'Hawaii Five-0' puts some twists on original
By Mike Gordon
Advertiser Staff Writer
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The new "Hawaii Five-0" is both slick and scruffy, at least in the glimpse provided by the official CBS trailer released online this week.
In "Hawaii Five-0 Behind the Scenes," fans of the original series, which ran from 1968 to 1980, can get their first look at the version CBS plans to air next season on Monday nights.
Detective Steve McGarrett has a hip new image: Body armor, an open collar and a 5 o'clock shadow. His sidekick, Danno Williams, is similarly disheveled and sets himself apart from your father's "Five-0" by actually punching his boss during the pilot.
The new Chin Ho Kelly is not that much different, a little trimmer perhaps, but the new Kono is a top-to-bottom script change. Kono, who was originally played by a hefty former Waikīkī beachboy named Zulu, is introduced in the pilot wearing a bikini.
"They're all from very different places and they come together and it's a perfect fit," Alex O'Loughlin, who will star as McGarrett, says in the trailer. "There's a wonderful chemistry between all of us."
The trailer splices together sound bites and scenes from the pilot, which was shot on O'ahu in March. It hints at action, with automatic weapons, chases and a military Humvee doing a somersault .
"You're going to see some pretty interesting, pretty curious, pretty unexpected stories," said Pat Crowley, the show's producer. "I think when people see the pilot they are going to be pretty overwhelmed."
O'Loughlin's McGarrett is a decorated naval-officer-turned-police-officer who returns to Hawai'i to investigate his father's murder. McGarrett vows to bring closure to his father's case.
Danno, played by Scott Caan, is a relocated ex-New Jersey cop who prefers skyscrapers to the coastline but is committed to keeping the Islands safe for his 8-year-old daughter.
Daniel Dae Kim, late of "Lost," will play Chin Ho Kelly, an ex-Honolulu police detective wrongly accused of corruption and relegated to a federal security patrol.
Chin's cousin, Kono, will be played by Grace Park. Kono is a new recruit eager to establish herself among the department's elite.
"It's such a good energy for the show," Park says in the trailer. "People are really excited for the show to come back."
Fans will find the iconic theme song familiar, but with a bit more musical punch.
"It's going to be the hard rock version to the ballad of the original," O'Loughlin said.
But one staple of the original series remains exactly the same and it's revealed at the end of the trailer. Caan's Danno, having pinned a bad guy, asks McGarrett, "What do you want me to do with this one?"
McGarrett doesn't skip a beat.
"Book 'em, Danno."