Hawaii' cop show to debut in August

Hawaii' cop show to debut in August
- 2004-06-23 - Pacific Business News (Honolulu)
Nina Wu

The pilot of NBC's new Honolulu cop show, "Hawaii," is set to debut on Aug. 30, according to producers. The hour-long series will then air regularly on Wednesday evenings at 7 p.m.

"Hawaii." whose original working title was "Pearl City," includes a main cast of six, including Kauai actor Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa as Capt. Terry Harada.

NBC has ordered 13 episodes.

Crews have set up shop at a large warehouse in Mapunapuna, where they also plan to build a sound stage.

Creator and executive producer Jeff Eastin claims his team was the first to scope out Hawaii for a new television series. Now Fox's "North Shore," which debuted two weeks ago, and ABC's "Lost" are also filming their T.V. series on Oahu.

"From our point of view, this show is original," Eastin told PBN. It is inspired, in part, by the legacy of "Hawaii Five-O," but will be a show reflecting the post-Sept. 11, 2000, era.

"Hawaii" will be a cop show where the laid-back officers have a sense of humor. Instead of the usual gritty, urban setting, Hawaii will offer a refreshing, tropical backdrop.

"Cops are real people," Eastin said. "They laugh when it's appropriate."

Eastin said he got a phone call from Chris Conti, NBC Entertainment's senior vice president of drama development, as he was sitting on a beach in Kauai.

Conti had seen police pull over a suspect and was hit with a flash of inspiration. He asked Eastin: "Hey, would you be interested in doing a Hawaii cop show for us this year?"