Hawaii Five-O Reboot and Calendar Giveaway

On September 20, 1968, the original Hawaii Five-O broadcast on CBS.  Forty two years later, to the date, its "reboot" - a modern version of the iconic crime drama - also premiered on CBS.   I sat in my reclining chair for 60 minutes, mesmerized by the show's action, banter, scenery, and nostalgia.

To learn more about the new show, log onto http://www.cbs.com/primetime/hawaii_five_0/.

But here's the top five moments from the new show:

1.  The Dual Opening Sequence has Navy Lt. Steve McGarrett escorting a terrorist's brother in South Korea.  Meanwhile, the terrorist is holding Steve's father, John, hostage.   The terrorist locates the Navy caravan by pinpointing Lt. McGarrett's cell phone through GPS.  The bad guys sabotage the caravan and a Humvee literally somersaults.  

The reboot means action.  

2.  Jean Smart plays the Governor of Hawaii.  She meets Lt. McGarrett at the National Park Service's boat launch area to the USS Arizona.  She offers him a job in an elite state police unit to (paraphrase) "get the thugs like the one who killed your father off my island."    McGarrett calls the governor on her tactics, stating she knew his grandfather died in Pearl Harbor.

I enjoyed Jean in Designing Women, Frasier, and Samantha Who.  I look forward to her in Hawaii Five-O.  But the casting is a tip to our current Republican governor Linda Lingle.

3.  McGarrett meets his future partner, Detective Danny Williams, at a crime scene.  The tension is high and it reaches boiling point when they argue after a shootout.  But they find middle ground and create a Bromance that will entertain us throughout the season.

4.  The scenery is beautiful but I appreciated showing every angle of Hawaii, including the shanty towns outside the metropolitan area of Honolulu.   Hawaiians still live in shacks on the beach.    The plot also showcased how McGarrett and Williams would have to work harder to overcome the "haole" image.  As they accompany Chin to the North Shore, they are coerced into paying off a local informant by purchasing ice cream and t-shirts from his beach stand.  Just as they were leaving to give Chin some privacy with the informant, the informant asks McGarrett and Williams  to "do one more thing."   The camera then focuses on them leaning against Williams' car, eating ice cream, and wearing the over sized t-shirt.  The locals snicker at them, knowing that they are police who were snowed by the informant. 

But the haoles take it in stride.

5.  In the closing scene, the new squad of four - Steve, Danno, Chin, and Kono - discuss possible name of the squad.  Chin offers a parable in Hawaiian (something about teamwork) but the team decide to wait to name it later.

The possibilities are endless.

But don't take my word for it, log onto to this review:

http://www.hollywoodchicago.com/news/11829/tv-review-new-version-of-hawaii-five-0-books-a-fine-reworking

The local news on the CBS affiliate broadcast interviews with the cast currently filming Episode 6 on the USS Missouri.   Mighty Mo is docked off Ford Island where my husband works.  Hmmm, I may have to "visit" his office tomorrow! 

In honor of the Hawaii Five-O premiere, I'll mail a 2011 Hawaii calendar to any reader who sends their mailing address to sos.america@yahoo.com.

Tomorrow night is the premiere of NCIS and NCIS:Los Angeles - two more network shows I enjoy.  I will share a secret - the NCIS office on Pearl Harbor is located in old building with a small sign off the side road - not as glamorous as NCIS in Navy Yard or Los Angeles!

Join us tomorrow for a NCIS discussion plus other Hollywood sightings on Hawaii!

Mahalo,

Kim in Hawaii