418 replies to this topic

[Righty007]

Just ordered Season 1 from Amazon. I've never seen the original show before so I think I'm in for a real treat.

Praise the Lord. Jack Lord, that is.

[Doctor Whom]

Just ordered Season 1 from Amazon. I've never seen the original show before so I think I'm in for a real treat.

Praise the Lord. Jack Lord, that is.

It's a really cool show, and consistently good during its first six seasons. The quality dropped noticably starting around the seventh season following the death of executive procucer Leonard Freemman, then really took a dive around season 10 (when, I beleive, CBS bought out Jack Lord's interest in the show and took over the production entirely).

Although I love season six, which has some especially deranged criminals, I really like the atmosphere of the first two seasons, when the show seemed to go out of its way to show Honolulu as a middle-class tourist paradise, exotic and mysterious.

[Napoleon Solo]

I don't know all the ins and outs but you can tell by the credits that *something* weird happened in season 10.

Philip Leacock had been in charge of seasons 8 and 9. He departed. Douglas Green, who had worked on the show for a long time, starting as an assistant director, was promoted to executive producer. (In season 9, he got a credit that said, Produced by Douglas Green (Hawaii)"). James Heinz, who had worked on the show from almost the beginning (starting as assistant to the producers), remained in place as the Hollywood-based producer. There were a couple of new producers, BW Sandefur and Fred Baum.

After several episodes, and I don't remember how many), Green and Heinz are out and I think Sandefur was also. There was now no listed executive producer. Fred Baum was now supervising producer (apparently the highest ranking producer). Buck Houghton, producer of the first three seasons of The Twilight Zone, was now aboard also. Baum remains in place until the start of season 12. Other producers move in and out.

As a viewer, I got the impression Jack Lord had emerged as a defacto executive producer. You no longer had the occasional story that focused on the supporting casting. There's a 10th season episode with Anne Francis as the guest star. I remember it wasn't bad until the ending. Danno is on the side of the frame, then steps away as McGarrett pontificates and there's this solemn bell tolling in the background.

As the 12th season was about to begin, the New York Times did a feature story about the show. Lord was quoted as saying he was Leonard Freeman's *partner* when the show began. That was probably news to Rose Freeman, Leonard's widow, who told the 1996 fan convention in LA that Lord wasn't first choice and was only cast five days before filming of the pilot began. Also, newspaperman (and occasional Five-O bit player) Eddie Sherman is on record as saying Leonard Freeman came to Hawaii during production of the second season to fire Lord, then changed his mind. There's a link to that somewhere in this long thread.

[Doctor Whom]

I don't know all the ins and outs but you can tell by the credits that *something* weird happened in season 10.

Philip Leacock had been in charge of seasons 8 and 9. He departed. Douglas Green, who had worked on the show for a long time, starting as an assistant director, was promoted to executive producer. (In season 9, he got a credit that said, Produced by Douglas Green (Hawaii)"). James Heinz, who had worked on the show from almost the beginning (starting as assistant to the producers), remained in place as the Hollywood-based producer. There were a couple of new producers, BW Sandefur and Fred Baum.

After several episodes, and I don't remember how many), Green and Heinz are out and I think Sandefur was also. There was now no listed executive producer. Fred Baum was now supervising producer (apparently the highest ranking producer). Buck Houghton, producer of the first three seasons of The Twilight Zone, was now aboard also. Baum remains in place until the start of season 12. Other producers move in and out.

As a viewer, I got the impression Jack Lord had emerged as a defacto executive producer. You no longer had the occasional story that focused on the supporting casting. There's a 10th season episode with Anne Francis as the guest star. I remember it wasn't bad until the ending. Danno is on the side of the frame, then steps away as McGarrett pontificates and there's this solemn bell tolling in the background.

As the 12th season was about to begin, the New York Times did a feature story about the show. Lord was quoted as saying he was Leonard Freeman's *partner* when the show began. That was probably news to Rose Freeman, Leonard's widow, who told the 1996 fan convention in LA that Lord wasn't first choice and was only cast five days before filming of the pilot began. Also, newspaperman (and occasional Five-O bit player) Eddie Sherman is on record as saying Leonard Freeman came to Hawaii during production of the second season to fire Lord, then changed his mind. There's a link to that somewhere in this long thread.

