The new Hawaii Five-O could have been just another gussied-up TV re-launch (no, I’m not a big fan of 90210). Instead, Hawaii‘s premiere episode was fun: Swift, sometimes funny, well-cast, especially in the supporting roles. It’s sure not anything approaching revolutionary TV, but right now, it’s solid 10 p.m.-Monday entertainment.
It bears remembering that the original Five-O, which aired from 1968 to 1980, was not classic TV, either, although it, too, was fun. But you’d be hard-pressed to find any enduring moments of high drama in the Jack Lord version – that’s one reason why most people remember only three things about the show: its theme music, Lord’s triumphant catchphrase “Book ‘em, Danno!,” and Lord’s haircut, which waved like the surrounding palm trees.
The new version of Hawaii followed the tradition of casting a plank of driftwood as its star – in this case, Alex O’Loughlin, the star of duds such as Moonlight and Three Rivers. O’Loughin’s Steve McGarrett comes with a back-story we witnessed during Monday night’s premiere: Dad was murdered; he agreed to head up a task force formed by the governor of Hawaii (a grim Jean Smart) to bring in the biggest criminals… including, in McGarrett’s mind, his father’s killer (Buffy The Vampire Slayer/Angel‘s James Marsters, doing a fine turn as a hard-fighting villain).
Scott Caan is terrific as a moody, sarcastic Danny “Danno” Williams, who considers Hawaii a “pineapple infested hellhole”; Lost’s Daniel Dae Kim as Chin Ho Kelly, a busted cop wrongly accused of corruption whom McGarrett reinstates; and Battlestar Galactica’s Grace Park as Kono Kalakaua, Chin Ho’s cousin and a cop who likes to surf. They quarreled and teased each other, but you knew they’re going to get along.
Underpinning the series is the theme of family. Marsters’ character kills McGarrett’s dad because McGarrett killed Marsters’ brother; what humanizes angry single-dad Danno is his love for his little daughter; Chin Ho is needlessly but sweetly protective of Park’s Kono. Together, they form a tight workplace family by the end of the first hour. Such emphasis on family-above-all serves as something of a protective shield over the show’s energetic violence: They’re shooting and punching people in the throat in the service of keeping each other – and you, the ordinary citizen – safe.
The action sequences were well choreographed; so far, O’Loughlin has come most alive when he was engaged in the premiere’s close-quarters, elbow-chopping fight scene. Going up against ABC’s Castle and NBC’s new Chase, I think it’s got a shot in the ratings (although Castle benefits mightily by the compatible lead-in of Dancing With The Stars).
It all depends on two things: whether viewers gave Hawaii Five-O a shot this evening, and whether they’ll come back to week two. Anyone remember the 2000 re-make of The Fugitive, starring Tim Daly? That short-lived show wasn’t half-bad, but people didn’t stick around to see how it developed.
How about you? Did you watch Hawaii Five-O? Will you watch week two?
Follow: @kentucker
I LOVED this show
-great action
-great macho interaction among the guys
-beautiful location shots
-thankfully did not use a bunch of pop culture music (like Miami Vice and every show since then) to establish the scene
-no forensics crap, just contacts and undercover work
-only downside is Grace Park, who does not fit in with the rest of the guy’s chemistry, I understand the need for a hot chick, but they can just have a hot chick of the week not as a cast regular
“only downside is Grace Park”
If I may quote the great Zapp Brannigan … “What are you, gay?”
^^ Homophobe.
LOL. I love Zapp Brannigan! Perhaps Zedd needs to acquire the very sexy learning disability, sexlexia, in order to better appreciate Grace Park.
I tried to watch this because I miss Lost and it has Daniel Dae Kim, but it was too stupid for words. Deleted it from my DVR after 15 painful minutes.
Boomer! Boomer! Boomer!
Can’t belive that Jin is still stuck in Hawaii.
Cris 1, Rion the bleeding heart sack of crap 0. Rion should practice some of the tolerence he preaches. Futurama rules!
