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Thomas Sullivan Magnum is a former U.S. Navy SEAL and Naval Intelligence officer who strongly prefers being called "private investigator" over "private eye" or "private detective." He resides in a posh beachfront mansion at the invitation of its owner, a professional writer, Mr. Robin Masters (a figure who is absent in the series although near the end of the show's career it was subtly implied that Higgins might be he) in exchange for his expertise in quality control of the estate's security. The lavish estate is managed by Higgins (full character name Jonathan Quayle Higgins III), an English gentleman and ex-British military intelligence officer and guarded by two highly trained Dobermann pinschers, Apollo & Zeus. Magnum's lifestyle represents every man's dream. He comes and goes as he pleases, drives a Ferrari 308 GTS, has a mini-fridge with a seemingly endless supply of beer, comes into contact with countless beautiful women (who are often his clients or victims in the cases he solves), and is joined by his two ex-military buddies, both former U.S. Marines and fellow members of the VM02 unit in Vietnam. All three wear a gold Team Ring, which bears a French croix on a black field, as a bond of wartime camaraderie.

• Theodore "T.C." Calvin (who - as does Magnum - often proudly displays a 'Da Nang' baseball cap), a helicopter pilot who operates a tourist charter business called "Island Hoppers." His combat-trained flight skills are often enlisted by Magnum during the course of an investigation.
• Orville "Rick" Wright, a suave playboy who is manager of the King Kamehameha Club, an exclusive beachfront lounge. Rick also maintains a number of underworld contacts and is an expert in weaponry - he was T.C.'s door gunner during the war.

Magnum, P.I. is considered by many to be a perfect combination of action, comedy and drama. The show moved beyond the simple plot lines of the characters solving the crime of the week and confronted the difficulty Vietnam era soldiers faced in making the readjustment to civilian life. In fact 'Magnum' is said to be one of the first shows to regularly explore the impact of the Vietnam War on the American cultural psyche.

There is also a movie in the works for 2005.

Magnum P.I.s theme tune was one of many iconic TV themes written by Mike Post.