This month we are looking at some recent reboots of popular shows from the the past. We are ending our series with what I think was the best of the reboots in recent history: Hawaii Five-O.

Originally, one source said the show was developed with a house detective for a chain of Hawaiian hotels. Someone on the production team thought it would limit the plots too much, so it was expanded to crime throughout Hawaii.

From 1968 to 1980, Hawaii Five-O was on CBS. Created by Leonard Freeman and set in Hawaii, it starred Jack Lord as Captain Steve McGarrett, former Korean War veteran. McGarrett heads a special task force appointed by the governor. His team includes Danny Williams (James MacArthur), Chin Ho Kelly (Kam Fong), Kono Kalakaua (Zulu). Police officer Duke Luekla (Herman Wedemeyer) lent a hand often. The task force is run out of offices at the Iolani Palace.

Richard Boone was offered the part of McGarrett, but he turned it down. Gregory Peck was also in consideration for the role. Eventually, Jack Lord auditioned on a Wednesday, received the part, and was in Hawaii filming on Monday. Lord was the only actor to appear in all 281 episodes of the series. A couple members of the cast came on board with little-to-no acting experience. Zulu, who played Kono, was a beach boy and local DJ. Fong, who played Kelley, had been a police officer in Honolulu for sixteen years before retiring to work in real estate.

McGarrett and his team investigated crimes by international secret agents, organized crime syndicates, and ordinary criminals. Some of the villains were played by celebrities including Gavin MacLeod, Ross Martin, and Ricardo Montalban.

McGarrett’s ongoing battle throughout much of the series is with Wo Fat (Ihigh Dhiegh), a rogue intelligence officer from China. In the finale, “Woe to Wo Fat,” McGarrett is finally able to land him in jail. However, the series ends with Wo Fat retrieving a file from his boot, making us wonder if we might be able to escape. The name “Wo Fat” came from a restaurant in downtown Honolulu.

In the original show, little time was given to the personal lives of the team; the plots all centered around solving the crime of the week.

The show was filmed in Hawaii: the first location was in Pearl City in a hut where the roof leaked and rats gnawed at cables; then it moved to Fort Ruger and for the final four seasons, a set was built at Diamond Head. Hawaii had only been a state for nine years when the series started, so most Americans were not familiar with the islands.

Fans often talked about the beauty of the scenery for the show. They also appreciated the intelligent writing and believable plots.

Many locals were used in the show, partly because the television and movie industry was not well represented in Hawaii, so everyone learned along the way. This made the cast much more diverse than most shows in the sixties.

The show was known for its theme song written by Morton Stevens. The Ventures recorded the theme, and it reached No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. It was popular with high school and college bands across the country; when I was a majorette in the mid-seventies, it was one of the songs our band performed.

One of the most popular catchphrases from the seventies was “Book ‘em Danno,” a phrase used sparingly in the reboot.

The original Five-O was the longest-running crime show until Law & Order surpassed it in 2002. In began on Thursdays but moved to Wednesdays later in the year. From 1971-1974 it aired on Tuesdays. In 1975 it started out on Friday nights, moving to Thursdays where it stayed till 1979. That December it moved to Tuesdays for two months before switching to Saturdays for the rest of its run. This doesn’t seem like a great strategy for keeping fans.

While the show was popular with viewers, its only two Emmy wins were for music composition. It received ten nominations, but the only person to be nominated for acting was a special guest appearance by Helen Hayes in 1976. There were no nominations for acting, writing, or best series.

A one-hour pilot for a reboot was made in 1996 but never aired on television. Written by Stephen J. Cannell, it starred Gary Busey and Russell Wong as the Five-O team along with MacArthur who returned as Danny Williams, now governor of Hawaii.

