CBS to Remake Hawaii Five-O!

CBS is going to re-make Hawaii Five-O!

Goosebumps is all I get when I hear the original opening score of Hawaii Five-O, and that pan-in of Jack Lord, standing on a balcony of the Ilikai Hotel... "Book'em Danno..."

Growing up, my grandmother on my father's side lived with us on the weekends and stayed with us sometimes for weeks on end... Her smoking, and her television habits were pure 1960's and 70's; this was in the 80's when channels like 9 (UPN) and 11 (PIX) ran older shows in syndication. This was also back-in-the-day when Saturday afternoons meant Kung-Fu!

Hawaii Five-O was grandma's favorite- and I took a liking to the opening credit song and sequence, often covered by The Ventures. To my surprise- Hawaii Five-O ran from 1968 to 1980- so, it wasn't a totally "vintage" show when I started watching it.

Now most every "new" show I watched as a kid back then is now on Nick At Nite- which makes me feel really old... But anyway.

My grandfather on my mother's side, the described "Buick man" in Saturday's post was a Barnaby Jones freak- which exclusively used Ford Motor Division products... My grandmother had a thing for Jack Lord, "Steve McGarrett"- who rode around in a black Mercury Parklane Brougham.

Must have been a CBS thing... Fords- which ironically, neither of them, my grandfather nor my grandmother would have been caught dead riding in...

Between the two of them- I grew an appreciation for instrumental opening credits, funky suits, skinny ties and 4,000-pound sedans- or what I like to call- "Grown-Ass Man Cars..."

But while I'm excited to see Hawaii Five-O returning, and something different than the reality TV crap that abounds today- I don't know how the "Son of Steve McGarrett," or notions of him do in the new-world in which we live now.

My honest opinion? Well, I'm not a network TV expert but I don't know any re-makes that have taken-off, unless it's a spin-off of the CSI franchise- in that case- they should have called it "CSI Hawaii... ('Five-O' If You're Still Alive & Remember It Fondly...)"

But just a few years ago- NBC tried a remake of one of my personal favorites Knight Rider.

And we all know what a popular show that was- just one season. Maybe it was the plot, maybe the acting? Or maybe it was the car- after all- I never took a liking to the morphing Mustang Shelby they used as a replacement for KITT- who, as you know- was a highly modified Pontiac Trans-Am.

While the notions of going retro or back are good and well-intended; the actuality remains- you often really can't go there again.

Sons of, daughters of... nephews of, or just sons of bitches can never replace the true original.

The players, the people and the plots have changed forever. And yes, the cars have too.

And so it goes... you can't go home again. Not even if it is on CBS- and it still is, probably just a glorified Ford commercial... and a ploy to bring back funky suits, skinny ties and Brylcreem too, of course. Which ironically, I also like.