There are some things one remembers less than fondly from the 80s, hair bands, pastel leggings, Reagan (though in hindsight, and in view of the current occupant of the White House, old Ronnie Raygun doesn't seem half bad). And then there are those, admittedly few, things that have taken on that pleasent glow of nostalgia.

"Magnum P.I." falls within the latter group. Sure, it was cheesy. Yes, it had the intellectual content of a glue sniffing monkey. But it was fun!

A large part of the charm of the show was rooted in the chemistry and banter between the actors playing the two principal parts, Tom Selleck, playing, Vietnam veteran and private detective Thomas Magnum, and John Hillerman, a native Texan playing retired British Army officer Jonathan Higgins III (or, Higgy baby, as Magnum might say) with admirable conviction. Which is why, when rumours started circulating that the ever more imaginative Hollywood Grand Poobahs were going to run "Magnum" through the Remake-omatic-3000 Xerox machine, the idea seemed more than usually daft.

At first glance there really wasn't any obvious actors who could carry off the combination of credible action hero, the rakish charm and the comedic timing of Tom Selleck. Clooney for example might have talent and looks by the barrelfull, and doesn't look like a dolt when throwing a punch. But giggles and belly laughs are hardly the first things his persona brings to mind.

Matthew McConaughey, on the other hand, just might pull it off. And, if the rumours reported by Filmrot turn out to be Kosher, William H. Macy should have more than enough acting chops for a passable Higgy baby...

... Rawson Marshall Thurber, the director and writer of hit comedy Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story, is finally ready to go on his redraft of Magnum PI, a big screen version of the classic 80s TV show for producer Brian Grazer. Despite a casting merry-go-round that has saw everyone from Tom Cruise to George Clooney get rumoured up to stick on Tom Selleck's iconic top hairy lip, it's fallen to the cast of one failed franchise attempt to get another of the ground. Matthew McConaughey, Steve Zahn and William H.Macy who last played together in the movie Sahara, are signed to star as Magnum, Rick and Higgins respectively. Tyrese Gibson, from the upcoming blockbuster Transformers, is coming on board to play T.C. The big screen version will be updated and show the characters as veterans of the Iraq war and is set for a Summer 2008 release with Universal.

So, on the whole, the casting doesn't look half bad. That just leaves three questions: 1) Is the script and the crew up to snuff? 2) Is the chemistry there? And 3) Will there be naked bongo playing?