The reboot we are discussing today began in 2010, also on CBS. To distinguish it from the original show, it was Hawaii Five-0 (using a zero in place of a capital letter O). Most of the characters are similar to the original. They are still a special task force appointed by the governor who is now a woman, Pat Jameson (Jean Smart). Steve McGarrett (Alex O’Louglin), a former Navy SEAL and son of Jack Lord’s character, partners with Danny Williams (Scott Caan) in this version. Other teammates included Chin Ho Kelly (Daniel Dae Kim) and Kono Kalakaua (Grace Park). Kono’s gender switched from the a male to bring a female perspective to the team.

For the eighth season Tani Rey (Meaghan Rath) and Junior Reigns (Beulah Koale) came on board. Several other regulars during the years included Lou Grover (Chi McBride), medical examiner Max Bergman (Masi Oka), Jerry Ortega (Jorge Garcia), Chin’s classmate and a local conspiracy theorist whose vast knowledge often comes in handy, and Sgt Duke Lukela (Dennis Chun) is still around from the original show.

A season or two into the show, Steve’s girlfriend, Lt. Catherine Rollins (Michelle Borth) works with the team and Adam Noshimuri (Ian Anthony Dale) joins the group. When Dr. Bergman heads overseas, he is replaced by Noelani Cunha (Kimee Balmilero). Another member of the surrogate family is Kamekona (Taylor Wily) who owns a food stand. He often helps the team because he knows almost everyone and has great intel for Steve and Danny. In this version, Steve’s father was a cop and Steve is still hunting down Wo Fat to avenge his father’s death. Chin and Kono are cousins and eventually Kono and Adam marry.

O’Loughlin was born in Canberra, Austrialia on August 24, 1976, and Caan was born in Los Angeles on August 23, 1976, but since Australia is twenty-four hours ahead of the US time, they were essentially born on the same day. Perhaps that’s why they had such great chemistry. Their witty bantering is fun to listen to. They remind me of an older couple who have been married a long time. They know each other so well, and can afford to be critical, because you know they have each other’s backs and would die for each other if they needed to.

This new version continued to show the beauty of the Hawaiian Islands. Viewers learned more about the culture of the state.

In the reboot we also got to know the characters much better; half the show concentrated on their personal lives and how those lives sometimes had an effect on what they did as detectives, right or wrong.

Peter M. Lenkov, who was one of the creators of this reboot, was also part of the team that debuted MacGyver and Magnum PI reboots, all of which are set in Hawaii.

The show was popular with viewers when it returned to the schedule. The Honolulu Advertiser wrote that “a smart script, slick production values and maybe a splash of nostalgia got the remake of Hawaii Five-0 placed on the CBS prime-time lineup this fall.”

One fun carryover from the original series was the character of August March. Played by Ed Asner in the original show in season two, March was a jeweler who was arrested by Lord’s character. In season three of the reboot, August March is back played by Asner again.

The series debuted on Monday nights. Season four found it on Fridays where it stayed for the final seven seasons.

Viewers had strong reactions to the theme song. For the early shows, the original theme song was used but updated which fans did not appreciate, so the original theme was used for most of this series as well.

The new show had a positive impact on Hawaii’s economy. Businesses that were featured on the show saw an increase in visitors. When McGarrett mentioned Kona Brewing Company beers were his choice of beverage, sales shot up 60%.

One fun fact for those car collectors is that Jack Lord drove a Mercury Marquis in several seasons of the first show. On this edition, Steve works on his father’s car. The owner, stuntman John Nordlum, allowed the show to use the car, which still has its old license plate of F6-3958.

Comparing these shows is a little tough because television culture and shows changed so much during the 42 years that the show was off the air. The original series had 281 episodes while the reboot comes in with 240. I remember watching the original as a kid, and it was just another police drama to me. Personally, I like the reboot. Continuing to portray the culture as another character adds a lot of charm to the show. I would rather see the personal lives of the characters especially because they spend a lot of time out of work together and that adds to their team chemistry. I also like the banter between Steve and Danny.

There have been many reboots of classic shows, especially on other streaming services, and most of them do not live up to the original standards at best and can be plain awful at worst. This is one of the few that did it right and succeeded for all the right reasons. If you never saw the original, check out a season or two and compare the shows for yourself.