B. Hussein, this ‘Rion should practice some of the tolerance he preaches’ BS is so stupid it’s ridiculous. Unlike Rion, who was guilty of nothing more than not understanding the pop culture reference used and running with it, you pull up a defense I’ve been hearing from these ridiculous anti-gay marriage people who are too stupid to realize that allowing gays the same rights as heterosexuals does NOTHING to remove any of theirs. That makes me think you yourself might actually be a homophobe. It’s not about tolerance, unless you’re purporting that all of those persecuted unfairly should somehow accept and resign themselves to the hateful actions and words of the persecutors.
^^ Sexist.
By no means am I being a sexist, I just think she did not fit in with the rest of the guys who seemed to form a great buddy cop team vibe – she felt like the odd one out, maybe it will change, I doubt it. She is just to thin/lacking muscle to be convincing as a cop, let alone someone belonging on an elite team
Queer
Boomer is a GREAT actress. Yes the show is pure popcorn fun, but it is GREAT popcorn fun. Especially like the calling of the team which strongly paralleled Jesus’ calling of the disciples.
It seems the great wizard of the first order thinks that a woman needs to be muscular to kick some ass. You should meet my sister, she’s smaller than Boomer and she could take us all out. I think Boomer rocks.
Thank you, Larry – Agreed. It should be cancelled. It bears no resemblance to the spirit or flavour of the original. All they’ve done is STOLEN parts of the real H50 in order to give them a kick start in the ratings game. Awful.
I thought many of the location shots were seedy and ugly – not the paradise I remember.
That is kinda the point – great contrast to the Hawaii-as-mystery-island vibe from Lost (even though all the off-island scenes were also shot in Hawaii). Great to see all sides of this state.
Actually, Honolulu is a bit seedy these days. Paradise was lost about 20 years ago when all the tourists took over. Gotta go to Kauai now. Even Maui is overrun.
Not all areas of Honolulu are pretty. If you have been there then you know Pearl City is pretty ugly.
This wasn’t Hawaii Five-O. This was The Bourne Honolulu.
Any governor who would greenlight an extrajudicial task force with the latitude of the SS should and would be impeached and imprisoned.
I agree…was very pleased with the show…much better than i expected
Loved the show – Did not think I would like since I was never a fan of the original – kept me awake
U shut yo mouff! It’s a great show!
please. so cheesy i couldn’t watch without crackers. shame on you tuck!
The Bourne without Jason Bourne is nothing. It’s the story of Hollywood wannabes trying to be stars, fast-tracking by stealing characters and the basic premise of the show, then honouring no part of that. When would Steve McGarett ever have been interested in Dano’s personal life and how his kid named him Dano. Stupid dialogue.
thank you – ken tucker is an idiot
jeeze but the old series and watch them..they never said it was going to a flash to the past,how boring..this is now, it looks to be a great new show..how goofy to say ‘cancel’ after only 1 hr is boorish..
I thought it was a lot of fun. Good entertainment for an hour and Alex is certainly easy on the eyes!
Agreed! I love Alex, he is so cute and I was upset about Moonlight but I’m looking forward to see where this goes. I thought it was good
I think it’s way too early to judge the full worth of the series, but I think it’s unfair of Mr. Tucker to insinuate that the failure of O’Loughlin’s previous series was a reflection of his acting skills. Reality TV is utter bilge, but they’re hits. ’nuff said.
Well said and I completely agree. He was great in Moonlight. The writer’s strike is what killed that show, not his acting.
And to add to that, Moonlight actually did great for a Friday night and continually retained the ratings week after week. It was more of a money issue than anything else. His acting was great in that and it’s great here! Three Rivers failed because the show was mediocre not Alex O’Loughlin. Perhaps ‘some’ people don’t like his deadpan tone.
I totally agree. I loved Moonlight and I thought Alex gave a thoughtful, sensitive performance in it. He adds a sense of passion to Hawaii Five-O that balances the humor of Scott Caan’s character. I like the interplay between the two and I’m looking forward to seeing it develop over time.
I liked it, but I could just stare at Daniel Dae Kim forever. I thought the show was funny and charming with great action. Why are people so angry at it? It’s not supposed to be like the original, it’s supposed to have its own flavor, which it does.
I agree the show was charming. I loved how the Fringe writers reinvented this and made it new. It’s not supposed to be the same.
