Hawaii Five-O (1968): Season 8

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Hawaii Five-O (1968)
Season Details & Credits
CBS | Season Premiere Date: September 12, 1975
Starring: Jack Lord, Kam Fong, James MacArthur
Summary: Hawaii Five-O was created by Leonard Freeman as a series that not only featured law and order issues but also presented the beauty of the Hawaiian islands.The original cast featured Jack Lord as Steve McGarrett, head of Hawaii Five-O, with James McArthur playing Danny Williams (replacing Tim O'Kelley from the pilot), Zulu as Kono KalakauaHawaii Five-O was created by Leonard Freeman as a series that not only featured law and order issues but also presented the beauty of the Hawaiian islands.The original cast featured Jack Lord as Steve McGarrett, head of Hawaii Five-O, with James McArthur playing Danny Williams (replacing Tim O'Kelley from the pilot), Zulu as Kono Kalakaua and Kam Fong as Chin Ho Kelly. At the end of the 1971-72 season, Zulu left the series after a disagreement and was replaced by Al Harrington as Ben Kokua, smaller in but no less of a character. After Leonard Freeman died, Al Harrington's appearances became infrequent in the 1974-75 season, and then he was dropped altogether with no reason given. Douglas Mossman filled in the 'Ben' role in later episodes as Frank Kemana. By the 1976-77 season, supporting character Duke Lukela, played by Herman Wedemeyer, was so popular that he was given star billing on the show, following Kam Fong. It was a shock for fans when, at the end of the 1977-78 season, in the episode "A Death In The Family", Chin Ho was murdered and dumped on the steps of the Iolani Palace, Five-O's base. When CBS delayed making a decision on the show's future at the end of the 1978-79 season due to falling ratings and tired stories, James MacArthur took the opportunity to leave the series after 11 years. The 1979-80 season saw major changes in the show. William Smith as James 'Kimo' Carew was bought in to replace James MacArthur, and the producers also added a new female Five-O member, Sharon Farrell as Lori Wilson. Completing the new line-up were existing Five-O member Duke, and Moe Keale as Truck Kealoha. However, the of this new season was very different and the stories were often of an inferior quality, so it came as no surprise when CBS finished Hawaii Five-O's prime-time run on April 5 1980, with McGarrett vanquishing his nemesis Wo Fat.===============Other Info Pilot (Coccoon) only 1. Company credits
Production Companies * CBS Television * Leonard Freeman ProductionDistributors * CBS Television (original airing) * Paramount Pictures
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2. Awards
Emmy Awards
1969 -- Nominated -- Outstanding Achievement in Musical Composition -- Morton Stevens (composer)
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3. Filming Locations:
Honolulu, O'ahu, Hawaii, USA
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4. Release dates:
USA -- 20 September 1968======================Other Info Series 1. Company credits
Production Companies * CBS Television * Leonard Freeman ProductionDistributors * CBS Television * Independent Television (ITV) * Paramount Television * ViacomOther Companies * Ford Motor Company consideration furnisher * Polifroni/Sabba casting
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2. Awards
American Cinema Editors, USA
1976 -- Nominated -- Best Edited Episode from a Television Series -- Jack Gleason [For episode "Turkey Shoot".] 1974 -- Nominated -- Best Edited Episode from a Television Series -- Jack Gleason [For episode "One Big Happy Family".] Edgar Allan Poe Awards
1974 -- Nominated -- Best Television Episode -- Jerome Coopersmith [For episode "Here Today, Gone Tonight".] 1973 -- Nominated -- Best Television Episode -- Will Lorin [For episode "Bait Once, Bait Twice".] Emmy Awards
1976 -- Nominated -- Outstanding Lead Actress for a Single Appearance in a Drama or Comedy Series -- Helen Hayes [For episode "Retire In Sunny Hawaii... Forever".] 1974 -- Won -- Best Music Composition - For a Series, a Single Program of a Series -- Morton Stevens (composer) [For episode "Hookman".] 1970 -- Won -- Outstanding Achievement in Music Composition - For a Series or a Single Program of a Series (In Its First Year Only) -- Morton Stevens (composer) [For episode "A Thousand Pardons, You're Dead".]
