(2005) . It was 25 years ago, on March 5th 1980, that Hawaii Five-O came to an end. There were cop shows all throughout the 70's and plenty after that ,but (as far as action oriented cop shows go)MacGarret & crew still reign supreme. Shows like Hill Street Blues & NYPD Blue (which just missed being on as long as 5-0 by about 20 episodes or so)give us the ultra-real look at cops and their lives and all the dramas that goes with it.
Hawaii 5-O,however,is still the show to watch for well written story-lines and great police/bad guy action. Not all the bad guys are crooks,sometimes their people who have suffered some sort of mental breakdown or maybe they are misunderstood youth (of the 60's & 70's). MacGarret,while tough as can be,treats all cases and people involved with them with a humanity that before this was not usually part of a police drama. Unlike Jack Webb of Dragnet,Steve was allowed to make mistakes and be imperfect.
Sidekick,Danny (Danno) Williams,is no second banana! I recently watched a show where he himself has to take on a crazed suicide bomber who's exacting revenge on Dan for killing his brother. James MacAurther looks and acts tough in that episode and pulls it off marvelously. Chin and Kono are great go-between guys as well,doing a lot of the necessary footwork.
The rest of the cast is tops as well.
The best ones would seasons for me are 1 to 11. Season 10 marked a farewell to Kam Fong & his Chin Ho Kelly character. Season 11 was James MacArthur's last also , but I can honestly say ,both seasons are great.
Season 12 is hit & miss with some fairly good story lines and Jack Lord's still on top of his game ...but replacement actors William Smith & Co. Really didn't fill the void fans felt ,in missing Danny & Chin.
At least MacGarret catches nemesis Wo Fat in the grand 1 hour finale (I wont say how!) 5-O forever! (END)
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