Do You Care About A "Las Vegas"/"Knight Rider" Crossover?

Bryan Christian — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 14:24:00 GMT

You should! 'Cause it's coming! Maybe! And if you're a fan of Crossing Jordan or Heroes -- well, you probably already guessed what we're gonna say next.

Now, maybe you're not a fan of any of these shows, and you're all sort of like "Huh?" Well, the deal is this: NBC cancelled Las Vegas this spring after the writers strike truncated the show's third season, and, to be fair, after the show has been through the familiar dance of declining ratings, cast defections, a new timeslot. Oh, and also literally one day after showrunner Gary Scott Thompson was signed to captain their new Knight Rider reboot.

Which, you know, good for Gary -- but bad, perhaps, for Vegas fans, who were kind of expecting the show to return for the '08-09 season, particularly after the season (er, series) finale had Danny and Delinda getting hitched with a baby on the way -- like, really on the way, if you catch our meaning -- and the return of Tom Selleck's character from almost-certain death, and a couple of other things that we've forgotten that implied they'd be back.

Well, turns out Thompson might be pushing to have Danny and Delinda turn up on an episode of Knight Rider.

Thompson says that Josh Duhamel and Molly Sims are particularly interested in spelling out what became of Danny, Delinda and their baby. "I talked to them both the other day, and they said we should do something. It was their characters that were really left hanging, and they were very upset by it."

Here's the thing about this: astute viewers of all things NBC will note that Las Vegas was known for its crossovers, with explicit or implicit appearances by characters from Crossing Jordan, Magnum P.I., and -- wait for it -- Heroes. That's right. Heroes. As in: if this thing goes down, you could see Sylar vs. a tricked out goddamn superintelligent Ford.

Top Ten Reasons To Bring Back Tom Selleck As "Magnum P.I."

Bryan Christian — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 21:23:00 GMT

It's time to bring back everyone's favorite island investigator. Meet us after the jump for our reasons why.

1. 'Cause everyone else is already doing it...

As we mentioned the other day, Burn Notice is kind of like Magnum crossed with MacGyver. And those two shows share a similar structure to many many other shows today: stranger comes into quirky main character's life and asks for help; main character helps out and solves a crime; bad guys get locked up; stranger and main character part ways, leaving main character to his many personal quirks. See what we mean? Heck, forget Burn Notice! You got your Monks there, and your Psychs, and a few CBS shows, including the freaking Ghost Whisperer. Sure, we could go one step further back and say "Well, they're all children of Rockford, aren't they." And yeah, they are. But you think David Chase is gonna put any of that Sopranos money into putting James Garner into a Pontiac Firebird again? Seems unlikely. On the other hand, Donald P. Bellisario, the creator of Magnum, maintains an active relationship with CBS to this day, producing police and investigation dramas like NCIS and many others, and we just know he'd be up for it Tom Selleck was. Which brings us to...

2. ... but no one's doing it with Tom Selleck.

We remember exactly the moment we realized Tom Selleck was the bomb. Sure, we always knew that he could action it up, and looked good without a shirt and stuff, but that moment for us was when he was on Friends, and we were like "Hang on; he's handsome and he can do comedy and he doesn't seem out of place with people 20 years younger than him?" And he didn't. Put it this way: CBS spent 5 years making us think Don Johnson wasn't a grody old drunk with Nash Bridges. Think of what they could do with Tom Selleck at it again! Plus, wouldn't he like to take a little break from playing self-destructive gumshoe Jesse Stone?

3. 'Cause mustaches need to come back.

OK, maybe we're partial, but really: it's time for real mustaches to return. Not little hipster ones, we're talking about here, but big ones. Manly ones. The kind that would jump off a face, rub themselves down with shoe polish, sneak into a lagoon hideaway and un-kidnap a beautiful island princess. Exactly the kind worn by Thomas Goddamn Magnum.

4. 'Cause if you think about it, Thomas Magnum is pretty much The Big Lebowski's The Dude for Republicans.

