By Karen Rhodes (blurb@aol.com)
When was Hawaii Five-O on (its prime-time run)?
September 26, 1968 - April 5, 1980
When did the Hawaii Five-O movie premiere on TV?
A week before the series, on September 20, 1968
It should be noted that either of these dates, as well as any of the
air dates of any other of the episodes during the 12-year run of the show,
may vary from these "official" dates (the CBS network airdates) in any
particular local market because of pre-emption or other schedule shifting
on
a local level. Episode guides do not take these local shifts into
account;
that would be impossible to track down and too space-consuming to include.
Who created Hawaii Five-O?
Leonard Freeman
Is Leonard Freeman still alive?
No, he died January 20, 1974, from complications of
heart surgery.
Who composed the main title theme?
Morton Stevens
Is Jack Lord still alive?
Yes. He still lives in Honolulu.
Where is Kam Fong?
As late as 1988-1989 he was heard on his own radio show
on a Hawaiian-music station in Honolulu. He also ran a
rather tongue-in-cheek gubernatorial campaign at that
time, using the campaign slogan "Give a damn - Vote for Kam!"
What is Zulu's real name?
Gilbert Kauhi
How tall is Jack Lord?
There is a rumor going around that he is really quite short.
That is nothing but a rumor. He is 6 feet, 2 inches tall.
Who played Che Fong?
Che Fong was played by three different actors. In "...And
They Painted Daisies on His Coffin" (#5), the Chinese
forensic scientist is played by an uncredited actor. In
"A Bullet for McGarrett" (#29), the part is played by
Daniel Kamekona. The role was finally taken over in "Blind
Tiger" (#38) by Harry Endo.
What was the license number of McGarrett's car?
F6-3958. McGarrett was the only member of the team to have
the same license number through the entire run.
Is Khigh Dhiegh (Wo Fat) still alive?
No. Khigh Dhiegh died of liver and heart failure in November
of 1991 at the age of 81.
How do you pronounce that name, anyhow?
Sounds like "kie dee"; rhymes with "Why me?"
What is Jack Lord's real name?
John Joseph Patrick Ryan.
When was he born?
December 30, 1922 (according to records in the Library
of Congress). Other sources say 1920.
What is James MacArthur's real name?
James Gordon MacArthur.
When was he born?
December 8, 1938.
Wasn't his mother a famous actress?
Yup. Helen Hayes, called "The First Lady of the American
Theater." She had an outstanding and long career on stage,
in movies, and on television. She died March 17, 1993, of
congestive heart failure. James MacArthur's father was also
famous, the playwright Charles MacArthur. (These were,
however, his ADOPTIVE parents. Nothing is known about his
biological parents, since he was adopted as an infant.)
Is there a real "Hawaii Five-O" -- a state police agency?
No. Guidebooks have to keep telling tourists that Hawaii
does not and never did have a state police.
Why was it called Five-O, anyway?
Very simple. Hawaii is the fiftieth state in the union. (The
original title was
"The Man," but Leonard Freeman changed his mind.)
Was the team's office filmed in the REAL Iolani Palace?
No. That was a standing set at the studio. The way Iolani
Palace is laid out, the office suite as we see it would not
have fit in the building! There was a lot of exterior and
interior photography done at the palace--remember that
beautiful koa-wood staircase McGarrett took two at a time!
Where was Hawaii Five-O's studio?
They began in an old and un-airconditioned Navy warehouse
at Pearl City. That place was so rickety and infested with
mongooses -- er, mongeese -- er, more than one mongoose,
that they named it "Mongoose Manor". Next they moved to
a studio facility at Fort Ruger on the eastern side of Diamond
Head. The local neighborhood association balked, however,
charging that the studio in their midst would lower property
values and be a noise and traffic nuisance. In 1976 the Five-O
company moved piecemeal to a new studio site on Diamond Head Road.
Why did the Five-O team move their offices in the ninth
season?
