Revealing mistake: In the opening of the second third of the season (the one with the iconic Mike Post theme) there is a brief scene with a car propelled in the air by an explosion. It's an outtake from the pilot movie, since the banged up car is very recognizable, but it's also easy to see why it was an outtake; you can easily see cables used to make the car fly in the air. Also, that car was not in an explosion in that episode.
Don't Eat the Snow in Hawaii - S1-E1
Revealing mistake: The bad guys open fire on Magnum during the car chase, and Magnum shifts gears. Is it Magnum though? The hand in close-up not only does not appear to be Selleck's (it appears to have virtually no hair as opposed to Selleck's that can be seen at the beginning setting the cassette player), but is also wearing the team ring upside down compared to how Magnum and everyone does. (00:34:40)
Don't Eat the Snow in Hawaii - S1-E1
Revealing mistake: After his car is destroyed, one of the two people who were chasing Magnum emerges from the wreckage and hikes to the very same spot Magnum was in.The road though cleaned itself; no more tracks in the dirt nor the skidmarks from Magnum's abrupt maneuver. (00:36:50)
Don't Eat the Snow in Hawaii: Part 2 - S1-E2
Revealing mistake: When Magnum passes his gun to his fellow soldier, it cuts to a shot of the heli in the air that is mirrored - easy to spot by "Marines" written backwards.
China Doll - S1-E3
Revealing mistake: When Magnum drives away from the King Kamehameha club, in the shot where he drives off turning right and into the main road, a stunt double pudgier than Selleck is used instead. (00:27:00)
China Doll - S1-E3
Revealing mistake: During the drive to Uncle Han, when Magnum asks about the vase's worth there's something with duct tape on the Ferrari door near Magnum's left shoulder, where the camera is located at this particular angle. (00:27:05)
China Doll - S1-E3
Revealing mistake: In one of the shots of the Ferrari driving away from the club and towards Uncle Han's residence, Mai Ling says "Some people have already been killed." This shot is a mirrored one; Magnum's head is on the passenger side and the license plate is backwards. (00:27:05)
China Doll - S1-E3
Revealing mistake: Magnum and TC are headed back to Kauai. Like earlier in the episode, the helicopter is piloted by someone wearing camel pants and not the blue jeans TC is wearing, but in addition to that, the passenger seat is empty, Magnum is nowhere to be seen. (00:42:40 - 00:43:20)
China Doll - S1-E3
Revealing mistake: The guy who jumps off TC's chopper to face the bad guy for the final confrontation looks more like Lou Albano than Tom Selleck. (00:44:00)
China Doll - S1-E3
Revealing mistake: Hit by the throwing star, Magnum drops the gun - actually, you can see Tom Selleck tossing it to the ground on purpose. (00:45:45)
China Doll - S1-E3
Revealing mistake: When Higgins tells Magnum that he has to get into the safe first, Tom Selleck turns around and does a cheeky eyebrow-wiggle thing so well executed that will stay as the end shot for the opening of the whole series. A minute later, Higgins commands the lads to kill (!), and the turn and waggle are shown back in an obvious mirror shot. (00:47:45 - 00:48:40)
Thank Heaven for Little Girls and Big Ones Too - S1-E4
Revealing mistake: At the boxing gym, the litigious guy throws a punch that stays clear off Tom Selleck's face by a mile. (00:15:50)
Thank Heaven for Little Girls and Big Ones Too - S1-E4
Revealing mistake: When Higgins threatens to phone the police to report Linda, Lesli stands up beside Linda and asserts, "If she goes, we go," but in this shot the person wearing Linda's clothes is actually the body double, who quickly shifts her face offscreen. (00:26:30)
Thank Heaven for Little Girls and Big Ones Too - S1-E4
Revealing mistake: Rick is lurking in the pool; once the evil greenshirt Orson Welles-lookalike is hopping down the stairs, the cement in front of his hiding place has a big wet spot, no doubt from previous takes when the actor had to come out of the water dripping all over the deck. (00:41:00)
Thank Heaven for Little Girls and Big Ones Too - S1-E4
Revealing mistake: Throughout the whole episode, every street scene downtown shows moisture and light reflections on the camera lens.
Revealing mistake: There's a neat and funny transition between the moment Rick tosses in the bin the orange juice bill that he knows Magnum will never pay, and a sponge being thrown into a bucket as Higgins polishes Robin Masters' Audi. The sponge though comes in from the right, way off Higgins' position. It's not John Hillerman that tossed it, but some stagehand. (00:16:40)
Revealing mistake: The prosthetics for Magnum's war wound at the collarbone are off during the volley scene at the end, so it just looks like Tom Selleck has a worn-out patch sticking from his chest and about to come off. (00:48:20)
Never Again... Never Again - S1-E7
Revealing mistake: While Magnum and Rick are driving to Greenberg's house, as Magnum shouts that they're not meddling, in this shot there's a bar with duct tape (device to secure side camera) over the Ferrari door beside Magnum's left arm, where the camera is located at this particular angle. (00:10:25)
Never Again... Never Again - S1-E7
Revealing mistake: The day for night filming is particularly obvious at the entrance fence, and when the two mysterious guys try are kneeling outside of the house wondering how many people they have to deal with, with just 4 shots; you can see perfectly white clouds. It's even worse later in the episode when the Ferrari stops in front of the doctor's house; you can literally see the sun shine reflected by the car and the wet asphalt throughout the whole scene. (00:26:15)
Never Again... Never Again - S1-E7
Revealing mistake: Magnum catches the boat that already sailed away through a great feat, leaping from the pier. The editing trick is fairly obvious; the stuntman's leap is not quite reaching, headed to a platform we can spot at the bottom. But it cuts then to Tom Selleck who with a true airwalking prodigy connects right with the top of the railing, pulling himself aboard. (00:43:25)
