"Hawaii Five-O" (1968) TV series 1968-1980

User Rating:

7.7/10   

Creator:

Leonard Freeman

Seasons:

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12

Release Date:

26 September 1968 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Mystery

Plot:

The investigations of Hawaii Five-0, an elite branch of the Hawaii State Police answerable only to the governor and headed by stalwart Steve McGarrett.

Plot Keywords:

Hawaii | Police | Investigation | Archenemy | Book Em Danno

Awards:

Won 2 Primetime Emmys. Another 2 wins & 12 nominations

Cast

Jack Lord	...	Det. Steve McGarrett (282 episodes, 1968-1980)
James MacArthur	...	Det. Danny Williams / ... (260 episodes, 1968-1979)
Kam Fong	...	Det. Chin Ho Kelly / ... (241 episodes, 1968-1978)
Herman Wedemeyer	...	Edward D. 'Duke' Lukela / ... (153 episodes, 1968-1980)

Also Known As:

McGarrett (USA) (rerun title)

Runtime:

60 min (284 episodes)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:M | Australia:PG (some episodes) | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Hawaii Film Studio - 18th Avenue & Diamond Head Road, Honolulu, O'ahu, Hawaii, USA

Company:

Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS)

Trivia:

'P.I. (1980) Magnum' began production soon after this series wrapped its last episode. In order to keep some sort of continuity, reference to characters from this show were included in early episodes of Magnum. However, a plan to have Jack Lord appear as McGarrett never came to pass. Lord retired from acting after the series went off the air. Second half of first episode of 'P.I. (1980) Magnum' makes reference to McGarrett when speaking about the bad assignments for Dan: "Putting Dan on this stuff is like making McGarrett the meter maid on Waikiki."

Goofs:

Continuity: In "The Capsule Kidnapping", the kidnappers are attempting to flee from McGarrett in a private airplane. When they board the plane and while McGarrett's chasing them around on the taxiways of the airport, the plane is a twin engine propeller aircraft. When it becomes airborne, the aircraft shown is a twin engine jet.

Quotes:

Det. Steve McGarrett: Aloha. Aloha, suckers.

Movie Connections:

Edited into Earthquake (1974)

Who needs Magnum anyway?

The longest-running cop show on American TV until "Law & Order"'s thirteenth season, "Hawaii Five-O" still has a long life in reruns and probably will continue in that vein long into the future.

Admittedly it did go downhill towards the end (the last season's episodes, ironically, seem even more dated than those from the '68 run) and no one can really claim that the acting was on a par with your Bochcos or your Levinsons, but it worked - yes, the scenery was a plus, along with Reza S. Badiyi's title sequence (still one of the all-time greats), but ultimately the glue that held it together was the late Jack Lord. He clearly thought the show revolved around him, and he was right - stiff, yes, but the man WAS Steve McGarrett; you never doubted for a second that he was in charge.

The show also had more than a few decent stories to go with the Hawaiian setting; that's the main reason this show was popular enough to run for more than 10 years (and more than twice that length in reruns). That and Morton Stevens's theme music, of course - all these years and that still hasn't worn thin yet either. I doubt "Miami Vice" will hold up so well.

The Stephen J. Cannell-backed pilot shot in '97 (and which brought back Chin Ho, killed off in "A Death In The Family") was judged so bad by CBS that to this day it hasn't aired, and probably never will. Like I'm weeping...