Rearview Mirror: Former Gov. Burns inspired the original ‘Hawaii Five-O’

Last week I had the pleasure of giving an Oahu tour to actress Tovah Feldshuh (“Walking Dead,” “Brewster’s Millions” and “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend”). She was in town for the Hawaii debut of the film “Golda’s Balcony.” Feldshuh has won several awards for her performance about the life of former Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir.

We visited Ian Anthony Dale, who plays Adam Noshimuri in “Hawaii Five-0,” at the Diamond Head Film Studio. He and Feldshuh both worked on the TV series “Salvation” for two years.

I told the two of them some of the more interesting things I know about the original “Hawaii Five-O” and the discussion inspired this week’s column.

The idea for “Hawaii Five-O” came from Gov. John Burns, who wanted to create a statewide police task force that reported directly to the governor to deal with serious crimes.

He shared the idea with CBS producer Leonard Freeman when the Legislature rejected it. Freeman set the show in Hawaii because his mother-in-law, Amelia, lived here and wanted to see him more often.

Islanders were concerned that a crime show might portray Hawaii negatively. Somehow, however, the 300 million people who watched the show in 80 countries did not see Hawaii as crime-ridden. They saw beautiful beaches and mountains. With the opening shot of a perfectly formed wave at Pipeline, they were hooked.

When “Hawaii Five-O” went on the air in 1968, about 800,000 tourists visited the islands each year. Twelve years later when it wrapped for the last time, 4 million visited.

KHON2 News anchor Joe Moore, who guest-starred in 12 episodes, believes that the economic impact of the original “Five-O” was enormous.

“The huge growth in our tourism can be directly attributed to the exposure given the islands every week on ‘Hawaii Five-O.’ It was an hourlong commercial for Hawaii every week for 12 seasons.”

Freeman’s original title for the show was “The Man.”

The names of the original show and the current show are slightly different. You have to look closely. The “O” in the original was the letter. The current show, which began airing in 2010, uses the number, “0.” Both names are a nod to our being the 50th state.

Gregory Peck and Richard Boone were considered for the role of Steve McGarrett before Jack Lord.

Lord was seriously considered for the role of Captain Kirk in “Star Trek.” Lord wanted to co-produce that series and own a percentage of it. The show’s creator, Gene Roddenberry, wasn’t willing to meet his demands and cast William Shatner instead.

Lord was nearly fired from the show. Honolulu Advertiser columnist Eddie Sherman, in his book “Frank, Sammy, Marlon, & Me,” says it began with a misunderstanding.

When they built the Diamond Head Film Studio, Sherman and a few others gave Freeman, producer of “Hawaii Five-O,” some stock in the new studio in appreciation for his being a new tenant. Freeman was unaware they had done it.

Lord saw the stock certificate and offhandedly mentioned it to CBS executives, who thought it was a conflict of interest. Freeman traveled to Los Angeles and was able to explain it to them but was furious with Lord. “I don’t need the star of my show stabbing me in the back,” he told them.

Back in Hawaii, Freeman and Sherman had breakfast at the Kahala Hilton. Freeman told him he was going to walk next door to Lord’s apartment and fire him. Lord’s replacement would be Lloyd Bridges from the show “Sea Hunt!”

Twenty minutes later he returned. “I just couldn’t fire him,” he told Sherman.

Freeman said that Lord became hysterical. He explained he didn’t intend to get him in trouble. Lord then got on the floor and grabbed Freeman around the ankles and begged for forgiveness.

It’s hard for me to imagine Lord crying and hugging Freeman’s ankles, but remember, Lord was an actor.

It was a good thing he kept Lord on. When Freeman died in 1974, Lord took the helm and kept the show going for five more years. Few shows survive the departure of their creator.

“Hawaii Five-O’s” signature line was spoken by Steve McGarrett (Lord) to Danny Williams (James MacArthur) occasionally when they caught the bad guy: “Book ’em, Danno.”

Jerome Coopersmith wrote 32 episodes of “Hawaii Five-O.” He lived in New York and had not visited Hawaii until the third season. Where did he get his inspiration?

“I had the problem of how to visualize a place I’d never seen,” Coopersmith said. “I did, however, find a solution. My wife, Judy, and I had been to Puerto Rico several times on vacations.

“It occurred to me that Puerto Rico was of a similar size and had a similar climate to Hawaii. From then on I used Puerto Rico for my visualizations, and no one ever knew the difference.”

Finally, he came to Hawaii in 1971. As his taxi left the airport, he scanned the lush terrain in amazement. “Judy, look!” Coopersmith said. “Just like Puerto Rico!”

In 1979, “Hawaii Five-O” actor MacArthur decided not to return for a 12th season of the show. Lord turned to a local newscaster to be his replacement,

“Following the 11th season,” KHON2 newsman Joe Moore recalls, “Jack Lord called and asked me to lunch at his Kahala apartment. I’d had several dinners with him over the years, and we got along really well. He told me about MacArthur leaving and said he was gearing up for what he expected to be the show’s final two seasons.”

After guest-starring in 11 episodes up to that point, Lord said he’d like Moore to join the “Five-O” team as a new character.

“Jack’s idea was that I would play a young police officer that he’d picked from HPD to join Five-O. I would do a lot of the action scenes that Jack felt he was getting a little too old for. I was 31 then,” Moore continues.

At the time, Moore manned the sports desk at KHON. “Obviously, it was an extremely flattering and tempting offer, but it came just as KHON was asking me to switch from sportscaster to news anchor. I’ve always enjoyed acting, but also realized the chances of being a successful full-time actor were slim.”

Lord made the offer on a Friday and told Moore to think about it over the weekend. “I got back to him on Monday morning and said it was a hard decision but I was going to stay in the news business. Jack’s was an offer I couldn’t refuse … but did.

“I told him I hoped I could still guest on ‘Five-O.’ He said, ‘Of course,’ and it wasn’t long after that I did the role of the astrology-loving boxer in ‘Sign of the Ram.’”

Moore says his friendship with Lord began in 1972. “The first day working on an episode called ‘Skinhead,’ we filmed a scene together in the morning. Jack invited me into his trailer for lunch, and something between us clicked.”

“We had a great conversation, and that started a long friendship and his mentoring of me as an actor. When I thanked him in later years for all his help, he said John Wayne had done the same thing for him.”

Moore probably made the right decision. It turned out to be “Hawaii Five-O’s” last season, and 2019 marks his 40th year anchoring the KHON2 News.

When “Hawaii Five-O” went off the air in 1980, CBS moved another show to the islands to take advantage of the great staff and facilities in Hawaii.

It was originally entitled “H.H. Flynn” and was set in Bel Air, Calif.

The lead character was nicknamed “Cutter,” a military veteran who became a private investigator after serving in Vietnam. Set in Hawaii, the show became “Magnum, P.I.”

Have a question or suggestion? Contact Bob Sigall, author of the five “The Companies We Keep” books, at Sigall@Yahoo.com.