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Thread: 1997 reboot... huh? (Update: Now on YouTube)

  1. #1
    I was able to recently watch the 1997 pilot and while it had some neat nuggets for stories, I was left scratching my head.

    Besides the obvious blunder, there were other things that don't make sense to me. The research for the pilot does not even rate as sub-par, it's worse!! According to what I've read, Cannell "watched the best episodes". Did he only go so far as watching certain seasons? If that's the case, then WHY oh WHY, is Truck THERE!!?? And where are Kimo and Lori!? I get everybody else, but I'm floored that Truck is one of the three we first see.

    As far as their biggest blunder with Chin Ho, didn't anyone think about casting Kam Fong as one of Chin Ho's cousins!? He's got like a million of them (ok, not really, but they are mentioned A LOT through the series). It is entirely possible one of his cousins could have worked at HPD and possibly liaison with Five-O. *That* would have made much more sense. I know it's far-fetched but it would be much better than trying to bring someone back from the dead.

    One last thing I noticed that I'll post here (there are so many more and with many thanks to Mr. Mike for having the pages available), the script called for McGarrett to give the speech and it wound up being delivered by Danno. There was **NO** change in the wording!!! I know political banalities are hard to write but for real!?! Really guys!?! Really!? You couldn't even tweak SOMETHING? I know they were close during the series run but NOT that close. They were two individuals with their own minds and own way of doing things, both inside the law of course. It's one of the reasons Season 12 (again, there are many) ranks last among all the Seasons, at least to me.

  2. #2
    Where were you able to watch this?

    As bad as it probably was, I'd like to see it.

  3. #3
    BUMP

    Bobbi, can you tell us where we can watch this (possibly terrible) thing?

    All I can find are the first five minutes here:




    I see Mike has the script here: http://www.fiveohomepage.com/97pilot/

  4. #4
    Originally Posted by Todd View Post
    BUMP

    Bobbi, can you tell us where we can watch this (possibly terrible) thing?

    All I can find are the first five minutes here:




    I see Mike has the script here: http://www.fiveohomepage.com/97pilot/
    I don’t know but this thing looks better than the Lenkov reboot. The opening with the killer in the car is pretty mysterious and suspenseful. Plus no Scott Caan in sight nor any idiotic bickering to be seen here. That’s already an improvement.

  5. #5
    Okay, so I got the story from Mike -- kind of.

    Mike somehow got a hold of the pilot and posted it on his webpage, but took it down at some point because it's big and was using a lot of data on his hosting plan.

    I now have a copy of it, and am attempting to post it to YouTube. However, the bots on YouTube will sometimes get finicky and auto-remove stuff like this, so I don't know how long it will stay up. So watch it quickly!

    If it goes down, I might re-host it on this server, since I have higher bandwidth limits.

    I agree with ringfire -- the first 5 minutes don't look that bad! I haven't watched the rest yet.

    Incidentally, Five-O's main competition in the '70s -- "The Rockford Files", which aired in the same timeslot through part of Five-O's run -- also had a failed reboot attempt. That one was in the early 2010s, and those who saw it universally said it was awful. I haven't been able to get a copy of it, though.

    Anyway, here it is. Cameos by Zulu, Kam Fong, Moe Keale, and James MacArthur, playing their old Five-O characters. Yes, somehow Chin came back to life, and Kono was back as if his character never vanished.


  6. #6
    I hate to admit it, but I liked this pilot. Had a few flaws, but it held my interest, the story was pretty good, and I found myself wishing there were more episodes to see.

    This could have arguably been a better show than the 2010 remake. Too bad it never got done. Especially would have been nice to see many of the old Five-O guys in cameo roles, and I could have even forgiven Chin being brought back to life.

  7. #7
    Originally Posted by Bobbi View Post
    One last thing I noticed that I'll post here (there are so many more and with many thanks to Mr. Mike for having the pages available), the script called for McGarrett to give the speech and it wound up being delivered by Danno. There was **NO** change in the wording!!! I know political banalities are hard to write but for real!?! Really guys!?! Really!? You couldn't even tweak SOMETHING? I know they were close during the series run but NOT that close. They were two individuals with their own minds and own way of doing things, both inside the law of course. It's one of the reasons Season 12 (again, there are many) ranks last among all the Seasons, at least to me.
    Yeah that speech at the beginning with Danno acting as if he was head of Five-O was weird. However, it was 17 years after the final original episode, so I chalked it up to McGarrett retiring, and Danno being head of Five-O for many years prior to this 1997 reboot series beginning. But yeah, the writing was kinda lazy there.

