The Hawaii Five-O FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)
(Much of this is revised by Mike Quigley from information supplied by Karen Rhodes, posted originally in the Usenet newsgroup alt.fan.hawaii-five-o)
When was Hawaii Five-O originally on TV (its prime-time run)?
September 26, 1968 to April 5, 1980
Sept. - Dec. 1968, CBS Thursday 8:00 - 9:00 P.M.
Dec. 1968 - Sept. 1971, CBS Wednesday 10:00 - 11:00 P.M.
Sept. 1971 - Sept. 1974, CBS Tuesday 8:30 - 9:30 P.M.
Sept. 1974 - Sept. 1975, CBS Tuesday 9:00 - 10:00 P.M.
Sept. - Nov. 1975, CBS Friday 9:00 - 10:00 P.M.
Dec. 1975 - Nov. 1979, CBS Thursday 9:00 - 10:00 P.M.
Dec. 1979 - Jan. 1980, CBS, Tuesday 9:00 - 10:00 P.M.
Mar. - Apr. 1980, Saturday 9:00 - 10:00 P.M.
What kind of ratings did Five-O enjoy during its twelve-year run?
According to the WWW site http://www.classictvhits.com/tvratings/:
Season 1 (1968-1969) - #46 (!!!)
Season 2 (1969-1970) - #19
Season 3 (1970-1971) - #7
Season 4 (1971-1972) - #12
Season 5 (1972-1973) - #3
Season 6 (1973-1974) - #5
Season 7 (1974-1975) - #10
Season 8 (1975-1976) - #39
Season 9 (1976-1977) - #19
Season 10 (1977-1978) - #23
Season 11 (1978-1979) - #44
Season 12 (1979-1980) - Not in top 30
How many episodes are in each season?
Season 1 - 23 (does not include pilot or rebroadcast of pilot at end of the season in two parts)
Season 2 - 25 (includes a two-part episode)
Season 3 - 24 (includes two two-part episodes)
Season 4 - 24 (includes a two-part episode)
Season 5 - 24
Season 6 - 24
Season 7 - 24
Season 8 - 23 (includes one two-hour episode)
Season 9 - 23 (includes one two-hour episode)
Season 10 - 24
Season 11 - 21 (includes one two-part episode and one two-hour episode)
Season 12 - 19 (includes one two-hour episode)
TOTAL NUMBER OF EPISODES (not including pilot) = 278
When did the Hawaii Five-O pilot movie ("Cocoon") premiere?
According to Karen Rhodes' book on Five-O, Cocoon premiered as a movie in Honolulu's Royal Theater on February 19, 1968 for a select audience. It was filmed in late 1967. Early in 1968 it was also shown for a sample audience in New York, who voiced their displeasure with Tim O'Kelley in the role of Danno (they thought he was too "boyish").
At the Honolulu showing, CBS boss Perry Lafferty announced that Five-O was already on the 1968 fall schedule and that filming of shows would begin in April. The pilot cost more than $750,000 to make.
The first TV broadcast of the pilot was a week before the series debuted, on September 20, 1968.
Who created Hawaii Five-O?
Leonard Freeman. He died January 20, 1974 from complications of heart surgery.
Who composed the main title theme?
Morton Stevens, who died November 11, 1991 of cancer. He composed music for other TV shows like Police Woman, Gunsmoke and The Wild, Wild West, arranged music for the Boston Pops, and was musical director for concert tours of Sammy Davis Jr., Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra and Liza Minnelli.
Is the soundtrack to Hawaii Five-O available?
Music from the TV soundtrack was available on the Capitol LP record ST-410, released in 1969. It was reissued by Film Score Monthly in 2010. Some of the music on this LP (which is around half an hour long) is taken from the show's pilot movie and is also heard in some early season episodes. The theme as heard on the TV show was recorded by studio musicians under the direction of Morton Stevens. There are supposedly subtle changes in the main theme under the opening credits several times during the 12 years the show was on the air. These are all on my main page under the Music Business section. The rock group The Ventures had a famous cover version of the main theme released on Liberty Records, released around the same time that the show premiered in the fall of 1968. Mel Taylor, drummer for the group from 1962 to 1996, produced the soundtrack album. Members of the Ventures also performed the weird "psychedelic" music heard in the first season episode "Up Tight," without any credit. The main title (not the version from the soundtrack LP) can also be found on various TV theme compilation CDs.
