Hawaii Five-O is an American police procedural drama series produced by CBS Productions and created by Leonard Freeman.
Set in Hawaii, the show originally aired for 12 seasons from 1968 to 1980, and continues in reruns. At the airing of its last episode, it was the longest-running police drama in American television history.
The show starred Jack Lord as Detective Captain Stephen "Steve" McGarrett, the head of a special state police task force in Hawaii which was based on an actual unit that existed under martial law after World War II. The theme music composed by Morton Stevens became especially popular. Many episodes would end with McGarrett's catchphrase, Book 'em, Danno!
The CBS television network produced Hawaii Five-O, which aired from September 20, 1968, to April 5, 1980. The program continues to be broadcast in syndication worldwide. Created by Leonard Freeman, Hawaii Five-O was shot on location in Honolulu, Hawaii, and throughout the island of Oahu and other Hawaiian islands with occasional filming in locales such as Los Angeles, Singapore, and Hong Kong.
The show centers on a fictional state police force led by former US naval officer Steve McGarrett (played by Jack Lord), a detective captain, who is appointed by the Governor, Paul Jameson. In the show, McGarrett oversees state police officers -the young Danny "Danno" Williams, veteran Chin Ho Kelly, and streetwise Kono Kalakaua for seasons one through four.
More information: The TVDB
Honolulu Police Department Officer Duke Lukela joined the team as a regular, as did Ben Kokua, who replaced Kono beginning with season five. Occasionally, McGarrett's Five-O team is assisted by other officers as needed: Douglas Mossman as Det. Frank Kamana, P.O. Sandi Wells (Amanda McBroom), medical examiner Doc Bergman (Al Eben), forensic specialist Che Fong (Harry Endo), and a secretary. The first secretary was May, then Jenny, and later Malia, Lani and Luana.
The title of the show refers to Hawaii's status as the 50th US state; Hawaii had been admitted to the Union only 9 years before the show first aired.
The Five-O team consists of three to five members (small for a real state police unit), and is portrayed as occupying a suite of offices in the Iolani Palace. Five-O lacks its own radio network, necessitating frequent requests by McGarrett to the Honolulu Police Department dispatchers.
For 12 seasons, McGarrett and his team hounded international secret agents, criminals, and organized crime syndicates plaguing the Hawaiian Islands. With the aid of District Attorney and later Hawaii's Attorney General John Manicote, McGarrett is successful in sending most of his enemies to prison.
By the 12th and final season, series regular James MacArthur had left the show (in 1996, he admitted that he had become tired of the role and wanted to do other things), as had Kam Fong. Unlike other characters before him, Fong's character, Chin Ho Kelly, at Fong's request, was killed off, murdered while working undercover to expose a protection ring in Chinatown in the last episode of season 10. New characters Jim 'Kimo' Carew (William Smith), Lori Wilson (Sharon Farrell), and Truck (Moe Keale) were introduced in season 12 alongside returning regular character Duke Lukela.
Most episodes of Hawaii Five-O ended with the arrest of criminals and McGarrett snapping, Book 'em. The offense occasionally was added after this phrase, for example, Book 'em, murder one. In many episodes, this was directed to Danny "Danno" Williams and became McGarrett's catchphrase: Book 'em, Danno.
McGarrett's tousled yet immaculate hairstyle, as well as his proclivity for wearing a dark suit and tie on all possible occasions (uncommon in the islands), rapidly entered popular culture. While the other members of Five-O dressed mainland much of the time, they also often wore local styles, such as the ubiquitous Aloha shirt.
In many episodes, including the pilot, McGarrett is drawn into the world of international espionage and national intelligence. McGarrett's nemesis is a rogue intelligence officer of the People's Republic of China named Wo Fat. The communist rogue agent was played by veteran actor Khigh Dhiegh. In the show's final episode in 1980, titled Woe to Wo Fat, McGarrett finally sees his foe go to jail.
Unlike the reboot the show's action and straightforward storytelling left little time for personal stories involving wives or girlfriends, though a two-part story in the first season dealt with the loss of McGarrett's sister's baby. Occasionally, a show would flash back to McGarrett's younger years or to a romantic figure.
A remake pilot, called Hawaii Five-0, the last character is a zero instead of the letter O, which is the true title of the original series as well, aired September 20, 2010, on CBS. It lasted for 10 seasons until the 240th and final episode was aired on April 3, 2020.
More information: CBS
Steve McGarrett
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