Don’t CANCEL it! I acally liked it. I didn’t expect it to be just like the original Hawaii 5 0
What a dimwit misogynist you appear to be.
You just can’t replace Jack Lord!
So true! He was a great actor, not “a plank of driftwood” as that idiot writer says. I remember more of the original Hawaii Five-O than the theme song, Book’em, Danno, and Jack’s hair. There was also great acting, intelligent and creative storylines, the beautifully-photographed Hawaiian scenery, and the locals who were cast as guest stars and extras. I remember how the men on the team loved and cared for one an another like a real family, and how McGarret was always at odds with Wo Fat. That was real television. I don’t care for this new version at all.
Moonlight was not a Dud it had decent ratings better than many that were renewed the next year. It seemd to ahve problwms with execs not knowing what they had and production / cast problems
You’re not kidding. I could only watch 15 minutes of this terrible remake. Looks like the Director tried to combine Hawaii Five-O with Miami Vice and he failed miserably. The filming was terrible, the plot was terrible, and the characters were terrible. Dano loses his cool over a phone call. He’s a cop. He’s supposed to keep his cool. When did the original Dan Williams lose his cool? The new McGarrett did not garner any respect, either from me or Dano. We need a top cop that goes by the book and keeps a leash on his underlings that want to break the rules. Remember Castillo from Miami Vice?
The producers have seriously misjudged their target audience. I could go on and on with criticisms but it isn’t worth it. I give the show half a season before cancellation. The best thing that could happen now is for all the characters to be killed off in a volcano and replace the Director with someone with true talent. And for heaven’s sake, choose a McGarrett that exudes confidence, respect, wisdom, and all the other great and honorable qualities that the original McGarrett had – not someone that looks like they just graduated from college. I don’t care what decade we’re in, I also miss the dark suit.
R U Every right!!! just watched the 10/4 one and it is awful, we deleted the tape and r done with Hawaii 50
I was immensely disappointed. The new Steve McGarret comes out in a tee-shirt? The Lord version was almost always in a suit, let alone shirt and tie. This made Mcgarret a notch above the rest of the cops in HPD. It would have been great to introduce the arch villain Wo Fat right away. This would have kept me interested. And Dano is cast as a clown instead of a young go-getter from the 1970′s series. You had to keep these 3 pillars of H5-O in addition to the Ventures theme. All in all I give this a thumbs down; Don’t book-em for another season.
Omg love it! Just so much fun =D
Scott Caan was wonderful. I had intially watched the show for Alex O’Laughlin but Caan made the decision for me to stay.
I LOVED his character – he is the heart of the show
At the end, when he is on top of the bad guy and tells him “Where do you think you’re going to go?” with his hand gestures, he sounded/looked exactly like Sonny Corleone – another reason to love this show
That line cracked me up and it did remind me of something that his father would say. I enjoyed the show — let’s just hope that it sticks around..
That WAS great. Definitely a laugh out loud moment.
You are right, Scott Caan looks very much like his father, James Caan. Sonny Corleone’s genes rule!
Loved his ring tone whenever his ex-wife called…
immature – it doesn’t take much to delight you, does it?
Come on Jethrine. Lighten up. . . . I agree with Bosco. It was funny.
Oh Jethrine, I imagine nothing ever delights you.
I thought that was funny. I like the relationship between him and Alex O Loughlin
And Ken how can you call Alex WOODEN? He’s supposed to be serious in this role – so far we’ve only seen that side but what about the scene where he is totally embarrassed and turns away from Dano to say his vows over the phone for the governor? Or when he is making fun of Dano? I think they’ll let us see more humor in future episodes. I enjoyed it.
The ringtone was GREAT
Both my husband and I thought the ringtone was great!
Hmm.. did not know that Spike/Cpt John (Torchwood) was the big bad in this.. Okay, maybe I’ll watch this ep, and then the inevitable sweeps return of this father-killer.
Ken, think you could provide a heads up for any episodes to feature Marsters?
I seriously hope Marsters is a returning character. He is amazing!
He ended the show at the bottom of the ocean, so I’m not sure how that’s gonna work out.
I believe they want us to think he’s dead, but he’s not. I predict we’ll see him later on.
