The building shown as headquarters for the fictional Hawaii Five-O state police group is the same in both the old series and the new one that premiered Monday. Although it did once house Hawaii state offices, ‘Iolani Palace has not served as the set for Steve McGarrett’s office interior in either version of the series.
The distinctive exterior of ‘Iolani Palace is easy to pick out, both on television and in downtown Honolulu. The first palace was built by King Kalakaua; he and Queen Kapi‘olani moved into the royal residence in December of 1882. First called Hale Ali‘i (House of the Chief), the name was later changed to ‘Iolani Palace. That palace was demolished in 1874 but the name was kept for the new building, which was outfitted with indoor plumbing and a telephone. Its gas chandeliers were replaced by electric lighting not long after Edison invented the light bulb – five years before the White House.
Some parts of the interior were shown in the original Five-O series, but McGarrett’s office suite was a television set in a Honolulu studio. At the time the first series began (September 20, 1968), ‘Iolani Palace was still being used for state offices. But it had fallen into disrepair after years of neglect. Government offices were moved into a new capitol building in 1969 and restoration of the Palace began. By the ninth season of the show, they were not able to shoot either the interior or exterior of the Palace due to the extensive renovations. Five-O moved offices to the Territorial Building, which also served as the actual television studio for the production.
As with the original, the new Five-O shows the exterior of the Palace. The interior office shots are from the old Honolulu Advertiser building. The newspaper was sold and the building emptied not long before Hawaii Five-O began shooting on the island this summer. It is a beautiful building and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The property includes the news building, a warehouse and parking lot. Hawaii Five-O is using them for both a sound stage and office space.
Since 2006 Bruce Fisher has been publishing the Hawaii Vacation Blog and the Hawaii Vacation Connection Podcast which create daily content about Hawaii Travel and Tourism. This Blog is the only online resource providing Hawaii-based information aimed at travelers seven days per week. postings reflect the Hawaiian Islands, their culture and their lifestyle as accurately and thoroughly as possible.
Ten thousand fans packed a section of Waikiki Beach to get a sneak preview of the new Hawaii Five-O. The televised premiere is on September 20, the same date as the original series. That connection is just one of many between the original and it's "reimagined" successor.
Before the showing began on the giant screen used for Sunset on the Beach, the show and its producers were welcomed to Hawai‘i by the governor of Hawai‘i and the mayor of the City and County of Honolulu. Both presented proclamations honoring Hawaii Five-O. Any television series shot in Hawai‘i provides an economic boost to the state. However, in many productions Hawai‘i stands in for a different tropical location. In this series, the state gets to play itself; producers call it one of the stars of the series.
But the connection is even more personal than that. Peter Lenkov, one of three executive producers, said his father has a huge fan of the original series, and then he introduced his father, who was in the audience on the beach. The three daughters of the original show creator, Leonard Freeman, recalled their first visit to Hawai‘i with their father as he scouted locations in the islands. They read part of a letter from their mother to the new series producers, passing on the legacy and wishing them as much success as the first series enjoyed. Several people who performed in the original series were recognized in the audience as well.
Al Harrington played Detective Ben Kokua in the original series. He told the new cast, crew and producers that the key to being successful in Hawai‘i is to treat everyone with respect and love, which drew applause from the crowd. He first made the comment in Hawaiian before repeating it in English. Harrington also read a letter from James MacArthur, "Dan-o" in the original series. He got a catch in his throat when the letter mentioned Hawaii actor Zulu, who played Detective Kono Kalakua. Zulu died in 2004 in Hilo, on the island of Hawai‘i. In the new series, the part of Kono is played by Grace Park.
Organizers say tonight's audience was the largest ever for Sunset on the Beach, topping the LOST finale. Producers hope their version of the series is able to do the same with television audiences, many of whom still have fond memories of the original.
Since 2006 Bruce Fisher has been publishing the Hawaii Vacation Blog and the Hawaii Vacation Connection Podcast which create daily content about Hawaii Travel and Tourism. This Blog is the only online resource providing Hawaii-based information aimed at travelers seven days per week. postings reflect the Hawaiian Islands, their culture and their lifestyle as accurately and thoroughly as possible.
The islands of Hawaii will figure prominently in the new Hawaii Five-O television series. Producers refer to Hawaii as the "fifth character of the show."
"Our president is from Hawaii. We have a perfect storm of Hawaii being relevant and an important hub internationally," say executive producers Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci. They describe Hawaii as a gateway into the United States and from the US out to the world. This allows them to tell not just American stories, but ones with an international flavor as well. "Hawaii is an international destination and the stories will reflect that position in the world rather than the neighborhood murder."
Kurtzman and Orci produced Fringe and the recent Star Trek movie. The Hawaii Five-O creative team also includes Peter Lenkov, whose credits include 24 and CSI:NY. Lenkov says the original Hawaii Five-O was his dad’s favorite television program. "It is important to honor the original show," he says. "One of the pitfalls in a remake is not respecting or being passionate about the original material. We are all very passionate about the original show and understand what made it work."
The producers spoke this week at Comic-Con in San Diego, along with the director of the pilot, Len Wiseman (Underworld and Live Free or Die Hard). Wiseman and Lenkov were asked what it was like working in Hawaii. They responded, "People in Hawaii opened arms and doors to us, because of the brand. Nobody said no to us, we were able to do whatever we wanted to do." Lenkov said he did some ride-alongs with the police department and spent a lot of time talking with them to get a sense of the types of crime that are unique to this area of the world.
Hawaii Five-O won the award for Most Anticipated New Show at Comic-Con. Fans had a chance to win one of three surf boards signed by the cast, limited run t-shirts, collector edition posters, ringtone cards with the show’s theme song and a "vacation getaway to the filming location of H50 on the tropical and vibrant island of Oahu" — the show’s fifth star.
