Overview
Hawaii Five-O (Hawaii 5-0) is an American television series that starred actor Jack Lord as a police detective who worked for a fictional Hawaii state police department. The Hawaii Five-O TV Series ran on the CBS television network for 12 seasons, from 1968 to 1980. The last season was repackaged into syndication and ran under the title McGarrett.
Currently, the program is broadcast in syndication worldwide and is available via on-demand streaming media through CBS Interactive. Leonard Freeman created the series Hawaii Five-O, which was shot on location in Honolulu, Hawaii, and throughout the island of Oahu, with occasional filming in other locations such as Los Angeles, Singapore, and Hong Kong, as well as other Hawaiian islands.
List of Hawaii Five-O TV Series Cast and Characters
Okay, here’s a revised version of the text about the Hawaii Five-O cast and characters, organized for improved clarity:
Hawaii Five-O (Original Series): Cast and Characters Overview
The classic television series Hawaii Five-O centered on a fictional state police task force operating in Hawaii. The unit’s name was a reference to Hawaii being the 50th U.S. state.
Leadership:
- Steve McGarrett: The head of the Five-O unit, a former U.S. Navy officer. He was appointed by the Governor.
- Played by: Jack Lord
- Governor Paul Jameson: The state governor who appointed McGarrett.
- Played by: Richard Denning
Core Five-O Team Members:
McGarrett relied on a core team of officers:
- Danny “Danno” Williams: McGarrett’s second-in-command.
- Played by: Tim O’Kelley (in the pilot episode only)
- Played by: James MacArthur (throughout the series run)
- Chin Ho Kelly: An experienced senior detective.
- Played by: Kam Fong
- Kono Kalakaua: An early member of the team.
- Played by: Zulu
Later Team Additions and Changes:
Over the series’ run, the team evolved:
- Ben Kokua: Joined the Five-O unit, replacing Kono.
- Played by: Al Harrington
- Duke Lukela: An officer from the Honolulu Police Department who later became a regular member of the Five-O team.
- Played by: Herman Wedemeyer
Note: The team occasionally received assistance from other officers on a case-by-case basis.
Recurring Support Staff:
The Five-O team regularly worked with several key support personnel:
- Doc Bergman: The medical examiner.
- Played by: Al Eben
- Che Fong: The forensic specialist.
- Played by: Harry Endo
- Secretaries: The unit had several secretaries over the years:
- May (Played by: Maggi Parker)
- Jenny (Played by: Peggy Ryan)
- Luana (Played by: Laura Sode-Matteson)
Signature Catchphrase:
Many episodes famously concluded with McGarrett delivering his signature line to Danny Williams, “Book ’em, Danno!”, sometimes followed by the specific criminal charge (e.g., “Murder One!”).
This revised structure uses headings and bullet points to clearly separate the different character groups (leadership, core team, later additions, support staff) and makes the actor information easy to find for each character. It also clarifies the actor change for Danny Williams.
Hawaii Five-O TV Series Season Episodes on DVD
The show lasted twelve seasons, all available on DVD and video from Amazon.com.
- Amazon Prime Video (Video on Demand)
- Jack Lord, James MacArthur, Zulu (Actors)
- Richard Benedict (Director) – Leonard Freeman (Writer) – Leonard Freeman (Producer)
Season 1
The first season had a total of 24 episodes.
- E1 – Cocoon
- E2 – Full Fathom Five
- E3 – Strangers in Our Own Land
- E4 – Tiger by the Tail
- E5 – Samurai
- E6 – “And They Painted Daisies on His Coffin”
- E7 – Twenty-Four Karat Kill
- E8 – The Ways of Love
- E9 – No Blue Skies
- E10 – By the Numbers
- E11 – Yesterday Died and Tomorrow Won’t Be Born
- E12 – Deathwatch
- E13 – Pray Love Remember, Pray Love Remember
- E14 – King of the Hill
- E15 – Up Tight
- E16 – Face the Dragon
- E17 – The Box
- E18 – One for the Money
- E19 – Along Came Joey
- E20 – Once Upon a Time: Part 1
- E21 – Once Upon a Time: Part 2
- E22 – Not That Much Different
- E23 – Six Kilos
- E24 – The Big Kahuna
The Complete First Season on DVD – Features all episodes from season 1 on a seven-disc set. Includes the two-hour pilot episode. Includes a bonus feature retrospective on the show.
Season 2
- The Second Season on DVD (1968) – Contains 24 episodes on a five-disc box set. Includes previous-week promos for each episode but no other bonus features.
- The Third Season on DVD (1968) – Includes 24 episodes from season 3 on a six-disc box set. Bonus features include the previous week’s promos for each episode.
- The Fourth Season – Features 24 digitally remastered episodes from season 4.
- The Fifth Season features 24 episodes
- The Sixth Season features 24 episodes
- The Seventh Season features 24 episodes
- Season 8 – 12
Hawaii Five-O TV Series Theme Song
The show’s theme song was an instrumental composed by Morton Stevens and was recorded by a group named The Ventures. It managed to reach number four on the Billboard Top 100. The song has been covered and re-recorded with lyrics by Don Ho and Sammy Davis Jr.
More Information
Please note that this page refers to the original series. For more detailed information, visit the show’s Wikipedia page.
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