"Hawaii" on NBC: The Early Returns

[pzarquon]

Continuing this advance thread on the series... Now that the show has finally premiered in its primetime Wednesday slot, what do y'all think? Thumbs up? Two stars? Cancelled before Thanksgiving?

I'll start things off with a recap of reviews from TV critics across the country. Overall, low marks, but at least not quite as low as "North Shore."

Salt Lake City Weekly

A smart, slick and highly unlikely combo of Fastlane, CSI and Hawaii 5-0, Hawaii could be the best cop drama to drop in NBC’s lap since Boomtown—and we all know what happened with that. Sexy undercover cops (including Crossing Jordan’s Ivan Sergei and Six Feet Under’s Eric Balfour) driving hot cars real fast, solving too-easy crimes and pissing off the captain is nothing new, but Hawaii’s authentic eye for detail is so dead-on, it looks like nothing else on TV—especially not Fox’s ’ho-riffic North Shore, which may as well be shot at a Joe’s Crab Shack in Ventura. The best of the lot so far ... cancellation must be looming.

The Oregonian

Built entirely from cast-off parts from "Hawaii 5-0," "Magnum, p.i.," "Miami Vice" and the Travel Channel, "Hawaii" comes with all the usual character types, stabs at moral conflict, exotic locales and impossibly lush foliage. Also, everyone's extremely pretty, with great clothes and facial hair that raises scruffiness to an art form. But the moment the actors start to talk and the plot kicks into gear, we come zooming back to reality. It's not a pleasant trip.

Philadelphia Inquirer

Hawaii, which premieres tonight at 8, provides any student of the medium with a virtually complete compendium of every cliche, shortcut and stereotype in an entire genre of TV that is more than 40 years old... At least Las Vegas has James Caan and Nikki Cox and the vestigial smidgen of a tongue in its cheek. Hawaii, named for the only other supposedly surefire exotic location in the TV lexicon, is nothing but stupid.

Chicago Tribune

Clearly the network, moving full-throttle into its post-"Friends" era, has high hopes for this action thriller, which boasts an opening episode flush with paradisiacal imagery and hip, streetwise lingo. But take just about every action-movie cliche, and toss in a few soapy ones, and you get an idea of the crammed mess to be found in "Hawaii"... "Hawaii" is an overly complex crime story and a simplistic human one. The performers, particularly Biehn, Atkins, Sumika and Sergei, manage nice nuances, lending the episode its modicum of charm. Subsequent installments will determine how successfully the story lines evolve. For now, "Hawaii" is a luau at which you're tempted to ask, "Where's the poi?"

Calgary Sun

More straight-faced — if far less compelling — than the Tom Selleck ’80s private eye yarn, and a whole lot gorier (thus the mystery about four decapitation victims), Hawaii is yet another example of networks cannibalizing themselves until even their original programming feels like a spinoff of a rival’s existing hit. Call this one Magnum CSI or CSI-Five-O. Oahu, admittedly on breathtaking display, deserves far better. (And just when they thought they’d safely erased the memories of Baywatch Hawaii.)

Chicago Sun Times

"Hawaii" (7 p.m., WMAQ-Channel 5): This new ultraviolent * goop melange of bad '70s cop show cliches that's utterly inappropriate to air earlier than 9 p.m. does have one subtle bit of wit to it. One of the four heads found in a car trunk belongs to a fellow named Alfred Garcia. As in "Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia." That's more than you would expect from "Shasta McNasty" creator Jeff Eastin.

Star Telegram (Dallas-Ft. Worth)

Upbeat, playful and effortlessly banal, Hawaii is an old-school crime show, the kind of viewer-embracing adventure that won't impress or depress anyone with its utter fear of originality. Nothing in the pilot of this brilliantly mindless contraption suggests inventiveness, imagination or a willingness to elicit much emotion -- which ought to come as an exciting jolt to those still weeping over the death of, say, Fastlane.

New York Daily News

The new cop series "Hawaii" isn't your father's "Hawaii Five-O." It's probably not yours, either, or your child's, or anyone's. It's awful. If you turn the sound down and don't read lips, so you don't get any sense of the tired plot and stereotypical characters, "Hawaii" looks beautiful... As a screen saver, "Hawaii" is pleasant to watch. As a dramatic TV series, it doesn't come close.

Ottawa Citizen

But seriously, Hawaii is not a serious cop show -- not serious in the way CSI and Law & Order are serious, at any rate. True, it's a cop show, with all the trappings of a cop show -- good guys, bad guys, violent crimes, car chases, a crusty but benign squad commander (Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa) -- but there is room for laughs. It's more like Starsky & Hutch the movie than Starsky & Hutch the TV show.