Were there any changes between the pilot movie and the series?
In the pilot movie, Dan Williams was played by Tim O'Kelley. Apparently a test audience in New York didn't think he did such a good job. Leonard Freeman went looking for a new Dan Williams, and settled on James MacArthur, who had appeared in the movie Hang 'em High (1967) which Freeman had produced. Aside from Danny Williams, there were no changes as far as the primary characters were concerned. The movie starred Jack Lord as Steve McGarrett, with Zoulou as Kono, who seemed to be second-in-command, and Kam Fong as Chin Ho Kelly. Secondary character changes included the Governor -- Lew Ayres in the movie, Richard Denning in the series; and Attorney General -- Philip Ahn in the movie, Morgan White in early episodes of the series, who was dropped eventually in favor of District Attorney (later Attorney General) John Manicote, played by Glenn Cannon.
Is Jack Lord (Steve McGarrett) still alive?
No, he died in Honolulu on January 21, 1998 of congestive heart failure.
What was Jack Lord's real name?
John Joseph Patrick Ryan.
When was he born?
At New York University, which Lord attended from 1938 to 1942, their records give December 30, 1920 as his birthdate. According to records in the Library of Congress, it is December 30, 1922. The figure of 1930 is one allegedly invented by Lord himself for his publicity material. If 1930 is true, then he would have graduated from high school at age 8!
How tall was Jack Lord?
Despite a rumour that he was quite short, Lord was actually 6 feet, 2 inches tall.
Did Jack Lord ever wear a wig or hairpiece?
According to Glenn Cannon, who played the Attorney General in several later season shows, when asked why Jack Lord always wore a
plantation hat, Cannon pointed to the crown of his own head and
said, "To cover his thinning spot on the top of his head. He wore a
hair piece on the show."
When asked how he knew this, he replied, "Because my chair in the makeup trailer was
right next to Jack and I would watch them put it on."
On the other hand, according to Dave Donnelly, who wrote about entertainment for the Honolulu Star-Bulletin since the late 60's, and also appeared in some episodes (albeit earlier ones, since Donnelly wrote a nasty parody of Jack Lord and was not on friendly terms with Lord thereafter): "I've been around and near Jack Lord enough to assure you he never wore a hairpiece. For all his failings, losing his hair wasn't one of them. Granted, it was sprayed to within an inch of its life and arranged to droop for what passed as 'casually' across his forehead, but it's his." James MacArthur, who played Danno to Lord's McGarrett for eleven years, confirmed this.
What is James MacArthur's (Danny Williams) full name?
James Gordon MacArthur.
When was he born and where is he now?
December 8, 1937. He passed away on October 28, 2010 from natural causes.
Wasn't his mother a famous actress?
Yes, Helen Hayes, known as "The First Lady of the American Theater." She had an outstanding and long career on stage, in movies, and on television. She died March 17, 1993, of congestive heart failure. James MacArthur's father was also famous, the playwright Charles MacArthur (1895-1956). These were, however, his adoptive parents. Nothing is known about his biological parents, since he was adopted as an infant.
Why did James MacArthur leave the series?
Contrary to popular rumour that he had a contractual dispute with CBS at the end of the eleventh season, MacArthur told attendees at the 1996 Five-O convention that he was in South America on a holiday and just phoned his agent and said "I'm not coming back," and it was as simple as that. He'd had enough. He elaborated on this in a 2007 interview with SF Gate: "The show was running downhill badly. I didn't make any fuss. People thought I wanted to make more money or something. In fact, what I did was I went to the headwaters of the Amazon and got on a little riverboat, slung a hammock and started down the river. Called my agent from Cuzco and said, 'Tell CBS I'm not coming back. If they want to talk to me, I'm on the Amazon River' -- before cell phones. I spent 2½ months in South America." The only time MacArthur's (Danno's) absence from the series is alluded to is in the twelfth season episode Good Help Is Hard To Find (S12E05). KLB-TV commentator Mark Maynard (Les Keiter), who McGarrett detests, says: "[McGarrett] is a man of such personal vanity that good men have been resigning in disgust and have been replaced by incompetent sycophants. Consequently, security has so eroded that the force can't make a move without the bad guys knowing in advance."
