Waikiki", "Jake and the Fatman", "Baywatch Hawaii," and "LOST" where I did the pilot and first 60 episodes.  My crew is still on the show, I am not.  So that is a brief history of my start (and end) with the show.  I will be posting some pictures and getting more into  some of the background and history of things with the show.

  I will answer the #1 and #2 question I am asked BEFORE I am asked it here:  Yes, Tom Selleck was as nice as you have heard and No, he is not gay.  My office was next door to his for 4 years and the walls were very thin so I know!  Ok, thanks for tuning in and I look forward to sharing some very happy memories and times from the show.  Compared to how the business has changed in 20+ years, that show really was a wonderful experience!  Aloha

5 comments:

kt said...

ALWAYS great to hear what you do all day long. Fascinating! I'm one of those who have no idea how sets appear where all the bits and bobs come from. And any tidbits about Tom Selleck are also appreciated. =;-)

Unknown said...

I am trying to find out about Magnum's brass headboard in his bedroom; I can't find one like it anywhere. Can you tell me anything about it, it's really cool.

Tripptee said...

Is Archie still around? I worked for his daughter JoJo's limo business and did a few repairs at his place in Parkway Calabasas. His artwork and lost wax casting works were my favorite things.

I am in NC now for 9 years.

Anonymous said...

I've been watching the DVDs of Magnum from season 1 working my way up.. Having a home in Hawaii, I'm having difficulty nderstanding why so many times in the show they wore long sleeve shirts. Didn't make sense to me. Silly question, I know...

vanzcam@yahoo.com

J Wallis said...

On occasion Rick"s condo/townhouse was used as a location to shoot scenes. Where were these homes and how do I get there. I know the Honolulu area somewhat.

Thx,
WJ