What was it about?: The most durable of the "danger in paradise" detective shows (with Magnum, p.i. a close second - Hawaiian Eye, Jake and the Fatman (after the first season) and others of that ilk are mere footnotes, and let's not even bother with Tropical Heat), the title unit was a fictional special unit based in Honolulu - Hawaii is the fiftieth state of America, hence the name (and the unintentionally comic German title of the show Hawaii Fuff Null!). Under the leadership of Steve McGarrett, a man described in "Cocoon" (the two-hour pilot) as answering only to the Governor and God, and unswervingly dedicated to the law at the apparent expense of any kind of normal life, he and his team had no truck with your garden variety criminal, ohohohohohoho no - they tackled only the most difficult or sensitive cases, ranging from copkillers ("Hookman") via dignitaries under threat ("Presenting - In The Center Ring - Murder") to toxic threats ("Three Dead Cows At Makapuu"). McGarrett and his men - Dan Williams, Chin Ho Kelly, and Kono, later Ben, Duke and in the last season Truck, Kimo and Lori (yes, it took that long for a woman to become a regular) - usually managed to deal with the miscreants, but Chinese agent Wo Fat was a persistent thorn in the quiffed one's side; the two crossed swords in the very first episode, and the Beast from the East wasn't brought to book until "Woe to Wo Fat," the very last episode.
Why was it good?: Well, it wasn't in the later years (the show really fell apart in the final season), but it was all held together by Jack Lord. Granted, what Rosanna Arquette said about Jean-Clause Van Damme suits him equally well - "Acting is not his forte. Neither is being humble" - but you genuinely believe that McGarrett, as played by him, wouldn't tolerate anything remotely resembling crap in the name of law and order; good thing he never had kids. Plus, there are a surprisingly high amount of decent episodes especially in the first four years (Jack Lord picked a good 'un for his directing debut, "Death With Father") - the series ended its run not long before Tom Selleck started his turn in Hawaii, but I've always preferred the man one episode dubbed "the 2-0 from 5-0," even if some elements of the show have dated (they didn't pretend the Vietnam War didn't exist, for starters). Reza S. Badiyi's title sequence and the theme music by Morton Stevens are among the all-time greats in their fields.
Who liked it?: A lot of people - not only did it score high audiences for the Eye for the majority of its network run, it also sold well around the world and enjoys a healthy life in international repeats to this day; Jack Lord himself, who owned a share of the series and was much in charge behind the camera as in front of it (especially after creator-executive producer Leonard Freeman died in 1973) to the extent that he was nicknamed "The Lord"; tourism officials for the islands, which got a major boost from the publicity.
Who didn't?: Veteran science fiction writer David Gerrold, who so thoroughly loathed having to set up the mimeographs for the pilot drafts that he confessed to being unable to watch any episodes of the show (interestingly, Leonard Freeman wrote very few episodes; several of Gerrold's fellow Star Trek scribes also wrote for the show, including John D.F. Black, Adrian Spies and Stephen Kandel); Hawaiians upset over the amount of crime suggested on the islands; more than a few TV critics; James MacArthur towards the end (he left at the end of the penultimate season); and Stephen J. Cannell. Which brings us to
Notes: In 1997, CBS and the veteran Cannell made a pilot for a present-day version with Danno now the Governor; Jack Lord (who elected to stay in Hawaii after the show wrapped and with the exception of the 1980 TV movie/prospective pilot M Station: Hawaii - which he directed for his own Lord and Lady Productions and had a cameo in (and which was dire) - never acted again) refused to have anything to do with the new version or even appear in public, probably wise given a) the high "OH MY GOD HE/SHE LOOKS HORRIBLE!" factor of seeing how the stars of '70s TV shows look now (Gil Gerard's Sci-Fi promo for Buck Rogers in the 25th Century is a particularly strong exapmle) and b) that the finished product was deemed so awful that CBS has left it unaired to this day. See Mark'n'Julie's Hawaii Five-0 Page for more details, but the fact that Chin Ho - who was killed off in the series - was resurrected should give you a clue. More notes: Morton Stevens (who alas died for real in 1991; Herman Wedemeyer [Duke], Khigh Dheigh [Wo Fat], Richard Denning [the Governor of Hawaii], Moe Keale [Truck] and, of course, Jack Lord are also no longer with us) appeared onscreen in the episode "Trouble in Mind" with Nancy Wilson, but not in "Number One With A Bullet" (with James Darren, Yvonne Elliman ('If I Can't Have You') and disco music); Law & Order's 13th season will end Hawaii Five-0's reign as American TV's longest-running cop show; Jack Lord and Eliza Dushku are two of the millions who share my birthday.
1969: Cinematography - Frank Phillips, "Up-Tight"; Musical Composition - Morton Stevens, "Hawaii Five-O" (the pilot).
1970 : Musical Composition For A Series - Morton Stevens - "A Thousand Pardons, You're Dead."
1971: Film Editing - Arthur David Hilton, "Over Fifty? Steal." Directorial Achievement In Drama - Bob Sweeney, "Over Fifty? Steal."
1972: Cinematography - Robert L. Morrison.
1973 - Outstanding Drama Series.
1974: Best Cinematography For Entertainment Programming - Robert L. Morrison, Jack Whitman and Bill Huffman. Musical Composition For A Series - Bruce Broughton, "The $500,000 Nickel"; Don B. Ray, "Nightmare In Blue"; Morton Stevens, "Hookman." (NOTE: This is the only time in the history of the music Emmys to date that all the nominees in a category have come from the same series.)
1975: Outstanding Lead Actress For A Single Performance - Helen Hayes, "Retire In Sunny Hawaii... Forever."
For more of McGarrett and company...
Todd Wittele's Hawaii Five-O Page
Mark'n'Julie's Hawaii Five-O Quick Resource Guide
Karen Rhodes's Hawaii Five-O Fandom Page
Hawaii Five-O Fan Club