I beleive Jack Lord orginally had a one-third interest in the show, the other two-thirds being held in equal shares by CBS and Leonoard Freeman Productions.

Lord wasn't the first choice for McGarrett. The producers had orginally chosen Robert Brown, but for reasons no one seems to remember, CBS vetoed Brown literally days before the pilot was to begin shooting, so Lord was a last minute replacement and used his negotiating leverage to get a piece of the action (interestingly, Lord was Gene Roddenberry's first choice for Captain Kirk when casting the second Star Trek pilot and was dropped from consideration becasue Roddenberry and Desilu would not agree to make Lord a parter).

Now from what I understand, Lord was a more than a bit of a control freak, and just sort of assumed executive producer powers on the set (it didn't hurt that he was the biggest authority figure on a set thousands of miles from the home office). An executive producer credit was probably out of the question, though, as actors just didn't get that kind of credit in those days (for instance, everyone associated with That Girl talks about Marlo Thomas being the executive producer of that show, but she was never credited as such).

As far as Five-O being The Jack Lord Show, I always attributed that to the fact that Lord came from an old-school theatrical backgourd, where leading actors were a law unto themselves, and everyone and everything was suborinate to them.

Edited by Doctor Whom, 03 December 2010 - 04:18 PM.

[Napoleon Solo]

I've never read or heard that Jack Lord owned the same percentage as Leonard Freeman. I won't dispute that but I am skeptical. If Lord owned that much of the show, how could Freeman hope to fire him, or thought he had the leverage to do so? (Lloyd Bridges would have replaced JL under that scenario, according to Eddie Sherman's account.) Firing a star would have caused a big stink, especially one that owned the same percentage as Freeman. But maybe JL was a hard negotiator. Or maybe he did own a piece of the action, but not as big as Freeman's.

Rose Freeman, at the 1996 convention, did say that Robert Brown was the first choice to play McGarrett and CBS vetoed it. She said JL was hired on a Wednesday, and shooting began the following Monday.

Re: the That Girl example. Danny Thomas Enterprises was involved with the show and Ronald Jacobs (Danny Thomas's nephew, so I suppose he'd be what? a cousin? to Marlo Thomas) was listed in the credits as executive in charge of production. The credited executive producers/creators were Bill Persky and Sam Denoff, who had worked on the Sheldon Leonard-Danny Thomas-Carl Reiner-Dick Van Dyke (the copyright notices list Calvada or something like that as the copyright owner) owned The Dick Van Dyke Show. Marlo Thomas may not have had a credit but there are a few clues that her family was involved. But the general point that stars were more hesitant to take executive producer type credits is true. Jack Benny's production credit made Checkmate, but he didn't take a credit. George Burns owned a big chunk of Mr. Ed but he didn't take a credit (but did film presenations for sponsors with the cast).

JL was also offered the chance to reprise the Felix Leiter role in Goldfinger. The first I heard of this was a 1983 Starlog interview with Richard Maibaum. Maibaum said JL wanted equal billing with Sean Connery and declined when he wouldn't get it. JL also was famously quoted as saying there were no co-stars on Five-O. In that regard, he was technically correct. It said "Starring Jack Lord" and "With James MacArthur as Danny" or "With James MacArthur as Dan Williams." But the comment almost makes it sound like Jimmy Mac was a bit player when he clearly wasn't.

[Doctor Whom]

I've never read or heard that Jack Lord owned the same percentage as Leonard Freeman. I won't dispute that but I am skeptical. If Lord owned that much of the show, how could Freeman hope to fire him, or thought he had the leverage to do so? (Lloyd Bridges would have replaced JL under that scenario, according to Eddie Sherman's account.) Firing a star would have caused a big stink, especially one that owned the same percentage as Freeman. But maybe JL was a hard negotiator. Or maybe he did own a piece of the action, but not as big as Freeman's.

Rose Freeman, at the 1996 convention, did say that Robert Brown was the first choice to play McGarrett and CBS vetoed it. She said JL was hired on a Wednesday, and shooting began the following Monday.

