Hawaii Five-O

During my high school years (and early college when I was home from school), Channel 4 aired reruns of the old Hawaii Five-O television series at 3am.  I'd come home from a party and be entranced -- I don't know if it was because I had a few in me or because I've always been a night owl, but I loved it.  It was great television, and of course, the theme song can't be beat.

So you can imagine how excited and nervous I was when CBS announced they were rebooting Hawaii Five-O as part of their new fall lineup.  Great potential, but they could totally screw it up.  Because of Monday Night Football, my grad school residency and various bowl games, I hadn't had a chance to check it out until earlier tonight.

I'm basing this on only one episode, but it's pretty good. Different enough that you feel like your watching a different show -- it's like Gen-Y Hawaii Five-O. Everyone has the same name (McGarrett, Dan-O, Chin Ho and Kono), but they're all young.  Oh, and Kono, instead of a big, burly Hawaiian guy, is a svelte, surfing babe. Still, they fight the dregs of Hawaiian society in an entertaining format -- unlike the original, which was a little stiff, McGarrett and Dan-O do a lot of joking around while they fight crime, like when they argue about which CHiPs character they would be.

Of course, the most important aspect is the theme song, which CBS has kept for the new version, albeit slightly updated.  Any version without the new theme song, no matter how well written, just wouldn't be complete.  They don't play the theme song as the end credits roll, which is disappointing, but networks don't seem to do that with any shows anymore.

All in all, between The Bachelor and Hawaii Five-O, there's some good TV on Monday night to last until Monday Night Football comes around again.