ALOHA "LOST", ALOHA "HAWAII FIVE-0"

Hawaii Five-0, aired from 1968 to 1980, and was the longest running crime show until Law and Order.  The original series featured Jack Lord as Steve McGarrett and a swarm of local Hawaii actors and entertainers.  You can run into the show anywhere in the world now through syndication.  As a useless aside, The Ventures covered the song, hitting #6 in 1968.  They also were the band behind Bobby "Boris" Pickett's Monster Mash, Hollywood Argyles' Alley Oop and the The Lonely Bull, featuring Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass.

The fictional state police force was called 5-0 for this 50th state and almost went by the TV title The Man. Richard Boone and Gregory Peck were sought for the lead role, and Lord was hired just a week before initial shooting.  He became iconic and lived the rest of his life in an apartment across from the Waialae Golf Course.

Five-0 virtually created the filming industry in Hawaii, and next, Hawaii Five-0, again this Fall, starring Alex O'Loughlin (photo above) in the lead role, with Daniel Dae Kim, appropriately enough, straight from the Lost cast, as Chin Ho Kelly.  Chin Ho owned the Ilikai Hotel, where McGarrett is seen during the opening credits.  I had lunch at Magic Island today with Leighton Chong, the legal counsel for the Blue Revolution.  That's me with Ilikai in the background.

Magnum PI, with Tom Selleck, was created to replace Hawaii Five-0, and ironically enough, Hawaii Five-0 returns just as Lost departs.  After a six year run, ABC is royally sending Lost off by running the acclaimed pilot episode on Saturday night, followed on Sunday with a two-hour retrospective, the two and a half hour finale and Jimmy Kimmel having his own "Aloha to Lost."  I always felt a little guilty about never having viewed even a full hour of Lost, so I will devote my weekend to this show.

Lost won an Emmy in Year One, and went overboard on creativity with a smoke monster, polar bear and magic, getting more bizarre with time.  It was, though, intellectual, with references to Jean-Jaques Rousseau and the Casimir Effect.  The show did not portray the touristy Hawaii, so it wasn't quite the free travelogue that will be Hawaii Five-0.  Like the ice-breaking original Hawaii Five-O, Lost also set a multi-racial trend.  There might be some answers on Sunday, but look on this conclusion as the foundation for a couple of films.

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The Dow Jones Industrials fell 67 to 10,444 (-0.63%), with world markets all down. Europe dropped almost 3%.  Gold sunk $32/toz to $1193 and crude oil jerked back up to $71/barrel.

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