Guest character Luther Gillis on Magnum PI was supposed to get his own series. Several episodes of Magnum, P.I. feature another detective from St. Louis, named Luther Gillis. The character was introduced in 10/6/1983 episode Luther Gillis: File No. 521, and was portrayed by actor Eugene Roche. Roche was a veteran actor, equally adept at comedy and drama, and the makers of Magnum, P.I. liked his style. The idea was that the introduction of Luther Gillis would pave the way for the character to be given a TV series of his own. However, executives at network CBS were not taken with the character, and would not give such a show the go-ahead. Nonetheless, Roche would reprise the role of Luther Gillis in four further episodes of Magnum, P.I. between 1984 and 1988.
