Hawaii Five-O

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Hawaii Five-O
The opening title sequence
Genre	Crime drama
Running time	approx. 0:60 (per episode)
Creator(s)	Leonard Freeman
Executive producer(s)	Leonard Freeman Philip Leacock Leonard Katzman
Starring	Jack Lord James MacArthur Zulu Kam Fong Al Harrington Herman Wedemeyer Richard Denning William Smith
Opening theme	Morton Stevens
Country of origin	United States
Original channel	CBS
Original run	September 26, 1968–April 26, 1980
No. of episodes	284
IMDb profile

Hawaii Five-O was an American television series that starred Jack Lord and James MacArthur as detectives for a fictional Hawaiʻi state police department.

1 Overview
2 Legacy
3 Trivia
4 Cast
5 Supporting actors
6 References in popular culture
7 Home Video
8 External links

[edit] Overview

The CBS television network produced and transmitted the program from September 1968 to April 1980. Currently, the program is aired in syndication throughout the world. Created by Leonard Freeman, Hawaii Five-O was shot on location in Honolulu, Hawaiʻi, and throughout the island of Oʻahu--with occasional filming in Los Angeles, California.

Hawaii Five-O centers on a fictional state police force of the same name--in honor of Hawaiʻi's status as the 50th State--led by former Navy officer Steve McGarrett (Jack Lord), who was appointed by the Governor Paul Jameson (Richard Denning). Originally, McGarrett was assisted regularly by State Police Officers- Danny Williams (James MacArthur), Chin Ho Kelly (Kam Fong) and Kono Kalakaua (Zulu). Later, Honolulu Police Department Officer Duke Lukela (Herman Wedemeyer) joined the team as a regular as did Ben Kokua (Al Harrington). Occasionally, they were assisted by other officers on an "as-needed" basis. During the course of the show, the team was also assisted regularly by: the medical examiner Doc Bergman (Al Eben), the forensic specialist Che Fong (Harry Endo) and a secretary. The first secretary was May (Maggi Parker), then Jenny (Peggy Ryan) and later Luana (Laura Sode-Matteson). (At the time Hawaii was the only state without a statewide police agency. The Hawaiʻi State Sheriff's Department now serves as the de facto state police.)

For twelve seasons McGarrett and his team hounded criminals and Mafia syndicates plaguing the Hawaiian Islands. With the aide of District Attorney and later Hawaiʻi Attorney General John Manicote (Glenn Cannon), McGarrett was successful in sending most of his enemies to prison. One such Mafia syndicate was led by crime family patriarch Honore Vashon (Harold Gould), a character introduced in the fifth season. Blaming McGarrett for the death of his son, Vashon swore vengeance using all of the resources available to him. Most episodes of Hawaii Five-O ended with the arrest of criminals with McGarrett's catch phrase to Williams, "Book 'em, Danno!" with the offense occasionally added after.

The approximately six-strong Five-O team, unfeasibly small for a real state police unit, was portrayed as occupying a suite of offices in the Iolani Palace. Curiously it lacked its own radio network, necesitating frequent requests by McGarrett to the Hawaii Police Department dispatchers to "Patch me through to Danno". McGarrett's immovable hairstyle and proclivity for wearing a dark suit and tie on all possible occasions created a motif that rapidly passed into popular culture.

In many episodes McGarrett was drawn into the world of international espionage and national intelligence. McGarrett's archnemesis on Hawaii Five-O was an intelligence officer of the People's Republic of China, Wo Fat. The Communist rogue agent was played by veteran actor Khigh Dheigh.

The show's action and straight-forward story-telling left little time for personal stories such as wives and girlfriends. Occasionally a show would flash back to McGarrett's younger years and to a romantic figure. The viewer is left with the impression that McGarrett is wedded to the police force and to crime-fighting at this point in his life.

Hawaii Five-O survived long enough to see reruns of early episodes enter syndication while new episodes were still being produced. In order to differentiate between old and new episodes, the syndicated version of the series was retitled McGarrett.