He’s Spike, of course he’s going to come back, lol.
Well, they didn’t show finding his body, so I hope he’ll be back. His fighting sequences were awesome, although I don’t know if it was him or a stunt man.
there were no floaters-so he may be back, that would be awesome
Two of my favorite vampires in the same show…yea. The show was fun, too. Hope it lasts.
I predict that both Marsters and William Sadler (the father) will be back. Both are fairly well-known actors who had little to do in this episodes. My suspicion is, therefore, that they will both be back. We didn’t actually see either one of them die.
I watched it just for him (Marsters), but his lines were very few–he was underused. Really, though, in what universe would St. John best Spike? Plueeze.
I also only watched because of Spike (Marsters), but I liked it. I’m sure I’ll tune in again.
I didn’t know Marsters was going to be in it and that was a pleasant surprise… I agree he was underused and hold out faint hope he will return…
Ha, I know right? Spike would kick Mick’s a**. But yeah, I was hoping he’d have more to do. Also, I found the accent hilarious. It made me think of when David Boreanaz would do an Irish accent on Buffy/Angel and how awful it was. And reminded me how much I missed the British accent.
I thought this first episode was a lot of fun. I was too young for the original Hawaii 5-0, and to be honest a few years ago I never would have given this show a chance. I’m glad I did though, it was a fun and highly entertaining hour of tv.
Ok, I’m showing my age, but I remember the original Hawaii 5-0…and the new one is much better.
you’re an idiot
Jethrine–Meowser is right–this one is much better. There was no reason for your “idiot” comment, Jethrine, other than obviously limited mental functioning.
So, did you notice that the opening shots mirrored the original? Very cool. I also liked the Merc Park Lane in the garage-thanks for the nod to the original. I will watch again, it was fun
Agree….this remake is much better than the original. I also liked the old series, but I am a big fan of Alex O. since Moonlight. Scott Caan is so like his dad, still watch him in reruns of Vegas. His dad is funny in a dry kind of way, sort of what our new Danno is.
Meowser…you da nut. This show sucked BIG TIME. If Lewonard Freeman was still alive he would not have allowed this travesty on to the airwaves.
I agree. It was a lot of fun and I didn’t want it to end. Looking forward to next week.
Wasn’t alive when the original aired, so I havedon’t have the problem of comparing to the original. On its own, I like it as a light show to balance out my more serious or cerebral viewings (ie. Mad Men and Fringe). Not every show needs to be painfully realistic, or gritty and melancholy…..Hawaii Five-O works as a counterpoint.
This show was the only new show I was looking foward to seeing and I was cautiously optimistic. I’m happy to say I was not disappointed. Alex O’Loughlin is finally in a show that might have a chance. Helps that it’s on a decent “tv night”, not on Friday or Sunday night like his last 2 shows. I’m looking foward to seeing what’s in store. I hope it’s given a decent chance to find an audience. It does suck that it’s up against Castle. I love that show too but I’m DVR’ing that one for now.
Sunday has Desperate Housewives, Amazing Race, Family Guy, football, etc. It’s a darn good TV night.
I don’t think Lisa is stating that Sunday isn’t a darned good TV night. What I think she’s saying is, for a new show to debut on a Sunday is a bad idea. There’s too many established shows on that night. If people don’t like the pilot (and a lot of people didn’t for Three Rivers) the audience was gone by week 2.
I’m thinking 5-0 may have a pretty good shot of sticking around (hate that it’s opposite Castle, though).
Re Sunday being a good TV night:
Yeah, unless you really don’t care about the teams playing, or you’re not a teenager who likes cartoon characters making crude sex jokes, or a middle aged housewife, or hate “reality” TV, then yeah, Sunday’s a great night for TV….
Oh yeah, it’s always the night, or the network hates the actor, or whatever.
The shows failed because they were BAD. Thus viewers didn’t tune in.
Period.
Moonlight wasn’t a bad show, and the network LOVES this actor so much that they signed him to a development deal in order to keep him from jumping networks.
Moonlight had 2 problems : a) Friday night time slot (yes, that matters) and b) the HUGE vampire craze of Twilight/True Blood books had not yet started to infiltrate the general public.
