Appearing as Himself

Broadcast on KGMB, channel 9 in Honolulu, this local Hawaiian talk show is hosted by Emme Tomimbang. This episode featured James MacArthur as one of Emme's guests. A transcript follows:

Emme: We've got legendary, world-renowned, magician David Copperfield with us and, of course, my dear friend from Hawaii Five-O -- Book 'em, Danno. Hi, James. Welcome to our show.

James MacArthur: Well, Emme, thank you. I'm glad to be here, and back in Hawaii, period.

Emme: The last time you walked through these studies, there were some special memories. Share them with us.

JM: Oh, when I walked in here, it reminded me of 30-odd years ago, when I was out here. We were starting Five-O, and my son Charlie, who was then 8 or 9 years old, fell in love with Checkers and Pogo, like everybody else.

Emme: Oh, my goodness!

JM: So, "Dad, dad, can you get me on Checkers and Pogo? Can you?" So, I called up and, of course, KGMB was CBS then, and so they arranged for me to come down, and I brought my little guy down here. We used to watch Morgan and Jim Demerest, and Dave Donnelly prancing around in Checkers and Pogo.

Emme: Some old times. But speaking of legendary moments. Hawaii Five-O. Have you been talking or kept in touch with any of the other co-stars, like Zulu and Kam Fong?

JM: Absolutely. Yeah, I talked to Zulu and Kam just the other day. Zulu is waiting for a kidney transplant, and so we just ...

Emme: Wish him well.

JM: Yes. And Kam is fine. He sounds ... he told me over the phone he was going to beat me like a tin drum on the golf course. So, maybe he will.

Emme: Let's look at an old clip of Hawaii Five-O. I mean, these were great memories. Tell us a little bit about this moment with Steve McGarrett, of course, the legend, Jack Lord.

JM: <voiceover during clip from Yesterday Died and Tomorrow Won't Be Born> Well, there were are. Boy, that's Paul Picerni, an actor friend of mine. We were all so young...

Emme: Wow, you're so cute!

JM: <miming lifting weights and laughing> I used to be powerful.

Emme: <laughing> 30 years ago. Now, you're still seen in about a hundred countries. Although Hawaii Five-O went off the major network about 32 years ago, people still see it ...

JM: It started 32 years ago. It went off in about 1980.

Emme: Oh, that's right.

JM: But, it still plays -- it's amazing -- I mean, where it goes. I was just in Ireland a couple of weeks ago.

Emme: Ireland?

JM: Yes, and the show was very big there. And people remember it with great fondness. I've seen it all over the world. I've seen myself speaking Arabic, Chinese. I'm an amazingly adept linguist.

Emme: <laughing> You know, that's one of the few shows out of Hawaii that is still so successful, even in syndication. We’ve had shows like Magnum, PI. They’ve done well, but some shows can’t even get past the pilot. Why is that?

JM: I think today, for whatever reason, networks don’t stay with shows and promote them and keep them going even through bad times, to set them on the road. You have to be more of an instant hit. I don’t know why that is. But I almost believe that, you know, Five-O was very lucky. We had ... Look at the music we had, look at the credits we had, that wonderful quick-cut opening and so on.

Emme: Hula girls...

JM: Yes, and then we had a combination of things that worked. Jack Lord, Zulu, Kam, me. The whole thing meshed somehow, but under it all there was very good writing. And that’s why these stories are still interesting to a lot of audiences around the world, because the scripts were well written. That’s where it starts. Without a good script, you’ve got not much.

Emme: In your life after Hawaii Five-O, what have you been doing? I know you’ve been in films, you’ve been on television series like Murder, She Wrote. You’ve done a lot of TV, but what are you doing these days?

JM: Actually, what I’ve been working on lately with a friend is, well, he’s the writer, but one of my father’s plays called On the Twentieth Century. It hasn’t been produced much lately because there’s, like, 20 people in it. And it’s too many bodies to put on the stage economically. You can’t mount a production like that. So, I’ve worked with him. He’s got it down to 11 characters now, and we’re going to be trying it out in, I think, Washington D.C.

Emme: Your father was a famous playwright, so you’re going to be reviving some of his plays and putting it on stage?

JM: Yes.

Emme: And what about ... I know when we last talked, your mother had just passed away and you were gathering all her memorabilia, so you’ve been actually getting to know your parents a little differently.

JM: Well, I know that, and also, the other thing I’m kind of working on is ... I never wanted to write a book, but I’ve had a very interesting life in many ways, and I’m trying to put together a one-man show where I can go around and take it around to various speaking engagements. And I have ... I’ve got a lot of material. Every time I open these boxes, the moths fly out <laughter>, and then I get a picture. I say, “Oh, that reminds me...” You know? So, I got some really fun stuff to talk about.

Emme: You know, James, it’s always really nice to see you. You live here part time, your wife is the former golf pro at Waialae, your son loves to surf here, you have a home, as well as in Palm Springs. Now, there was talk about a revival of Hawaii Five-O. Do you know anything about that?

JM: It just hasn’t gone anywhere. I haven’t talked to Rose Freeman, the wife of the creator of Five-O, lately. But there was talk of a movie, there was talk of this, and right now Hawaii Five-O is still what it used to be. I don’t know what’s going to happen.

Emme: Well, at least we have you coming back to get your Hawaii fix, So, thank you so much. And, by the way, Jim, did you know that David Copperfield had some of his earlier performances here in Hawaii?

JM: In Hawaii?

Emme: Remember the Pagoda?

JM: Sure, Zulu played there.

Emme: Zulu played there, right. Well we’re going to chat with him in a little bit, but we’re going to find out a little bit about his early life here in Hawaii. Emme & Friends with James MacArthur. Thank you for being with us. We’ll be right back....