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54 free Magnum, P.I. trivia questions with answers — entertainment quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
52 free Magnum, P.I. trivia questions with answers. Magnum, P.I. ran eight seasons on Thursday nights and turned a Ferrari, a Detroit Tigers cap and a mustache into pop-culture shorthand. This quiz covers the original 1980-1988 series first: Thomas Magnum's Navy past, the running war with Higgins over the estate's amenities, T.C.'s helicopter and Rick's club, Robin Masters and the Higgins-is-Robin theory, the Murder, She Wrote and Simon & Simon crossovers, the Emmys, and the finale that was supposed to kill Magnum off a season earlier. The last dozen questions turn to the 2018 reboot with Jay Hernandez and Perdita Weeks, its move to a new network, and the original cast members who dropped in. The easy questions are for anyone who has ever hummed the theme; the hard ones ask about Higgins's doctorate, the Billboard peak of that theme, and which blues legend Roger E. Mosley played before he was T.C. Every answer was checked against Wikipedia's articles on the series, its characters and its cast, and each question carries the sentence that supports it.
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Q 01On which network did the original Magnum, P.I. air from 1980 to 1988?
CBS
CBS aired Magnum, P.I. for all eight seasons, from its premiere on December 11, 1980 to the series finale on May 1, 1988.
Q 02What is the name of the Oahu estate where Magnum lives in the guest house?
Robin's Nest
Robin's Nest is the beachfront Oahu estate of novelist Robin Masters; Magnum lives in its guest house in return for handling the estate's security.
Q 03Which model of Ferrari does Magnum drive around the island?
308 GTS
Magnum drives a red Ferrari 308 GTS from his employer's garage; the production used several, starting with a 1979 308 GTS and later 308 GTSi and Quattrovalvole versions.
Q 04What are the names of Higgins's two Doberman guard dogs, 'the lads'?
Zeus and Apollo
Zeus and Apollo are Higgins's two Doberman Pinschers, 'the lads', who chase Magnum across the grounds and returned for the 2018 reboot.
Q 05Which baseball team's cap does Magnum usually wear?
Detroit Tigers
Magnum wears a Detroit Tigers cap, a nod to Tom Selleck's own roots; the actor was born in Detroit in 1945 before his family moved to California.
Q 06Who provided the voice of the unseen novelist Robin Masters?
Orson Welles
Orson Welles voiced the never-seen Robin Masters; after Welles died in October 1985, actor Red Crandall took over the voice for the character's last speaking episode.
Q 07What is the name of T.C.'s helicopter charter and tour business?
Island Hoppers
T.C. owns Island Hoppers, a helicopter charter and tour service flying a striped Hughes 500D; Magnum constantly commandeers the chopper and never pays for fuel.
Q 08Rick refuses to go by his given first name, which is what?
Orville
His full name is Orville Wilbur Richard Wright, a nod to the aviation pioneers.
Q 09For most of the series, Rick manages which exclusive members-only beachfront spot?
King Kamehameha Club
Rick manages the King Kamehameha Club, a private beachfront club on whose board Higgins sits; Magnum's ever-growing unpaid tab there is a running joke.
Q 10In the pilot, Rick's bar was modeled on the cafe from which classic film?
Casablanca
In the pilot Rick, a Humphrey Bogart devotee, ran a bar copied from the cafe in Casablanca and dressed in 1930s style; the conceit was dropped once the series proper began.
Q 11Who composed the show's famous up-tempo theme, introduced in the twelfth episode?
Mike Post and Pete Carpenter
The pilot and first several episodes used a jazzier theme by Ian Freebairn-Smith; Larry Carlton played guitar on the replacement.
Q 12Released as a single in 1982, the theme peaked at what position on the Billboard Hot 100?
No. 25
Issued as a single on Elektra Records in 1982, the Theme from Magnum, P.I. peaked at No. 25 on the Billboard Hot 100 and also appeared on the album Television Theme Songs.
Q 13In what year did Tom Selleck win his Emmy for playing Magnum?
1984
Q 21In which season-seven episode does Magnum first accuse Higgins of secretly being Robin Masters?
Paper War
In 'Paper War' Magnum pieces together that Higgins himself may be Robin Masters; the series never settles it, with Higgins confessing and then retracting in the finale.