By starting a season later, Moonlight would still be on the air.
Renfro you are totally wrong and Kvivik you are totally right. Moonlight was a great show and it would have done better now. CBS didn’t give Moonlight enough of a chance to survive. I also believe with it being on Friday’s, it didn’t have enough of a chance to get viewers. Alex is a great actor and that is why CBS keeps bringing him back! Even if the previous shows he was on didn’t last, it is NOT BECAUSE OF ALEX!!
I agree. IMO, CBS screwed themselves by cancelling Moonlight after only one season. They were sitting on a gold mine and didn’t even know it! GRRRRRR
I am a huge A O’L fan, but gave up on Three Rivers after only one episode. H5O premiere was a disappointment. I think the chemistry between the two leads seemed forced, but I’ll reserve judgment until I watch a few more episodes.
***I miss Moonlight***
Moonlight was awesome and who among us would have loved to see Marsters and O Loughlin go head to head on THAT show? Ugh. Makes me mad! I’ll smile again if they figure out a way to get Sophia Myles on this one
LOL!
I was wondering how long it would take the Moonlight freaks to show up. The show’s dead. Let it rest in peace.
The scripts were lousy, the acting was hackneyed. Good riddance!
Alex O’Loughlin is a good actor, I liked him in Moonlight. I agree with Kvivik’s assessment and Lisa’s comments. I DVRed chase and that show is excellent as well. I hope these two shows make it, lets be honest here about what they are, they are a fun show. They have a good plot, not a deep mind twisting plot, but a fun attention grabbing plot. ‘The Event’ on the other hand I believe will end up being like Lost and will drag on forever and be a complete failure. Flash Forward had promise, they should have given it another season. Oh and Friday and Sunday night is usually the kiss of death for a showing being moved to it.
I thought it was very entertaining. It has definite possibilities. I disgreed with the review o O’Loughlin, I thought he was very good – he is playing the stoic, gung-ho tough guy – not a “chunk of driftwood.” I am curious to see the relationships unfold.
I don’t think Tucker was implying that O’Loughlin was bad; I believe he was trying to turn a phrase (driftwood that washes up on a beach) with the fact that O’Loughlin was landing somewhere new after two failed series.
Alex is a terrific actor. Been a fan of his since Moonlight, was disappointed when it got cancelled. Was thrilled when I found out he is the new Five-O star. Thirds a charm so I hope this series makes it. I’m guessing that it will. Loved the theme song and scenery that go with it. It pretty much covered Hawaii.
Totally agree. Alex was GREAT in Moonlight… that was a terrific show that earned between 8 and 9 million viewers. Certainly wasn’t a dud. It won People’s Choice for best new show. Had excellent writing and a terrific cast. The producers had difficulties deciding who would pay the bills and THAT is what killed the show. Not Alex. 5-0 is a fun thrill ride. Love Scott too. Had to laugh a couple times. Waited all month for the premier and wasn’t disappointed! Providing this show lasts through the initial cuts, these characters will all grow on you. Like any new show, it takes a bit of time for the characters and their actor-counterparts to mature together. Alex and Scott are the main reasons I give this show a huge thumbs up!
Totally agree. Alex was GREAT in Moonlight… that was a terrific show that earned between 8 and 9 million viewers. Certainly wasn’t a dud. It won People’s Choice for best new show. Had excellent writing and a terrific cast. The producers had difficulties deciding who would pay the bills and THAT is what killed the show. Not Alex. 5-0 is a fun thrill ride. Love Scott too. Had to laugh a couple times. Waited all month for the premier and wasn’t disappointed! Providing this show lasts through the initial cuts, these characters will all grow on you. Like any new show, it takes a bit of time for the characters and their actor-counterparts to mature together. Alex and Scott are the main reasons I give this show a huge thumbs up! BTW Looks like it will stick around awhile. Ratings came in at closest to a sure thing of any new show this year! Rated higher than anything but DWTS!!! You go Alex!! This is surely due many of the 8 mil plus Alex fans out there!
