So opens "HOOKMAN," the premier episode of the ‘73 Hawaii 5-0 season. The opening scene of a police officer shot by a sniper with the police officer’s name engraved on the gun barrel was a very powerful scene, and . the show earned raving reviews from the Hollywood Reporter and Variety. Not bad for two guys fresh out of college and being able to write for one of the hottest shows on television at the time. Meet Rod Baker and Glen Olson, a little older and wiser but still full of stories.

I met Rod and Glen on a cool Saturday at the Olive Garden where we ordered our lunch and started the interview. They were in good spirits as they described their journey from fresh-faced kids to professionals. Many of you probably want to know how "HOOKMAN" came about. The main crux was to write a story about a criminal that had no fingerprints, hence the ‘hooks.’ Glen and Rod had met each other while in the Navy during Vietnam and became friends and collaborators, entertaining their comrades and fellow Navy seamen on ship. They were surprised that their antics didn’t cost them a court martial. They also spent some time in Pearl Harbor and Oahu and were able to soak up the local culture.

It worked. They received a phone call and soon next had a meeting at CBS with Five-0 story editor, Ken Pettus. Rod and Glen knew they were fortunate to have the late Ken Pettus to mentor them in the television script process. Pettus was considered one of the best story/character men in the television industry at that time.

Still wet behind the ears, Glen and Rod did the necessary rewrites and research required of the high standards on the Five-0 set. They often put in twelve and fourteen hour days to receive "well done" memo by the late Leonard Freeman for such a great idea. Pettus, who loved mentoring new writers, taking pity on them and sent them to Hawaii to see their script being filmed. However, they were given strict orders not to do any last-minute, on location rewrites for Jack Lord while they were there. Lord had a reputation of asking writers to rework scenes for him whenever they were on location during a shoot.

The highlight of their time in Hawaii was on the rooftop of a hospital where they were shooting a scene. "Jack Lord took out this nickel-plated pistol that Elvis had given him. Elvis was a big fan of Hawaii Five-0 and had given Jack and his wife Marie front row seats for his famous satellite concert in Hawaii. However, the gun was a real thorn in the side for Executive Producer Bob Sweeney because it ‘glinted’ in the light whenever it was filmed. They finally had to dull it with hair spray," Rod explained.

Another highlight was an evening spent with J. J. Armes, the famous El Paso private eye who played the sniper with hooks for hands. "We were in his hotel room and he was showing what he could do with his hooks," Glen related. "I mean he took an onion skin Bible and turned each page of the book without actually even looking at it." "He was an amazing person," Rod confirmed. "He had a .22 in his hooks and he showed it to us."

"And Jack Lord was McGarrett from 6 A.M. until shooting finished. Jack got on the set at 5 A.M. every day and was ready to go. The first day they shot our episode, there were problems. Not with the script, but with what Jack feeling there was a lack of energy on the set. And so and without political correctness Jack said Jack said, ‘you blankety-blanks better get your stuff act together and give me some support! get to blankety blank work.’" Jack did cuss on the set." Glen explained.

"Another thing, Jack Lord did not wear a wig. He hair was real. He had a hair stylist person who was combing grooming combing his hair between every take with a thick brush all day on the set" Glen said, debunking the myth.

However, Jack Lord did rule the Hawaii Five-0 set. "He was the Lord of the Hawaii Five-0 set. He was ‘McGarrett’ from the start of the day," Glen confirmed. Lord’s presence on the set Glen thought Jack Lord had the necessary chiseled looks for his character and the attitude to go with it. James MacArthur, ‘Book ‘em Danno,’ was also terrific in his role and the two played off each other like magic.

Both Glen and Rod were in awe the whole time they were there. Leonard Freeman was also there to there and directing any rewrites. If you recall the opening shot of Hookman, where the coffin and flowers fall out of the swerving hearse, you can thank Rod and Glen. As Rod and Glen. They were standing by innocently watching the swerving hearse being filmed, they discussed and started talking how much more effective the shot would be if the coffin and flowers came flying out of it when were still on the coffin at the time of its departure it crashed. that the scene would be much better with things flying. Unbeknownst to them, Freeman was behind them and heard every word.; afraid they were going to be Instead of an expected reprimanded,. Freeman agreed with the liked their idea and had the whole scene reshot, this time with the coffin and flowers spilling into the street, which relived them, with their idea. It was expensive to redo but it confirmed the young writers and the veteran filmmakers their respect for one another of Freeman.

Although Glen and Rod were on location to see their episode being filmed, it wasn’t life in paradise. Freeman made them work by sending them to Oahu’s North Shore to do research for Hawaii Five-0’s once a year North Shore episode. The result was ‘THE FLIP SIDE IS DEATH’. While on the other side of the island at the Kumilima resort, they learned that the acid in pineapple juice could "erase" fingerprints. Freeman told them to find a way to put that in their script, and they did.

The team sold a total of six scripts, five of which aired. They are as follows: Hookman, Right Grave-Wrong Body, The Flip Side is Death, A Woman’s Work is with a Gun, and finally A Sentence to Steal. Perhaps "Hookman" holds a special place in Glen’s and Rod’s hearts because they were also big fans of Hawaii Five-0 and selling that script made it all the more special.

Glen and Rod went on to sell other scripts and eventually were made story editors for "Chips", working with Five-0 alumni guest stars, Eric Estrada and Larry Wilcox. They attribute this success to writing for Hawaii Five-0 in the beginning. Both Rod and Glen wrote for the popular shows, Petrocelli, The Streets of San Francisco, Jigsaw John, Baa Baa Blacksheep, The New Adventures of Wonder Woman, 240 Robert, ABC Weekend Specials and Strike Force.

"I was in 20^th Century studio and stopped in to say hi to someone and ended up getting a script assignment," Rod recalls and bases the job on his Five-0 connection.

Numerous awards were bestowed on the team. They won a Cine Golden Eagle award in 1981-1982 for The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County, which was adapted for ABC. Also, winning the NAACP Image Award and an Emmy Award nomination for their All the Money in the World, ABC Weekend Special, in 1983-1984.

Although they wrote for major television shows and garnereding recognition, ageism caught up with them. Hollywood’s dirty little secret is if you’re a writer and over forty, you are forgotten it’s very difficult to get enough assignments to make a full time living at it. They stopped Forcing them to stop writing television scripts and broadened their writing opportunities. They didn’t regret their time in the industry, however, being young Turks and replacing who replaced other writers who already had their time in the sun. Glen and Rod look forward to the new Hawaii 5-0 movie and know it will be a formidable task to find someone to replace Jack Lord. There was only one McGarrett and Jack Lord was it," Glen reaffirmed.

Both Glen and Rod agree that CBS is missing out on a golden opportunity to market all of the Hawaii Five-0 shows episodes on DVD. "Columbia House (owned by CBS) had released ‘HOOKMAN’ and five other episodes, on VHS - but that was four or five years ago. What about now? When you browse retail shelves, there are volumes upon volumes of old TV shows on DVD. Some good, some bad, some not worth the cost of the plastic. So where is Hawaii Five-0? It’s popularity made it the longest running police show in television history and it was shot in one of the most scenic locations in the world!" Rod surmised with disbelief.

"But the other shows they have been releasing have to be the worst in television history. I mean Hawaii Five-0 was the longest running show in history, yet they don’t release all of the episodes," Rod feels cheated in that respect.

Rod went on to writing and publishing in the fast growing CD/ROM industry. Glen went onto producing commercials, but both continued to write. Only recently have they joined back up again to write a feature film and are looking happily to their future.