Posted on 04/17/2025 8:48:28 AM PDT by Macho MAGA Man
45 years ago, Danno booked ’em for the last time, when Hawaii Five-O aired its final episode. The show — which starred Jack Lord as tough-as-nails Detective Captain Steve McGarrett, who headed up a special police task force that rooted out organized crime and espionage in the Hawaiian islands — debuted in 1968, making it the last scripted 1960s drama still on the airwaves when it took its final bow.
The show made Lord a superstar and familiarized many viewers with Hawaii, which had only become a U.S. state in 1959, and its impact is still being felt today, in countless other police procedural dramas set in exciting and unusual locales — and in the ultra-popular 2010 series reboot, which ran for 10 seasons in its own right.
Here are five things you probably didn’t know about one of TV’s most beloved police dramas.
(Excerpt) Read more at remindmagazine.com ...
Talk about changing times...I caught an episode a few years ago where there was repeated use of the N-word...and they didn’t edit it out. Shocking, but I grew up in that era so not surprised. Those old shows are great.
Quien es mas macho, Lloyd Briges o Yack Lord?
When they killed off Chin Ho, that was quite the shock.
I always loved episodes with the Chinese Communist agent Wo Fat. So mysterious, and always represented the Cold War attitudes of the time.
By the way, that actor who played Wo Fat was named Kenneth Dickerson, and he was born in Spring Lake, New Jersey. His mother was “Chinese, Spanish, English, and Egyptian” and his father was “Italian, Portuguese, and Zulu”; he was raised in New York City.
He certainly fooled 8 year-old me into thinking he was Chinese....
I know they used the Anderson estate in both shows. Although the inside was only used in one very early PI episode (maybe the pilot). Magnum’s guesthouse was actually a boat house. Many people never picked up that to enter, you had to go up the stairs outside, to a porch, then once through the door, came back down the stairs. Probably breaking all kinds of ADA requirements.
The estate was the same that was torn down recently. I don’t know if Obama actually got the property. I heard both he did and didn’t.
Do you ever see anyone, besides jack, with long sleeve Hawaiian shirts? IIRC there was a rumor it was to cover his arms due to IV drug use. Huh? Oh well. My dad was stationed there when it became a state. We got off school so that was good.
I think Jack Lord would have made a credible Captain James T. Kirk if he would have gotten the Star Trek role.
He had the command presence and would be a convincing authority figure.
But I don’t think he would have had the same charisma, sense of humor, or done as well portraying the friendship and relationship with Spock, McCoy, and Scotty as William Shatner showed over the years.
PlutoTV has a “Hawaii Five-O” channel that I just always seem to click on. ;) Loved this show as a kid, love it today. Still remember that creepy first episode (”Cocoon” — still remember the title!) with the incredible Khigh Dhiegh.
Jack was Felix Leiter in Dr. No.
(I always loved episodes with the Chinese Communist agent Wo Fat.)
Yes, I loved the episodes with Wo Fat. He always would elude McGarrett at the end of the episodes. In the last episode of the series, McGarrett finally gets him. The first episode started off with Wo Fat and the series ended with Wo Fat. What a bookend.
(Jack was Felix Leiter in Dr. No.)
The article mentions it and the reason why Lord didn’t play him again.
Yack Lord didn’t sniff glue...
I liked Jack Lord as Felix Leiter in Dr. No. IMHO he played the character as serious enough to get the job done, but light hearted enough to have a good time doing it.
You have a point.
Kenneth Dickerson also played Dr. Len Yo in the Manchurian Cadidate (1962). He had some great lines and gestures.
He had to leave the meeting in the hospital early: he need to go shopping at Macys. Mrs. Yo had a such a long list of goods to buy.
(Do you ever see anyone, besides jack, with long sleeve Hawaiian shirts? IIRC there was a rumor it was to cover his arms due to IV drug use.)
Actually it was to hide his extremely hairy arms. His personal assistant wrote a book stating that he would have to shave the hairs on the top of his hands for close-up shots. True story.
Kenneth Dickerson also played Dr. Len Yo in the Manchurian Candidate (1962). He had some great scenes and a couple of classic line with gestures. He needed to leave a meeting at the hospital early: Mrs. Yo had a shopping list at Macys that was this long, then gestures by moving his hand far apart.
WO FAT was the arch enemy of McGarrett.
That is because WO FAT was a Chinese Commie.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.