Intrigues à Hawaii

I always enjoyed "Hawaiian Eye" as a kid--I think I wanted to be a white-suited private eye based in Honolulu. My favorite character was Anthony Eisely and I was always a little ticked off that he was replaced by girl throb Troy Donahue in the last year of the series. There seemed to be a good camaraderie between the "Eye" gang with Connie Stevens as the cutesy little nightclub singer/ gift shop operator and taxi cab driver Poncie Ponce and the private eyes. Also interesting were the "crossover" shows when "77 Sunset Strip" characters hooked up with the "Eye."

Ah, TV was a much simpler place back then. They didn't have gimmicks like car chases or explosions, and the plots were fairly transparent by today's standards, but it still holds up well as solid entertainment. Only one thing - the idea of an exotic Hawaiian location was nice, but we all know that not one foot of film was shot there, right? All done on the Warner Bros. sets in Burbank.....still, it paved the way for H-50 a few years down the road! Aloha

Was a big fan of this show when it first came on. "Cricket Blake" was my first "true Love" and Tom Lopaka could do no wrong!! The story lines were good and this show featured some great guest stars. Loved the music and could always count on a good fight or two. I have 15 episodes of this show and still thoroughly enjoy watching it. Anthony Eisley, Grant Williams and Troy Donahue were way too cool. I always thought that this series was better than 77 Sunset Strip. I know that Grant Williams died in 1985, however the rest of these guys are still around. Would be nice to update this and have the sons and daughters of my heroes now run the detective agency. By the way, Bob Conrad should still be working.

Basically an attempt to spin off 77 Sunset Strip, Hawaiian Eye started off as an ensemble cast, but slowly became a vehicle for Warners to show off Robert Conrad's remarkable face and body, as he manages to take his shirt off in almost every episode (as he also did in the Wild Wild West). And, Warners tried to launch Connie Stevens as well, both as an actress and a singer, but Stevens, who actually did a pretty good job in the show, didn't have the charisma to compete with the Sandra Dees and other cute-but-not-beautiful stars of the time. All in all, Hawaiian Eye is great if you like the visuals of Hawaii, Conrad, and Stevens -- but it's not much if you like plot or story.

We have the Decades over the air broadcast channel in our area. They do a marathon each weekend of some past TV show. Most I don't care that much about, but this weekend it was Hawaiian Eye, which I had never heard of or seen. Watched about a quarter of the entire 4 year series over the weekend. What a treat! Let me list the positives....

1. High quality B&W recording! That helps a lot for a TV show this old.

2. A-list actors or ones that would be A-list.

3. Connie Stevens singing a number in a club most episodes I watched. Never paid much attention to her before but she is actually very good and the song selection is not bad.

4. Even though its heavy on the closed studio production it has some real shots of Hawaii and that is always great in an old vid. Historical documents and all.

5. The show and writing aren't bad for the time period. Kinda of a precursor to other shows of this nature and Hawaii, (ie., Hawaii 5 O)

So unbelievably great treat and all for free over the air broadcast. Sorry if you don't have the Decades over the air broadcast in your area. You are really missing it for free!