Original ‘Magnum P.I.’ Star Larry Manetti Loves NBC Reboot, Honors Late Co-Star Roger Mosely (Exclusive)

The Magnum P.I. remake series starring Jay Hernandez has a big fan in Larry Manetti, who starred in the original series alongside Tom Selleck. Manetti even guest-starred in the remake as Nicky “The Kid” Demarco, a character he introduced in the Hawaii Five-0 remake series. In an exclusive interview with PopCulture.com ahead of his guest appearance on Selleck‘s Blue Bloods, Manetti praised the new series and honored the late Roger Mosely.

In the remake series, which switched from CBS to NBC for its fifth season, Zachary Knighton plays a new version of Orville “Rick” Wright, the character Manetti played in the original Magnum. They share a scene in Manetti’s next cameo, which doesn’t have an air date yet. Knighton is the “nicest guy and a wonderful actor,” Manetti said.

“We just have a ball,” Manetti said of working with the new Magnum cast. “I love the entire cast. Even though I was the originator, there was never an actor that I met that I’d never liked.”

Although the new Magnum isn’t much like the original series, Manetti said that’s for the best. It would be hard to attempt to recapture the magic Selleck, Manetti, Mosley, and the late John Hillerman created between 1980 and 1988. “Take Gone with the Wind. Who would be nuts enough to want to play Clark Gable or any of the other roles?” Manetti said. “I mean, I think they did a great job. And quite frankly, I don’t think the new Magnum is anything like the old Magnum. They used the Ferrari and they used our names, but that’s about it.”

Mosely also appeared in two episodes of the Magnum remake as John Booky. He originally played helicopter pilot Theodore “T.C.” Calvin, now played by Stephen Hill. Mosley died on Aug. 7, 2022, at 83, days after he was in a major car crash in California. Manetti and Mosley were close friends.

“Roger and I were very close and we shared a motor home together for eight and a half years,” Manetti explained. “So when two men lived together in a motor home, it’s not easy, but we got together just fantastic and played cards together and he had a nightclub, and I frequented the nightclub off. I knew his wife, Toni. My wife and I went to dinner with them many times. It was a great loss, a great sorrow, and one of the few times in my life that I shed tears when he passed.”

Manetti will next be seen on Blue Bloods, which gave him the opportunity to hang out with Selleck again. Although they do not share scenes in the show, Manetti told us that Selleck took him out to dinner every night while he was in New York. The special episode, “Family Matters,” will air on Friday, April 21 at 10 p.m. ET. Manetti also wrote a memoir about his time on Magnum, titled Aloha Magnum, which is available on his website. Meanwhile, Magnum P.I. (the remake) airs on NBC Sundays at 9 p.m. ET and is streaming on Peacock.