Magnum PI and the AWI

Ah the seventies! Strikes, power cuts, Ted Heath, brown decor, flares... the list of pain is endless! But on the bright side there was some good telly: Morecambe & Wise at their peak, Fawlty Towers, Dads Army. When all was going down the tubes outside, the tube inside was giving us things to brighten lives otherwise blighted by Denis Healey.

That all changed in 1979 when the BBC, after losing Eric & Ernie, decided we needed to be punished for voting Conservative and put Shoestring on.

Yes, Eddie Shoestring, as played by Trevor Eve with a dead mouse under his nose, was a private eye employed by a local radio station. If that’s not enough to send you screaming, it was based in Bristol. The plot of every episode was instantly forgettable, but normally involved Shoestring being hit on the head at some stage. Something else would happen then the credits would roll to take us to the news with more exciting stuff about inflation.

This dragged almost interminably on into the eighties. Same dismal, forgettable plot. Same head injury. Then suddenly, steaming in from the US like a Liberty ship laden with Shermans, P51s and nylons we get....

MAGNUM PI

To give you an idea of what this was like, here are some pictures:

Welcome to Bristol

Welcome to Oahu

Dead mouse

Moustache

Putt putt putt

VRRROOOOOMMMM!!!!

Yes! Every week Magnum would assault our senses with scenery, guest stars, a fast car and two scary Dobermans. Even his mates were cool: TC flew a helicopter, Rick owned the King Kamehameha club. Even Higgins, the supposedly stuffy Briton (John Hillerman was actually a Texan) was cool AND was an ex-Sergeant Major WW2 vet, which ensured respect from Magnum and his chums with their SEAL/Marine backgrounds.

And Mike Post. Never forget Mike Post. God, what a theme tune. Can’t remember Shoestring’s at all. Bet it was a single saxophone played with no appreciable interest or effort. Even it wasn’t, it should have been.

This is what TV should do to lift you out of the gloom. Colour, fun, a decent moustache. Not some hapless bellend getting hit on the noggin week after week. For crying out loud, that’s what I went to school for. Gritty drama has its place, but not when you want something uplifting at the weekend. Magnum promised us fun, sun and excitement from the very first DAH DAH DAH DUM! Shoestring just had us reaching for the Citalopram.

So what has this got to do with the AWI?

Well, are you surprised we lost?