    I really think this had potential, though.

  8. #8
    Wait, there was a ROCKFORD reboot that actually aired? Who played Rockford?

    I know there was some talk of a reboot and even possibly casting Vince Vaughn in the part but nothing ever came of this. I know there was an IRONSIDE reboot (with Blair Underwood) and a CHARLIE’S ANGELS reboot which only lasted a few episodes. But this is the first I hear of a ROCKFORD reboot.

  9. #9
    Originally Posted by ringfire211 View Post
    Wait, there was a ROCKFORD reboot that actually aired? Who played Rockford?

    I know there was some talk of a reboot and even possibly casting Vince Vaughn in the part but nothing ever came of this. I know there was an IRONSIDE reboot (with Blair Underwood) and a CHARLIE’S ANGELS reboot which only lasted a few episodes. But this is the first I hear of a ROCKFORD reboot.
    Yes, there was a real Rockford reboot. It was made in 2010, starring Dermot Mulroney as Rockford. Beau Bridges was in it, too. Apparently it was terrible, and it never aired. I can't get a hold of it, though. I'd still like to see it, despite it likely being very bad.

    Did you ever see the Rockford TV movies of the '90s? Those weren't very good, either. There were 8 of them -- the last of which being the worst by far (it even kicked around on the shelf for 2 years because the network didn't like it, either).

    The weird thing was that most of the same people were involved in the Rockford TV movies. I think the writers just got rusty, and forgot what made the original series so great.

    I wonder what Five-O would have been like if there were TV movies later on. I think Jack Lord had alienated too many people by the end of the series run for that to happen. I'm actually surprised it wasn't attempted, though. It was a beloved series, and there would have been a big appetite for TV movies featuring the Five-O gang in the '80s, even if they had to resurrect Chin.

  10. #10
    Originally Posted by Todd View Post
    Originally Posted by ringfire211 View Post
    Wait, there was a ROCKFORD reboot that actually aired? Who played Rockford?

    I know there was some talk of a reboot and even possibly casting Vince Vaughn in the part but nothing ever came of this. I know there was an IRONSIDE reboot (with Blair Underwood) and a CHARLIE’S ANGELS reboot which only lasted a few episodes. But this is the first I hear of a ROCKFORD reboot.
    Yes, there was a real Rockford reboot. It was made in 2010, starring Dermot Mulroney as Rockford. Beau Bridges was in it, too. Apparently it was terrible, and it never aired. I can't get a hold of it, though. I'd still like to see it, despite it likely being very bad.

    Did you ever see the Rockford TV movies of the '90s? Those weren't very good, either. There were 8 of them -- the last of which being the worst by far (it even kicked around on the shelf for 2 years because the network didn't like it, either).

    The weird thing was that most of the same people were involved in the Rockford TV movies. I think the writers just got rusty, and forgot what made the original series so great.

    I wonder what Five-O would have been like if there were TV movies later on. I think Jack Lord had alienated too many people by the end of the series run for that to happen. I'm actually surprised it wasn't attempted, though. It was a beloved series, and there would have been a big appetite for TV movies featuring the Five-O gang in the '80s, even if they had to resurrect Chin.
    Ah ok, that explains why I never heard of the reboot. It never aired. I thought you meant it actually aired. Actually I recall someone mentioning Dermot Mulroney. But I thought that was just speculation. I didn’t know they actually filmed something with him. Who did Beau Bridges play? Rocky?

    Nope, I’ve never seen any of the TV movies of Rockford. I heard that they weren’t too bad but not as good as the series itself. As is always the case. I did see the Return to the Streets of San Francisco TV movie and while it wasn’t terrible it was nowhere near the quality of the original series. You just can’t recapture the original magic, even with the same actors. Maybe it’s a good thing we never got any Five-O TV movies. I think season 12 pretty much put the kibosh on that.

