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Two CBS dramas produced by Peter Lenkov are doing a crossover episode airing March 10, with “Hawaii Five-0” stars Daniel Dae Kim, Grace Park and Taylor Wily appearing on “MacGyver,” which stars Lucas Till and George Eads.
Entertainment Weekly confirmed what was a rumor, leaked last week by “Mac” star Till in a Twitter photo.
Segments in the episode, titled “Flashlight,” are being filmed on the Big Island and in Atlanta. Rumors of a crossover persisted last fall after Lenkov — thinking out loud at Comic-Con in San Diego — hinted that a partnership was logical.
But some “Five-0” fans are not thoroughly impressed, because Alex O’Loughlin (Steve McGarrett) and Scott Caan (Danny “Danno” Williams) are not part of the crossover, perhaps because of schedule and/or plot mandates.
The episode will unite Kim (Chin Ho Kelly) and Park (Kono Kalakaua) along with Wily (Kamekona), who summon Till (MacGyver) and Eads (Jack) to help the Hawaii crime force rescue government scientists trapped in a building on the edge of collapse during earthquake relief efforts. Mac, of course, is the whiz kid who knows how to combat crime and circumvent disaster with mundane, decidedly low-tech equipment and theories. The quake turns out to be a diversion for the baddies trying to steal secret weaponry.
The precise nature of Mac’s unconventional talent has not been revealed.
Meanwhile, “Five-0” is completing its seventh season, earning some of its best ratings numbers ever, as it awaits word of a Season 8. “MacGyver,” in its freshman season, already has been green-lighted for a second year.
Both shows air on CBS on Fridays, with “Mac” at 7 p.m. followed by “Five-0” at 8 p.m.
UKULELE TALK
Jake Shimabukuro, the pre-eminent ukulele virtuoso, returned to his alma mater, Ala Wai Elementary School, on Wednesday to donate 40 restored and repaired ukuleles so students can take them home to practice and perhaps one day become a star strummer. Yes, he also performed.
He teamed up with the Music for Life Foundation, a community nonprofit, to enable schools to bolster and continue their uke programs.
When Kamaka Ukulele marked its 100th anniversary last year, Shimabukuro committed to help restore 100 Kamaka ukes in a symbolic move to keep the strumming momentum going.
“This is where I learned ukulele,” said Shimabukuro in a statement about his Ala Wai days. “These are exactly the same ukuleles I played on when I was a student here.”
Chris Kamaka, a member of Ho‘okena and son of Kamaka founder Sam Kamaka, also was on hand for the milestone moment.
NAME DROPPING
>> Home again: Takeo Kobayashi and Eric Chandler, the 2Couture partners and fashion and beauty pageant icons, are back home again, this time settling in sleepy Hilo town. They spent the past three years residing on the mainland but decided there’s no place like Hawaii. …
>> Symphonic “Moana”: Auli‘i Cravalho, the Kamehameha Schools student who voiced the lead character in Disney’s fall animated hit, “Moana,” will make her debut with the Hawai‘i Symphony Orchestra in “A Night on the Red Carpet,” unfolding at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Blaisdell Concert Hall. Cravalho will perform Lin-Manuel Miranda’s “How Far I’ll Go,” which she sings in the movie and on the soundtrack CD, and is an Academy Award nominee for best song this year. (The Oscarcast will be on ABC on Feb. 26.) Maestro Richard Kaufman conducts movie themes from “Gone With the Wind,” “Hawaii” and “Forrest Gump.” Tickets: 946-8742.
And that’s “Show Biz.”
Wayne Harada is a veteran Honolulu entertainment columnist. Reach him at 266-0926 or email wayneharada@gmail.com.
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