Where is Kam Fong (Chin Ho Kelly)?
He lived in Honolulu after leaving the show, and in the late 1980's, he was heard on his own radio show on a Hawaiian-music station in Honolulu. He also ran a rather tongue-in-cheek gubernatorial campaign at that time, using the campaign slogan "Give a damn -- Vote for Kam!" He passed away on October 18, 2002 after a long battle with lung cancer.
Why did Kam Fong leave the series?
Kam Fong's character Chin Ho Kelly was murdered in the final episode of the 10th season, "A Death in the Family." At the Five-O convention in 1996, Kam said that he originally wanted Chin Ho to "retire gracefully," and fought the idea of having his character murdered. There was even talk of the production company suing Kam for breaking his contract! Then someone told him that it was an honour if you were a regular in a TV show and you were knocked off ... this meant that no one else could play your character. Despite Chin Ho's demise, he reappeared to play a part in the "new" Five-O TV pilot filmed in 1997.
Where is Zoulou (Kono)?
Zoulou (his preferred spelling), whose real name was Gilbert Francis Lani Damian Kauhi, lived on the island of Hawaii. He suffered from health problems, including two heart attacks and two strokes. Despite this, he was able to make it to both the Burbank and Honolulu Hawaii Five-O conventions in the fall of 1996, and played a role in the Hawaii Five-O pilot filmed in the spring of 1997. He passed away May 3, 2004.
Why did Zoulou leave the series at the end of the fourth season?
There are conflicting stories about what happened with Zoulou.
James MacArthur told two separate people, not known to each other, that "the truth about Zoulou getting fired was that sometime during the 4th season, the Coast Guard (with whom Zoulou had served before becoming an entertainer), came to CBS and said they wanted to honor 'one of their own' by having a special dinner and event with Zoulou as the honoree. They wanted funds and publicity from CBS to sponsor the event. CBS initially agreed. Plans began to proceed for the gala event. However, when Jack Lord, who considered himself 'the star' of Five-O, got wind of it, he made a fuss. He went to CBS and threatened if they allowed it to happen, he'd leave the show. So CBS decided to compromise and told the Coast Guard they either had to honor Lord (who never had anything to do with the Coast Guard in Hawaii or anywhere else) and Zoulou both together, or do nothing. The Coast Guard decided it would not make sense to include a non-Coast Guard person in an official Coast Guard event, so they cancelled the whole thing."
MacArthur continued: "A publicity man for CBS, who happened to be Jewish, was delegated to break the news about this to Zoulou, who was devastated, and he took it out on the publicity guy. In his anger, Zoulou slurred the man, using some pretty horrible anti-Semitic terms. This was on the set and witnessed by several people, none of whom knew the background behind why Zoulou was yelling and calling this guy and everybody else at CBS racist names. People were shocked and stunned and Zoulou went home in tears. And when word of the incident got back to Leonard Freeman and the rest of CBS, Zoulou was done for. Fired. He got a phone call soon after, telling him he need not return to the set ever again."
However, a posting by Vrinda Rao in one of the archived discussion groups on my site says the chronology of the above is wrong:
"The Coast Guard award was given to Zulu in 1975, not in 1971. [Jack Lord] got an honorary award from the Coast Guard in 1972. Zulu was kicked off the show after making anti-Semitic remarks to the show's publicist. Newspaper articles from both major newspapers in Hawaii mention this and they even ran an article where Zulu's apology was printed. There was no mention made of an award of any kind, and that would have been the best time to mention it -- if it were true. There would have been no reason to cover it up. [Lord] did not even witness the incident [with the racist remarks] and heard about it afterwards. He spoke to the publicist, and then told Lenny Freeman about it. Zulu's manager at the time, Liza Chong, said she wanted to get [Zulu] off the show because they didn't like the 'Yes, boss, no boss' lines. She did not blame Jack for it.
