What did the reboot get right?

[Bobbi]

This is something I've been pondering for the last couple of days. I'm more curious than anything and will admit upfront, I don't watch the reboot. That doesn't mean other people don't watch as well, just not my cup of tea. After all, there is a pretty good fan base out there for this series.

So what did they do right? What are they continuing to do right, if anything? Did they create interesting characters? When looking back at the original, is that being done well? Is the photography something to write home about? Is the choice of cars appropriate? Anything, no matter how small, can be discussed.

We tend to criticize the reboot a lot and it just seems like it would be a nice change if we considered what they do well.

[Todd]

The scenery is beautiful (though artificially enhanced), there's some pretty well done action scenes and special effects, and they've created essentially a new show, while somewhat paying homage to the original series.

A lot of women find the new McGarrett (Alex O'Loughlin) very attractive, though as a straight man that doesn't matter to me.

The "crime of the week" which takes place on most shows is sometimes interesting.

Honestly, if they would just lose the silly time-wasting segments and get a better story editor (I suggest Mike), the show could be a lot better.

They've survived the actor departures very well. People have taken to the Tani and Junior characters pretty well, showing that the Kono and Chin characters weren't as essential as some people thought. I feel that the Noelani coroner character (replacing "Max", played by Masi Oka) was an improvement. Max pandered too much to the "geek" portion of the fanbase. Once he was gone, they had Jerry take over that duty, and honestly Jerry is a better character anyway.

[Bobbi]

Thanks Todd! Like I mentioned, I don't watch it but I assumed *something* had to be done right, otherwise it wouldn't have lasted for 9 years, going on 10.

[Mr. Mike]

I think the main reason the new H50 has "survived" is because the competition on other channels on Friday night is mediocre, therefore it got good ratings.

Moving H50 to 8:00 p.m. this fall may affect this. This used to be the MacGyver time slot and I don't think that show did particularly well. According to one WWW site, "The third season of MacGyver [the one which just ended] averaged a 0.70 rating in the 18-49 demographic and 6.11 million viewers. Compared to season two, that’s down by 16% and 11%, respectively." The number of viewers was considerably less than those for H50: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MacGyv...eries)#Ratings

Bringing MacGyver back is being held off until mid-season.

The H50 time slot at 9:00 will be taken over by the Magnum PI reboot. When this show was renewed for a second season (in January!), another WWW site commented that it "has improved its Monday time period in the ratings by +32%." Perhaps CBS thinks if they put Magnum in the 9:00 slot, it will do well, just like H50 did when it moved from Monday to Friday, though if you look at the ratings, that move did not particularly improve H50's viewership, but perhaps kept the number of viewers from declining -- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawaii...eries)#Ratings

[Jean]

This is something I've been pondering for the last couple of days. I'm more curious than anything and will admit upfront, I don't watch the reboot. That doesn't mean other people don't watch as well, just not my cup of tea. After all, there is a pretty good fan base out there for this series.

So what did they do right? What are they continuing to do right, if anything? Did they create interesting characters? When looking back at the original, is that being done well? Is the photography something to write home about? Is the choice of cars appropriate? Anything, no matter how small, can be discussed.

We tend to criticize the reboot a lot and it just seems like it would be a nice change if we considered what they do well.

I am a dyed in the wool fanatic about the original, even have Jack Lord's autograph tattooed on my arm. So I was not happy that they did a reboot, but I won't criticise here as I have done enough on my original five 0 groups on fb. I do have the programme on mainly for the scenery which they have got right, the aerial view are stunning and we get lovely sunsets. There was one outstanding episode about Pearl Harbour, when they filmed the first part in sepia and the actors played parts from the past. I didn't realise just how badly the Japanese Americans were treated, it really opened my eyes and after I travelled to Hawaii and saw the filmed archives in the Courthouse film room, I learned a lot more. It was very moving and the episode reflected the reality of what happened in the camps. The other moving one, was when Joe white Died. There one of two other, I cant remember offhand. Although Alex can never compare to Jack Lord, He is a good actor and showed how much he cared about Joe. I'm afraid I don't like Scott Caan, he is too mouthy and just waves his arms about, He said Jack Lord was a relic and no one remembers him, I can't forgive him for that. If it wasn't for Jack and the original five 0, Caan would not have a job as he can't act and Jack is still remembered by thousands. Will Caan be remembered in 50 years with two memorials, I don't think so. The reboot is good for the now generation as it is noisy and brash and they seem to kill as many people as they can each week and its what the generation of today want to see, judging by the computer games, kill as many as they can in the shortest possible time. Oh one more thing, I was so glad they chose Dennis Chun to be a part, He reminds me so much of Kam. That is probably the best thing they got right.