Cincinnati Enquirer

In an overstuffed hour set in the Honolulu Metro Police Department, we get chases, wisecracks, a shoot-out and a grisly crime. The settings are pretty; the stars (Ivan Sergei, Sharif Atkins, Aya Sumika) are prettier. Even the flashy police cars look great. What Hawaii doesn't do is get us to care. The empty quips and repartee only make the cops seem less human; the cases do little to stir interest. Let's hope Hawaii slows down enough to tell a story.

[helen]

September 1st epsiode of Hawaii

Tonight's episode is where the detectives are called to handle the case of a headless body found in the lava fields. Later on in the epsiode one of the characters says about checking on the Big Island for more headless bodies. While they got that geography right, they didn't get the politics right.

Another geography snafu is when the cops are chasing a stolen car in Waikiki, the next scene is East Oahu.

But there were good scenes too. The funny one is the aftermath of the stolen car chase where one of the cops tries to go after one of the drivers who then gets on a boat to get away. The cop makes a jump for the boat and misses and doesn't get up. The driver notice that cop hasn't surfaced and dives in the water to rescue the cop who can't swim. Ends up rescuing the cop.

[pzarquon]

Re: "Hawaii" on NBC: The Early Returns

My wife and I watched it. I think I liked it more than she did.

It's not original. It's full of cliches. But it's not like they're presenting it like it's innovative, quality television drama. It's a standard "buddy cop" show. Hell, there's more than one set of buddies. And unlike "North Shore," which is set in Hawaii but might as well be Malibu or the Caribbean, I think the producers have done a good job of incorporating the islands into the stories, almost - but not quite - without going off the deep end.

I liked that they didn't make a big deal out of teaching Mr. Chicago Cop, John Declan (Sharif Atkins), a Hawaiian word ("ohana," of course) until 20 minutes in, and meanwhile tossed in things like "mauka side" and "pau" without comment. Sure, some "what did he say?" doubletakes are standard fare in fish-out-of-water scenarios, but I thought they used it in moderation.

I liked that they didn't force Hawaiian into every possible nook and cranny. The auto shop was on Sheridan Street, rather than something like Ala Makalamapukui Boulevard.

I like that there was acknowledgement that Honolulu has industrial districts, with warehouses and sugar silos (is there such a thing?), and that not everyone (but apparently lots of people) wear aloha shirts. (I wonder if they'll call them "Hawaiian shirts"?) The fact that the professional reviewers focused only on the lush shots and bikinis is disappointing on this count.

Although many critics have decried the show's violence, I have to admit - after years of being painted with a Disney-esque brush - I liked that there were rough edges, like drug smuggling via condoms in fish, and, yes, severed heads. Not that I don't think the HVCB is a bit nervous about giving the impression that we've got serial killers running around (next week's episode features another string of homicides -- the Maunakea Killer!).

And I liked that they made it through at least one episode without the token tourist.

But.

I didn't like the Pat Morita-esque boat owner, whose Japanese accent was so over the top it went past funny to offensive. I didn't like the easy joke (that will apparently be recurring) about the "big locals" and constant eating... including a fat cop in the station that would never have made the force in the real world. I didn't like the fact that they dipped into the "mystical Hawaiian martial arts" bag of tricks this early.

And I definitely didn't like the fact that Officer Linh's (Aya Sumika) character ended up naked. It's a bit ridiculous to position her character's story as someone whose fighting the good fight in a male dominated profession but yet have her discovered in a tub, stand up, and walk past other officers smirking. The extras in beach shots will give them more dumb eye candy than they'll ever need. I was really hoping Sumika was going to make it through at least a few episodes without showing skin or getting trapped in a love triangle... but that's exactly what we got in Episode One.

I think criticism that the characters are one dimensional is a bit premature. This was the pilot episode, and the cast hasn't quite built its chemistry, and of course they had to cram in a dizzying array of backstory, pumping out random details -- the failing marriage of Sean Harrison (Michael Biehn), Officer Linh's detective aspirations -- without fleshing them out. That's what the rest of the episodes are for. A wobbly start, but I've seen worse when it comes to "early episodes." The producers have said a number of times that they really didn't hit their stride until later episodes, and I only hope they're right.

Overall, I didn't hate it. I'm more willing to give it a shot than "North Shore." But they get two, maybe three more episodes tops to prove themselves.

[helen]

Re: "Hawaii" on NBC: The Early Returns

Next week there will be two episodes. One on Monday and the other on Wednesday.

While I taped tonight's episode and I might want to watch it later this weekend, the few things that came to mind are:

Andy Bumati had a bit part as a CSI type person.
Cary Hiroyuki Tagawa only showed up twice in the episode.
Metro Honolulu HQ is Honolulu Hale at least on the outside. Can't figure out where it is if you are looking through the windows in the internal shots but I did see TheBus go by.
Old sugar plantation with fuel storage tanks?

