The third time might be the charm for both a Hawaii Five-0 remake and a popular CBS star.
The original Hawaii Five-0 series ran on CBS for 12 years, from 1968 until 1980. Jack Lord stars as Steve McGarrett, the leader of an elite branch of the fictional Hawaii State Police. His right-hand man is Dan “Dan-O” Williams (James MacArthur). Others in the cast include Kam Fong, Herman Wedemeyer, Harry Endo, Zulu, Richard Denning, Al Harrington, Al Eben, Peggy Ryan, Glenn Cannon, Danny Kamekona, Moe Keale, Douglas Mossman, and Kwan Hi Lim.
A revival series was first attempted in 1997, led by legendary producer Stephen J. Cannell. A pilot was filmed with Gary Busey in the lead role and several castmembers from the original series returned for the project. Lord was in ill health (he died in 1998) and didn’t participate and the project was ultimately deemed “unairable” by CBS execs.
Last year, it was reported that CBS was toying with the idea of remaking Hawaii Five-0 once again. The project was to be led by be Criminal Minds executive producer Ed Bernerdo and was expected to center around Steve McGarrett’s son. It never got off the ground.
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The network decided to try again, relying this time on a team that includes a pair of feature writers who know about rebooting old TV shows. Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci (Star Trek, Transformers, and Mission Impossible III) and Peter Lenkov (CSI: New York executive producer) were put in charge. Lenkov wrote the pilot script, under the supervision of Kurtzman and Orci.
CBS has now given a greenlight for the pilot and all three scribes are on board as executive producers.
EW is reporting that the network may rely on a familiar face for the lead role. It’s being rumored that Alex O’Loughlin (Three Rivers and Moonlight) is currently in discussions to play Steve McGarrett.
Last week, CBS president Nina Tassler confirmed that Three Rivers was indeed dead, freeing up the actor’s schedule. She also reiterated the network’s desire to be in business with actor. Tassler said, “We love him and want him to stay around a long time.”
What do you think? Is O’Loughlin right for the role of Steve McGarrett? Are you interested in watching a remake of Hawaii Five-0? Could this one succeed where other TV remakes have failed?
most certainly, Mr. O’Loughlin would be smoking HAWT as an island cop…send him the script…pleeez!!!
Just so you know the Chris McGarrett story line I think was scratched in favor of Alex Kurtzman and Robert Orci’s idea with the lead being Steve McGarrett,I still think this show will be amazing with these writers on board,And Alex will be perfect for this role IMO,he showed he does this kind of character very well in “The Shield” and “Moonlight”.Alex is a wonderful actor he is very versatile and makes every character he plays come alive.I am looking forward to this show and know that this will be the series that will last many years to come.
Will the lead character be Steve McGarrett or his son Chris? I read that Bernero’s earlier concept has Chris. Does anyone have direct access to information on Lenkov/Orci/Kurtzman’s script?
I’ll follow Alex to any show but I have to say, how can you breath life into a 40-year old classic that had a 12 -season run and made Jack Lord into a pop icon? This is a tall order and BTW, is there any new ideas left?
Ok, really? I know they like Alex o’loughlin and wanna keep him around, but why do they keep giving him projects that are not very good. I loved moonlight and they would probably get a better following now on the wings of the twilight movies. But I watched three rivers and I knew it was gonna tank. It just lacked an urgency or any really good drama. Plus the TV is really saturated with medical drama’s right now for some reason. I can only watch so many. I can say if they do put him on this Hawaii 5-O thing,… Read more »
Hawaii Five O is a spin-off, not a remake. The new version will be updated with current story lines and filmed in Hawaii. The leading character will be Chris McGarrett, the son of the original show’s Steve McGarrett. I am extremely happy and excited about this new show, an updated crime drama.
@Cara: I believe this project is actually a remake. The project that you’re speaking of (mentioned in the article) was developed in 2008 but didn’t take off.
Thank you – I got so tired of people calling it a “remake”.
Alex O’Loughlin as Chris McGarrett on Hawaii Five O. I believe that this extremely gifted and charismatic actor is brilliant and ideal for the leading detective role. I wish Alex good luck and best wishes on this new show for the 2010-2011 season. Alex truly and absolutely deserves a long running crime drama series on CBS.
I think Alex is a rising star, but he will crash and burn again in this remake. The odds of remakes succeeding are 0%. Knight Rider, Bionic Woman, Terminator, Melrose Place (isn’t doing well and may already be canceled) just to name a few. Apparently, they have already tried twice to revive this old show and failed. Why does CBS keep airing different versions of NCIS and CSI and now trying to revive an old show from the ’60s? They had something fresh and original in Moonlight. Vampire shows are in right now and this show still has a loyal… Read more »
Yes, CBS should give a decent series to Alex. If the guys that did Star Trek are writing the pilot for Hawaii 5 0 it should really be good. Please, give the show a chance. You don’t seem to let the series flesh out. What’s with that? Anyway just stop jerking Alex around. He deserves something fantastic because he always gives his all.
Alex is simply the best actor around, a true superstar! He is charismatic, handsome and so talented. This would be a great role for him. I can’t wait to see him back on my TV screen.
Alex O’Loughlin would absolutely SHINE in this role! He is an incredibly talented actor, brilliant and gorgeous and I want him back on my TV as soon as possible…
Alex O’Loughlin is perfect for the role, if anyone could pull it off is HIM!
CBS refuses to bring Moonlight back because they won’t admit they made a mistake. With all the vampire popularity now it could bring in higher numbers than the previous run. Three Rivers had the football overtimes working against it. They made a mistake switching the 2nd episode to air first ,it was not very good and the continuity was off because of airing out of sequence. The show got better especially the ALS story. It could have made it but CBS lost faith. I hope Alex gets to do Hawaii 50, he deserves better than the treatment he has gotten… Read more »
I WANT MOONLIGHT BACK!!!!!!!!
I will watch any show that puts Alex O’Loughlin back on my TV screen. From everything I’ve read the Hawaii Five O remake has a lot going for it with such wonderful writers heading this series. My hope is they are able to bring to it the same fun and energy they injected into the new Star Trek movie. By the way, the remake’s main character will be Chris Garrett, the son of Steve McGarrett, so there will be no need for any actor to step into Jack Lord’s shoes.