Outtakes Online: Asner links ‘Five-0′ past, present
BY MIKE GORDON / mgordon@staradvertiser.com
In the ultimate homage to the original “Hawaii Five-0,” the creators behind the rebooted CBS series will link the two successful versions by incorporating both a character and footage from a 1975 espisode that featured Ed Asner as a smuggler.
The 82-year-old Asner will reprise his role as August March, a businessman who is really a smuggler of Asian art, CBS said. The original episode, “Wooden Model of a Rat,” aired on Dec. 11, 1975.
Ed Asner. (Courtesy photo)
Asner has won numerous Emmy Awards, including some for performances in “Lou Grant” and “Mary Tyler Moore.”
“It is thrilling to, for the first time, merge the original ‘Hawaii Five-0’ and our new show by having the classic, versatile and award-winning actor Ed Asner reprise his role of August March, a character Mr. Asner first played 36 years ago,” said Peter Lenkov, the current show’s co-executive producer. “There is no better way to form a bridge between our reboot and the original series.”
Mike Quigley, a Canadian “Five-0” fan who maintains an incredible website packed with series trivia and fan commentary, has a detailed description of the original episode:
“Ed Asner plays the sleazy business tycoon August March, who made his fortune selling tractors, cultivators and earth movers. He is involved smuggling Asian art objects into Hawaii. March fabricates a frame-up using a tiny collectible miniature sculpture called a netsuke which McGarrett bought in Japan in 1951 during the Korean conflict to make it seem as if the item was stolen recently from a museum in Japan. March spares no expense to pull off this frame-up, flying in two experts from Japan, one of whom is Professor Masaaki (John Fujioka). McGarrett’s netsuke, along with others and related Japanese artwork, including inro (crafted boxes) and ojime (sliding beads on cords used to hold the boxes together), are on display at the Museum of Oriental Art in Honolulu. The boss of this museum, Gustave Lupin (Richard McKenzie), is a very nervous individual, especially when he realizes what a scandal there is going to be over McGarrett’s item. He is also a dope addict. Since the stolen netsuke is worth thousands of dollars, the whole case becomes a huge flap in the local press (much bigger than one might expect) and it ends up before the grand jury, with McGarrett indicted for possession of stolen property. Asner’s performance is extremely oily, as is that of Kwan Hi Lim as his deadpan henchman Suzari. This episode seems to be a serious case of much ado about nothing, though, and is almost like a prelude for the later seasons where Five-O was obsessed with the follies of rich people.”
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Mike Gordon covers film and television in Hawaii for the Honolulu Star-Advertiser. Email him at mgordon@staradvertiser.com and follow him on Twitter. Read his weekly “Outtakes” column Sundays in the Star-Advertiser.