"The Coast Guard award story came from an article in the 1975 issue of Playgirl. According to the [guestbook] archives posting, "[I]n 2009, a member named Donna said she called the Coast Guard's public relations department and they told her Zulu got the award in 1975. I [Vrinda] also called them and got the same information. There was no consideration made to give Zulu the award in 1971. For him, it was all done in 1975."
One thing which is not in dispute from any of the reports is that Zoulou lambasted the publicist with anti-Semitic remarks. According to the above guestbook posting, "Bernie Oseransky, the production manager, and Charlotte Simmons, the assistant casting director ... both said Zulu was fired for coming to the set late, not learning his lines, and sleeping on the set." Presumably this is what the publicist told him and that motivated Zoulou's outburst.
Zoulou's obituary from the May 7, 2004 edition of the Honolulu Advertiser stated, "Zulu was fired after an altercation with the show's publicist in which he acknowledged making loud racist comments. 'I need something different,'" he said in a newspaper interview at the time. "I've had it with the 'yes boss, no boss' routine."
See also articles from The Honolulu Advertiser, December 16, 1971 and The Honolulu Star-Bulletin, November 1, 1972.
Where is Al (Ben Kokua) Harrington?
Al, who played Ben, the character who replaced Zoulou from the fifth to the seventh season, lived in Hawaii until he passed away September 21, 2021 from a stroke. He played a variety of parts in movies, including Native American Indians, and participated in a Hawaiian production of Shakespeare's Othello which shifted the action from medieval Venice to 1830s Kauai with the Hawaiian warrior Othello dealing with Russian colonists. In 10 episodes of the Five-0 reboot (2010-2020), he was a recurring character named Mamo. Harrington died at 85 in Honolulu, Hawaii, on September 21, 2021, after suffering a massive stroke.
Why did Al Harrington leave the series?
No reason was ever given for Ben's departure (or his arrival, for that matter). However, during a 1996 Honolulu TV show about Five-O, Harrington said that he was chosen by Leonard Freeman to replace despite the fact that Jack Lord "didn't approve" because Harrington was "too tall" or "too something." After Freeman died in early 1974, Harrington said "the writing was on the wall that I wasn't going to be there very much longer." He survived until the end of the seventh season, appearing in ten of the seventh season's twenty-four shows including the second last episode, though that was actually filmed much earlier. After he left, he was replaced by Doug Mossman as Frank Kamana and Herman Wedemeyer as Duke. Details of Harrington's final season are here.
How many episodes did Sharon Farrell appear in during the final season?
Farrell appeared in less than half of the twelfth season's twenty shows. She appears in the second last show, but this was actually the second show filmed. Further details are here.
Is Khigh Dhiegh (Wo Fat, Steve McGarrett's nemesis) still alive?
No, Khigh Dhiegh -- whose real name was Kenneth Dickerson -- died of liver and heart failure October 25, 1991 at the age of 81. Although he was well-known for playing Asian-looking villains, Dhiegh was born in Spring Lake, New Jersey and was of Anglo-Egyptian Sudanese descent.
How do you pronounce Khigh Dhiegh's name?
It rhymes with "Why me?"
Who played Che Fong?
Che Fong was played by three different actors. In "...And They Painted Daisies on His Coffin" (#5), the Chinese forensic scientist is played by Edward Tom (uncredited). In "A Bullet for McGarrett" (#29), the part is played by Daniel Kamekona. The role was finally taken over in "Blind Tiger" (#38) by Harry Endo. Endo passed away on January 9, 2009 at the age of 86.
Are any of the major stars from Classic Five-O still alive?
Sadly, all of them, including the ones mentioned above, are no longer with us: Doug Mossman (various roles including Frank Kamana -- May 18, 2021, natural causes after an auto accident), William Smith (Kimo Carew -- July 5, 2021, unknown causes), Al Harrington (Ben Kokua (Classic H50) and Mamo Kahike (H50 reboot) -- September 21, 2021, stroke), Sharon Farrell (Lori Wilson -- May 15, 2023, natural causes).
Which 1970's sitcom star appeared on Five-O as the drug dealer "Big Chicken"?
Gavin MacLeod, who appeared on The Mary Tyler Moore Show and The Love Boat. He was featured as "Big Chicken" in two episodes -- #5, "And They Painted Daisies on His Coffin," and #16, "The Box."
