Hawaii Five-O aired from September 1968 to April 1980; it was one of the longest continuous-running police series in US television history. With few exceptions, it was filmed entirely on location in Hawaii. Its fans list the authenticity and beauty of the scenery as its number one draw; second come the actors and the characters they portrayed.
Another attraction was the intelligent writing and intriguing plots of the series, and its wonderful title theme (regarded by one critic as "the greatest TV theme of all time") and incidental music. Its authenticity was further enhanced by the use of many local Island residents in guest roles, which for some—such as Thomas Fujiwara and Kwan Hi Lim—led to further roles in other series.
Jack Lord played Steve McGarrett, head of an elite state police unit investigating "organized crime, murder, assassination attempts, foreign agents, felonies of every type". James MacArthur played his second-in-command Danny ("Danno") Williams, with local actors Kam Fong, Zulu, Al Harrington, and Herman Wedemeyer, among others, playing members of the Five-O team. The series was famous for the stellar guest actors who appeared in episodes, including Helen Hayes, Ricardo Montalban, Leslie Nielsen, Herbert Lom, Hume Cronyn, and many more. McGarrett's nemesis, the evil Wo Fat—"a Red Chinese agent in charge of the entire Pacific Asiatic theatre"—was played by Khigh Diegh.
The music from the TV Soundtrack (Capitol/EMI ST-410 Stereo) was composed, arranged and conducted by Morton Stevens (1929-1991); it was produced by Mel Taylor for Melee Productions. Stevens was obviously absorbing many influences during writing this soundtrack to the CBS TV series. A classic theme is backed up by a great mix of jazz and funk influenced tracks. There's an open, reverb-heavy sound to many of the tracks and a distinctly slow psychdelic influence in places.
These are the lyrics to the Five-0 theme song, as sung by Don Ho. The song starts out with the usual pounding theme, then it slows down to a slow ballad tempo: "If you're feelin' lonely, you can come with me. Feel my arms around you. Lay beside the seaaaaaa. We will think of somethin' to do, do it til it's perfect for you and for me too. You can come with meeeee. So leave your world behind you, you can come with me. Sing a song I'll teach you, Live your fantasyyyyyyy. Love ya in a natural way, doesn't matter what time of day, you and I play. You can come with meeeee. Won'tcha come with meeee. You can come with meeee".
Hawaii Five-O won one Emmy award: Morton Stevens got it for the music to the episode 121, "Hookman" (1973).
I enjoyed the Five-0 lyrics. But you statement that the show won one award appears to be incorrect.
IMDB says:
2 wins and 12 nominations.
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