As Magnum P.I. prepares to air the second half of its fifth and final season on NBC starting October 4, a new streaming deal could give the beloved show new hope of returning.
According to TVLine, the reboot’s first four seasons will land on Amazon’s free streaming service Freevee on Friday, September 1, making it the only place where viewers can watch old episodes. Currently, NBC’s streamer Peacock only carries the fifth and final season.
Could Freevee give the show another chance of survival? After all, Freevee has brought back the previously axed long-running Australian soap opera Neighbours, which is set to return on September 18.
The Jay Hernandez and Perdita Weeks-led Magnum P.I. was already saved once by NBC after CBS dropped it after four seasons. However, in June, it was reported that NBC opted not to order additional episodes beyond the ten-episode second half of Season 5, choosing instead to let the cast options expire on June 30.
But streaming has been known to save series in the past. You only have to look at the resurgence of Suits — which has been breaking streaming records on Netflix — to see how canceled shows can reach new audiences. And Freevee itself has a history of saving axed series.
Take the American-Filipino crime drama Almost Paradise, for example, which WGN dropped in 2020. A deal was made with Freevee to stream the entire first season to gauge public interest in another season. In the end, Freevee (then IMDb TV) picked up the show for a second season, which debuted on February 8, 2022.
Similarly, the Jeff Daniels-starring American Rust, which was canceled after one season on Showtime in January 2022. Once again, Freevee swooped in to save the day, reviving the show for a second season in June 2022.
So if Magnum P.I. is a hit with Freevee viewers, it isn’t out of the realm of possibility that the show might yet return for a sixth season and beyond.
Magnum P.I. debuted on CBS in 2018 as a reboot of the 1980s series of the same name, which starred Tom Selleck. In the new version, Hernandez plays the titular private eye, a former Navy SEAL living and solving crimes in Hawaii.
Will you be watching Magnum P.I. episodes on Freevee? And would you like to see the show continue? Let us know in the comments.
Magnum P.I., Season 5B, October 4, NBC