Hawaii Five-O (or Hawaii Five-0)

The idea for “Hawaii Five-O” came from Gov. John Burns, who wanted to create a statewide police task force that reported directly to the governor to deal with serious crimes.

He shared the idea with CBS producer Leonard Freeman when the Legislature rejected it. Freeman set the show in Hawaii because his mother-in-law, Amelia, lived here and wanted to see him more often.

Islanders were concerned that a crime show might portray Hawaii negatively. Somehow, however, the 300 million people who watched the show in 80 countries did not see Hawaii as crime-ridden. They saw beautiful beaches and mountains. With the opening shot of a perfectly formed wave at Pipeline, they were hooked.

When “Hawaii Five-O” went on the air in 1968, about 800,000 tourists visited the islands each year. Twelve years later when it wrapped for the last time, 4 million visited.

KHON2 News anchor Joe Moore, who guest-starred in 12 episodes, believes that the economic impact of the original “Five-O” was enormous.

“The huge growth in our tourism can be directly attributed to the exposure given the islands every week on ‘Hawaii Five-O.’ It was an hourlong commercial for Hawaii every week for 12 seasons.”

The names of the original show and the current show are slightly different. You have to look closely. The “O” in the original was the letter. The current show, which began airing in 2010, uses the number, “0.” Both names are a nod to our being the 50th state.

Gregory Peck and Richard Boone were considered for the role of Steve McGarrett before Jack Lord.

Lord was seriously considered for the role of Captain Kirk in “Star Trek.” Lord wanted to co-produce that series and own a percentage of it. The show’s creator, Gene Roddenberry, wasn’t willing to meet his demands and cast William Shatner instead.