You don't believe us? You got your white guy sports enthusiast of indeterminate income and perhaps-overly-eventful Nixon-era biography, hanging out in sunny climes and bumping into people in trouble, helping them shambolically out of their jams with the assistance of their wacky friends, and then moseying on along with their lives. Huh? Right? They're basically the same guy. We couldn't make this stuff up, people! Don't right-wingers deserve a Dude too?

5. Because others have already kind of done it but not all the way.

Supporting characters RIck and TC appeared on Las Vegas a few years ago -- yes, after Tom Selleck had replaced James Caan. OK, so, they weren't exactly the same guys. But they had similar names, similar professions, and were played by the same cats, so basically they were thinly veiled versions of the original guys hanging around Tom Selleck. Subtle, right? And there have been a couple other Magnum references on Las Vegas as well...

... but come on! Did they go all the way with it? No. Sadly, they kept to their 90210 in a casino schtick -- which, we admit, we kind of loved, but it ain't no Magnum. So, maybe it's time for the real deal?

6. Because it probably means we'd get a Quantum Leap revival too.

Among the other programs that Mr. Bellisario has been responsible for over the years was the '90's time-travel drama Quantum Leap. In fact, at one point, a crossover episode was planned with Leap star Scott Bakula jumping into Magnum's body and giving his trademark eyebrow-raise thingy -- but the footage was never used. Now, as some of you may know, Bakula's character Sam Beckett (nerd spoiler alert!) never found his way home in the final episode of the Leap. Maybe after we check in with Magnum, we can get Sam some closure too?

7. Because a successful TV revival will hopefully put an ixnay on the inevitably bloated, shamefully unfunny Hollywood version.

According to Wikipedia, "it was reported Matthew McConaughey would play Magnum, with Steve Zahn as Rick, Tyrese Gibson as T.C., and William H. Macy as Higgins in an adaptation "to be released in 2009." Now, that was supposed to be written and directed by the guy that did Dodgeball, which, you know, fat chance now. But still: a successful reboot of the original series would probably go a long way towards inoculating it from the satirical eye of whatever Stiller/Apatow acolytes might come a'sniffin'.

8. Because we'd like to see Thomas Magnum get right with what happened to him in Vietnam.

Even just a little! Magnum thought that his wife had died during the final pullout in VIetnam. Now that relations with Vietnam are fairly good, and guys formerly stationed there revisit the country fairly often, it'd be great to see him tackle something similar. We're not asking for much here: no evil twin sister that pops out of the woodwork or anything. Just, you know, a little scene of him playing with kids on the beach, and someone going "Hey, where's that," and he goes "Nha Trang. It's still beautiful," and that's it. Little moments, you know?

9. Because Lost ain't gonna film forever.

Did you guys know that Magnum PI was created in part because CBS still had a bunch of filming facilities on the island of Oahu following the run of Hawaii-Five-O? When Jack and the rest of the castaways on Lost finally burn through their planned hundred-episode arc in a couple years, are you gonna let Hawaii go show-less? We didn't think so. Another possible Lost connection: Lost producer Carlton Cuse created Nash Bridges and The Adventures of Brisco County Jr. before hitting it big on The Island. You see where we're going here? Nash Bridges + Brisco County Jr. + Hawaii + Tom Selleck = STELLAR!!!

10. Because, dude, seriously: Tom Selleck is the shit.

He's still got it! Check him out, he grows avocadoes and had permission from his wife to have "coffee" with Sophia Loren! WIN!

"Burn Notice" Season Two Premiere: The Text Message Review

Bryan Christian — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 15:29:00 GMT

And now the latest in what intelligence experts assure us will someday by blowing our cover and stranding us in warmer climes (hooray!): text message reviews of new and returning tv shows. After the jump, this week's review of Burn Notice, USA's buzz-heavy Magnum P.I./MacGyver/CSI Miami/Jason Bourne mashup.

brn ntc? ok, but NOT ENUF 6! we wuz robbed!

The Remote Island : Magnum P.I.

Do You Care About A "Las Vegas"/"Knight Rider" Crossover?

Top Ten Reasons To Bring Back Tom Selleck As "Magnum P.I."

"Burn Notice" Season Two Premiere: The Text Message Review