The original "Magnum, P.I.," created by Donald P. Bellisario and Glen A. Larson, was a gangbusters hit that ran 162 episodes over its eight seasons from 1980 to 1988. The series starred Tom Selleck as the titular Thomas Magnum, a private investigator who, thanks to a special arrangement, lived at a palatial mansion in Hawai'i. Magnum also tooled around town in a very conspicuous Ferrari and was irresistible to women. He wasn't so much a TV character as a universal male fantasy personified. Beyond
that, Magnum often butted heads with the estate's caretaker, an ex-military guy named Higgins (John Hillerman), but his life was pretty easy otherwise, and Higgins eventually became a friend. Both Selleck and Hillerman won an Emmy apiece for their work on the show.
The series was everywhere. "Magnum, P.I." even had a crossover episode with "Simon & Simon" in 1982, as well as one with "Murder, She Wrote" in 1986. Fun trivia: Selleck had already signed a contract to appear on "Magnum" when he was approached to play the character of Indiana Jones in Steven Spielberg's "Raiders of the Lost Ark." As such, he had to turn the movie down because of his commitment to the series. The role went to Harrison Ford instead (though not without causing some complications).
"Magnum" was eventually rebooted in 2018 with Jay Hernandez in the title role, and it, too, was a success. That version of "Magnum, P.I." ran for 96 episodes over five seasons, coming to a close in 2024. Indeed, in whatever iteration he's taken, audiences just seem to love Thomas Magnum. Something about a sexy P.I. driving sexy cars in the sexy tropics is universally appealing.
That said, there was an iteration of "Magnum, P.I." that never came to pass. Back in 2016, Deadline reported "Leverage" creator John Rogers and Eva Longoria (then just a few years removed from having wrapped her longtime role on "Desperate Housewives") were developing a sequel series that was to be about Lily Magnum, Thomas' adult daughter. Despite the announcement, however, nothing ever came of that series.
Read more: 15 Best TV Shows That Were Canceled After Only One Season
Eva Longoria Tried To Create A Series About Magnum's Daughter Lily
According to Deadline, Longoria's production company, UnbeliEVAble Entertainment, was already in talks with ABC at that time about making a sequel to "Magnum, P.I." The plan was to center the show on the character of Lily "Tommy" Magnum, who would take over her father's investigation firm after her career as a Naval intelligence officer comes to an inauspicious end. Selleck, it seems, wouldn't have been a major part of the new series (likely, in part, because he was starring on the long-running hit "Blue Bloods" at that time). Few details were offered, however, because the show was still in early stages of development in 2016. Sadly, no lead actors were mentioned to play Lily.
It seems Longoria and her producing partner, Ben Spector, were thumbing through the Universal TV catalogue as part of a deal with the network that would allow them to remake or reboot any of its shows. Hence, they eventually decided "Magnum, P.I." was universally beloved enough to snag people's attention and ran with it. As Longoria explained at the time:
"We knew no one could replace the iconic role of Thomas Magnum, so John decided to make the reboot a sequel and continue the adventure of a Magnum — his daughter, who was established in the original series."
Ultimately, of course, someone else beat Longoria to the punch. Specifically, it was Peter M. Lenkov and Eric Guggenheim who developed the Hernandez-starring "Magnum, P.I." revamp a couple of years later. CBS may've simply trusted Lenkov more, in particular, seeing as he had already successfully launched TV reboots of "Hawaii Five-0" and "MacGyver" by then. In the end, Longoria would end up having nothing to do with the "Magnum, P.I." reboot.
Still, she was onto something. Lily had indeed been established on the original version of the show.
Lily Magnum Was, In Fact, Part Of The Original Magnum, P.I.
It should be reiterated that Lily was part of the original "Magnum, P.I." She first appeared as a five-year-old in the 1986 episode "Little Girl Who," where she was played by Kristen Carreira. In the episode, Magnum's ex-wife Michelle (Marta DuBois) was in trouble and asked Magnum to look after her daughter, only for Magnum to learn that Lily is actually his daughter as well. Lily and Michelle went on to appear periodically throughout the series. Usually, they were brought in only to be placed in danger, giving Magnum a more personal stakes in that week's adventure. Indeed, in the 1988 episode "Unfinished Business," it even appeared as though the two had been killed. Overall, Lily was featured in six episodes of the series.
In the show's 1988 finale, "Resolutions," it was revealed that Lily was still alive, so Magnum tapped into his old Naval skills to rescue her, and she wound up in his custody. The last scene of the series was Magnum and Lily walking along a beach. If Lily was five years old in 1986, she would have been 35 in 2016, so the timing would have tracked perfectly. Carreira could've even played the role if she'd wanted to (though she probably wouldn't have, seeing as she hasn't acted since 1988).
So, what happened to the project? Who can say? When push came to shove, CBS decided a "Magnum, P.I." reboot was the way to go, so Longoria's proposed series fell by the wayside. With the revamp having since come to a close, it seems incredibly unlikely a Lily Magnum show will ever see the light of day.
But it is a pretty good idea.
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