Re: the That Girl example. Danny Thomas Enterprises was involved with the show and Ronald Jacobs (Danny Thomas's nephew, so I suppose he'd be what? a cousin? to Marlo Thomas) was listed in the credits as executive in charge of production. The credited executive producers/creators were Bill Persky and Sam Denoff, who had worked on the Sheldon Leonard-Danny Thomas-Carl Reiner-Dick Van Dyke (the copyright notices list Calvada or something like that as the copyright owner) owned The Dick Van Dyke Show. Marlo Thomas may not have had a credit but there are a few clues that her family was involved. But the general point that stars were more hesitant to take executive producer type credits is true. Jack Benny's production credit made Checkmate, but he didn't take a credit. George Burns owned a big chunk of Mr. Ed but he didn't take a credit (but did film presenations for sponsors with the cast).

JL was also offered the chance to reprise the Felix Leiter role in Goldfinger. The first I heard of this was a 1983 Starlog interview with Richard Maibaum. Maibaum said JL wanted equal billing with Sean Connery and declined when he wouldn't get it. JL also was famously quoted as saying there were no co-stars on Five-O. In that regard, he was technically correct. It said "Starring Jack Lord" and "With James MacArthur as Danny" or "With James MacArthur as Dan Williams." But the comment almost makes it sound like Jimmy Mac was a bit player when he clearly wasn't.

I remember hearing about Lord and Goldfinger. Gotta admire his moxie, though, considering that at this point in his career he was a jobbing actor coming off of a failed series (Stoney Burke).

[Brisco]

Wow, I hadn't heard that about Goldfinger! What a shame! I would have loved to see Lord back as Felix. Especially since Cec Linder was kind of a dud - and a totally different type. Of course, if he was already insisting on equal billing with Connery (that is moxie!), Lord probably would have demanded rewrites to beef up the part... which probably wouldn't have helped the movie. Still, I wish he'd returned as Felix.

[Doctor Whom]

Wow, I hadn't heard that about Goldfinger! What a shame! I would have loved to see Lord back as Felix. Especially since Cec Linder was kind of a dud - and a totally different type. Of course, if he was already insisting on equal billing with Connery (that is moxie!), Lord probably would have demanded rewrites to beef up the part... which probably wouldn't have helped the movie. Still, I wish he'd returned as Felix.

Me too. But I can't imagine the producers beefing up the Leiter part at Connery's expense.

[Scaramanga'74]

Morton Stevens became an immortal in the pop culture scene with his timeless, infectious theme score that in my book rivals the James Bond theme as my most favourite TV tune.

Currently AXN-Asia is rerunning Season 2 of the original series with today's title being "Sweet Terror". Just can't wait to get home & be transported to Hawaii of the late 1960s.

Jack Lord's no-nonsense characterization of McGarrett and his coterie of dedicated fuzz (that is slang for cops - only in Hawaii perhaps?) out to combat a wild assortment of criminals and undesirables is great fun to watch. I'm practically addicted to it as I'm glued to the TV every afternoon - to the utter exasperation of my missus.

Incidentally, yesterday's episode "A Bullet for McGarrett" echoed the hypnosis and brainwashing elements of OHMSS and they were both produced in 1969. Coincidence, perhaps? For more on the episodes and synopses, log on to http://www.tvfavouri...aii/index.html.

In addition to Lord, Soon Taik Oh (of The Man With the Golden Gun) has also graced several episodes (mostly as Red Chinese agent). Were there any other Bond movie actors in the original series? Just curious.

[Brian Flagg]

In addition to Lord, Soon Taik Oh (of The Man With the Golden Gun) has also graced several episodes (mostly as Red Chinese agent). Were there any other Bond movie actors in the original series? Just curious.

The tenth season DVDs are out today in the U.S.

It's mentioned elsewhere in this (long) thread, but the most notable Bond actors who made Five-O appearances include:

Maud Adams: Deep Cover, season ten.
George Lazenby: The Year of the Horse, season eleven.
Luciana Paluzzi: My Friend, the Enemy; season ten.

BTW, "Sweet Terror" is one of my favorite episodes.