The move, shown taking place in the season opener, "Nine
Dragons", was necessary because they could not do any
exterior or interior filming at the palace because it
was undergoing extensive renovations. So the fictional
Five-O team "moved" to the old Territorial Building.
Five-O moved for real, too, because their lease on the
Fort Ruger studio was up. The office shots in the
Territorial Building are not of a standing set -- that
is the REAL space in the Territorial Building, which
became the temporary studio for the production.
Where is Al (Ben Kokua) Harrington?
He has retired and is living in Utah, teaching and
counseling students at a university. He has come out
of retirement lately to make a couple movies. There was
a report in mid-1996 that he was going to star in
a production of Shakespeare's Othello in Hawaii.
Did Hawaii Five-O ever win any Emmy awards?
Yes. One. Morton Stevens won one for the music to
the episode "Hookman".
What was the governor's name?
There is some misinformation in some references on TV shows.
There are at least two such references which have the gov's
name listed as Philip Grey. However, that was a DIFFERENT
character played by Richard (the governor) Denning in the
episode "24 Karat Kill" in the first season -- a U.S.
TREASURY AGENT named Philip Grey. The governor's name shows
up first in "The 90-Second War". It isn't mentioned, it's
seen. There is a scene where Jonathan Kaye has McGarrett,
Army & Navy brass, and the governor in the secret Diamond
Head bunker. Each man has a nameplate. The governor's
clearly reads: Paul Jameson. That name is also used in "A
Capitol Crime" when Barnard Hughes's character demands to
speak to "Governor Paul Jameson."
I've seen what look like Five-O episodes run under the
title McGarrett. What gives?
CBS had a late-night 'series' to compete against the talk
shows (Johnny Carson in particular), which consisted of
reruns of their best shows such as Five-O, Magnum, P.I.
and others. They even bought an additional fourth season
of the cancelled ABC series T. J. Hooker for this gig. They
selected episodes from the twelfth season of Five-O to run
in this slot, and changed the title to McGarrett. As to WHY
they changed the name, who knows what evil lurks in the mind
of TV network execs!
Speaking of the twelfth season, what happened to Dan Williams?
The story is that CBS dragged its feet about renewing for a
12th season, and James MacArthur figured they weren't going
to. He rounded up other work. By the time CBS made its
decision to continue, MacArthur was unavailable. As far as
the character of Dan Williams goes, there never was any
"story reason" given for his having left.
Who played Danny Williams in the movie? The movie cast was
different -- who were they?
Actually, the only change in the Five-O team itself from the
movie to the series (at the beginning, at any rate) was the
Dan Williams character. The movie starred Jack Lord, with
Zulu as Kono (who seemed, in the movie, to be the second-in
-command) and Kam Fong as Chin Ho Kelly. Dan Williams was
played in the movie by Tim O'Kelley. Apparently the test
audience in New York didn't think he did such a good job, and
Leonard Freeman went looking for a new Dan Williams, and
settled on James MacArthur. Aren't we glad? (Secondary
character changes: Movie: Governor--Lew Ayres; Attorney
General--Philip Ahn. Series: Governor--Richard Denning;
Attorney General--Morgan White, who was dropped eventually
in favor of District Attorney (later Attorney General) John
Manicote, played by Glenn Cannon.)
There have been theatrical movies made from other old TV
shows, why not Hawaii Five-O?
A few years ago, producer Steve Tisch (who produced the
multi-award winning Forrest Gump) began developing a Five-O
movie. He hired writers, including Jack Epps, Jr., who had
co-written the Five-O episode "The Capsule Kidnapping". He
must have been dissatisfied and had high expectations, for
he changed writers or writing teams a couple times. He was
working with Hollywood Pictures, a division of Disney
Studios, on this project. In 1994, Disney Studios got a new
head man, whose first decree was that some projects would
get the ax. Hawaii Five-O was one of those which fell. That
looked like the end until producer George Litto, who worked
with Leonard Freeman as a packager for several series
including Five-O, picked up the torch. Plans currently
are going ahead right now for a Five-O movie, and as may be
expected, there is speculation all over the place about a cast.
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