Happy 50th Birthday, HAWAII FIVE-O! (2 Viewers)

[Jeff*H]

Wanted to make sure to note that today marks the 50th Anniversary of HAWAII FIVE-O, which premiered on September 20th, 1968, on CBS with the pilot movie, which was later rechristened “Cocoon”!! Happy 50th birthday to a true classic that never went out of style!

Here’s a 50th Anniversary salute I found on YouTube to mark the occasion...aloha!

 

[Keith Cobby]

The theme grabs you from the opening bars and never lets go. Great show.

 

[Bob Gu]

 

[Carabimero]

I can certainly appreciate this anniversary more having recently completed watching the entire run. Happy anniversary!

 

[Wiseguy]

Today is the 52nd anniversary of the premiere of the original Hawaii Five-0 (Pilot/Cocoon) and the 10th anniversary of the reboot (Pilot).
September 28th will be the 2nd anniversary of the reboot's remake of "Cocoon."

 

[jcroy]

With the original Mission Impossible being released as a complete series bluray set by ViacomCBS, wonder if there's any plans for an H50 complete series set on bluray. Either the original and/or the reboot.

I have the first three seasons of the reboot on bluray, which had spectacular looking hawaiian lanscape scenes. It was one of the few blurays which looked better than the original CBS broadcasts circa early-2010s. (Dunno about today).

 

[Rick Thompson]

The theme grabs you from the opening bars and never lets go. Great show.

Too bad the tribute replaced it with an unlistenable rock tune. If they ever did a blu-ray set of the original series it would look spectacular, as it was shot on film.

 

[Jeff*H]

Indeed it would, based on the HD digital versions for sale on iTunes, VUDU and Amazon. Those look amazing on my 4K TV, including the remastered season 10 (which was the only season not remastered in the original DVD release of the series, though it was updated in the Complete Series set).

Fingers crossed that the M:I set sells well, which could bode well for a classic H5O release.

 

[bmasters9]

Wanted to make sure to note that today marks the 50th Anniversary of HAWAII FIVE-O, which premiered on September 20th, 1968, on CBS with the pilot movie, which was later rechristened “Cocoon”!! Happy 50th birthday to a true classic that never went out of style!

Here’s a 50th Anniversary salute I found on YouTube to mark the occasion...aloha!

And here's the opening from "Cocoon" (far different than the rest of the show):

 

[Rick Thompson]

And here's the opening from "Cocoon" (far different than the rest of the show):

I guess the pilot was a TV movie, so the credits were set up as a film would have them. That all changed with the series. Even the band sounded bigger on the series.

 

[Wiseguy]

And here's the opening from "Cocoon" (far different than the rest of the show):

I would have liked to have seen the two-part version (shown on CBS in June 1969) on DVD. It was set up like the series with the regular theme song and opening (with a scene from the pilot replacing James MacArthur) and with the wave shown before each commercial break. I saw it on cable once (probably edited) and should have saved the tape.

 

[Jeff*H]

I would have liked to have seen the two-part version (shown on CBS in June 1969) on DVD. It was set up like the series with the regular theme song and opening (with a scene from the pilot replacing James MacArthur) and with the wave shown before each commercial break. I saw it on cable once (probably edited) and should have saved the tape.

The two-part version, just as you remember it, is available for digital purchase on iTunes, Amazon Prime Video, VUDU, etc. It can also be streamed on CBS All Access. It’s generally listed at the end of Season 1, likely because the 2-part version originally aired in June on CBS (technically a rerun of the pilot), after the other episodes finished airing that season.

 

[bmasters9]

The two-part version, just as you remember it, is available for digital purchase on iTunes, Amazon Prime Video, VUDU, etc. It can also be streamed on CBS All Access. It’s generally listed at the end of Season 1, likely because the 2-part version originally aired in June on CBS (technically a rerun of the pilot), after the other episodes finished airing that season.

And the first-season DVD release of O-R Jack Lord Five-O even includes that historical note on the episode guide for the first disc...

 

[ScottRE]

My reintroduction to H5O was the Family Channel run in the late 90’s. The V for Vashon trilogy followed by the Cocoon two parter. I was thrilled with the pilot, it had a great 60’s SF vibe. The brainwashing set was drenched in Jerry Finnerman style Star Trek colors. While there are scenes missing from the two part version (mostly McGarrett’s intro as he goes from his car to the office), there’s an extra scene of McGarrett’s brainwashing that not in the movie version. I was a little disappointed that the series didn’t stay in this direction, but it was still one of my favorite series for a while. There was too many episodes that focused more on the criminals than the main cast, but I usually loved the multi part episodes and the yearly tragedy type where McGarrett or Danno’s girlfriend would be killed or something. Chin-Ho’s death was pretty stark and the only time a main character was actually written out. We never learned who Danno suddenly vanished and that 12th season was a year too far. “Woe to Wo Fat” was pretty laughable, but when the show hit it struck gold. “Nine Dragons” is my favorite episode.

I had the rare honor of meeting writer/producer Jerome Coopersmith a few years ago. He lives in my area and used my law firm for his Estate Planning. The attorney set me up as a witness for his wills and we got to talk about the series and Jack Lord. His daughter said he was thrilled to meet a fan who remembered his work. He happily signed my Columbia House VHS sleeve of "Nine Dragons." It was such a nice moment.