[edit] Legacy

The show became the longest running police drama until Law & Order broke the record almost twenty years after Hawaii Five-O ceased production. The popularity of the Hawaii Five-O format spawned various police dramas on all the major television networks since its debut. Another legacy is the popularity of the arranged Hawaii Five-O theme song composed by Morton Stevens and later covered by surf music band The Ventures, a song that is particularly popular for college and high school marching bands to play. Also, the term "Five-O" was adopted by American youth culture as a street slang term for the police.

The opening credits were no small part of the show's popularity. The show would begin with a "teaser" or prelude suggesting the sinister plot for the night's program. Cut to the big ocean wave ("Hawaii Five-O") and the start of the show's dynamic theme song. Fast-zoom-in to the top balcony of the Ilikai Hotel, where McGarrett would turn to face the camera ("Starring Jack Lord") followed by many quick-cuts and freeze-frames of Hawaiian scenery (including, memorably, a grass-skirted hula dancer from the pilot "Cocoon") and of the supporting players, thus setting the mood for the show, and then ending with a flashing blue light on a police motorcycle racing through a Honolulu street.

At the conclusion of the action-packed, suspense-filled episode, after the obligatory "Book 'em Danno!", Jack Lord would narrate a teaser for the next week's episode, often emphasizing the "guest villain", especially if it was a perennial such as Khigh Dheigh, Hume Cronyn, etc, then closing the preview by saying "be there...aloha!" Unfortunately, these next episode teasers would be removed from the syndicated episodes, since most stations do not show the episodes in order of original network broadcast.

The closing credits repeated the theme music over a short film of either some outrigger canoeists battling the surf (second season onwards) or the top of a motorcycle unit (seen only during the first season) rushing through a darkened street with its flashing light in one corner of the screen. The latter image was eventually satirized in Leslie Nielsen's TV series and movies centering on a law enforcement team called Police Squad!.

The television show Magnum P.I. was created after Hawaii Five-0 ended its run in order to make further use of the production equipment left there. The new series contained several subtle references to Hawaii Five-O, suggesting that it takes place in the same "universe" as the earlier show.

[edit] Trivia

It has been rumored for many years that Jack Lord was a silent partner in all aspects of the production of Hawaii Five-O, even more so as the series grew in popularity during the 1970s. To critics and viewers, there was no question that Jack Lord was the center of the show, and that the other actors frequently served as little more than props, standing and watching while McGarrett emoted and paced around his office, analyzing the crime. But many episodes would focus on the other players, and let them showcase their own talents.

Very few episodes of Five-O were shot anywhere but Hawaiʻi. At least one was shot in Los Angeles and another in Singapore.

Jack Lord was the only actor to appear in all episodes of Five-O and was the only original cast member remaining when its last episode aired in 1980.

Today, James MacArthur is the only surviving original Five-O cast member, as Lord, Zulu, and Fong have since died.

MacArthur has said on talk show appearances that he calculates that the Five-O team would have accounted for all major crime and criminals on the islands several times over.

Silent film actress Dorothy Mackaill was occasionally coaxed out of retirement to make appearances on the series.

When the show was still on the air, the syndicated reruns were titled McGarrett, namely for CBS's late night crime movies.

The show continues to be seen in Hawaiʻi since it left the air, thus making it the longest-running show to continue airing in the state after it ceased production. It is currently seen on Honolulu independent outlet KWHE.

The external shots of the fictional building of the Five-O squad was in actuality the ʻIolani Palace, which was the original home of the Hawaiian monarchy.

At least 2 episodes were centered around Danno. One episode took us to his apartment, and a second one probed into his love life a bit. He was engaged to a woman whose death was the plot line of the episode.

Chin Ho Kelly had 8 kids, as we learned in an early Five-O episode.

McGarrett's trademark vehicle, often seen squealing tires throughout Honolulu, was a triple-black 1968 Mercury Park Lane Brougham 4-door hardtop.