Is there a real "Hawaii Five-O" -- a state police agency?
No. Guidebooks have to keep telling tourists that Hawaii does not and never did have a state police force. According to Karen Rhodes,a "Five-O"-style police unit was proposed by governor John Burns (who was in office from 1962-1973), but apparently didn't get anywhere, possibly because the legislature didn't want to fund it or for some other reason. Leonard Freeman had a conversation with the governor, who told Freeman of the idea, and that's where the idea for the series came from.
Why was it called Five-O, anyway?
Hawaii was the fiftieth state in the union. (The original title was "The Man," but producer Leonard Freeman changed his mind.)
Was the team's office filmed in the real Iolani Palace in Honolulu?
No, that was a standing set at the studio. The way Iolani Palace is laid out, the office suite as we see it would not have fit in the building. There was a lot of exterior and interior photography done at the palace -- remember that beautiful koa-wood staircase where McGarrett took two steps at a time.
Why did the Five-O team move their offices in the ninth season?
The move, shown taking place in the season opener, "Nine Dragons", was necessary because they could not do any exterior or interior filming at the palace because it was undergoing extensive renovations. So the fictional Five-O team "moved" to the old Territorial Building, located close to the palace at 465 South King Street. Five-O moved for real, too, because their lease on the Fort Ruger studio was up. The office shots in the Territorial Building are not of a standing set -- that is the real space in the Territorial Building, which became the temporary studio for the production. Additional information about this move from IMDb user alpha128 is available on this page.
Where was Hawaii Five-O's studio?
They began in an old, rickety, un-airconditioned Navy warehouse at Pearl City that was nicknamed "Mongoose Manor". Next they moved to a studio facility at Fort Ruger on the eastern side of Diamond Head. The local neighborhood association balked, however, charging that the studio in their midst would lower property values and be a noise and traffic nuisance. In 1976 they moved piecemeal to a new studio site on Diamond Head Road.
What was the Governor's name?
There is misinformation in some references on TV shows. There are at least two such references which have the Governor's name listed as Philip Grey. However, that was a different character played by Richard (The Governor) Denning in the episode "24 Karat Kill" in the first season -- a U.S. treasury agent named Philip Grey. The Governor's name shows up first in "The 90-Second War". It isn't mentioned, it's seen. There is a scene where Jonathan Kaye has McGarrett, Army & Navy brass, and the Governor in the secret Diamond Head bunker. Each man has a nameplate. The Governor's clearly reads: Paul Jameson. That name is also used in "A Capitol Crime" when Barnard Hughes's character demands to speak to "Governor Paul Jameson." However, in two tenth season shows -- #227, The Big Aloha and #226, Tread the King's Shadow -- he is referred to as "Phil and "Phillip."
What was the origin of the nickname "Danno" for James MacArthur's character?
According to an interview with MacArthur in the April 1998 issue of Cult TV magazine: "Jack [Lord] and I were shooting a thing one day and we both had our guns out and were going to surround someone. Jack said something like, 'Go down there, Danno,' and I just stopped and said, 'Danno? Who's Danno?' We cut and Jack said, 'You know, I had a friend named Dan when I was a kid, and we used to call him Danno,' and the next thing you know ... It was really Jack's invention."
Why did some Five-O episodes run under the title "McGarrett"?
CBS had a late-night "series" to compete against the talk shows (Johnny Carson in particular), which consisted of reruns of their best shows such as Five-O, Magnum, P.I. and others. They even bought an additional fourth season of the cancelled ABC series T.J. Hooker for this gig. They selected episodes from the twelfth season of Five-O to run in this slot, and changed the title to McGarrett.
What is the structure of Five-O episodes?
