The History of Hawaii Five-O

Though based in the Iolani Palace in downtown Honolulu, the men
of H 5-O were not members of the Honolulu Police Dept.  They worked
instead as part of the Hawaiian State Police and were accountable 
directly to the governor.  Serious, dedicated Steve McGarrett was
the head of 5-O, and worked with his own men and the local police
in solving various individual crimes and fighting the organized 
forces of the Hawaiian underworld.

Most hated of all the evil men in the islands was Red Chinese agent 
Wo Fat.  He would pop up periodically to make life difficult for
McGarrett, who was bound and determined to put him in jail.  Though
Steve did manage to interfere with Wo Fat's spy operations,
their confrontations always ended up in a draw, with Wo Fat 
narrowly escaping capture each time.

H 5-O was filmed entirely on location and it may well have been 
the beautiful scenery as well as the action and adventure that
made it so popular.  Whatever the causes, H 5-O was immensely 
successful.  It was the longest continuously running police show 
in the history of television.  Surprisingly, there was practically
no turnover among the leads.  Steve did go through two secretaries, 
with May being replaced by Jenny after the first season, and Kono
left after four seasons, but for most of the cast the working 
conditions in Hawaii were too pleasant to give up. 

After ten seasons, Kam Fong tired of the role of Chin Ho Kelly
and was written out of the show by having his character killed
in the final episode of the 77-78 season.  James MacArthur ("Danny")
was not with the show for its final season, as he rounded up other
work while CBS dragged its feet about renewing his contract.

The Iolani Palace which in this series was the seat of Hawaiian
government, had at one time housed the Hawaiian Legislature.  
That time was long gone, however, as it had been a museum for
many years prior to the start of H 5-O.  

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