[Napoleon Solo]

Season 11 (which doesn't yet have a release date but I'm guessing will be by spring of 2011) is a gathering of former spy actors. Besides Lazenby, Robert Vaughn and Ross Martin (the latter in three episodes as a Hawaiian crime boss) also have guest star appearances.

Also of note: on the Dec. 13 installment of the new Hawaii Five-0 (official spelling is with 0 instead of O as in the original), Wo Fat 2.0 made his appearance at the vvery end. Younger and studlier than the original, it remains to be seen whether Wo 2 thinks as big as Wo 1.

[Napoleon Solo]

In addition to Lord, Soon Taik Oh (of The Man With the Golden Gun) has also graced several episodes (mostly as Red Chinese agent). Were there any other Bond movie actors in the original series? Just curious.

The tenth season DVDs are out today in the U.S.

It's mentioned elsewhere in this (long) thread, but the most notable Bond actors who made Five-O appearances include:

Maud Adams: Deep Cover, season ten.
George Lazenby: The Year of the Horse, season eleven.
Luciana Paluzzi: My Friend, the Enemy; season ten.

BTW, "Sweet Terror" is one of my favorite episodes.

Also, Donald Pleasance in The Ninety-Second War Part II (fourth season)
The guy who played Chula (from TMWTGG) in Nine Dragons as a doomed undercover police officer

[DR76]

In addition to Lord, Soon Taik Oh (of The Man With the Golden Gun) has also graced several episodes (mostly as Red Chinese agent). Were there any other Bond movie actors in the original series? Just curious.

The tenth season DVDs are out today in the U.S.

It's mentioned elsewhere in this (long) thread, but the most notable Bond actors who made Five-O appearances include:

Maud Adams: Deep Cover, season ten.
George Lazenby: The Year of the Horse, season eleven.
Luciana Paluzzi: My Friend, the Enemy; season ten.

BTW, "Sweet Terror" is one of my favorite episodes.

Also, Donald Pleasance in The Ninety-Second War Part II (fourth season)
The guy who played Chula (from TMWTGG) in Nine Dragons as a doomed undercover police officer

Yaphet Kotto in "King of the Hill" (Season 1)


JL was one of the partners of "Hawaii Five-O". He was the one who insisted that Hawaiians be cast in the series. He was also the one who insisted that McGarrett always drive a Ford vehicle.

[Napoleon Solo]

In addition to Lord, Soon Taik Oh (of The Man With the Golden Gun) has also graced several episodes (mostly as Red Chinese agent). Were there any other Bond movie actors in the original series? Just curious.

The tenth season DVDs are out today in the U.S.

It's mentioned elsewhere in this (long) thread, but the most notable Bond actors who made Five-O appearances include:

Maud Adams: Deep Cover, season ten.
George Lazenby: The Year of the Horse, season eleven.
Luciana Paluzzi: My Friend, the Enemy; season ten.

BTW, "Sweet Terror" is one of my favorite episodes.

Also, Donald Pleasance in The Ninety-Second War Part II (fourth season)
The guy who played Chula (from TMWTGG) in Nine Dragons as a doomed undercover police officer

Yaphet Kotto in "King of the Hill" (Season 1)


JL was one of the partners of "Hawaii Five-O". He was the one who insisted that Hawaiians be cast in the series. He was also the one who insisted that McGarrett always drive a Ford vehicle.

And insisted they be fired when they were taller than he was (Al Harrington).

[Napoleon Solo]

New Wo Fat actor:

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001092/

[Doctor Whom]

In addition to Lord, Soon Taik Oh (of The Man With the Golden Gun) has also graced several episodes (mostly as Red Chinese agent). Were there any other Bond movie actors in the original series? Just curious.

The tenth season DVDs are out today in the U.S.

It's mentioned elsewhere in this (long) thread, but the most notable Bond actors who made Five-O appearances include:

Maud Adams: Deep Cover, season ten.
George Lazenby: The Year of the Horse, season eleven.
Luciana Paluzzi: My Friend, the Enemy; season ten.

BTW, "Sweet Terror" is one of my favorite episodes.