And I don't think the case of the 4 heads in the trunk of the stolen car were related to the smuggling of drugs in the fish.

[mel]

Re: "Hawaii" on NBC: The Early Returns

I agree with most of the opinions of the previous members' comments on this program. I'll definitely be watching this series a few more times.

Here are some of my quick observations:

1. The series needs a catchy "Hawaii Five=0" type of theme song at the beginning. They seemed to have 2 opening segments that ID'd the show. I think they need just a one minute themed intro with a catchy song.

Cary Hiroyuki Tagawa only showed up twice in the episode

2. They need to develop his character into one similar to the Lt. Castillo character in the old Miami Vice series. Tagawa has the kind of face that is somewhat similar to that of actor James Olmos.

I liked that they didn't force Hawaiian into every possible nook and cranny. The auto shop was on Sheridan Street, rather than something like Ala Makalamapukui Boulevard.

3. They shot that scene at the Corvette body shop in Kakaako along Queen Street. The same shop was used in the premiere episode of "North Sore" where they supposedly painted a silver Ferrari red.

Although many critics have decried the show's violence, I have to admit - after years of being painted with a Disney-esque brush - I liked that there were rough edges

4. I agree. This is a standard fare cop show. Let's see them shoot the bad guys. Let the bad guys shoot the cops. This is what most people watch cop shows for... to see some gunfire.

Let's see more Hotel Street, Kalihi and other seedy places in our wonderful community. Hawaii Five-0 did a good job with this.

5. The lava flow sequence was interesting even though it looked kind of fake. I mean we all know it was shot near Hanauma Bay. At least they acknowledge the eruption is happening on the Big Island.

I didn't like the Pat Morita-esque boat owner, whose Japanese accent was so over the top it went past funny to offensive

6. One of several stereotypical characters shown on this peremiere.... the fat local guys at the outdoor party was another, the fat cop, etc. I expect to see a lot more of this in upcoming weeks, though hopefully the writers will tone this down in the future.

Metro Honolulu HQ is Honolulu Hale at least on the outside. Can't figure out where it is if you are looking through the windows in the internal shots but I did see TheBus go by

7. The interior stairwell was shot at City Hall. The office scene where you see the bus go buy is in one of the rooms facing the Hawaii State Public Library. So that is Punchbowl street you're seeing. I suspect the rest of the police HQ is on a set they built somewhere.

8. I think they did a lot of quick and tight editing in this initial episode... especially in the opening car chase sequence. It went in typical Hawaii Five=0 style where they're driving for an instant down a few streets in Waikiki, and then on Diamond Head road, and then along the Makapuu point area before reaching to somewhere in Kaneohe. At least the ending scene did not end up back in Waikiki.

9. What I liked about Hawaii Five-0 is that within each hour long episode you pretty much got to know what made the bad guys tick. On this series, the baddies don't have much character development. I'd like to see a little more development and focus at least on one central bad guy per episode. Next week's episode on the serial killer may offer us that.

10. Overall while this cop show breaks no new ground, it has the potential to be a fairly good contender for a good series run, assuming it doesn't fall victim to low ratings.

I'll definitely return to watch a few more episodes.

[LikaNui]

Re: "Hawaii" on NBC: The Early Returns

I agree with almost all of the previous comments. I liked it a helluva lot better than "North Shore". Glad to see lots more locals throughout, cracked up at the line saying "You guys never miss a picnic, do you?", and was especially happy to hear Willie K and IZ and Tony C! "North Shore" hasn't had Hawaiian music even once (that I can recall), but "Hawaii" had a lot of it even in just the first episode. Very promising.

[kimo55]

Re: "Hawaii" on NBC: The Early Returns

Liked the pacing and editing. The audio could be clearer. Typical mailnander fob from Chicago. suppose they gotta have strife on da show, but his angst is annoying.

Fat bruddah goin for the donuts is cheap. they should do bettere than that. May as well throw amos n andy in there. The aforementioned 'pat morita' style character was seth sakai. he was in hawaii 5-0 very often and his character was true to form, added energy and I did not see anything un "PC" about it.

The scene a da tiki bar was la mariana. they outfitted all the tables and waitstaff trays with a selection from my collection of rare tiki mugs and volcanoe tiki bowls.

Seeing the oil refinery tanks located at a supposed sugar mill was odd.

Gratuitous skin in first ep was a little heavy handed of a tactic.

da LUA class at Byodo In Temple with all the guys wearing Judo Gi was strange. Lua withoout the traditional dress? Instead they wear oriental martial arts stuffs?!

I appreciated the local lingo and Hawaiian words interspersed and expeditiously defined. Michael Bein was good in it. No character development as we would see in H50, but then the modern age short attention span MTV bred audience cant handle that. So we have quick edits, fast action and haveta get to know our characters and their motivations and backtory thru many eps...