Typical season 1 opening:
Teaser (beginning of the plot)
Main Titles (wave, stars of the show, etc.) -- 55 seconds
First Commercial Break
Act One (features opening credits -- director, writer, etc. -- near the beginning)
Typical season 2-4 opening:
Brief Wave (8 seconds)
Teaser (beginning of the plot)
Main Titles (wave, stars of the show, etc.) -- 55 seconds
First Commercial Break
Act One (features opening credits -- director, writer, etc. -- near
the beginning)
Typical season 5-8 opening:
Main Titles (wave, stars of the show, etc.) -- 55 seconds
First Commercial Break
Act One (features opening credits -- director, writer, etc. -- near
the beginning)
Typical season 9-12 opening:
Teaser (excerpts from the show to come) -- 30 seconds
Main Titles (wave, stars of the show, etc.) -- 55 seconds
First Commercial Break
Act One (features opening credits -- director, writer, etc. -- near
the beginning)
All shows are divided into four acts followed by the end credits featuring a blue light or guys paddling. According to an article in the Honolulu Star-Bulletin, "What appears to be a police light flashing atop a car careening madly through town ... turns out to be a smaller light attached to something rather smaller and lower, the edge of a motorcycle sidecar perhaps, or a golf-cart bumper."
At the end of some episodes, before the end credits, Jack Lord would promote the following week's show, saying "This is Jack Lord inviting you to be with us next [week] for [name of episode]," ending his narration with "Be here, aloha." Many of these "episodic promos," which are one minute long, are on the DVDs, coupled with the episodes the promos are for, not the show from the following week. Promos are on the DVDs for seasons two to eight. In season nine of the DVDs, the teaser (excerpts from the show to come, as above) duplicated material from the promo; the promo again was about one minute long, the teaser around 30 seconds. For the final three seasons, because of this duplication, there were no more promos on the DVDs.
Who are the guys paddling during the end credits?
According to an article by Bob Krauss in the Honolulu Advertiser, Sunday, September 27, 1996, page A23, -- "Kama`aini is more or less a state of mind"-- the canoe paddlers are Henry Ayau, Gary Sheehan, Marshall Rosa, George Dixon, Billy Mitchell, Tommy Holmes, Tommy Arnott, Dale Hope, Aka Hemminges, Pat Souza and Tom Hanneberg. (Thanks to Bob Hernandez for pointing this out.)
What was the license number of McGarrett's car?
F6-3958. McGarrett was the only member of the team to have the same license number through the entire run.
What was Steve McGarrett's home address?
In early episodes, 404 Piikoi Street. This is an actual address, though it is not in a residential area. In fact, it is across the street from the Ala Moana Shopping Center, and was the location of a business called "Records Hawaii." Since their departure some years ago, a number of businesses came and went in that building which was torn town and replaced by part of a skyscraper complex. Back when the show was being produced, this address was the administrative/production office for Five-O. That's where they'd meet every morning before going to work at the studio or on location. The building that is there now is not the same building that was there then. In the episode "'V' For Vashon: the Father," McGarrett is living at 2085 Ala Wai Blvd., which is a real apartment building.
Did Hawaii Five-O ever win any Emmy awards?
Yes. Two. Morton Stevens won them for the music to the episodes "Hookman" and "A Thousand Pardons, You're Dead."
Is there going to be a Five-O movie?
There were rumours about this in the past, but the idea of a movie was superceded by the reboot of the show which ran from 2010 to 2020. This doesn't mean that it still won't happen, though (maybe even based on the reboot). When and if an announcement about the movie happens, you'll read about it here.
Is Five-O still on TV?
Episodes of the original Five-O have been available from various streaming services including CBS itself and have been broadcast in syndication since it went off the air in 1980. A pilot for a new Hawaii Five-O series was filmed on Oahu in March, 2010. The project was bankrolled by CBS, the same network that showed the original series, who liked what they saw. It was announced a couple of months later that the show was going to be in CBS's fall lineup. In February of 2020, CBS announced that the current season at the time (the tenth) would be the show's last. Stars of the show included Alex O'Loughlin (Steve McGarrett) and Scott Caan (Danny Williams) with Daniel Dae Kim (Chin Ho Kelly) and Grace Park (Kono Kalakaua) in the show's first seven seasons. Other featured characters were played by Chi McBride (Lou Grover), Beulah Koale (Junior Reigns) and Meaghan Rath (Tani Rey).
Is Five-O available on video or DVD?
Some episodes of the original show were available on VHS tape through Columbia House in the U.S.A. and Canada. Subsequent to this, all twelve seasons were made available on DVD. There have been several complete sets released on DVD as well. The complete reboot was also released on DVD with some seasons being on Blu-Ray discs as well.
