Why NCIS’ Tony DiNozzo Loves Tom Selleck’s MAGNUM P.I.
By Movieguide® Contributor
Tom Selleck’s character in MAGNUM P.I. had a lot of influence on NCIS character Tony DiNozzo.
On a recent episode of Michael Weatherly and his co-star’s podcast, “Off Duty: An NCIS Rewatch,” the two recalled a scene when Weatherly’s character, Tony DiNozzo, gets excited when he finds an authentic MAGNUM P.I. Hawaiian shirt.
“Well, his enthusiasm for pop culture and his enthusiasm for particularly shows produced by Donald P. Bellisario in the ‘80s,” Weatherly said about his character. “But the MAGNUM P.I. piece of DiNozzo is really important because MAGNUM P.I. is about a kind of overgrown kid who has all these enthusiasms and wears his Hawaiian shirt and gets excited about the Ferrari and lives on a Robin Masters estate in Hawaii and has his buddies. I mean, he’s almost like a kind of a teenager in a sense.”
In one episode, DiNozzo realizes Carson’s bed is a model of Magnum’s Ferrari and thinks about getting one for himself. Another reference is in an episode when he runs away from two dogs, who he names Zeus and Apollo, after Magnum’s pets.
Both NCIS and MAGNUM P.I. were created by Donald Bellisario, which explains the connections.
“He’s like a very young energy, MAGNUM P.I., but he also has PTSD as a war veteran from the Vietnam War. He has lost people very close to him, people have blown up in front of him,” Weatherly shared. “He’s lost. I think that DiNozzo, as a kid, watched MAGNUM P.I. Different than myself, I think. His mother died, he had a father who was not present, and he was running around.”
“So when you see DiNozzo…it’s not really silly to him. This is really like an emotional part of his childhood that made him feel safe,” he said. “So when he talks about the buttons being made from a certain palm frond or whatever the hell it is, he knows the minutiae and the details because it’s meaningful to him.”
Weatherly is set to premiere in an NCIS spinoff, NCIS: TONY AND ZIVA. Cinema Blend wagers that the MAGNUM P.I. connections will continue in the new series.
Movieguide® reported on the spinoff last month:
The new NCIS spinoff NCIS: TONY & ZIVA has fans all abuzz.
“We’ve been talking about this story for many years, and now with John McNamara at the helm, we are ready,” said Michael Weatherly (Tony) and Cote de Pablo (Ziva). “The world of Tony and Ziva (and daughter Tali) promises to be an action-packed roller coaster fueled by love, danger, tears and laughter.”
TONY AND ZIVA just started production in Hungary this week, but the release date has not yet been announced.
- Content: +1Share:
- Content: +3