Hawaii Five-0 transforms another original series character into a woman

Like it has done twice before, CBS’s rebooted Hawaii Five-0 series is changing the gender of a character from the original 1968-1980 series.

This time out, the network has taken Jonathan Kaye, a bigshot Washington militiary intelligence official (later moving him to the State Department) from the original and turned him into Jessica Kaye. Here’s a description from a Deadline Hollywood Web site story about the revamped character and actress:

Former Secret World of Alex Mack star Larisa Oleynik is joining the cast of the freshman drama Hawaii Five-0. On CBS’ reboot of the classic cop show, Oleynik will play Jessica Kaye, an highly educated ex-CIA analyst who goes to Hawaii to assist Five-0 in the pursuit of Steve McGarrett’s arch nemesis, Wo Fat (Iron Chef America’s Mark Dacascos).

Jonathan Kaye (played by various actors including James Gregory and Joseph Sirola) would fly out to Hawaii in his B-52 to be come involved in big major cases involving national security. Jessica Kaye sounds considerably further down the food chain, almost to the point she shares little with her predecessor. Still, the name Kaye isn’t a coincidence nor is the fact Jessica Kaye is getting involved with the new show’s still unfolding Wo Fat storyline.

The other gender-transformed Five-0 characters are Grace Park as Five-0 member Kono Kalakaua and Jean Smart as Governor Pat Jameson (Governor Paul Jameson in the original, though the Jameson name was only mentioned as few as two times over 12 years).