How Soon Will Magnum P.I. Season 5 Premiere On NBC? And On What Night?

When the news broke that NBC would in fact "save" Magnum P.I. by offering the CBS castoff a home for Seasons 5 and 6, there were immediately cries of, "When will it return?!"

The answer to that question is, in short, "Later versus sooner."

For one, NBC revealed its detailed premiere plan for the fall two days before the Magnum "rescue" was announced. If NBC had any inkling of squeezing the island drama onto its fall slate, the announcements surely would have rolled out differently.

What's more, sources tell TVLine that Magnum P.I. won't begin filming Season 5 until the fall, whereas in the past it typically gets the cameras rolling in July. A months-later production start dictates a months-later premiere date — meaning, Magnum P.I. Season 5 can't debut until midseason, probably January at the earliest.

NBC thus far has greenlit a total of 20 episodes to be split into two seasons, though TVLine hears there is "the option for more" in success.

What night might Magnum call home, whenever it does arrive with Season 5? TVLine examines the five or so options below....  

NBC's buzzy Quantum Leap reboot/revival/sequel series is set to debut Sept. 19 and air Mondays at 10/9c, leading out of The Voice (a "plum" time slot on the network). Freshman series such as Quantum Leap start off with a 13-episode order, and in success are rewarded with a "back 9" (or the order of at least a few additional episodes, since fewer and fewer series are churning out 22-episode seasons anymore).

If Quantum Leap is a hit, it will get an order for additional episodes and retain the Mondays-at-10 slot into the winter/2023. But if it's somehow a bust — or, if it's a series that by design maxes out at, say, a 16-episode season — Magnum could take over the time slot come February/March.

Fact: The Tuesday-night medical drama New Amsterdam is ending with its upcoming fifth season — and it will be an abbreviated run of just 13 episodes. Meaning, NBC will need someone to come off the bench at midseason and fill the Tuesdays-at-10 time slot.

But NBC's Tuesday options go beyond that. La Brea is airing its "supersized" 14-episode sophomore season in two batches, and if there's a meaningful break between the halves (due to the need for extended post-production/visual effects), NBC might choose to fill the 9 o'clock slot with a "shiny new" object like Magnum.

There is also the possibility that since NBC had only "modest" success opening Tuesdays with sitcoms the past two springs — and provided there is no second cycle of The Voice this TV season (though there are rumblings there might be) — the network might opt to have Magnum P.I. lead off the night come January 2023.

Recognizing that Wednesday nights belong to the well-watched, high-rated and untouchable #OneChicago trifecta of Chicago Med, Chicago Fire and Chicago P.D....

NBC Thursday at first blush appears similarly Teflon-like, given that it's again poised to be another all-Dick Wolf slate of Law & Order, Law & Order: SVU and Law & Order: Organized Crime.

Yet Law & Order in the leadoff spot last season rated markedly lower than SVU and OC. And if the revival experiences any creative hiccups while navigating assorted cast exits and changes, NBC might opt to shorten its season, thus freeing up the Thursdays-at-8 slot.

This, however, is probably the least likely Magnum scheduling scenario discussed here.

When NBC released its schedule for the fall, The Blacklist was MIA; instead, Season 10 of the James Spader-led drama is due to arrive at midseason.

Typically, The Blacklist winds up in the Friday leadoff spot, where it's followed by two hours of Dateline NBC. But if NBC decides to give what might posssssibly be The Blacklist's farewell run a better showcase — by, for example, putting it in New Amsterdam's time slot, after the medical drama airs its 13-episode farewell run — that would pave the way for Magnum P.I. to again air on Friday, which it called home for all but its first season.

NBC's Sunday nights belong to football in the fall. But once the NFL season has ended, NBC in recent memory hasn't had much of a game plan for Sunday — instead, it has been some version of "something, something, Good Girls," or "Weakest Link, something, Transplant." (This past spring, in particular, NBC seemed to a big ol' knee after its Winter Olympics coverage ended, populating Sunday nights with this, that and the other thing.)

But with The Blacklist, three sitcoms (including the Night Court revival) and now Magnum P.I. among the half dozen-plus options on deck for midseason, NBC might decide to actually give Sunday nights a proper go with some selection of the aforementioned series, the ongoing adventures of "Miggy" included.

Want scoop on Magnum Season 5, or for any other show? Email InsideLine@tvline.com and your question may be answered via Matt's Inside Line.