[edit] Cast

Steve McGarrett played by Jack Lord (original cast)
Danny "Danno" Williams played by James MacArthur (original cast) (Tim O'Kelly in the pilot)
Kono Kalakaua played by Zulu (original cast)
Chin Ho Kelly played by Kam Fong (original cast)
Attorney General John Manicote played by Glenn Cannon
Ben Kokua played by Al Harrington
Che Fong (the forensic specialist) played by Harry Endo
Doc Bergman (the medical examiner) played by Al Eben
Duke Lukela (police sgt. with HPD who was promoted to the unit) played by Herman Wedemeyer
Governor Paul Jameson played by Richard Denning (original cast) (Lew Ayres in the pilot)
May (secretary) played by Maggi Parker (original cast) (Mitzi Hoag in the pilot)
Jenny Sherman (secretary) played by Peggy Ryan

[edit] Supporting actors

Wo Fat (the villain) played brilliantly by Khigh Dheigh in the pilot, and occasionally throughout the series, including the final episode
Lieutenant Kealoha played by Douglas Mossman (season 1)
Jonathan Kaye (from the State Dept.) played by James Gregory (pilot),

Joseph Sirola (season 2-5),
Bill Edwards (seasons 6-9),
Lyle Bettger (season 10)
Doc (just plain) played by Newell Tarrant (season1),

Robert Brilliande and Ted Thorpe (season 2),
Robert Costa (season 3)
Lori Wilson played by Sharon Farrell (season 12)
Che Fong played by Danny Kamekona (season 1)
Truck Kealoha played by Moe Keale (season 12)
Frank Kemana played by Douglas Mossman (season 7)
James Kimo Carew played by William Smith (season 12)
Luana played by Laura Sode
Walter Stewart played by Morgan White (season 1)
Attorney General played by Philip Anh (pilot)
Mildred played by Peggy Ryan (season 1)

[edit] References in popular culture

"Five-O" has become popular slang for the police.

Another measure of the show's continued high popularity is that it was lampooned in Mad Magazine, in a typical not-very-subtle satire called "How-Are-Ya Five-O", which appeared in 1971. The characters were renamed Steve "McGarrish" and "Dummy" Williams.

The legacy of Five-O continued on into the series that replaced it, Magnum P.I., with many of the characters often referring to both Five-O and McGarrett. (Also, the show was filmed in Hawaiʻi and many of the sets were re-used in Magnum)

In a three-part episode of the situation comedy Sanford & Son set in Hawaiʻi, the fictional Five-O bureau is referenced several times. Although no "Five-O" cast members appear, the bureau members that are portrayed mention McGarrett and a running joke about his hair while the show's famous theme song plays in the background.

In the British police drama The Sweeney the programme Hawaii Five-O is mentioned in the series one episode Stoppo Driver, which was originally broadcast in 1975. The reference to the programme is made in reference to a police officer suspected of working for a robbery gang only occurring "in Hawaii Five-O." The comment is made by George Carter (played by Dennis Waterman), who moments later in the programme says McGarrett's trademark line "Book-em Danno."

Australian punk band Radio Birdman wrote a song inspired by Hawaii Five-O entitled "Aloha Steve & Danno". It is the first song on their 1977 debut album Radios Appear and contains the chorus "Steve, I want to say thank you for all you've done for me. My night is dark and empty when you're not on TV."

For many years after the show finished its run, GTE Hawaiian Tel included a warning to tourists in its phone books that in an emergency, they should dial 911 and not Hawaii Five-O. The AAA auto club provided a similar warning in its Hawaii Tourbook.

Australian band Horse MacGuyver referenced the show with their Hawaiian themed song of the same name.

In one of the scenes of the movie Shrek 2 (2004), a palace musician begins playing the theme to Hawaii Five-O after the royal fanfare.

The theme song was played in Leroy & Stitch (2006) in the scene where Leroy captures all the experiments.

In the Australian movie, The Dish (2000), set in 1969, a band of high-school age boys are told to perform the American national anthem for visiting American politicans, but as they do not know it, they play the theme from Hawaii Five-O.

The theme song played in Madagascar (2005) when Marty was surfing on two dolphins.

In the animated sitcom The Simpsons, Chief Wiggum is often heard saying to his deputies upon arrest of a suspect, "Book 'em, Lou," a reference to Steve's "Book 'em, Danno."

[edit] Home Video

In early 2005, it was reported in the Wall Street Journal[1] that Paramount/Viacom would release more of its TV series library on DVD, and reportedly Hawaii Five-O would be released sometime in 2006. The first season will be released on DVD on March 6, 2007, and will include the original pilot movie "Cocoon".[2]