‘Magnum P.I.’ Reboot Gets Series Order at CBS

CBS is going all in on rebooting another TV classic with a brand new Magnum P.I. series. The project was one of five pilots CBS ordered to series on Friday.

Rumblings of a Magnum P.I. reboot began in October, with Peter Lenkov and Eric Guggenehim as creators. The duo both worked on another CBS hit revival, Hawaii Five-0, and Lenkov also works on the MacGyver reboot. Justin Lin (Fast & Furious) directed the pilot.

The new Magnum will follow the same format as the original, which starred Tom Selleck as a former Navy SEAL who becomes a private investigator in Hawaii after serving in Vietnam. In the new series, Jay Hernandez (Scandal, Last Resort) stars as the new Thomas Magnum, who is returning home from service in Afghanistan.

Other characters in the show will be a former MI:6 agent and two fellow U.S. military veterans. The struggles veterans face when they return home will also be a focus in the new series.

It is not clear if Selleck will be involved in the new series in any capacity, since he currently stars on CBS’ Blue Bloods. That cop drama is filmed in New York.

The original Magnum was created by Donald P. Bellisario and Glen A. Larson, and ran from 1980 to 1988 on CBS. Selleck won a Golden Globe for the series in 1985 and an Emmy in 1985.

This is not the first time a network has tried to bring Magnum back. Although the show originally aired on CBS, ABC developed a sequel series in 2016 about Magnum’s daughter. Eva Longoria was a producer on the project, which did not get to the pilot stage.

Hernandez is best known for his roles on Scandal and Last Resort. He also starred in the short-lived Gang Related. He was in the films Suicide Squad, Bad Moms and Bright.

The other pilots CBS picked up include multi-cam sitcom Fam with Nina Dobrev; Ava DuVernay’s The Red Line with Noah Wyle; military drama The Code with Anna Wood and Ato Essandoh; and the Greg Berlanti-produced God Friended Me with Brandon Michael Hall.

CBS is also developing a reboot of Cagney & Lacey, although the network has not picked that up to series yet. It will star Michelle Hurd (Law & Order: SVU) and Sarah Drew (Grey’s Anatomy) in the lead roles.