Wo Fat 2.0 to be part of Five-0 pilot remake

A still from the Cocoon remake posted on social media by executive producer Peter Lenkov.

You can’t keep a good man — or arch villain — down.

Mark Dacascos, who played Wo Fat 2.0 in the current Hawaii Five-0 series, will be part of a Sept. 28 episode that remakes Cocoon, the pilot for the original 1968-80 Five-O series, according to Entertainment Weekly’s website.

The original Wo Fat (Khigh Dhiegh) was the villain of the 1968 pilot and would bedevil Steve McGarrett (Jack Lord) until the show’s final episode.

However, in the current series, which began in 2010, the Dacascos version of Wo Fat seemed to be definitively killed off in a 2014 episode.

This begs the question. Has executive producer Peter Lenkov devised a way to bring his Wo Fat back from the dead? Or will Wo Fat still be dead but appear in a flashback?

Naturally, there are no answers now.

Decascos tweeted out the Entertainment Weekly story. Lenkov, in turn, did a “quote tweet.” (Sunset on the Beach refers to an annual outdoor showing of the first episode of a Five-0 season.)

We’re blowing minds, Mark… no one can figure out how Wo Fat comes back to life. Folks attending Sunset on the Beach will find out first. #h50 https://t.co/Gl63BrJJuR

— Peter M. Lenkov (@PLenkov) August 31, 2018

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Hawaii Five-0 to remake original show’s pilot

Khigh Dhiegh, Soon Tek-Oh, Andrew Duggan and Jack Lord in a scene from the original Hawaii Five-O pilot in 1968.

Hawaii Five-0 is doing a remake of the original Hawaii Five-O pilot, Cocoon, the current show’s executive producer said on Twitter and Instagram.

“For those who guessed it… we’re redoing the 1968 pilot “Cocoon” for our season 9 premiere of #h50 – best way to celebrate our 50th anniversary- honoring the original and creator Leonard Freeman,” Peter Lenkov wrote on Instagram.

The original Hawaii Five-O was a police drama that often had espionage story lines. That was established with the two-hour TV movie pilot, written and produced by Freeman and which aired in September 1968.

In the pilot, Chinese agents are abducting U.S. intelligence agents and subjecting them to a new form of torture, dubbed the cocoon. They’re suspended in a pool, wearing a mask (with a tube supplying oxygen) with their ears, nose and eyes covered.

The lack of sensory impulses eventually breaks them and they provide crucial intelligence information. They are then killed, with their deaths made to look like an accident.

Lawman Steve McGarrett (Jack Lord) gets involved when Hennessey, a friend of his and an intelligence agent, turns up dead, apparently the result of a drowning. McGarrett doesn’t buy it. Hennessey never learned to swim because he sunburned too easily.

The pilot also introduced Wo Fat (Khigh Dheigh), who’d be McGarrett’s arch foe during the series.

The remake is going to have to make one major change. The Wo Fat of the current show (Mark Dacascos) was killed off in a 2014 installment that was also the 100th episode.

The current series debuted in 2010 and, as Lenkov noted, will begin its ninth season this fall. In 2013, the show also did a remake of an episode of the original series, Hookman, about a killer with no hands.

UPDATE (3:30 p.m.): Lenkov posted a photograph on Instagram from the remake. McGarrett 2.0 (Alex O’Loughlin) is undercover doing repair work inside a ship, the same way Jack Lord’s McGarrett did in the 1968 pilot.

Wo Fat: classic vs. reboot (spoiler)

Stop reading if spoilers give you anguish. (Although the episode has been out since Nov. 7.)

So, Wo Fat 2.0 met his demise in the 100th episode of the rebooted Hawaii Five-0.

Executive producer Peter Lenkov TOLD TV GUIDE:

When I wrote the outline [for the episode], he wasn’t dead in the outline. And when I started writing the script, it really felt like a natural end to the episode. I had always envisioned following the pattern of the original show, with the last show that we ever do being the capture of Wo Fat. But I felt, when I was writing it, that that felt a little predictable for people who watch the show and know the original one…I felt like if I was going to surprise the audience at any point, this would be it.

In the rebooted show, which debuted in the fall of 2010, Wo Fat 2.0 (Mark Dacascos) was used a lot more than the original Wo Fat (Khigh Dhiegh). Rebooted Wo Fat appeared in 15 episodes in less than five full seasons. By comparison, original Wo Fat appeared 13 times in 12 full seasons of Hawaii Five-O (which was how the original show was spelled). This counts his appearance in the pilot as only one appearance (even though the pilot was later re-edited as a two-part episode). We’re counting all other two-part episodes as one appearance for for each part. The original Wo Fat didn’t appear at all in seasons 6, 10 and 11.

