Which TV newsman was almost hired when James MacArthur decided to retire from "Hawaii Five-0"?

Most "Hawaii Five-0" fans know that MacArthur decided not to return for a 12th season of the groundbreaking crime series set in Hawaii.

Few know that the person asked to replace him in the cast was none other than Joe Moore, who had guest-starred in 11 episodes at that point.

"Following the 11th season," 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.

"Jack told me how much he’d enjoyed having me guest on the show in past seasons and said that not only as the star of the show, but also as executive producer, he’d like me to join the ‘Five-0′ 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-0.’ 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 was a sportscaster 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 the news anchor job. I’ve always enjoyed acting, but also realized the chances of being a successful full-time actor are slim."

Jack 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-0.’ 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.’"

How did Moore first get on the show? "I went to the local casting director, Ted Thorpe, in the third season and read for him. He said I was acting for the stage, not acting for TV, and needed to take some lessons. I sought out Glenn Cannon at the University of Hawaii and had a few sessions with him. That got me out of overprojecting and into speaking naturally for the camera.

"Then early in the fourth season, Lord, who was a fan of my nightly sportscasts, called me at the station and said he’d like me to play the part of an Army captain in an upcoming episode (‘Skinhead’ — 1972). That was my first role. I wound up doing 12 episodes during the run of the series."

Moore says his favorite episodes were "Sign of the Ram" (1979), in which he played a boxer, and "Dealer’s Choice Is Blackmail" (1977), in which he played John Ritter’s boss as owner of a small interisland plane company.

"I also enjoyed ‘You Don’t See Many Pirates These Days’ (1977), where I played the assistant of an international crook played by Rossano Brazzi, and ‘The Case Against Philip Christie’ (1978), a mystery where I played a murderer, but viewers didn’t know it until the end of the episode."

Moore says his friendship with Jack Lord began in 1972. "The first day working on the ‘Skinhead’ episode, 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."

Lord coached Moore in a lot of technical tricks of the trade, such as which eye of your fellow actor to focus on during a close-up (the eye closer to the camera), how to position your body in relation to the camera for greatest effect (depends on what you’re trying to achieve), how to prepare your eyes when doing a close-up in bright sunlight (close eyes, tilt head toward sun until just before ready to shoot) and "being in the moment."

Joe Moore probably made the right decision. Today he is the longest-serving news anchor at one station in the country. He has also been able to guest-star in many island-based network series filmed here, as well as many stage appearances.

What does Moore think of the remake of "Five-0"? "I like it," he says. "But since it’s set in the present day, I wish they’d come up with a new cast of characters perhaps led by Jake McGarrett, Steve’s nephew."