On last night's episode of Hawaii Five-O, the new Steve McGarrett had to deal with a hostage situation. He put on a disguise, but gave himself away, prompting the hostage taker to demand, "Who are you?"
"I'm Five-O," McGarrett answers, which is meant to identify himself as a policeman to the alleged criminal. But of course, as already explained earlier on this blog, in the fictional universe of this TV series there's no reason for the slang term "five-o" to exist. This annoying error, combined with the constant use of shaky cam even for the simplest dialogue set-ups (have none of these people ever heard of a tripod?), pedestrian, predictable plots and ADD editing, have put me off the show for good. I'll stick with the original series, most of which is now available on DVD.
For tarnishing the legacy of one of the great cop shows, here's my final verdict: book 'em, Danno - murder one.
but Grace Park's a cutie. I don't remember there being babe's on the original, which was more of a sausagefest. (tho I admit I haven's seen it for... decades, now.)
ReplyDeleteI've been watching "Homicide" on DVD. In the opener for Season 3, Det. Bolander remarks about the declining morals of television (in a thinly veiled jab at the declining morals of the Homicide TV series). Then, Det. Munch predicts the future of television: 500 channels, hi-definition, high-speed Internet integration, and nobody literate or communicating anything except what's on TV.
ReplyDeleteBolander then says, "I wish they would bring back Hawai'i 5-0."
This might bake your noodle: the detectives in "Homicide" were based on real cops in Baltimore. John Munch was based on a detective named Jay Landsman. After Homicide, the fictional Munch went on to "Law & Order" in New York. After Homicide, the real Landsman became a creative advisor to "The Wire", which concerns a newer generation of Baltimore Homicide detectives. As the series progresses, Landsman becomes an actor, playing the part of Dennis Mello.
None of the characters in The Wire make references to the characters in Homicide, despite the fact that they all work in the same milieu. None of the characters in either show refer directly to any real life incidents in Baltimore, although the storylines do mirror real-world happenings. And nobody seems to recognize Jay Landsman, who is played as two differently-named characters by two concurrent actors, including Landsman himself.
Somebody should tell Bolander to be careful what to wish for - you might get exactly what you deserve.
That was a weak episode to be sure, but Kono (Grace Park)had identified herself as Five-O the week before. I assumed the team's decision to call themselves that happened off-screen or between episodes; the origin was pretty tenuous (but not really any more so than the original show), so I was actually glad they didn't waste any screen time on it.
ReplyDelete