50 Fun Facts About Hawaii Five-O

What does the Five-O in Hawaii Five-O refer to, a distinction the islands had held for only nine years?

Being the 50th state gave the islands' police drama its name, because statehood had come only in 1959. The Five-O unit itself is an invention of the series.

Which Hawaii Five-O detective's nickname ends Steve McGarrett's famous command to book the arrested suspects?

Danno is McGarrett's deputy, and the command became the show's catchphrase after its first use in the first-season episode Twenty-Four Karat Kill. Many episodes end with it.

Which star of the rodeo drama Stoney Burke played Steve McGarrett in all twelve seasons of Hawaii Five-O?

Jack Lord was cast at the last moment, reading for the part on a Wednesday and standing before the cameras the following Monday. He later became the show's executive producer.

Wo Fat, the master spy who is Steve McGarrett's nemesis in Hawaii Five-O, is a rogue agent of which country?

China is the homeland Wo Fat serves, though the series paints him as a rogue officer. He first appears in the 1968 pilot and was still scheming in the twelfth season.

Hawaii Five-O was America's longest-running police procedural until which series took the record in 2002?

Law & Order finally outlasted it. Hawaii Five-O had been the first American police procedural to enjoy an uninterrupted run of more than a decade.

Which detective series was created after Hawaii Five-O ended, to keep its expensive Hawaiian studios in use?

Magnum, P.I. inherited the studios, and its early episodes refer to Five-O as if both shared one world. Its producers tried to coax the retired McGarrett star into a cameo, but he refused.

The future star of Hawaii Five-O was reportedly offered which Star Trek role, but asked for half ownership of the show?

Captain Kirk went to William Shatner instead, by Shatner's own account, after Gene Roddenberry refused the demand. The actor had been approached to replace Jeffrey Hunter.

Which actress, known as the First Lady of American Theatre, guest-starred in Hawaii Five-O opposite her own son?

Helen Hayes played the aunt of her adopted son's character in the 1975 episode Retire in Sunny Hawaii... Forever. Her performance earned the last Emmy nomination the series received.

In which animated film does a royal trumpeter launch into the Hawaii Five-O theme and get smacked for it?

Shrek 2 gives the gag to a fanfare trumpeter named Reggie, who plays the opening section of the tune. The scene later became an internet meme.

Steve McGarrett of Hawaii Five-O is known for wearing what on almost every occasion, an unusual sight in the islands?

Dark suit and tie was McGarrett's uniform, setting him apart from colleagues who often wore aloha shirts. Along with his tousled yet immaculate hair, the look quickly entered popular culture.

Which Disney star of Swiss Family Robinson played Steve McGarrett's deputy for eleven seasons of Hawaii Five-O?

James MacArthur left before the twelfth and final season, later admitting he had grown tired of the role. He had quit Harvard years earlier to make Disney adventures such as Kidnapped.

Which composer, who also scored episodes of Gunsmoke and Police Woman, wrote the Hawaii Five-O theme?

Morton Stevens also scored many episodes himself and has a cameo as a victim in the third-season episode Trouble in Mind. He had headed the network's West Coast scoring operation since 1965.

Which instrumental rock band took a cover of the Hawaii Five-O theme to number four on the Billboard Hot 100?

The Ventures spent 14 weeks on the Hot 100 with it in 1969, although session players from the Wrecking Crew also worked on the recording. It became one of the band's biggest hits.

Which Honolulu landmark is shown as the Five-O unit's headquarters in the original Hawaii Five-O?

Iolani Palace, once home to Hawaii's monarchs, was still the working state capitol when the series began. Exterior shots suggested the unit's offices were inside.

Steve McGarrett turns to the camera on the penthouse balcony of which Waikiki hotel in the Hawaii Five-O titles?

The Ilikai was developed by Chinn Ho, whose name the show borrowed for detective Chin Ho Kelly. The 2010 reboot restaged the same balcony shot with its new leading man.

The opening titles of Hawaii Five-O cut to which image as the theme begins, before zooming in on a hotel balcony?

A big ocean wave launches the sequence, which director Reza Badiyi built from quick cuts and frozen stills. TV Guide readers ranked it fourth among television's best title sequences in 2010.

Most of Hawaii Five-O was filmed on which island, where the production was based at Fort Ruger and later Diamond Head?

Oahu hosted nearly all the filming, and only a few episodes ventured as far as Los Angeles or Hong Kong. Heavy location shooting set the show apart from the studio-bound crime dramas of its day.

