Hawaii Five-0 Stays in Tune with Original in More Ways Than One

Hawaii Five-0 fans can breathe easy. CBS' remake of the classic 1968 TV series features a surprisingly faithful interpretation of the original surf-rock theme song.

After originally bringing in a famous rock star to freshen the tune, the producers instead opted to bring back all the original musicians who recorded the song way back when. "It only affirmed for us that you cannot change it," executive producer Alex Kurtzman said at a Comic-Con panel Friday. "Not everything should be remake or rebooted. Sometimes you have to know what to change and what to leave the same."

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Kurtzman and partner Roberto Orci know from rebooting. They're the big brains behind last year's Star Trek reimagining and the blockbuster Transformers movies. Still, the duo said they felt pressure to do the original justice. "There's an expectation from people who know the show," Orci said. "In a way, everyone becomes a consultant on the show because you can read what everyone thinks online."

Fortunately, executive producer Peter Lenkov (CSI: NY) is a big fan of the original, which he remembers watching with his father. "In some ways, we're painting this valentine to the original show," Lenkov said. "There are a lot of touchstones to the original show."

"There was never a thought of a continuation of the original," Lenkov said. "It's about how this Hawaii Five-0 team was born."

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The panel was filled with fans of Hawaii stars Daniel Dae Kim and Grace Park, who formerly appeared on cult shows Lost and Battlestar Galactica, respectively.

"When we started shooting Hawaii Five-0, it was a conscious effort for me to think about a new character and make new choices," Kim says about his back-to-back work on the the pilot and the final season of Lost. "It's been something I continue to work through."

After his tragic end on Lost (which he called a "satisfying" finale, for those wondering), Kim said he feels this is the beginning of a great new journey. "I'm really happy to be on a show that has a theme song," Kim said.

Hawaii Five-0 premieres Monday, Sept. 20 at 10/9c on CBS.

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