Rebooted Wo Fat was supposed to be mastermind *and* terrific fighter. Thus, he was lean, mean and a master of martial arts. Portly original Wo Fat was content to be a mastermind who let others do the violence and generally manipulated events. It should be noted that Wo Fat 2.0 had virtual control of Hawaii (at the end of season 1 it was revealed the governor was under his control) but nobody knew it.

New Hawaii Five-0 to remake “Hookman”

The new Hawaii Five-0 series is going to remake the “Hookman” episode of the original Hawaii Five-O, according to a story at ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY’S WEB SITE.

The first “Hookman” led off the 1973-74 season. The story concerned a double amputee out for revenge against lawman Steve McGarrett and others. It won an Emmy award for composer Morton Stevens, who also wrote the Five-O theme and established the musical template for the original series.

Here’s an excerpt from the EW.com article:

Peter Weller (RoboCop) is set direct the episode and guest star as the title villain, taking over the role originally played by double amputee Jay J. Armes.

“It was a stand-out and a fan-favorite,” says executive producer Peter Lenkov of choosing the episode from a batch of many contenders. “It sort of came to everyone’s mind — everyone remembered ‘Hookman.’”

Part of the episode is on YouTube, at least for now. It provides a sample of the score that won Stevens his Emmy:

Edward Asner back for Hawaii Five-0, Deadline says

Edward Asner, the only actor to play the same character in the original Hawaii Five-O and new Hawaii Five-0, is coming back for another appearance as (not really) reformed villain August March, the Hollywood Deadline Web site says.

An excerpt:

His storyline is being extended for the second episode of Season 3, we’re told, and he is headed to Hawaii next week to shoot his scenes.

You can view the entire (fairly short) Deadline story BY CLICKING HERE.

Peter Lenkov, one of the show’s executive producers, may have decided to follow Skyfall’s virtual marketing and Tweeted a clapperboard shot as third-season production got underway last week. He also Tweeted a shot of some of the cast as well as a call sheet.

Hawaii Five-0 boss teases audience via Twitter

Peter Lenkov, one of three executive producers of the new Hawaii Five-0 series, is teasing the audience via Twitter to keep viewers interested as the second season unfolds. Some examples:

Dinner with Mark D (Wo Fat) tonight. Can’t wait to tell him how badass he is in the next batch of eps.

For those who have asked: Jenna Kaye WILL be back. Prepare to be shocked.

“Mark D” is Mark Dacascos, who plays the rebooted Wo Fat, arch-enemy of Steve McGarrett 2.0 (Alex O’Loughlin). Jenna Kaye is another character from the original Hawaii Five-O show who has been turned into a woman. In the opening episode of season two, it appeared she may be aligned with Wo Fat, but things may be more complicated. To check out Lenkov’s tweets, CLICK HERE.

Meanwhile, the show continues to use YouTube as a marketing tool. This promo for the Oct. 3 episode on CBS will look familiar to those who’ve seen Moonraker:

Hawaii Five-0 season 1 DVD in the works

Not a big surprise, but CBS already has a season 1 DVD set of the new Hawaii Five-0 in the works. What’s perhaps more interesting is how it’s already being marketed 21st Century style.

The first public disclosure occurred last week when Peter Lenkov, one of the new Five-0’s executive producers, disclosed this on his Twitter account:

H5-0 DVD LOADED with extras. Deleted scenes. Behind the scenes. SOTB. Stunt secrets. Gag Reel! So MUCH more. CBS HOME VIDEO u rock!!!!!!!

SOTB presumably means Sunset On The Beach, the Honolulu site where the new Five-0’s pilot was shown prior to the new show’s television premier last September on CBS. Amazon.com has already begun accepting pre-orders despite the lack of a formal release date.

Mike Quigley’s Hawaii Five-O Web site speculates that that the release will occur around the same time that the season 11 DVD set of the original Five-O show goes on sale. That, Quigley says, may be just before CBS begins showing season 2 of the new Five-0 in September.

In any event, Lenkov’s tweet about the upcoming DVD release of the reboot demonstrates that CBS is utilizing 21st Century marketing methods. CBS during the first season of the reboot uploaded episode previews and other snippets to spur interest in the new Five-0. (Style reminder: original show spelled it Five-O, with a capital O, while the new show spells Five-0 with a numeral zero.)