‘Magnum P.I.’ Stars Jay Hernandez and Perdita Weeks Reveal Behind-the-Scenes Details on Series Revival

Magnum P.I. was rescued by NBC, but production on the show did not resume until recently. Stars Jay Hernandez and Perdita Weeks have finally returned to the Hawaii set to solve more crimes as Thomas Magnum and Juliet Higgins. The show’s first four seasons aired on CBS, which originally canceled the show in May. The new season will debut next year.

“It’s kinda strange, very unlikely, but we are here,” Hernandez told Entertainment Tonight from Hawaii on Wednesday. Hernandez and Weeks agreed that they would not be back to work if it weren’t for the show’s fans. “We found a new home and it was very unlikely and very humbling the way the audience rallied around the show,” Hernandez said. “And NBC stepped up. It’s kind of impressive.”

Magnum P.I. is a revival of the beloved 1980s series that made Tom Selleck a household name. The revival was developed by Peter M. Lenkov and Eric Guggenheim, the same team who spearheaded CBS’ Hawaii Five-0 revival. Characters from Hawaii Five-0 even appeared on Magnum. Since Universal Television co-produced the series with CBS Studios, NBC was the most-likely home for the show’s continuation. The peacock network renewed the show for 20 episodes, spread over two seasons.

Hernandez is also a producer on the show, so he was aware of the “backroom conversations” that led to the show’s revival at another network. “I knew there were things happening and I didn’t want to say anything because you don’t want to get people’s hopes up if it doesn’t happen,” Hernandez said. “But obviously I had to give the green light. Like, let’s do this. Let’s try to make it happen. And it took some time, but we figured it out.”

Hernandez said he was “feeding” his co-stars “crumbs” while producers worked out a deal to bring the show back. “It’s funny. I was very, like, ‘It’s gonna happen.’ I was saying that forever,” Hernandez said. “And it was a very circuitous route there and we eventually got there. So I was right at the end of season 4.”

Emotions were running high when everyone was back on set. Weeks described the scene as “bizarre,” with Hernandez adding that it was strange. “It was good, it was so good ’cause it was all just supposed to be over, and it was just lovely [to be back],” Weeks said.

The reboot follows the same set-up as the original Magnum, P.I. Magnum is a former Navy SEAL now working as a private investigator and lives at Robin’s Nest, an estate owned by his friend and famous author, Robin Masters. Higgins is a former MI6 agent and majordomo at Masters’ estate, andshe starts working with Magnum to solve mysteries. Zachary Knighton plays tiki bar owner Orville “Rick” Wright, and Stephen Hill plays helicopter pilot T.C. Calvin. Amy Hill plays Teuiula “Kumu” Tuileta and Tim Kang plays Honolulu Police Det. Gorton Katsumoto.