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*Spoiler/plot- Hawaii Five-0, 1968. The TV series follows a fictional elite state police unit and it's iconic leader in it's law enforcement foreign or domestic work in the island state.*Special Stars- Jack Lord, James MacArthur.*Theme- No one is above the law.*Trivia/location/goofs- Jack Lord owned part of the show in later seasons. Filmed entirely in Hawaii. Conscience effort was made to use native Hawaiian actors in this show. Many of the main cast have become deceased. A new TV show series has come out of this franchise.*Emotion- A beautiful and well produced TV show highlighting the Hawaiian islands in their complexity and unique problems. Also this show is a time capsule on the social matters of the late 1960's. This show really made Hawaii a popular place to produce films in. The morals and dilemmas of the shows are informative and relevant today. This show is worth the viewer's time to experience.
FloatingOpera7
Hawaii Five-O (1968-1980): Starring Jack Lord, James MacArthur, Kam Fong, Zulu, Al Harrington, William Smith, Sharon Farrell, Hermen Wedemeyer, Moe Keale, Richard Denning, Glenn Cannon, Al Eben, Maggie Parker, Peggy Ryan, Morgan White...Created By Leonard Freeman For many folks, "Hawaii Five-O" was the greatest "cop/detective" series on television, and in truth, it was the success of this long running series ('68-80, 12 years)that inspired other memorable detective series such as "Streets Of San Francisco" in the 70's and L.A. Law and Magnum P.I. in the 80's. The trend continues with today's "Law and Order" and "CSI". Jack Lord stars as the tough, no-nonsense, overly analytical, intelligent and charismatic Steve McGarret, who for years solves crimes and puts baddies behind bars in the beautiful state-island of Hawaii. James McArthur portrayed his right hand man Detective Danny "Danno" Williams and Asian actor Kam Fong portrayed Chin-Ho, another resourceful detective on the police force. Shot on location in Honolulu, Hawaii and other parts of the islands, the series was ahead of its time. A lot of the episodes (though not all of them) seem very real and probable, as if the crimes being committed, as dramatic as they were, could actually occur. For instance, several crimes involved drug traffic and prostitution, which never stops even in the mainland of the US. Admittedly, some of the villains were fiendishly evil, bordering on comic book villains, especially in the more psychotic criminals who killed for sport or fetishes. When the baddies weren't after peoples' lives, they were out to get their money in elaborate money schemes. At times, the show was full of contrived suspense, i.e. they would leave out enough in a span of ten minutes to leave you hanging before commercial breaks. Some episodes were divided into two parts, particularly the overly dramatic ones i.e. McGarett gets shot, they have to find out who shot him, he is hospitalized and during that time Dano takes over, McGarett is sued and goes to court, etc. Several villains returned various times to the show. The writing on the show is well-done and there was an overall feeling of mystery and action, though never as violent as today's shows. So sit back, watch McGarett and his men extract justice amidst surfing, luxurious paradise resorts and fun in the sun.
happipuppi13
It was 25 years ago just this past March 5th (2005) that Hawaii Five-O came to an end. There were cop shows all throughout the 70's and plenty after that ,but (as far as action oriented cop shows go)MacGarret & crew still reign supreme. Shows like Hill Street Blues & NYPD Blue (which just missed being on as long as 5-0 by about 20 episodes or so)give us the ultra-real look at cops and their lives and all the dramas that goes with it.Hawaii 5-O,however,is still the show to watch for well written story-lines and great police/bad guy action. Not all the bad guys are crooks,sometimes their people who have suffered some sort of mental breakdown or maybe they are misunderstood youth (of the 60's & 70's). MacGarret,while tough as can be,treats all cases and people involved with them with a humanity that before this was not usually part of a police drama. Unlike Jack Webb of Dragnet,Steve was allowed to make mistakes and be imperfect.Sidekick,Danny (Danno) Williams,is no second banana! I recently watched a show where he himself has to take on a crazed suicide bomber who's exacting revenge on Dan for killing his brother. James MacAurther looks and acts tough in that episode and pulls it off marvelously. Chin and Kono are great go-between guys as well,doing a lot of the necessary footwork.The rest of the cast is tops as well. The best ones would seasons for me are 1 to 11. Season 10 marked a farewell to Kam Fong & his Chin Ho Kelly character. Season 11 was James MacArthur's last also , but I can honestly say ,both seasons are great.Season 12 is hit & miss with some fairly good story lines and Jack Lord's still on top of his game ...but replacement actors William Smith & Co. really didn't fill the void fans felt ,in missing Danny & Chin.At least MacGarret catches nemesis Wo Fat in the grand 1 hour finale (I wont say how!) 5-O forever! (END)
