James MacArthur, one of the most important cast members, bought a home that was within walking distance of the studio

No one is safe while the killer still has his freedom. The cast members of Hawaii Five-0 are aware of that. They are also aware of how vulnerable they are - and how accessible. They don’t work in a locked studio under the watchful eyes of security guards. The show is filmed on location at dozens of sites all over the islands.

One newsman observed: "Lord should really be paid by the Hawaiian tourist bureau as he runs around the islands chasing Red Chinese agents, members of the Japanese Mafia, kidnappers and assorted troublemakers midst pineapple fields, Pearl Harbor, teenage surfers, freeways and the cluster of skyscraper hotels right out of Miami Beach."

Much of the strength of the show is derived from the picturesque Hawaiian exteriors and the authentic appearance of the natives. And they are authentic. Local people are hired.

Says producer Leonard Freeman: "Because Honolulu is a rare mixture of modern America, ancient Asia and Polynesia, the faces of the extras and guest stars, many of whom are cast locally, is a big plus." But it could turn out to be a big minus is one of those extras, that face in the crowd, turned out to be the killer.

What could be his motive for attacking a member of the Hawaii Five-0 cast? A psychotic needs no motive - nor does a fanatic.

And the life of the man of Oriental background could have been taken by a fanatic. There is reason to believe that there are militant groups in the Hawaiian Islands similar to our militant groups on the mainland. And despite the fact that Lord has said: "Hawaii could serve as a demonstration laboratory in racial relations for the rest of the United States," a small band of activists has been responsible for a number of recent facial flare-ups.

This past July 4^th, the New York Times reported: "Native Hawaiians are expressing resentment over the appointment of a Japanese-American, Matsuo Takabuki, to the board of trustees of the Bernice Pauahi Bishop Estate. Although the sole beneficiaries of the estate are the Kamehameha Schools for native Hawaiian boys and girls, white men have long dominated the estate’s operation. The naming of men of Asian extraction tot he board has brought the Hawaiian’s resentment back to the surface."

The newspaper went on to say that the Rev. Abraham Akaka, pastor of the Kawaiahao Church took to the pulpit to denounce Mr. Takabuki’s appointment as comparable to "putting President Nixon in Mao Tse-tung’s place or putting Mao in Emperor Hirohito’s place."

It was revealed that the Bishop Estate had been under fire from young activists for some time. And in May, when the police tried to evict squatters in Southeastern Oahu, the activists called upon a Hawaiian Kahuna, or medicine man, who put an "Imikimalia" curse upon the trustees.

Such primitive practices still exist in the islands despite their modernization. Behind the rows of Miami-type skyscrapers, there lies a world of voodoo and a simplistic people that practice it. 

Hawaii Five-0 is extremely popular in the islands. It is watched by a large proportion of those natives, and the authorities are becoming concerned that witnessing crime may give them ideas.

Lord claims, "Ours is a positive show." And he denies that it might inspire crime. "In theme as well as plot, we demonstrate that crime doesn’t pay.

"In one episode called Speed Kills, which the network made us change to Up Tight, we had a young girl go off the cliff at Blowhole (a part of the coast near Koko Head where the sea forces its way through a tiny hole in a lava ledge creating a miniature geyser) because of drugs. 

"A girl in the midwest wrote me that she had turned herself and 30 of her drug-using friends into the authorities after seeing that program. She said they would have killed themselves in the same way sooner or later.

"I’m not fully satisfied with the amount of violence we’ve been permitted to use on the show," Lord continues. "We’ve reached a kind or armed neutrality. When we feel it’s necessary, we insist on it and sometimes we get it.

"We compromise. I don’t think compromise is a dirty word. I don’t think for example, it was necessary to take the shoot-out out of the Gunsmoke opening. But who am I?"

Lord is not the only TV actor to defend violence on television. Robert Stack (most recently seen on The Name of the Game series, but possibly best remembered for this role of the real life lawman Elliot Ness on TV’s The Untouchables) insists: "The only way you can portray the bad guy is to reveal him through some vicious or evil action. Some call it violence. I call it action.

"Action on the movie screen or on TV can be a tremendous outlet for frustrations and pressures. A man who has found the going tough during the day identifies with the hero battling the odds. When the good guy wins, the viewer, being a good guy, wins. It’s a form of escapism."

Mike Connors, the star of Mannix comments: "Violence stems from unhealthy environments, not from a TV tube. I remember when I was growing up and watching John Wayne’s wildest fights on the screen. He was in good fighting shows about a clean-cut American who was defending the right. He was a strong man. "

"I believe people are basically for law and order," says Jack Webb (writer, actor, producer and director of TV’s pioneer lawman series Dragnet and currently executive producer of the police drama, Adam 12). Even though our social standards seem to have changed in the last few years, right has always been right. Police shows on TV, when done properly and accurately, make that distinction clearly and to the viewer’s satisfaction."

The viewer’s satisfaction with police shows is evidenced by the high ratings of Ironsides, Gunsmoke, Adam 12, Mod Squad, Mannix, The FBI and Hawaii Five-0.

But the high ratings of Hawaii Five-0 may not seem so impressive to local authorities now that an unknown assailant is loose in the land, and the islands’ police force has been shown in a bad light by its inability to find and apprehend him. One of these days, the welcome mat may be withdrawn and the popular show may have to look for a new locale. But what would Hawaii Five-0 be without Hawaii?

Bernie Oseransky, the program’s production manager, estimates that about three-fourths of Hawaii Five-0 scenes are shot outdoors. "It helps to get as many landmarks in as possible. A lot of people have been here, and when you tell them you are in Hawaii, you had better be in Hawaii."

But if the show is accused of inciting criminals to acts of violence, it may be ousted. Even if the mysterious murder does not strike the Hawaii Five-0 set personally, he may strike it down for good - and that’s the primary reason the cast lives in fear of his next attack!