  11. #11
    Yeah that speech at the beginning with Danno acting as if he was head of Five-O was weird. However, it was 17 years after the final original episode, so I chalked it up to McGarrett retiring, and Danno being head of Five-O for many years prior to this 1997 reboot series beginning. But yeah, the writing was kinda lazy there.

    I really think this had potential, though.
    I agree Todd, this pilot had a lot of potential. There were so many story nuggets in there to grab onto.

    I also agree that Danno would have been in charge of Five-O at a point then moved on to the governor. What got me is that they didn't tweak the opening speech at all. Danno would have said something similar but not *exactly* what McGarrett was supposed to say - definitely laziness on the part of the writers.

    Thanks for posting the pilot on YouTube.

  12. #12
    I watched this last night. Todd, thanks so much for posting this. I had only seen the first scene previously. I agree that Danno's speech was a bit flat. It sounded scripted and lacked something...that spark of personality that is Danno. The story kept my interest and I enjoyed seeing the collection of Five-O regulars who were there: Chin, Kono, Truck...even Duke and Che Fong showed up briefly. Though I don't know what Che was doing in a car tailing a suspect. He certainly wasn't a detective, other than the scientific type. I was a bit disappointed that there were no credits at the end. I wanted to see all those names! But thanks, it was a real treat!

  13. #13
    Todd, thanks for posting the HFO Pilot. I really enjoyed this pilot and the quality story. Gary Busey has always been a favorite actor of mine. There was good flow to the story and each sequence made sense. I think this could have been good for a few years. It was good seeing Danno again now that he now has white hair here. The opening was very effective and quick-moving. JC

  14. #14
    I think what would have been cool about this 1997 show was that it would have combined both a new group of Five-O guys and the old ones we got to originally love.

    The heavy lifting would have been done by the new, younger group, who were officially in Five-O. However, they probably would have been able to write in cameos for the various older guys from the orginal series, all of whom would still be playing the same characters.

    I thought they did this pretty well in the pilot. The plot and the action were dominated by the new stars, but we got to see enough of the old ones to feel their presence. Also, I thought the former FBI, new Five-O head's attitude toward the old guys was well presented -- he was skeptical about their ability to contribute because of their age, but also developed a respect for them as the episode went on.

    Anyway, as I said, this pilot vastly exceeded my expectations. I also enjoyed seeing some new Five-O content in the same universe as the original show, featuring a lot of the same characters. I assumed I would never get to see that again. It was almost like finding a lost episode.

  15. #15
    "Lost episode" is a good description. I had the same feeling, getting a bonus glimpse into this world of Five-O that I didn't expect to get. Like seeing old friends whom I haven't seen in ages!

  16. #16
    This forum and the Hawaiifiveo.org site are great. We've made our way through the 12 seasons, Amazon had a 99 cent sale on Paramount+ with no ads. We're on Season 12 now.

    We always wanted to see the reboot pilot, only the first five minutes were on YouTube. But a month ago, somebody posted the full show!

    Aloha!

  17. #17
    Thanks for joining, Luke!

    That "somebody" posting it was me! Glad you enjoyed it.

  18. #18
    I think Busey was good in the pilot, and the story was pretty standard Cannell-type work (and I mean that as a compliment since I’ve enjoyed many of his shows, such as Wiseguy, A-Team, Rockford, and Knight Rider). Where he ran into trouble was in not doing proper research into the classic series, which the CBS execs called him out on. I don’t think he had any particular love of the original show, and perhaps he saw it as an easy cash-grab for him after CBS commissioned him to produce a pilot. I think it would have improved had it been picked up as a series.

  19. #19
    Originally Posted by JeffH View Post
    I think Busey was good in the pilot, and the story was pretty standard Cannell-type work (and I mean that as a compliment since I’ve enjoyed many of his shows, such as Wiseguy, A-Team, Rockford, and Knight Rider).
    Knight Rider was not a Stephen J. Cannell show. It was a Glen Larson show. Cannell had no connection to it whatsoever. Not all 80s action shows were by Cannell.

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