I love Alex in anything and that idiot that said he wasn’t good is stupid. The only reason I watched was Alex. The reason I would continue to watch is Alex. I loved his latest show “The Backup Plan” He is the greatest and if he continues I predict great things for Alex. By the way I hated the old show and did not watch it and yes I am old enough to remember.
AWESOME show and filled with funny quips and smart ass remarks, both playing off of each other. Both Dano and the military guy were great…wish i knew their names but great acting/action packed premier…cant wait till next week…i think i may be hooked…book me Dano! lol
I really loved this show. I am looking forward to next week. The writing was good–we got to know each character, it was fun and fast moving. I had to DVR Castle, but this show is better.
Castle is a far better show than this piece of tripe.
The main actors can actually ACT! Unlike that guy playing McGarrett Jr.
Excuse me? That guy who played “Joey Buchanan” at one time on One Life To Live can act??? Wanna borrow my glasses? bahahahahahahaa…
Smirking is not acting, Nathan Fillion fans. Take note.
Sorry but the only good thing on Castle is Nathan Fillion.
ALEX CAN ACT!! I think he is doing a great job of being “McGarrett Jr.” Alex is a great actor no matter what show he is in or what he is doing career wise. I also like Castle, but still had to DVR it because of H5-O.
u shut yo mouff, too! great show, great acting, great fun…you’re a drag!!
Loved the show! It was energetic, smart, and a bit different than the original, I liked that. The original McGarrett was a by-the-book sort of guy, it’s obvious the new one isn’t, and that’s good, it needs to be that way in today’s world, the age of the anti-hero. And of course, almost anything that guest star’s James Marsters is fine with me, I’m still waiting for Spike to come back.
Amen to Spike!
Ha, I saw the name James Marsters and had a fangirl moment. Seriously. I pretty much yelled, “Spike’s in the pilot?! I must watch this.” Good thing I read this now because it’s almost 10.
Honestly, O’Laughlin is a zero but Kim & Caan are very likable. I think the location is a star this time around too. Who doesn’t love looking at Hawaii? I’ll watch it again.
O’Laughlin IS the show, you nut. Why does everybody have to down on my Alex? He’s the shizzle!!!
Thank you, Kim!! The only reason I’ve been looking forward to this show is Alex. I’d watch this man in anything.
I definitely wouldn’t call him a zero, but outside of his action stuff I found him very meh as a character. Quite frankly everyone else, including all of the villians, were more interesting. Maybe he just needs time to grow into the role, I don’t know. But Caan was great. He was also the best thing about this past season of Entourage.
@bean I so agree! Thank you!! Caan and Kim were wonderful!!
This was fun. It’s not brilliant, but it’s good escapist enjoyment, and this pilot at least did what “The Event” did not — it told me who the characters were, gave me a sense of their personalities and established their relationships. And I thought Grace Park was great; she brings out the protective side of her cousin and the humor in Dano.
Majority of the humor from Dano came from his interaction with Steve aside – in fact I can’t think of any scene in which she brought out the humor from him – only meaningful scene was when he was checking her out
And Moonlight was far from a “dud”. Its ratings were better than most of the shows renewed that season.
I think he was referring to its quality.
If the quality was so bad, why did it win a People’s choice that year for Best New Show, over 10,000 people voted for the show??
The quality was great. I still love that show.
Amen…Moonlight should’ve been given a chance by the network…but I’m happy Alex O has found a new show! Love him! Please, please, networks- don’t cancel this one prematurely like you did Moonlight!! Please for the love of God! Let me have just this one pleasure in tv land!!
Ken Tucker mentioned the Fugitive … I LOVED that remake. It was one of the most painfully frustrating cliff hanger endings EVER. Never resolved. As to H-5- 0 … I TVOED it. We’ll see.
Agreed. The Fugitive remake had potential. Just not enough viewers.
The Fugitive remake was great. Tim Daly had a couple other shows that never made it, that I thought were good as well. Eyes was a great show, but no one ever knew it was on. I actually liked The Nine, but understood why people got turned off by it so quickly. I find it funny that his worst show since Wings is the one that makes it. Private Practice is awful.
I thought H50 was very entertaining and will continue to watch it.
I agree The Fugitive remake was great the same year CSI started to this day I will not watch CSI
I thought it was good and will tune in next week.