Director Knighton Thanks Fans Ahead of Magnum PI S5

Summary

Zachary Knighton recently spoke about the massive fan-led campaign which started to save his show, Magnum P.I. from cancelation.

Magnum P.I. was canceled by CBS after four seasons, leading fans to protest against its sudden cancelation. It was later renewed by NBC for a fifth and final season.

Actor and director Zachary Knighton finally speaks about the massive fan campaign that took place after his show Magnum P.I. got canceled.

Magnum P.I. is a modern adaptation of Donald P. Bellisario and Glen A. Larsom’s 1980 series of the same name. It focuses on a Hawaiian private detective and former SEAL member called Thomas Magnum as he investigates crimes.

After four successful seasons, CBS abruptly canceled the show, leading to a major fan-led campaign to protest against its cancelation. The fans’ demands were met as NBC picked up Magnum P.I. and renewed it for another final season. The fifth and final season of Magnum P.I. began airing in October this year.

The actor admitted that the makers and cast members are grateful to the fans and can feel their love. He hopes everyone will appreciate how far they’ve come and how they’ve tried to bid goodbye to the series in the final season. Here’s Knighton’s full statement:

Obviously, this group of fans is very passionate. There was another billboard in Times Square the other day [the #SaveMagnumPI campaign’s 25th overall]. There was a pretty big campaign to save Happy Endings when we got canceled, but nothing like this. I mean, this is absolute insanity and I love these guys. I feel for them. I know that everyone’s pretty upset that the show is going away, but I hope that everyone can appreciate that we did the best we could, and we made the best show we could make for everyone, and everyone really is feeling the love from the fans. So, I hope everybody is happy with how things end up.

Director Knighton Thanks Fans Ahead of Magnum PI S5 — Thomas Magnum | Source: IMDb

Magnum P.I.’s journey with CBS has been a bumpy one. Just after the season 4 finale aired, CBS abruptly canceled the show. The decision was sudden and shocking, given that the show had a fairly big fan following. It was also on the list of Top 25 broadcast television shows.

However, CBS had a valid reason behind canceling Magnum P.I. The network was in discussions with Universal Television about the show’s license fee. Universal Television sold the show’s rights to NBC when the parties could not reach a happy compromise. NBC then renewed Magnum P.I for a final season consisting of 20 episodes.

Reportedly, the show has seen a huge decrease in viewership since its shift to NBC. Moreover, the cast members’ contracts have been up for negotiation for a potential season 6. All these problems led NBC to cancel the show after season 5. So, unfortunately, season 5 will be the last we see of Thomas Magnum.

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About Magnum P.I.

Magnum P.I. is an American action drama television series developed by Peter M. Lenkov and Eric Guggenheim. It stars Jay Hernandez as Thomas Magnum, a titular private investigator and former Navy SEAL who solves crimes in Hawaii.

It is a reboot of the original series of the same name created by Donald P. Bellisario and Glen A. Larson, which aired from 1980 to 1988. The series co-stars Perdita Weeks, Zachary Knighton, Stephen Hill, Amy Hill, and Tim Kang.

It was ordered to series in May 2018 and premiered on September 24, 2018, on CBS. On October 19, 2018, it was announced that the series had received a full season order from CBS. In April 2021, the series was renewed for a fourth season, which premiered on October 1, 2021.