Which Australian actor inherited the role of Steve McGarrett when CBS revived Hawaii Five-O in 2010?

Alex O'Loughlin played McGarrett for all ten seasons of the reboot, which swapped the title's letter O for a zero. A 2016 episode even paired him with a computer-generated image of his predecessor.

Which producer, who also produced the Clint Eastwood western Hang 'Em High, created Hawaii Five-O?

Leonard Freeman died of heart trouble during the sixth season, and the show ran six more years without him. He had moved to the islands to recuperate after a heart attack.

Which actor, the brainwasher Dr. Yen Lo in The Manchurian Candidate, played the arch-villain Wo Fat in Hawaii Five-O?

Khigh Dhiegh played Wo Fat from the 1968 pilot to the final episode in 1980. Born Kenneth Dickerson in New Jersey, he was also a Taoist scholar who founded a sanctuary in Hollywood.

The creator of Hawaii Five-O borrowed the name of arch-villain Wo Fat from what kind of business in downtown Honolulu?

A restaurant in downtown Honolulu supplied the name. The local actor who ended up as Chin Ho Kelly had first auditioned for the villain's part.

What finally becomes of the master spy Wo Fat in Woe to Wo Fat, the last episode of Hawaii Five-O?

He is sent to jail at last, after McGarrett poses as a scientist and lets himself be kidnapped to reach him. The 1980 finale closed a feud that had begun in the pilot.

Which former Honolulu police officer auditioned to play the villain of Hawaii Five-O but was cast as Chin Ho Kelly?

Kam Fong had served with the Honolulu police before turning to acting, and CBS asked him to shorten his name from Kam Fong Chun. His son Dennis later played Duke Lukela in the 2010 reboot.

How does Chin Ho Kelly leave Hawaii Five-O at the end of season ten, an exit the actor himself requested?

Murdered while undercover, Chin Ho dies exposing a protection ring, a fate no departing regular before him had met. An unaired 1997 revival pilot still brought him back.

Which burly Hawaii Five-O detective, played by the entertainer Zulu, was replaced by Ben Kokua in season five?

Kono Kalakaua vanished after four seasons when Zulu was fired following disagreements with the show's publicist. The 2010 reboot reinvented the character as a woman, played by Grace Park.

Which Samoan-born entertainer and former Stanford football player joined Hawaii Five-O as detective Ben Kokua?

Al Harrington had already appeared in five episodes as other characters before joining the team. He came back in the 2010 reboot as Mamo Kahike.

Which College Football Hall of Famer, fourth in the 1945 Heisman vote, played Duke Lukela in Hawaii Five-O?

Herman Wedemeyer was the first consensus All-American from the islands and sat in the state legislature while appearing on the show. Duke began as a uniformed sergeant before joining Five-O.

Which Creature from the Black Lagoon star left retirement on Maui to play the governor in Hawaii Five-O?

Richard Denning agreed only after the show's creator guaranteed him five-hour days and a four-day week. He then played Governor Paul Jameson for all twelve seasons.

Tim O'Kelly played McGarrett's deputy in the Hawaii Five-O pilot, but a test audience judged him what?

Too young was the verdict, so the part was recast before the series began. O'Kelly is best remembered as the sniper in Peter Bogdanovich's thriller Targets.

Which Have Gun – Will Travel star was offered the part of Steve McGarrett in Hawaii Five-O but turned it down?

Richard Boone was a friend of the show's creator, and one account credits him with urging that the series be shot entirely in the islands. Gregory Peck was also considered for the role.

Before Hawaii Five-O, the actor behind Steve McGarrett became the first film incarnation of which 007 ally, in Dr. No?

Felix Leiter was recast for Goldfinger after the actor demanded co-star billing, a bigger role and more money. The CIA man was then played by a different actor in film after film.

A master burglar played by Hume Cronyn taunts Steve McGarrett in Hawaii Five-O with cards from which board game?

Monopoly cards were planted at each theft by Lewis Avery Filer, an insurance investigator fired for turning fifty. Parker Brothers gave permission, and Filer returned for a sequel a season later.

In V for Vashon, a three-part Hawaii Five-O story, how does a crime family's patriarch strike back at Steve McGarrett?

Frames him for murder is the scheme: Dominic Vashon pins the death of a freed drug pusher on McGarrett after losing his grandson and seeing his son imprisoned. A sequel followed in season eight.

