All summer, I was obsessing about the return of Hawaii Five-O (actually Hawaii Five-0, as the new series has replaced the capital letter O in the title, with a zero), to CBS’ primetime line-up, this Fall.  As I saw it, there was a trio of strikes against the potential success of reviving what is perhaps one of my five all-time favorite television series.

Original cast of HAWAII FIVE-O

First, as a general rule, remakes do not work; especially ones where the time and place of the original are linked inexorably to the plot – in this instance, Hawaii from the late ‘60s through the ‘70s.  When the series premiered on CBS in 1968, Hawaii was a lush and exotic poly-cultural paradise that most people only dreamed about visiting.  Today’s Hawaii has little of the mystery it did 40 years ago; and while still incredibly lovely – with cheaper airfares, advances in technology, and far more inhabitants – Hawaii is far less exotic than it once was.

Alex O’Loughlin and Scott Caan

Second, icons are hard to reconstitute.  The original Hawaii Five-O was one of the first police procedurals that incorporated forensics – and until Law & Order broke its record in 2003, held the record for the longest-running crime show on American television.  Besides, how do you find a new Jack Lord?

Grace Park

Third, the curse of Alex O’Loughlin…  I might be one of the few people willing to admit to having watched every episode of Moonlight, the CBS series in 2007 starring O’Loughlin as vampire private investigator ‘Mick St. John’. 

Unfortunately, CBS declined to pick-up the show for a second season.  Then came the ill-fated Three Rivers (also on CBS), and that series barely made it through its first season.  Fortunately, CBS seems to love Alex O’Loughlin.

Scott Caan, Daniel Dae Kim, Alex O’Loughlin and Grace Park

So, here I was, fretting all summer – as if I had nothing better to do – about how CBS was going to grind-up and spit-out one of the great cop-shows ever.  Not just any cop-show, but MY cop-show!

Well, I’m thrilled to report that, having viewed the pilot, my worries might all have been for naught.  Instead of simply updating the show, the entire thing has been re-imagined, with only the names of the characters and the locale remaining.  For one thing, the only person who dresses like a haole is Scott Caan as ‘Danny Williams’ (because his character is from New Jersey and hates the beach).  I doubt that Daniel Dae Kim’s ‘Chin Ho Kelly’ will be referred to as “Fatso” by ‘McGarrett’ (as was affectionately done in the original), and the character of ‘Kono’ has been cast as a woman (the lovely Grace Park).

Park, Caan, O’Loughlin and Kim

Some things have remained.  The iconic shot of ‘McGarrett’ on the terrace of the penthouse at the Ilikai Hotel has been reshot, as have many of the images (i.e. Iolani Palace, King Kamehameha, etc.) in the montage-scene during the theme song, which, itself is a pretty good update of the original, with more bass. 

Personally, I would’ve gone with the version by The Ventures – but what do I know?

Caan, Kim, O’Loughlin and Park

TV Guide (Aug 2010)

Designing woman, Jean Smart pops-up now and again as the Governor, and technology abounds on a level we are more familiar with seeing on the big screen than the small.  I’m pretty sure that this is due in large part to the participation of Executive Producers Alex Kurtzman and Robert Orci (Fringe) who are known for their collaborative works with mega-producers like J.J. Abrams (Alias, Lost, Star Trek) and Michael Bay (the Transformers trilogy).

All things considered, the new Hawaii Five-0 is fun, modern, and keeps the heart of the original while transitioning beautifully into the 21st Century.

Hawaii Five-0
Mondays at 10pm
CBS


Aloha!