HAWAII FIVE-O ON DVD

Season Four of Hawaii Five-O was released on June 10, 2008. The only bonus feature is episode promos. As in previous sets, the color for the episodes is excellent. A couple of minor annoyances with this set. First, Paramount persists in using the title card for James MacArthur identifying him as "Danny," rather than "Dan Williams" at the beginning. And second, the two-part show The 90-Second War is spread across two discs, presumably because to keep the order of the shows. I would not have complained if they bumped the show ahead of this to the next disc.

Season Three of Hawaii Five-O was released on DVD on January 22nd, 2008. There have been minor complaints about editing in some episodes. In "Trouble in Mind," there is a fragment of a song removed -- Honeysuckle Rose is not included, presumably because of music rights. From the time McGarrett leaves his office at the beginning of the show to when Wilson says "Maybe it's me..." is cut out (approximately 24 seconds). Click here to see the missing material (requires QuickTime). In "Force of Waves," one scene has been reported as missing, but this is unsubstantiated.

Season Two of Hawaii Five-O was released on DVD on July 31st, 2007.

The set does not include the suppressed episode "Bored She Hung Herself" as per a disclaimer on the back of the box, which also says that some episodes are edited. These omissions were only revealed in the last two weeks prior to July 31st when people began to receive review copies of the set; prior to this, web sites suggested that the season was "complete" and would include the suppressed episode, based on information supplied by Paramount.

In the second season box set, the main titles are actually the main titles from season one -- Paramount/CBS seemingly never bothered to remaster these. The only difference in the second season titles is the line "as Dan Williams" instead of "as Danny" for James MacArthur's credit. If this is the case, then all the second season DVD episodes are "edited." I've also been told that the main titles for the last season two episode -- "Kiss the Queen Goodbye" -- uses the theme music from season one.

On the positive side, the set does include the previews for the next episode which are placed on the DVDs prior to the episodes they refer to (with two exceptions -- there are no previews for the episode "To Hell With Babe Ruth" and the two-part "Three Dead Cows at Makapuu"). These previews look remarkably cleaned up, similar to the shows themselves.

I have updated my usual "anal-ysis" for "Bored She Hung Herself" with a new and lengthy synopsis of the complete plot of the episode, as well as the beginning and end credits. To see this, click on this link.

P.S.: This episode has been uploaded to Usenet newsgroups as well as file-sharing and torrent web sites.

The first season, available on DVD since March, 2007, is a 7 disc set with all 23 episodes, plus "Cocoon," the pilot movie, for a total time of 21 hours, 10 mins, and 40 seconds.

The only "extra" with the first season DVD box set is the documentary "Emme Tomimbang's Island Moments: Memories of Hawaii Five-O," a 45-minute-long show that aired in October 1996 on KHNL, NBC affiliate in Honolulu, at the time of the first Hawaii Five-O reunion. In this show, James MacArthur is the co-host with Honolulu TV personality Emme Tomimbang as they reminisce with various cast and crew. Persons featured include Rose Freeman, Marie Lord (Jack Lord's wife), Zulu (Gilbert Kauhi), Glenn Cannon, Kam Fong, Harry Endo, Jimmy Borges and others. This show has been edited since its original broadcast to remove any film clips from shows later than the first season.

Be warned if you purchase DVDs of the show on Ebay and other Internet sites, especially complete sets: anything after the sixth season is not official and is either taken from dubs of TV broadcasts or the Columbia House video tape episodes which are now out of print.