Magnum PI season 5: Is Peacock the ideal home for canceled show?

As all of you out there know at this point, Magnum PI was canceled by CBS earlier this month. It’s not a decision we’re happy with; heck, we think the majority of the internet feels the same! This was the most shocking cancellation of what was a pretty shocking season for that, and there are still smaller glimmers of hope that exist out there.

If you missed the news, earlier this week we reported that studio Universal TV is in fact shopping the reboot around to other networks/outlets, and let’s start here by reiterating much of what we said in that piece: A season 5 elsewhere is most likely a longshot. We don’t want to be in the business of cultivating false hope or providing unrealistic expectations. The bulk of canceled shows end up staying that way.

Still, we like to be optimistic, and we also like to write about possible outcomes. Hence, this peace discussing why the Peacock streaming service may be the home that makes the most sense for a season 5 at this given point in time.

Studio Connections – The streaming service and Universal TV share a parent company in NBCUniversal, so they would stand to profit from the show more so than almost any other possible venue. The only other place that could is NBC themselves, and they’ve already set their fall schedule. They could change it or air Magnum PI in midseason, but they have limited real estate.

A need for programming – Peacock has a free and premium tier, and we know that the latter hasn’t pulled in the subscribers in the way that many competitors have. We think they were really hoping that shows like The Office and/or Parks and Recreation would bring them in, but it hasn’t quite happened. They need more original series and new episodes and to date, Bel Air is probably the only original that we’d classify a hit.

Plenty of money – Peacock has the deep coffers to be able to fund a show like this, and they also have a release structure that works as well. It doesn’t make sense for Netflix or Amazon to pick it up when binge-watching isn’t really suitable for Magnum PI. You’d have to fundamentally change the show from a semi-procedural to something more serialized.

Overall tone – When you look at a lot of Peacock’s roster, they have a number shows that have comedic elements baked into them; it feels like it fits the sort of writing that you get here week in and week out. If you’re a streaming service, you want to make sure your roster fits your user base.

The big risk

It’s pretty simple: Can you convince viewers to spend extra money for something they were getting previously as a part of their cable package? It’s a hard thing to determine, but we tend to think that even if a percentage of the CBS audience bought Peacock for Magnum PI, it could be considered a success.

Where would you want to see a possible Magnum PI season 5 land?

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