Will you make copies of episodes for me?
No. The shows are, with one exception and some minor editing issues, all available on DVD. You can order these from amazon.com and other major retailers. They are also available for streaming from various online sites.
Why has the second season episode "Bored She Hung Herself" not been seen since the original broadcast in 1970 and is not included in the second season DVD box set?
The late Mrs. Leonard Freeman, wife of the series creator Leonard, speaking to fans at the 1996 Five-O convention in Burbank, CA, said that a viewer tried the hanging technique seen at the beginning of the show and killed themselves.
This was confirmed by an e-mail exchange I had years later with Joel Berliner, who played Hank, the 13-year-old neighbor's son in the episode. He wrote to me: "Somewhere in America, someone hanged themselves after watching the show. Their parents sued CBS, and shelving the episode was part of the settlement. The first [and only] broadcast in January 1970 was the first time Hawaii 5-0 cracked the top 10 in TV ratings. I was 12, and I was dismayed when it didn't rerun that summer."
The DVD release of season 2 does not contain this episode. There are bootleg copies of it floating around, which sometimes appear on YouTube, but are usually removed. An early dub of the show looks like it was projected on a wall and filmed with a camcorder. Viewing this is not recommended if you are an epileptic because of the strobe-like flickering. A second dub of the show is more watchable, though the color is faded and the print is not in the best of shape.
The show has also been removed from any syndication packages, though there is a suggestion that prints were prepared for this purpose because of Viacom logos at the end of the second dub (which is taken from a 16mm print) mentioned above.
According to an executive at CBS Home Entertainment I spoke to in late 2011, this episode will not be seeing the light of day on DVD -- ever. There are "legal" issues connected with this episode as per the lawsuit. The person didn't have exact details of the "issues," but every time the possible release of this episode came up, the CBS "legal" department had a say in the matter (i.e., NO).
The box for Hawaii Five-O - The Complete Series, a 73-disc DVD set released in late 2013, has the following line on the back: "Due to viewer reaction following the original telecast of the episode 'Bored, She Hung herself' (Season 2, episode 16), that episode has not been re-broadcast or released in any manner since its original airing and is not included in this collection." There is a similar line on the back of the season 2 DVD box set.
Wikipedia at one point claimed that the episode was included in the Region 4 (Australian) season two DVD set. Fan David Farley contacted me regarding these claims: "I didn't believe this, so I went on Ebay Australia www.ebay.com.au. I emailed two sellers of the Australian R4 release and asked them if there was a disclaimer about a missing episode on the back. Both wrote back to me and said the disclaimer was there. In fact, it matched our R1 release word for word. I was 99% sure Wikipedia was wrong and as far as I'm concerned, this confirms it."
Is there a Hawaii Five-O WWW page?
Is there a Hawaii Five-O fan club?
Is it Five-O (as in "oh") or Five-0 (as in "zero")?
Why are some episodes of the show not included in certain syndication packages -- for example, A Death in the Family, final episode of season 10 where Chin Ho gets killed?
Answer thanks to Jeff Herman: CBS only syndicates 209 of all the available hours, dating back to 1997 when they developed an edited, remastered episode package for what was known as the Family Channel, followed by syndication. Prior to that, all the shows had been available to stations in unremastered, uncut form. They tend to do this with long-running series in their library at various points in time, including Gunsmoke, Bonanza and Mannix. The reason I’ve read online is that station managers preferred shorter episode counts of these long-running shows.
Revised May 22, 2024.
Mike Quigley maintains The Hawaii Five-O Home Page (you're already there) and there are several others as well:
The Iolani Palace Irregulars, founded by Karen Rhodes, was the international appreciation society for Five-O for several years. Unfortunately, it ceased to exist in April of 1998.
This is a matter of debate. The Five-O soundtrack album, released in the late 60's, uses "oh." See the text on the back cover of the record and compare the "O" in "Five-O" to the number "0" (zero) in the dates 1950 and 1960. With the 2010 reboot, CBS is using zero to distinguish it from the earlier show. This suggests that they consider the old show to be "oh."
