‘Magnum P.I.’ Finale Is “Quite Satisfying” Showrunner Says

Fans of Magnum P.I. who were disappointed to hear the news that the recently renewed series would be ending after Season 5 will be happy to hear that the showrunner says the finale “absolutely works.”

Although the final episode was already filmed prior to the cancelation, Eric Guggenheim told TVLine that he sees no need to make edits or shoot any new scenes.

NBC “opted not to order additional episodes” in late June despite picking up the show for Season 5 after CBS canceled the island drama after four seasons.

The show’s final 10 episodes will air this fall on Wednesdays at 9/8c, which is sooner than previously anticipated.

The first half of Season 5 averaged 5 million total weekly viewers, which was much less than the 7.3 million its final season averaged on CBS.

After premiering this past Wednesday, the first episode of Season 5 Part 2 drew 3.57 million viewers.

After the show was canceled back in June, fans launched a #SaveMagnumPI campaign, which even funded a banner that was flown over the NBCUniversal lot in Los Angeles this week. The banner read “Save Magnum P.I. – Save the Ohana.”

If the decision to cancel the show does not get reversed, however, showrunner Guggenheim is content with how the final episode will conclude the series.

“I actually think it’s quite satisfying. I’m really proud of the finale,” Guggenheim said. “There are a couple of threads left dangling that would have been picked up in a Season 6, but I didn’t want to end on a cliffhanger. If I’m being honest, I guess I wanted to play it safe. Too many shows have gotten burned with cliffhangers” that were then left unresolved in the wake of cancellation.

“Is it how I would choose to end the show? No,” Guggenheim clarified. “But if it has to be the last episode, I think it absolutely works as a [series] finale. So no, there’s no reason to go back and recut or reshoot.”