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3. Release dates
USA -- 26 September 1968 Netherlands -- 19 April 1969 UK -- 19 July 1970 West Germany -- 30 April 1971 France -- 15 July 1973 ------
4. Filming LocationsHawaii Film Studio - 18th Avenue & Diamond Head Road, Honolulu, O'ahu, Hawaii, USA (studio)Honolulu, O'ahu, Hawaii, USA
O`ahu, Hawaii, USA========================Literature:
Monographic related book: Rhodes, Karen. Booking Hawaii Five-O: An Episode Guide and Critical History of the 1968-1980 Television Detective Series. McFarland & Company, Inc. (Jefferson, North Carolina), 1997, ISBN: 0786401710======================Series Trivia * Gregory Peck was offered the lead role of McGarrett. He turned it down. * Kam Fong, who played Det. Chin Ho Kelly (1968-78), was an actual officer with the Honolulu Police Department who served from 1946 to his retirement in 1962 to take up a career in real estate. * Other than Wo Fat, other notable adversaries for McGarrett that appeared in more than one episode included mob bosses Henore Vaschon (played by Harold Gould) and Tony Alika (played by Ross Martin), pimp Big Chicken (played by Gavin MacLeod) and the Robin Hood-like Lewis Avery Filer (played by Hume Cronyn). * Jack Lord was the only member of the cast to stay with the series during it's entire 12 year run. Kam Fong (Chin Ho Kelly) left after the 10th season. James MacArthur (Danny Williams) left after the 11th season. * At the end of the episode "A Death In The Family", where Chin Ho Kelly was murdered, Steve McGarrett (Jack Lord) books the suspect himself, saying, "Chin would have liked that." It was the only time during the series that McGarrett personally booked a suspect. * The character of Duke Lukela first appeared as an HPD sergeant before becoming a Hawaii Five-O investigator. * The syndicate that Tony Alika headed was called "Kumu". * McGarrett finally caught Wo Fat in the final episode of the series. However, at the end of the episode, Wo Fat can be seen digging into his boot and taking out a file leaving it open for a possible reunion episode. * "Magnum, P.I." (1980) began production soon after this series wrapped its last episode. In order to keep some sort of continuity, reference to characters from this show were included in early episodes of Magnum. However, a plan to have Jack Lord appear as McGarrett never came to pass. Lord retired from acting after the series went off the air. * Chin Ho Kelly (Kam Fong) was the only member of the cast to be "killed off". He was murdered in the episode "A Death in the Family" while investigating a protection racket. * McGarrett was a Naval Intelligence officer before he became head of Five-O. In fact, he was in the reserves and went on active duty from time to time to assist the Navy on special cases. * In the episode "The Singapore File" McGarrett flies to Singapore to retrieve a witness, and returns to Honolulu. Singapore was actually downtown Honolulu. At the end of the episode, they are at a temple in Manila; they were actually at the Valley of the Temples in Kaneohe, Hawaii. * McGarrett actually caught Wo Fat in one encounter, but was forced to give him up because the Chinese government wanted him back in trade for a downed U2 pilot. * Zulu (Det. Kono) was the first of the regular cast to depart the show. He left in the 4th season. * McGarrett has a sister that lives in California. * Like McGarrett, Jack Lord was in the Navy. He was a public affairs officer, attaining the rank of lieutenant. * Before joining Five-O, Danny attended the University of Hawaii and then transferred to the University of California where he graduated with a degree in Criminology. * McGarrett often referred to Kono as "Big Kanaka". * McGarrett often referred to his secretary, May, as "Love". * McGarrett was a Korean War veteran. * McGarrett supposedly had his office in Iolani Palace, the actual palace used by the last kings and queens of Hawaii. This building was in danger of being leveled for a parking lot, but today it has been restored and can be toured for a $20 fee. It has never been used by the state police. * Besides government intelligence chief Jonathan Kaye, another recurring character was policewoman Sandy Welles. * "Danny" was played by a different actor in the pilot. * Several actors played different roles in various episodes before becoming recurring cast members. * Chin Ho (Kam Fong) smoked a pipe. * Al Harrington and Herman Wedemeyer both appeared in different roles on the show before assuming the roles of Ben and Duke respectively. Wedemeyer was in the very first episode playing Honolulu police Lt. Balta. * Despite the attention that Hawaii Five-O brought to Hawaiian state law enforcement, Hawaii is the only state that has no state police agency. * The hula dancer in the opening montage is played by Helen Kuoha-Torco, now a professor at Windward Community college.=====================Continuity Goofs for Series *In some earlier episodes, McGarrett can be seen leaving his headquarters in a 1967 Mercury 2 door sedan. When he reaches his destination, he's driving a 1968 Mercury 4 door sedan. *After the original 1968 Mercury was retired, and replaced with a '74 Marquis Brougham 4-door hardtop, some stock footage was used of the '68 passing or in traffic. *From 1970 to 1976, Al Eben played Doc Bergman. In one episode, "A Bullet for McGarrett", his name is Doc Abraham.====================Rockford Judged Top TV Detective: 4 July 2000 (StudioBriefing)
The Rockford Files (1974) Jim Rockford has topped a TV Guide survey in which readers were asked to name their favorite TV detectives ever. The magazine commented, "The crimes he solved were hardly complex. And his detective work was rudimentary at best. But from the moment he told a client, 'I get 200 dollars-a-day, plus expenses,' you were hooked." Columbo placed second in the survey, but Jessica Fletcher of the long-running Murder, She Wrote did not even make the top 10, coming in at 13. The top ten are: 1. James Garner as Jim Rockford in The Rockford Files (1974)
2. Peter Falk, Columbo
3. Andre Braugher as Frank Pembleton in Homicide: Life on the Street
4. Tyne Daly and Sharon Gless in Cagney and Lacey
5. Telly Savalas, Kojak
6. Tom Selleck, Magnum P.I.
7. Helen Mirren as Jane Tennison in Prime Suspect
8. Cybil Shepherd and Bruce Willis as Maddie Hayes and David Addison in Moonlighting
9. Jack Lord as Steve McGarrett in Hawaii Five-O
10. Dennis Franz as Andy Sipowicz in NYPD Blue.… Expand
Genre(s): Drama, Action & Adventure

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