Hal Holbrook to guest star


by Mr. Mike » Wed Mar 08, 2017 8:32 am

Hal Holbrook, who is 92, will be appearing on Five-Zero soon. Of course, he will be a "veteran."

http://www.tvguide.com/news/hawaii-five-0-spoilers-hal-holbrook/

I'm just thinking, on the old show, weren't there more "older people"? On the new show, every time they show people on the beach it is all boobs and bums. An example of older people would be in The Young Assassins where these middle-aged tourists got drilled by the nasty terrorists at the beginning of the show...


by honu59 » Wed Mar 08, 2017 8:49 am

Mike, I think you're correct about the lack of "older people" though I might say the lack of a variety of ages. I'm going to sound ancient here, but it is probably the current worship of youth and "beauty." (I think that plenty of older folks are beautiful!) I think that the original Five-O showed a variety of ages, which added to the realism of the show. Not everyone on Waikiki beach is twenty something, slim, tanned and gorgeous. You mentioned the middle aged couple in "The Young Assassins" who had saved their money for many years for a trip to Hawaii and they finally made it. There were also children on the beach (like the little blond boy in "Pray Love Remember, Pray Love Remember") I've actually quit watching the new show. It had become a gross waste of my time and I didn't like seeing Leonard Freeman's name in the credits. This is so far from his original, excellent creation.


by Fred » Wed Mar 08, 2017 5:37 pm

Mike, I think you're absolutely right. Although, there was a decent share of boobs and bums in the old show. Thanks to Miss Dulce and others.

But think about it. Back in the 60s and early 70s, the young adults were generally considered hippies and dope heads or off fighting in Vietnam. The demographics were probably towards viewers over 40 back then. Now we have the Millennial and Gen X generations who have there own valuable marketable demographic. Clearly, the new show caters towards them.


by H50 1.0 FOREVER* » Wed Mar 08, 2017 8:18 pm

Yes, the original show featured mostly older people: career-age people (age 30-45; e.g., Monte Markham) and middle aged people (age 50-65; e.g., Cyd Charisse and Ed Asner). A few were senior citizens (65+; e.g., Mildred Natwick and Helen Hayes).

Young people (18-30; e.g., John Ritter, Dennis Chun) were the minority and weren't shown favorably, as a general rule (e.g., "Not That Much Different," "Up Tight," and "Two Doves and Mr. Heron).

But, in those days, young people started at the bottom and worked their way up; e.g., Sanford Meisner told Jack Lord that he would have to act for 20 years before he would become a true actor. He would have to pay his dues by playing criminal cowboys before he could hope to become Stoney Burke or Steve McGarrett.

Now, of course, times have changed. Those starting out can start at the top, although one has to wonder why, since too many of them seem ill-trained and completely lacking in experience.


by ringfire211 » Fri Mar 10, 2017 7:42 pm

I will always remember Hal Holbrook for his excellent work in CAPRICORN ONE, an exceptional conspiracy thriller from 1978 about a faked moon landing. One of my all-time favorite films!! Unfortunately largely forgotten these days. The sensational crop-duster vs helicopters aerial at the end amongst the desert canyons is one of the most amazing aerials ever captured on film. Telly Savalas (in a hilarious turn!) is the crop-duster pilot. Take note, Mr. Mike. Anyway just a great cast all around - Elliott Gould, James Brolin, Sam Waterston, O.J. Simpson, Brenda Vaccaro, Karen Black, David Huddleston, Holbrook, Savalas. Directed by Peter Hyams and with an excellent brassy score by Jerry Goldsmith!

Of course I'll also fondly recall Holbrook as Dirty Harry's crooked boss in the excellent MAGNUM FORCE! And then he was the head of "the star chamber" in the film of the same name (opposite Michael Douglas), again directed by Peter Hyams.


by todd » Tue Mar 14, 2017 8:46 am

The original Five-O would have been a flop in the 2010s. While I love it, the show is also quite dated, and wouldn't appeal to the masses nowadays.

Visuals are more important today than in 1968. While both shows appealed to audience via their beautiful Hawaiian locale, the newer show enhances the colors in the scenery and stocks beach scenes full of attractive twenty-somethings. For the older show, it was enough of a novelty to be set in Hawaii, so nothing further had to be done.

Even the 2010 show's cast reflects some of the change in visuals.