Since 2006 Bruce Fisher has been publishing the Hawaii Vacation Blog and the Hawaii Vacation Connection Podcast which create daily content about Hawaii Travel and Tourism. This Blog is the only online resource providing Hawaii-based information aimed at travelers seven days per week. postings reflect the Hawaiian Islands, their culture and their lifestyle as accurately and thoroughly as possible.
The producers, cast and crew of Hawaii Five-0 gathered for a Hawaiian blessing this morning before beginning work on the new version of the television series in Hawaii ("hana ho" means "to do again"). The lawn of the Hilton Hawaiian Village was filled with crew members, reporters, photographers and a few tourists who slipped in to snap photos of the event.
Before the blessing, Honolulu Police Chief Louis Kealoha and other officers welcomed the production to the islands. I asked Chief Kealoha if he would be making any guest appearances in the series; his “No!” was both swift and emphatic. He smiled, saying the series is most welcome to Hawaii but he’s not planning to join the actors on camera.
The series stars Alex O’Loughlin as Steve McGarrett and Scott Caan as Danny Williams. Daniel Dae Kim keeps his Hawaii location, moving from “Lost” to “Five-0” as Chin Ho Kelly. One character has a sex change in this “re-imagining” of the classic series, which aired originally from 1968 – 1980 on CBS. The character of Kono Kalakaua was originally played by Hawaiian actor Zulu (Gilbert Kauhi), who was born on Hilo and died there in 2004. In the new series, the part of Kono is played by Grace Park, seen recently on Battlestar Galactica.
The series stars were relaxed, attentive during the blessing, and joined in a group hug immediately after. Then they faced a line-up of television cameras for brief interviews before beginning the day’s shooting. At the conclusion of the ceremony, someone shouted that the crew had five minutes to get in place. As I walked back through the Hawaii hotel property, trucks full of props and crew were maneuvering in front of the registration area and cameras were setting up their shots. As always, the beautiful weather and scenery of Hawaii were ready for their starring roles.
Since 2006 Bruce Fisher has been publishing the Hawaii Vacation Blog and the Hawaii Vacation Connection Podcast which create daily content about Hawaii Travel and Tourism. This Blog is the only online resource providing Hawaii-based information aimed at travelers seven days per week. postings reflect the Hawaiian Islands, their culture and their lifestyle as accurately and thoroughly as possible.
You can find a bust of Jack Lord who was best known for playing Steve McGarrett in the famous TV series Hawaii Five-O at the Kahala Mall in the residential neighborhood of Kahala on the Island of Oahu. Jack loved this part of town, owned a home here and many scenes were filmed in this area.
Since 2006 Bruce Fisher has been publishing the Hawaii Vacation Blog and the Hawaii Vacation Connection Podcast which create daily content about Hawaii Travel and Tourism. This Blog is the only online resource providing Hawaii-based information aimed at travelers seven days per week. postings reflect the Hawaiian Islands, their culture and their lifestyle as accurately and thoroughly as possible.
Hawaii today is a hotbed for film production. Producers have discovered the islands’ amazing beauty, and they’ve come to realize that the metropolitan areas – especially Honolulu – serve well for street scenes and interiors.
It wasn’t always that way. Back in the late 1950s and early 60s, a detective show was running on CBS that became extremely popular. “Surfside Six” was set in Miami Beach and featured good-looking private detectives surrounded by pretty girls and crimes that baffled or were under the radar of the police.
When “Surfside Six” had run its course, CBS management wanted to continue the concept of pretty people solving crimes in a tropical location. “Hawaiian Eye” was born to replace “Surfside.” Although it was set in Hawaii, it was shot in Hollywood, with only some background scenes reflecting the islands.
By 1968, “Eye,” too, had run its course, but the CBS bigwigs were determined to follow the pretty people-pretty-place formula. “Hawaii 5-0” filled the bill and the network took a giant step. This time, with Hawaii again the setting, principle filming was actually done in Hawaii, with most post-production still being done in Hollywood. Supporting facilities were built, equipped and staffed. We locals loved it. We delighted in recognizing locations and other locals who had landed parts in most episodes. We especially enjoyed ridiculing the continuity. A car would take a left in Downtown Honolulu then suddenly be driving along a small street on Oahu’s North Shore.
“5-0” starred Jack Lord as lead detective for a fictional Hawaii state police department. (Hawaii has no state police. The counties provide their own police forces.) The show ran for 12 seasons, from 1968 to 1980. It remains one of the most-watched shows in television history. In fact it still runs in syndication.
In 1980, “Magnum P.I.” appeared, still following the same formula and again set in Hawaii, with Tom Sellick emerging as a sexy star portraying a private eye who lives in a cottage on a large estate. One of the reasons for this series being set in Hawaii was that CBS did not want to close its Hawaii production offices when “5-O” ceased production.
CBS had produced the program from 1980 through 1988, and it’s broadcast in syndication throughout the world and on-demand streaming media via CBS.
Currently running (on ABC) is the popular “Lost,” which is filmed in Hawaii but not set here.
So Hawaii is on the producers’ maps. They recognize that the islands are full of camera-friendly locations and that now there’s a small army of well-trained and experienced film production people to hire. Movies, too, now are filmed in the islands regularly. When you’re on vacation here, you probably will recognize the places where memorable scenes from both popular films and TV series were shot.
Since 2006 Bruce Fisher has been publishing the Hawaii Vacation Blog and the Hawaii Vacation Connection Podcast which create daily content about Hawaii Travel and Tourism. This Blog is the only online resource providing Hawaii-based information aimed at travelers seven days per week. postings reflect the Hawaiian Islands, their culture and their lifestyle as accurately and thoroughly as possible.
Published by Bruce Fisher
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