Saturday, May 22, 2010

Alex O'Loughlin's Hawaii Five-O reboot officially picked up by CBS



Not surprisingly, CBS has given the green light to Alex O'Loughin's new tv show. As you know, it is the remake of Hawaii Five-O. Many have speculated about whether or not Alex will be trying to step into Jack Lord's shoes, or create a totally different character. That is mentioned in this great article by Mari-Ela David.

Alex's program will air on Monday nights at 9:00 PM Central Time / 10:00 PM Eastern Time.

CBS picks up new Hawaii Five-O series
By Mari-Ela David
Hawaii News Now

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - 'Hawaii Five-O', take two! In showbiz slang, the Five-O pilot has been picked up.

That means the episode filmed here in March will be on CBS in prime time this fall.

That could also mean big bucks for Hawaii's production industry and tourism.

At Big City Diner at Ward on some of their TV screens, there were re-runs of the original 'Hawaii Five-O' playing. Folks there said they're excited about the remake although some say they're a little skeptical.

"It won't be the same, but maybe it'll be better, we'll see. I'll check it out," said Sandra Blazel, a fan who says she used to watch the show whenever she felt homesick while off to college on the mainland.

"I was in the Marines and it was a hot show and it's just great to have it back. I hope it's as good as it was," said Gary Mynatt, a fan.

Alex O'Loughlin will take over Jack Lord's shoes, and 'Lost' celebrity Daniel Dae Kim will star as Chin Ho Kelly. Jean Smart, famous for playing Charlene in the sitcom "Designing Women" has been cast as Hawaii's governor.

This past March, the new 'Hawaii Five-O' shot pilot episodes all over Oahu, including Chinatown, Downtown Honolulu, and inside the post office on Richards Street.

"My knee jerk reaction is fantastic! Fantastic for Hawaii! Because this gives us an opportunity to be in the mainstream of television," said Al Harrington, who played Detective Ben Kokua in the original Five-O, which aired on CBS from 1968 to 1980, making it one of the longest running crime shows on American TV.

Harrington says the drama exposed Hawaii to the world.

"People used to think that Pearl Harbor was some place in the Caribbean. There was a lot of misconceptions," he said.

Harrington hopes the remake will continue to portray Hawaii as it really is.

"I just wish them the very best. And I hope that if they need an old actor, come see Al Harrington," he said chuckling.

The challenge is how to cater the show to this generation without compromising the integrity of the classic Five-O.

Rumor has it that O'Loughlin will actually play Steve McGarrett's son.

"Perhaps you've heard it's not really a new Jack Lord character but part of that family and you might be right about that but I think we have to wait and see when the up fronts come out on Wednesday," said Georja Skinner from the Hawaii Film Office.

Skinner says pre-production starts in mid-June, and shooting starts mid-July.

Exact numbers aren't in yet but the state says the new version of 'Hawaii Five-O' could bring in more than a million dollars per year to Hawaii's economy. That's based on how much revenue the series 'Lost' raked in.

Honolulu mayor Mufi Hannemann applauded the decision to green light the series.

"The City and County of Honolulu pulled out all the stops to assist with the making of the new pilot episode because a network television series translates into significant economic development for Hawaii. We look forward to supporting the production as it goes forward into series" said Hannemann in a statement.


http://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/global/story.asp?s=12497198

Photographs ~ Alex O'Loughlin and Daniel Dae Kim

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