Looking Back at 'Hawaii Five-0's Highs & Lows Ahead of Its Series Finale (PHOTOS)
High: People’s Choice Award
Not only did Hawaii Five-0 become the most DVR’d series ever in October 2010, but its first season also earned the show a People’s Choice Award for Favorite New TV Drama the following January.
Low: Clash With Veterans
Five-0 executive producer Peter Lenkov apologized to a group of Pearl Harbor survivors in December 2011 after a rep for the group complained that the production disrupted their memorial ceremony for Pearl Harbor’s 70th anniversary. “We recognize the privilege of filming in Hawaii and we are acutely aware of the deserved respect for its culture, history and the reverence that should be afforded to all of our veterans, particularly those who served so nobly in Hawaii and at Pearl Harbor,” Lenkov said in a statement, per The Hollywood Reporter.
Low: $100 Million Lawsuit
In May 2012, talent agent George Litto, who represented the late Hawaii Five-O creator Leonard Freeman, sued CBS and Freeman’s estate, claiming he was excluded from negotiations about the reboot. Two years later, a Los Angeles Superior Court judge ruled in favor of CBS and Freeman’s estate in the $100 million suit, per Deadline. Litto passed away in April 2019.
High: Fan-Voted Ending
The Five-0 team let fans decide the ending of the January 2013 episode “Kapu” (in the continental U.S., anyway). Viewers voted on Twitter for one of three possible endings, each featuring a different murderer.
High: Crossover Episodes
Five-0 aired crossovers with three other CBS procedurals over the years: NCIS: Los Angeles in April 2012, MacGyver in March 2017, and Magnum P.I. in January 2020.
High: Fan-Built Episode
In April 2014, Five-0 aired “Ho’i Hou,” an episode for which fans had used an online voting system to pick the crime scene, victim, and murder weapon, as well as the installment’s title, wardrobe, and music.
Low: Stuntman Injured
Deadline reported in August 2018 that Justin Sundquist had gotten a job as a stunt coordinator on MacGyver as part of a settlement of a lawsuit against CBS Corporation and CBS TV Studios over a 2016 accident on the set of Hawaii Five-0, during which he was hit by a camera car in a parking garage.
High: Ratings Success
Even in a Friday night timeslot, Hawaii Five-0 broke onto the list of top 15 most-watched TV shows for the first time in May 2017 after the ratings success of its seventh season.
Low: Grace Park and Daniel Dae Kim’s exits
News broke in June 2017 that original cast members Daniel Dae Kim and Grace Park had left the show after seven seasons, with Variety reporting that the actors had sought pay equality with costars O’Loughlin and Scot Caan. Kim later told reporters that it’s “possible to be grateful for the opportunity and respectful of the colleagues and the people that I work with and still maintain a steadfast sense of your self-worth,” while Park explained to Entertainment Weekly that there were a “number of factors” behind her decision and that she “chose what was best for my integrity.”
Hawaii Five-0 fans are running out of chances to say “Book ‘em, Danno.” The CBS procedural—a reimagining of the 1970s CBS drama Hawaii Five-0—is ending after its current 10th season concludes on April 3.
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“What we’ve done, what we’ve accomplished, it’s extraordinary,” Alex O’Loughlin (Steve McGarrett) said in a statement. “I can’t really put words to express my level of gratitude. I’m just glad to have been a part of this, a part of history, and I’m going to miss it.”
While the Five-0 task force investigates their final cases, relive highlights and the lowlights from the series’ 10-season run in the gallery above.
Hawaii Five-0, Fridays, 9/8c, CBS