Which episode title belongs to the 1968 pilot of Hawaii Five-O, in which Steve McGarrett first meets Wo Fat?

Cocoon was written by the show's creator and had different actors as McGarrett's deputy and as the governor. Both parts were recast before the weekly series began.

Which season six opener of Hawaii Five-O did the 2010 reboot remake, title intact, with Peter Weller as the villain?

Hookman cast real-life private investigator Jay J. Armes, who had lost both hands in a childhood accident, as a killer avenging his injuries. The 2013 remake restaged the same scenes.

Why has the season two Hawaii Five-O episode Bored, She Hung Herself been left out of reruns and every DVD set?

A fatal imitation is the reported reason: a viewer was said to have died trying the yoga technique shown in the episode. The family sued CBS, and the episode has never been repeated.

From the second season on, the closing credits of Hawaii Five-O roll over film of people doing what?

Paddling outrigger canoes through the surf replaced the first season's closing shot, a flashing blue light on a police motorcycle. The canoeists stayed until the series ended.

Original broadcasts of Hawaii Five-O ended with its star narrating what, a segment later cut from reruns?

A preview of next week was his personal sign-off, often talking up the guest villain. The promos were removed for syndication, though most have been restored on DVD.

The first season of Hawaii Five-O was filmed in what kind of building, a leaky place the cast nicknamed Mongoose Manor?

A military Quonset hut in Pearl City served as the first studio, where the roof leaked and rats gnawed at the cables. Production then moved to Fort Ruger.

Rare overseas location shoots for Hawaii Five-O took Steve McGarrett to Hong Kong and which other Asian city?

Singapore was one of only a handful of places beyond the islands where the series filmed, along with Hong Kong and Los Angeles. McGarrett travelled there in the course of an investigation.

Steve McGarrett drives a succession of big black cars in Hawaii Five-O, all from which American make?

Mercury built every one of them, because the star insisted his character drive Ford products. His last car, a 1974 Marquis, reappeared decades later as a prop in the 2010 reboot.

Besides leading Five-O, Steve McGarrett of Hawaii Five-O holds the rank of commander in which part-time force?

Naval Reserve duty lets McGarrett call on the service's resources to help solve crimes. Off screen, the Navy and the Coast Guard lent the production locations, and some closing credits thank them.

Which element of Hawaii Five-O won the series its Emmy Awards, in 1970 and again in 1974?

Its music took both awards, each for the score of a single episode. Cinematography, editing and directing were all nominated over the years without winning.

Which Rat Pack entertainer recorded a vocal version of the Hawaii Five-O theme under the title You Can Count on Me?

Sammy Davis Jr. had a personal link to the tune, since its composer had worked for years as his arranger and conductor. Don Ho also recorded a sung version, as a ballad.

In which Australian comedy film does a town band mistake the Hawaii Five-O theme for the American national anthem?

The Dish stages the blunder during the American ambassador's visit to Parkes, the New South Wales town whose radio telescope relayed television pictures of the Moon walk.

Which future Naked Gun actor appeared in the 1968 pilot of Hawaii Five-O and returned later as a cattle baron?

Leslie Nielsen shared the pilot's guest list with Nancy Kwan and Andrew Duggan. He came back in the seventh season as a rancher bent on revenge over a son's death.

Which future CHiPs star played a gang member wooing Chin Ho Kelly's daughter in season five of Hawaii Five-O?

Erik Estrada played the suitor in Engaged to Be Buried, while Five-O investigated his character for extortion. Chin Ho was a family man: an earlier episode gave him a wife and eight children.

Which Sex and the City actor played con man Gerard Hirsch in the 2010 reboot of Hawaii Five-O?

Willie Garson, Stanford Blatch to Sex and the City fans, made Hirsch a forger first arrested for stealing a Van Gogh. He returned to the reboot again and again after his 2015 debut.

In Hawaii Five-O, which family tragedy is said to have driven Steve McGarrett to become a policeman?

His father's killing came at the hands of a man fleeing a supermarket holdup, who ran him down at the age of 42. McGarrett reveals it while confronting a criminal late in the series.

A genuine example of which ultra-rare American coin appeared in a Hawaii Five-O episode about a plot to steal it?

Liberty Head nickel dated 1913, one of only five known, played itself in the episode The $100,000 Nickel. The same coin, the Olsen specimen, once belonged to King Farouk of Egypt.