Also, Donald Pleasance in The Ninety-Second War Part II (fourth season)
The guy who played Chula (from TMWTGG) in Nine Dragons as a doomed undercover police officer

Yaphet Kotto in "King of the Hill" (Season 1)


JL was one of the partners of "Hawaii Five-O". He was the one who insisted that Hawaiians be cast in the series. He was also the one who insisted that McGarrett always drive a Ford vehicle.

And insisted they be fired when they were taller than he was (Al Harrington).

Lord was very protective of his "star" status. That's not unheard of, although I sometimes wish that more stars were like Jack Benny. He didn't mind giving his cast opportunities to shine, since it reflected postitively on the show overall.

As for Al Harrington, In the special feature in the first season set, he says that Lord was never too keen on his joining the cast and he knew his days on the show were numbered when Leonard Freeman died. Interestingly, he was replaced on a short term basis by Doug Mossman, who was also taller than Lord.

[Napoleon Solo]

I've been checking out the 10th season set. No episode previews (which tend to have almost the same footage as the teasers as the start of each episode). I found the Luciana Paluzzi episode more entertaining that I remembered, particularly how Danno was smitten with her right from the get-go. The Maud Adams episode was OK (she doesn't interact with the regular Five-O cast until the very end).

[Scaramanga'74]

Just watched Episode 17 (Season 2): Run, Johnny, Run and guess what, it starred a young Christopher Walken as a naval personnel (before he turned millionaire psychopath).

Quite amazing to watch a former Bond ally (Jack Lord) confronting a future Bond nemesis. Cool, baby, just way too cool.

One of the better episodes from the long-running series.

[Napoleon Solo]

Just watched Episode 17 (Season 2): Run, Johnny, Run and guess what, it starred a young Christopher Walken as a naval personnel (before he turned millionaire psychopath).

Quite amazing to watch a former Bond ally (Jack Lord) confronting a future Bond nemesis. Cool, baby, just way too cool.

One of the better episodes from the long-running series.

That episode also has sportcaster Al Michaels ("Do you believe in miracles? Yes!") in a small role as an attorney. At the time, Michaels was the voice of the Honolulu minor-league baseball team.

[Doctor Whom]

That episode also has sportcaster Al Michaels ("Do you believe in miracles? Yes!") in a small role as an attorney. At the time, Michaels was the voice of the Honolulu minor-league baseball team.

That's what I love about the show -- seeing all these local performers. Some of them were as good as any "real" actor, some of them were in way over their heads, but it gave the show a great deal of authenticity.

[Napoleon Solo]

The new Five-0 is changing the gender of another character from the original show: Jonathan Kaye becomes Jessica Kaye. See the third item in this URL:

http://www.deadline....-five-0-series/

[Napoleon Solo]

Amazon.com is now accepting pre-orders for season 11 of the original Five-O. It had been reported it was coming out on April 19, but that was incorrect. Evidently coming out soon.

[Napoleon Solo]

On the 4/18 episode of the new show, it evoked a line of dialogue from the 1968 pilot of the original show.

1968: American intelligence agent Miller (Andrew Duggan) says, "Everybody knows Steve McGarrett reports only to the Governor -- and God. Sometimes, even they have trouble."

2011: McGarrett questioning a suspect, "I report to God and the Governor."

[Napoleon Solo]

If anybody dropped out of watching the new Hawaii Five-0 (new show's official spelling is with a "0" the old show is with a capital "O"), the final episode of the season has aired. If you don't want to watch but are mildly curious, SPOILERS FOLLOW


HERE'S
SOME
SPOILER

SPACE

The Governor was aligned with Wo Fat. McGarrett gets framed for the killing of the Governor's main assistant. He doubles back in a ninja-type outfit and confronts the Governor. Wo Fat tasers him. While McG is unconscious, Wo Fat kills the Governor and slips out. McG arrested and booked for the Governor's murder.

Other complications: Danny got his ex-wife pregnant. Ex-wife leaving Hawaii. Kono is in trouble with the law, also. Chin Ho has accepted a reinstatement offer from HPD. Five-0 has been disbanded. Episode ends with, "To be continued...."

