The Hawaii Five-O Quick FAQ
(Frequently Asked Questions)
Is there a real "Hawaii Five-O" -- a state police agency?
Hawaii does not and never did have a state police force.
Why was it called Five-O, anyway?
Hawaii was the fiftieth state in the union.
Is Hawaii Five-O available on DVD or video?
The show's first season was released in the USA and Canada by Paramount on DVD on March 6, 2007, the second season on July 31, 2007 and the third season on January 22, 2008. The fourth season has been announced for June 10, 2008. No other seasons have been announced yet.
There are "complete" DVD sets of the show being sold on Ebay and other web sites. These are NOT official releases and are likely taken from TV broadcasts and the tapes released by Columbia House. Some people have reported these DVDs are mediocre in quality and the WWW sites selling them leave a lot to be desired as far as customer service is concerned. I personally have no idea what the quality of these DVDs is like, having never purchased any of them.
VHS tapes of selected episodes were released by Columbia House in the USA and Canada. They are no longer available.
Is Paramount going to release more seasons of Five-O on DVD?
The way it normally works is like this -- if lots of people buy the first season(s), then Paramount will release more. Since it looks like the first season's DVD release was a big success (based on what I have been told), this is quite likely.
Will you make copies of such and such an episode for me?
If you are convincing enough, I may relent and make copies of individual episodes for you on DVD (not from any seasons currently commercially available on DVD, though -- go and buy the box sets!). Be warned, I consider doing this a major PITA since it ties up my computer for hours, and I am not going to do it for peanuts.
As an experiment, I actually created DVDs of the legendarily bad twelfth season, and also have a few other Five-O related goodies to offer in DVD format. If you are interested, e-mail me through the link on the main Five-O page.
Where can I get tapes of Hawaii Five-O?
Anyone interested in copies of Hawaii Five-O episodes (mostly all full versions) can contact Barbara Brindle at 105 Warren Road, Sparta, NJ 07871. Unfortunately, Barbara does not have an email address.
Ron Evans, owner of e/p Partners, http://www.networksplus.net/caseyguy/epPartners.htm also offers VCR tapes of Hawaii Five-O, Jack Lord and James MacArthur, among others.
(The above is offered for information purposes only.)
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?
No one at CBS or Paramount has offered a direct explanation as to why this is so. According to Mrs. Leonard Freeman (wife of the late creator of the show), speaking to some fans at the 1996 Five-O convention, someone tried the hanging technique depicted in the show (supposedly yoga-related, but more like autoerotic asphyxiation) and killed themselves. As a result, the show was not rebroadcast and never included in any syndication packages. As far as the DVD set is concerned, including this episode would necessitate having a 7th DVD with one episode (or spreading 25 episodes over 7 DVDs), which would result in extra expense for Paramount as far as packaging is concerned.
Is there going to be a Five-O movie?
There have been rumours about this for several years and a movie seems to be in what might be described as "a stage of development." When and if an announcement about the movie is definite, you'll read about it here.
Is Jack Lord still alive? What about the other stars?
No, Lord died January 21, 1998 from congestive heart failure. Other stars of the show who have passed away include Kam Fong (Chin Ho Kelly - October 18, 2002, of lung cancer), Gilbert Kauhi -- Zulu (Kono -- May 3, 2004, from complications of diabetes), Herman Wedemeyer (Duke -- January 25, 1999, heart attack), Richard Denning (Governor -- October 11, 1998, cardiac arrest), Moe Keale (Truck -- April 15, 2002 of "natural causes") and Khigh Dhiegh (Wo Fat -- October 25, 1991, of kidney and heart failure). Stars who are still alive include James MacArthur (Danno), Al Harrington (Ben) and Harry Endo (Che Fong).
Who played the main theme? Was it the Ventures?
The main theme was played by studio musicians under the direction of Morton Stevens, who composed it. The Ventures later made a popular recording of the main theme on Liberty Records.
Is the Five-O soundtrack (released on LP record many years ago) available on CD?'
It is not available on CD, other than the main theme being on some compilations. Last time I asked, there was a condition for releasing the soundtrack album which is that only this music (which is about 30 minutes long in total) could be on the CD, and nothing else (i.e., it couldn't be combined with some other short LP). There are recently-made audiophile LPs of the soundtrack still being sold; I have seen these on Ebay.