Ages of main cast when show started:

ORIGINAL
Jack Lord 48
James MacArthur 41
Kam Fong 50
Zulu 41

NEW
Alex O'Loughlin 34
Scott Caan 34
Daniel Dae Kim 42
Grace Park 36

In addition to being younger, all four leads in the newer show are attractive. In the original, Kam Fong and Zulu were overweight and not conventionally attractive.

None of this bothers me about the new show.

It has been clear from the start that Five-0 is somewhat of a visual show, and youth comes along with that. There are plenty of shows on TV featuring older and/or less attractive people, but this show was never intended to be one of them.

I'd just like to see the new show stick to the main storylines more often and waste a lot less time.


by honu59 » Tue Mar 14, 2017 9:07 am

James MacArthur was 30 years old when Hawaii Five-O began in 1968. He turned 31 in December of that year. And I prefer the appearance of all four of the original detectives. The variety of ages, ethnic groups, and even weights made them more interesting and added to the realism of the show. Police departments are not modeling agencies.


by honu59 » Tue Mar 14, 2017 10:23 am

Zulu was also 30 years old when the series began in 1968. He turned 31 in October of that year. So that's two stars who were younger than those of the new show at its beginning. Both JMac's Danny and Zulu's Kono behaved like responsible adults in the show. Guess that it was just the times. When one was 30 back then, one was an adult with responsibilities and behaved as such.


by Vrinda » Tue Mar 14, 2017 1:36 pm

honu59 wrote:Police departments are not modeling agencies.

But Jack Lord and James McArthur certainly made Five-O look like one.


by todd » Wed Mar 15, 2017 12:13 am

Yeah, I screwed up on James Macarthur and Zulu's ages. They were 10 years younger than what I listed above. Oops.


by Vrinda » Wed Mar 15, 2017 8:00 pm

todd wrote:The original Five-O would have been a flop in the 2010s. While I love it, the show is also quite dated, and wouldn't appeal to the masses nowadays.

If the original Hawaii Five-O aired today as a first-run series, it wouldn't look like it did in 1968-1980. It would have 2010 fashion, cars, and technology, and modern story writing and filming.

The original show is a product of its time, like all shows are. It depicted the world as it looked from the late '60s to the late '70s. It ran at a time when there were less commercials, so shows could expand more on storytelling. There was a greater emphasis on focusing on one lead actor with the rest being secondary, while still getting the spotlight on them now and then. They didn't have the hi-tech gadgetry of today's shows, so they relied more on traditional gut-and-grits crime-solving.

Modern TV crime shows do a lot to take away from telling a good story. They have such large ensemble casts that each actor has to get their share of screen time, and then that cuts down more on the investigational side. Then throw in the requisite soap-opera side story about an old flame, child, spouse, or romantic relationship between co-workers, a story arc that gets more and more confusing and wears out its welcome after the first three episodes in which it's used, and there is even less time for the crime of the week.

Such production values would have gotten these shows cancelled quickly in decades past, and they aren't accepted by all audience members today. The new Hawaii Five-O is on the air because it is a money-maker for CBS, like the old show was, and because CBS wants a return on their investment. It's costly to film in Hawaii, and the pilot was the most expensive one they made up that time (2010), so they want to get some cash in their coffers after all they put into it.

The way the new show is set up in no way reflects the viewing tastes of all audience members today. Many fans like the show for certain aspects, but not all. Some are watching just to see Alex. Some are watching to see the carguments and the other antics of Steve and Danno. Let's not forget the men who howl like wolves at Grace Park. Some are only watching to see the Hawaiian scenery - which is not filmed well at all. Some watch just because it's Hawaii Five-O and because they see it as a legacy to the original, but a very weak one.

They enhance the colors using some graphic technique which makes them look fake. The jump cuts, flash cuts, and continues shots of the beach and young beachcombers don't represent the true beauty of the Hawaiian landscape.

Daniel Dae Kim is good looking, but I don't consider anyone else in the main cast to be attractive. Like other posters said, Kam and Zulu were more realistic. They were native Hawaiians and were cast to give the casting a local flavor and authenticity, and their inexperience with acting made them more likely to give their performances realism. Like Honu said, police departments are not modeling agencies. However, Jack Lord and James MacArthur were extremely handsome, yet did not fall into any cookie-cutter categories of attractiveness - i.e., they did not look a dozen other actors on other shows of the time, like today. Their looks were as unique as their talents and personalities.