[Napoleon Solo]

Netflix now has season 11 episodes of Hawaii Five-O available. According to Mike Quigley's Five-O fan page, the Netflix version of Number One With a Bullet RETAINS the disco songs, including the Bee Gees "Stayin' Alive." The disco music actually is important because the story is about a fight between Hawaiian and Mainland gangsters for control over Hawaiian discos and music industry. However, Quigley says, another episode, The Execution File, was stripped of a Rod Stewart song on Netflix. The season 11 DVDs are being released Sept. 20.

[Napoleon Solo]

Charles S. Dubin, one of the best directors of the original Hawaii Five-O series, has passed away at age 92:

http://hmssweblog.wo...-director-dies/

His credits include the three-part V for Vashon story arc and its sequel. He also directed one of the Wo Fat episodes, Presenting...in the Center Ring...Murder.

[Napoleon Solo]

12th and final season on DVD on Jan. 10:

http://tvshowsondvd....Season-12/16156

No Danno. First woman Five-O cop. The return of composer Morton Stevens. Wo Fat returns for the finale.

[Napoleon Solo]

I've been checking out season 11. (Here's a review of the "ex-spy" episodes http://bit.ly/sGey8e). Picture quality is much improved from season 10. In the season-ending The Year of the Horse, you can see George Lazenby's improvement as an actor compared with a decade earlier with OHMSS. With no Morton Stevens around, John Cacavas emerged as the primary episode composer and many of his scores sound like Kojak episodes (which Cacavas also scored).

[Vrinda]

 

 

 

Actually season 6 is the peak for that sort of thing. McGarrett reasserts himself in later seasons and Danno's air time begins to diminish.

As a matter of fact, the Five-O crew became mere decoration in later seasons, serving only to be present to Mcgarrett's musings and theories about whatever case they were working on. Watch the 11th season for that, specifically the opening scene of McG and Danno in "Skyline Killer."

 

At the '96 convention, James MacArthur was very circumspect when asked why he left after the 11th season. As the told the story, he informed the producers he had been on the show long enough, wasn't going to make a big deal publicly about it and wanted to depart on good terms. He came across as very class and even self-depricating at times.

Still, you have to wonder whether he felt the role had been diminished. In season 6, there are some episodes where he, rather than McGarrett, is at the crime scene and is in charge of at least a major portion of the case. ("One Big Happy Family" comes to mind.)

 

I think I read over at Mike Quigley's site (or somehwere) that Jack Lord was livid upon hearing of MacArthur's departure and not being told directly by him, to which Mac responded "I work for CBS, not Jack Lord." Methinks that "Danno" was fed up with "Jack God" after 11 years and just wanted to get out. Seems that nobody liked Jack Lord.

But I still find it ironic that so many Five-O alum got weepy when recalling their time on the show in regards to jack. Could it be that the (then) secret news of his Alzheimer's got out to them and they all took it hard? For someone who was such a tough taskmaster, the cast and crew sure felt Jack's condition acutely.

 

You know what that means? It means those people genuinely liked Jack. It's not too hard to fathom. Those stories told about him were nothing more than tabloid rants which you'd have to be a damn fool to believe. Only a handful of people spoke on record to say negative things about Jack, compared to 150-200 people who worked behind the camera, not to mention 2000-3000 actors who appeared on the show as guest stars and extra. If you search around, you will find interviews with many people who liked Jack and remembered him fondly.

 

As for that comment that James said, "I work for CBS, not Jack Lord," Jack was the executive producer, so James did work for him. An AP reporter wrote in 1980 that James denied making the comment. He left after 11 years because he was tired of the storylines, not because of any difficulty working with Jack Lord. James always spoke highly of him and no one has any evidence to say he didn't get along with him. If James remained on the show for all 12 years, what would your respose be to that? That James left after 11 doesn't automatically prove that Jack was giving him difficulty, so he left. Why did he stay for 11 years? He could have left any time he wanted if he didn't like working with Jack. He signed a 7-year contract in 1968, so he could have left when it expired in 1975. James would not have been out any money. He was wealthy and inherited the royalties from his father's plays.

Edited by Vrinda, 26 July 2013 - 12:11 AM.