The Florida Man is this weird fucking 21st century phenomenon that is both a national embarrassment and treasure. We are both horrified and fascinated by the Florida Man. He tends to be between the age of 16 and 50 with a bizarre sense of self and overwhelming confidence that generally leads to ridiculous situations.

Whether he’s fighting a gator while on a cocaine binge in the Everglades or being the Tiger King of Netflix, we as a culture are enraptured by his antics. He comes in all shapes and sizes. He could be talking to the statue of a bird in the middle of an Orlando lake or be caught fleeing a meth party just months after running for governor.

But if you’ve ever met the Florida Man, he tends to have a few desires in life: the desire for a life of leisure in an idyllic location while being treated as the most awesome person in the general region.

Thomas Magnum, private investigator, is the OG Florida Man.

(Note: let’s get one thing straight: I’m not talking about that Magnum, PI reboot. I’m talking Tom Selleck in the 1980s, with his bushy moustache and beach bum attire. Big difference.)

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Thomas Magnum was a retired Navy intelligence officer who was trying to transition to civilian life as a private investigator in Hawaii. He lived rent-free on the utopic estate of a famous writer, drove a Ferrari he didn’t own, and racked up debts and owed favors to people all over the islands, specifically to his best friends since Vietnam (Rick and TC) and the major domo of the estate, Higgins.

Over eight seasons, Magnum never paid rent, never owned property more valuable than a gorilla mask and a rubber chicken (although he briefly had control over a $50 million estate), and despite wrecking the Ferrari on multiple occasions, causing hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage to the estate, and welching on practically every debt he owed, he was basically given carte blanche to act as he saw fit in the midst of the beautiful Hawaiian setting, violating social norms all along the way with little to no pushback. His general attire included a wide array of Hawaiian shirts, extremely short shorts, and a battered Detroit Tigers ballcap.

Or, in other words, the dream life of the Florida Man.

The show, like many shows of the time period, was more often than not absurd in its plot and characters. Magnum, PI never hides the fact that they were in on the joke, though; the core characters all have instances of breaking the fourth wall with the audience due to Magnum’s ridiculous antics.

The episode loglines for this show are hilarious. Just in season 1, Magnum:

• is hired to protect “The Soul of Soong,” an ancient Chinese vase, but a Bruce Lee-style assassin is in hot pursuit of the artifact
• is hired to protect a British Brigadier being hunted by the IRA
• helped two elderly Jewish Holocaust survivors being pursued by Nazis (or are they?)

Over the course of eight seasons, he gets attacked by Commies, ninjas, and a murderous macaw (for reals). Everyone seems to lie to Magnum about something pertinent to the plot, whether its their motives or identity; in several episodes, characters actively seek out Magnum’s service in order to dupe him specifically. There are a bunch of “serious” episodes that involve Magnum’s back story in Vietnam, but outside of that, the show is a farcical collection of oddball cases that enables for some good binge watching.

Cases that only a Florida Man could possibly get involved in and live to tell the tale.

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If you have lived your life without having seen this show, take a gander. If you enjoy mysteries and investigations that don’t take themselves too seriously, or if you simply want to see how Florida Man terrorized the Hawaiian isles in the 1980s, this is the binge watch for you.

• How many seasons: 8
• Where can you stream it: Starz
• Come for: Tom Selleck being Florida Man, Higgins, beautiful Hawaiian landscapes
• Stay for: over-the-top stories, great guest spots, killer macaw