"Hawaii Five-O " : Book 'Em Danno, Murder One Quiz

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. Just before the airing of the series pilot episode, the series creator and producer, Leonard Freeman, changed the title of the series to "Hawaii Five-O." What was the original name given to the series?

Answer: The Man

The series and the special state police unit were given their name because the producer wanted to acknowledge the state of Hawaii as being the 50th state admitted to the union. As titles, the names "Hawaii Fifty" or "Hawaii Five Zero" just didn't have the same melodic tone.

2. During what year did the series "Hawaii Five-O" debut in the USA?

Answer: 1968

The pilot episode entitled "Cocoon" premiered on September 20, 1968, six days before the start of the series. Series star Jack Lord was the only cast member to remain with the series for the entire 12 year run of the hit television show.

3. Which character from the pilot show of "Hawaii Five-O" was recast for the series?

Answer: Dan Williams

Actor Tim O'Kelly played the role in the pilot. A test audience in New York was not impressed with his performance, and the part was recast with James MacArthur, who played the role for 11 of the series 12 seasons.

4. One of the original members of the "Hawaii Five-O" team was a retired member from the Honolulu Police Department.

Answer: True

Kam Fong who played the pipe smoking detective Chin Ho Kelly retired after 15 years of service with the Honolulu Police Department. Fong worked in the real estate profession after his retirement. Six years later, he was cast for his role on "Hawaii Five-O". Fong's character was murdered in the final episode of season ten.

5. The state of Hawaii created a state police crime fighting unit, patterned after the television "Hawaii Five-O" unit in the early 1970's.

Answer: False

Some sources indicate that a "Hawaii Five-O" style state police unit was proposed by Hawaiian Governor John Burns, who was in office from 1962 until 1973, but the proposal never materialized. Throughout the entire 20th century, and into the 21st century, Hawaii remained the only state without a state law enforcement agency.

In 2002 under a mandate by the Department of Homeland Security, the Hawaii State Sheriff's Department became the first state-wide law enforcement agency.

6. Which of the following performers can be seen on the largest number of "Hawaii Five-O" episodes, including the credits?

Answer: Helen Kuoha-Torco

In the pilot episode "Cocoon", Helen performed as a grass skirted hula dancer in a nightclub scene. For the next 12 years and 283 episodes, Helen's stomach and hula skirt could be seen briefly in the opening montage as the hula dancer, as the "Hawaii Five-O" theme music played during the opening credits of each show.

Helen went on to become a professor of business technology at the Windward Community College in Honolulu, Hawaii.

7. Who was the first original cast member of "Hawaii Five-O" to leave the series?

Answer: Zulu

Zulu, who played the role of Det. Kono Kalakaua left the series at the end of the fourth season. Zulu was reportedly fired from the series after becoming involved in an altercation with the series publicist. In his post-"Hawaii Five-O" years, Zulu (birth name Gilbert Frances Damian Lani Kauhi) performed for several years as a headliner stand up comedian in various hotels and nightclubs throughout the Hawaiian Islands. Zulu passed away on May 3, 2004
in Hilo, Hawaii.

8. In the series, what building could the offices of the state police unit "Hawaii Five-O" be found?

Answer: Iolani Royal Palace

The Palace was actually used by the last kings and queens of Hawaii, and at one time was the seat of Hawaiian government and housed the Hawaiian Legislature. It was never used by the state police, or any other state government agency. The Palace was vacant for many years prior to the start of the "Hawaii Five-O" series. Once threatened to be leveled to make room for a parking lot, the Palace became a Hawaiian historical museum in later years.

Some filming of both the outside and inside of the palace was used in the production of "Hawaii Five-O".

The manner in which the Iolani Palace (built at the turn of the 20th century) was designed could not accommodate the space required for The "Hawaii Five-O" office set. The offices seen in the series were actually filmed in a movie lot sound stage.

9. What was the license plate number on Steve McGarrett's state issued police vehicle?

Answer: F6-3958

McGarrett was the only member of the "Hawaii Five-O" team to have the same license plate number throughout the entire run of the series. Stock film footage of McGarrett's car racing through streets of Hawaii could be reused in numerous episodes without interrupting the continuity of the shots.

10. In addition to McGarrett's sworn arch rival Wo Fat (Khigh Dhiegh), what other villain had recurring roles throughout the run of the series?

Answer: All of these

Henori Vashon (Harold Gould) was a mob boss (three episodes in 1972 and 1 episode in 1975; Big Chicken (Gavin McLeod) was a pimp (one episode in 1968 and one episode in 1969); Lewis Avery (Hume Cronyn) was a Robin Hood-like thief (one episode in 1970 and one episode in 1972).

References for this quiz:

Internet Movie Data Base
www.imdb.com

The Hawaii Five-O Home Page
www.mjq.net/fiveo

Welcome to Hawaii Five-O
www.hawaiifiveo.org

"The complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows"
Eighth Edition, October, 2003 by Tim Brooks and Earle Marsh

Source: Author AirBossJohnson

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor ladymacb29 before going online.
Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system.

"Hawaii Five-O" rates near the top of my list of all time favorite television series. What do you remember about the series, the cast, and the beautiful Hawaiian filming location?

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