The cokewhore segment was funny. very clever. Nice locale choice.

"We haveta deal with a Coke Whore..."

"excuse me. Ahemmm! ExCUUUZE me! Did you just call my wife a coke whore!?"

"no... "

" ya better not! she NEVER does coke!
that other thing i dunno about., But she doesn't do coke!"

"These guys are tweakin.
Nope. Its coke smuggled in da fish."

lanikai's Paul Mitchell estate on Mokulua. I thot I recognized the Mokes out offshore!

[Rontar]

Re: "Hawaii" on NBC: The Early Returns

The scene a da tiki bar was la mariana. they outfitted all the tables and waitstaff trays with a selection from my collection of rare tiki mugs and volcanoe tiki bowls.

I had always believed for the past 20 years, La Mariana was our secret little Sand Island getaway for our KHNL & K5 The Home Team 'Team'. It looked great, I did miss the overhead Jet roar. I guess the mongoose is outa the bag. 'Oh Well!' Pau Hana on Thursdays

[kimo55]

Re: "Hawaii" on NBC: The Early Returns

I had always believed for the past 20 years, La Mariana was our secret little Sand Island getaway for our KHNL & K5 The Home Team 'Team'. It looked great, I did miss the overhead Jet roar. I guess the mongoose is outa the bag. 'Oh Well!' Pau Hana on Thursdays

there was jet roar the day of shooting;
they looped it out and with other foley work in post production, made good!

[NewsBot]

Not a big splash for 'Hawaii'

{br}Not a big splash for 'Hawaii'{br}variety.com - Sep 3 2004 8:46:54 GMT{br}{br}This article was posted automatically. Comments are welcome!

[helen]

Re: "Hawaii" on NBC: The Early Returns

9. What I liked about Hawaii Five-0 is that within each hour long episode you pretty much got to know what made the bad guys tick. On this series, the baddies don't have much character development. I'd like to see a little more development and focus at least on one central bad guy per episode. Next week's episode on the serial killer may offer us that.

For this episode going into what made the bad guy tick wouldn't be much into story telling. And then in Hawaii Five-O we never see what the Five-O team do in their off-time. Also each Five-O episode just had one crime for the team to solve, while last night's episode had 2 unrelated investagions made by 2 different sets of detectives. Which may seemed kind of rushed.

[mel]

Re: "Hawaii" on NBC: The Early Returns

Well they could pair the show down to a crime of the week, or do it like those ensemble lawyer shows and spread the storyline out over 2 or 3 episodes.

[tvguy]

Re: "Hawaii" on NBC: The Early Returns

Was it just me or was that former KGMB reporter Sandra Sagisi getting picked up for the parking ticket violations as Brendan Alapai's sister????

And while I was busy making dinner and trying to watch the show, was that Jordan Segundo playing the kid who was escaping then saved the Chicago cop???? And whose severed head found in the ice? If that was, then it was really funny to see him doing the Subway commercial in the following break!!!

Show has potential IMHO. I particularly liked to overall look of the show.

[pzarquon]

Re: "Hawaii" on NBC: The Early Returns

Both those bit part actors looked familiar... was that Segundo, though? Should've read the credits more carefully. My wife and I thought one of the local car thieves was the same guy from those awful Oceanic RoadRunner "geek on a date" ads.

I definitely agree, this first episode was rushed, and the story was about as deep as a pothole puddle on Nimitz Highway (though I guess those can get pretty deep). You'd think the "bad guy," who's bad enough to decapitate four people and threaten a little girl, would've been given a little more weight and backstory. Instead, it's, "There he is!" Bang bang! Dead. And that was only one of two crime story lines.

At least it was the pilot, where you know they're trying to sell the characters, as well as the look and feel, as well as the action, as well as the story and writing, all at once. One crime at a time would work, but then it would be like other crime shows. The fact that we have two detective pairs and one set of officers tells me they can easily try and float two story tracks regularly (and maybe a third multi-episode/running investigation)... provided they can reclaim some of the time thus far devoted to "meet the players."

[kimo55]

Re: "Hawaii" on NBC: The Early Returns

You'd think the "bad guy," who's bad enough to decapitate four people and threaten a little girl, would've been given a little more weight and backstory. Instead, it's, "There he is!" Bang bang! Dead. And that was only one of two crime story lines.

yea good point.
i thot he was cool lookin and think they outta resurrect that character or bring that dude back as another baddy..
They could have an everpresent nemesis kinda thing where the elusive bad dude keeps slippin away... keeps coming back...
create a mystique around him; as if he has some sorta magical powers kinda.

Like the Wo Fat guy played by Keigh Deigh in the Hawaii 5-0 run...


I'm thinking they should leave some loose ends like a cliff hanger among all the other things they wrap up within the one hour ep...