Q 22In the original series, which branch of the Navy did Magnum serve in as an officer?
Naval Intelligence
Magnum was a Naval Intelligence officer with SEAL training who resigned his commission at 33, explaining that he had never had the chance to be 23.
Q 23Which co-creator went on to create Quantum Leap, JAG and NCIS?
Donald P. Bellisario
Tom Selleck won the 1984 Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series, his only win from five nominations for playing Magnum.
Q 14John Hillerman won his Emmy for playing Higgins in which year?
1987
John Hillerman took the 1987 Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series for playing Higgins; he had already won a Golden Globe for the role in 1982.
Q 15Selleck's contract with the show famously cost him which film role?
Indiana Jones
Selleck was cast as Indiana Jones but the network held him to his Magnum contract; a 1980 actors' strike then delayed the show for months, time enough to have filmed Raiders of the Lost Ark.
Q 16Which mystery series staged a two-part crossover with Magnum in November 1986?
Murder, She Wrote
The Murder, She Wrote crossover opened in the Magnum episode 'Novel Connection' in November 1986 and concluded four days later in the Murder, She Wrote hour 'Magnum on Ice'.
Q 17The episode 'Ki'is Don't Lie', about a cursed Hawaiian artifact, concluded on which detective series?
Simon & Simon
Simon & Simon, starring Gerald McRaney and Jameson Parker as San Diego private eyes, finished the story; the 1982 crossover helped turn the struggling show into a hit in the slot after Magnum.
Q 18What was the show's highest season-end finish in the Nielsen ratings?
No. 3
Magnum's best year-end Nielsen finish was No. 3, in the 1982–83 season, its third; 60 Minutes was that season's top-rated show.
Q 19Which season-seven episode was written to end the series with Magnum's death?
Limbo
'Limbo' ends with Magnum shot in a warehouse gunfight and drifting between life and death; it was written as the series finale before the show was renewed for an eighth season.
Q 20What is the title of the 1988 series finale?
Resolutions
'Resolutions', the two-hour finale aired on May 1, 1988, sees Magnum rejoin the Navy and reunite with his young daughter before the final fade-out.
Donald P. Bellisario co-created Magnum with Glen A. Larson and went on to create Quantum Leap (1989), JAG (1995) and NCIS (2003); he had served as a Marine in the 1950s.
Q 24In season seven Magnum moved from Thursday to Wednesday to escape which sitcom's ratings juggernaut?
The Cosby Show
The Cosby Show, the Thursday-night phenomenon of the mid-1980s, siphoned off Magnum's audience; for season seven in fall 1986 Magnum shifted to Wednesday nights.
Q 25Which legendary singer's last credited acting role was in the season-seven episode 'Laura'?
Frank Sinatra
Frank Sinatra played retired New York police detective Michael Doheny in 'Laura', hunting the men who killed his granddaughter; the episode was the singer's final credited acting role.
Q 26Which future star played a client with a split personality in the two-parter 'Echoes of the Mind'?
Sharon Stone
Sharon Stone, years before Basic Instinct made her a star, played troubled client Diane Burke in the two-part 'Echoes of the Mind'; Magnum falls for her against his rule about clients.
Q 27Which comedy legend played Susan Johnson, a client who ended up locked in a bank vault with Magnum?
Carol Burnett
Carol Burnett played Susan Johnson in 'Rembrandt's Girl', spending much of the episode trapped in a bank vault with Magnum; she later returned as the character in a second episode.
Q 28Magnum's treasured wristwatch, inherited from his father, is what brand?
Rolex
Rolex: Magnum wears a steel Rolex GMT-Master with a red-and-blue 'Pepsi' bezel, one of the show's signature props alongside the Ferrari and the Hawaiian shirts.
Q 29Which recurring character dies when a car bomb meant for Magnum goes off in 'Did You See the Sunrise?'
Lt. Mac MacReynolds
Jeff MacKay later came back as Mac's ghost and again as a con-man lookalike named Jim Bonnick.
Q 30What is the name of the daughter Magnum had with his Vietnamese wife Michelle?
Lily
Lily is Magnum's daughter by Michelle Hue, the Vietnamese wife he long believed killed in the war; her arrival in Hawaii shapes the show's final season.