Hawaii Five-O is a United States television series produced and aired by the CBS television network from September 1968 to April 1980. It is currently aired in syndication throughout the world and dubbed in every major language. Created by Leonard Freeman, Hawaii Five-O was shot on location in Honolulu, Hawaii and throughout the island of Oahu — with rare occassional filming in Los Angeles, California.

Hawaii Five-O centers around a fictional state police force of the same name — in honor of Hawaii's status as the Fiftieth State — led by former United States Navy Officer Steve McGarrett, appointed by Hawaii Governor Paul Jameson. McGarrett was assisted by Danny Williams and a cadre of elite detectives — most notably Chin Ho Kelly and Honolulu Police Department Officer Duke Lukela. The police unit is entirely fictional and ironically, Hawaii is the only state without any statewide police force at all.

For twelve seasons, McGarrett and his team hounded criminals and mob syndicates plaguing the Hawaiian Islands. With the aide of District Attorney and later Hawaii Attorney General John Manicote, McGarrett was successful in sending most of his enemies to prison. One such mob syndicate was led by crime family patriarch Honore Vachon, a character introduced in the fifth season. Blaming McGarrett for the death of his son, Vachon swore vengeance using all the resources available to him. Most episodes of Hawaii Five-O ended with the arrest of criminals with McGarrett's catch phrase to Williams, "Book 'em, Danno!"

In many episodes, McGarrett was drawn into the world of international espionage and national intelligence. McGarrett's archnemesis on Hawaii Five-O was an intelligence officer of the People's Republic of China, Wo Fat. The Communist rogue agent was played by North African Kenneth Dickerson, whose stage name was Khigh Dhiegh. Dhiegh was famous for his role as a Chinese spy in the 1962 John Frankenheimer movie The Manchurian Candidate.

Legacy

The show became the longest running police drama until Law & Order broke the record almost twenty years after Hawaii Five-O ceased production. The popularity of the Hawaii Five-O format spawned various police dramas on all the major television networks since its debut. Another legacy is the popularity of the Hawaii Five-O theme song performed by The Ventures, a surf music band. Also, the term "Five-O" was adopted by American gang culture as a street slang term for the police.

For many years after the show finished its run, GTE Hawaiian Tel included a warning to tourists in its phone books that in an emergency, they should dial 911 and not Hawaii Five-O.

Cast

• Attorney General John Manicote played by Glenn Cannon
• Ben Kokua played by Al Harrington
• Che Fong played by Harry Endo
• Chin Ho Kelly played by Kam Fong
• Danny Williams played by James MacArthur
• Doc Bergman played by Al Eben
• Duke Lukela played by Herman Wedemeyer
• Governor Paul Jameson played by Richard Denning
• Kono Kalakaua played by Zulu
• Steve McGarrett played by Jack Lord
• Wo Fat played by Khigh Dheigh

External links

• Hawaii Five-O Home Page at mjq.net