Ride the Wave

Last month we alerted you to the upcoming (in April) DVD release of what looks to be half of the premiere season of The Streets of San Francisco. Now, word comes that the first-year installments of Hawaii Five-O, starring Jack Lord, are scheduled to hit U.S. store shelves on March 6. Amazon.com says the DVD will contain “all 24 episodes from the 1968 season on 7 discs,” together with “the original [TV] pilot movie, ‘Cocoon’” and a “45-minute retrospective with actor James MacArthur,” who played state police officer Danny “Danno” Williams on the series (and is the only original Five-O cast member still alive, at age 69.)

I was pretty young to be a regular watcher of Five-O when it began in 1968, and by the time that series went off the air in 1980, I was devoted to what I found to be less predictable and more character-driven detective dramas, such as The Rockford Files, Harry O, and Columbo. However, Wikipedia reminds me that Hawaii Five-O left quite a legacy. It was, according to that encyclopedia site, “the longest-running police drama until Law & Order broke the record almost twenty years after Hawaii Five-O ceased production”; and “the term ‘Five-O’”--which was the name of a fictional state police force in the series--“was adopted by American youth culture as a street slang term for the police.” In addition, the CBS-TV show is remembered for its catchy theme music, composed by Morton Stevens and often peformed nowadays by high-school marching bands. And, of course, TV Land recently listed “Book ’em, Danno,” an instruction often heard from Jack Lord’s character on the series, as one of television’s 100 greatest “quotes and catchphrases.”