Hawaii Five-O — 1968-1980 · 12 seasons · 281 eps

★ 7.4

Hawaii Five-O

1968-1980 12 seasons 281 episodes

★ 7.4 (9,064 votes) Bottom 46%

Hawaii Five-O is an American police procedural drama series produced by CBS Productions and Leonard Freeman. Set in Hawaii, the show originally aired for 12 seasons from 1968 to 1980, and continues in reruns. Jack Lord portrayed Detective Lieutenant Steve McGarrett, the head of a special state police task force which was based on an actual unit that existed under martial law in the 1940s. The theme music composed by Morton Stevens became especially popular. Many episodes would end with McGarrett instructing his subordinate to "Book 'em, Danno!", sometimes specifying a charge such as "murder one".

Episode Ratings Grid

Every episode at a glance, color-coded by rating. Rows are episode numbers within each season, columns are seasons.

Size: M

S1

S2

S3

S4

S5

S6

S7

S8

S9

S10

S11

S12

E1

8.0

7.6

8.0

7.6

8.0

8.6

7.7

8.2

8.1

7.6

6.7

7.4

E2

7.8

5.7

8.1

7.5

7.2

8.5

7.3

7.9

7.4

6.8

6.3

6.7

E3

7.2

7.8

7.5

7.7

7.9

7.1

8.1

7.4

7.2

7.1

6.0

6.8

E4

7.4

7.5

7.3

8.3

7.6

8.5

7.6

7.3

6.6

7.7

6.7

5.2

E5

7.4

6.5

7.2

7.0

8.4

8.0

6.5

7.0

7.8

6.3

5.5

6.3

E6

7.6

7.0

8.0

7.8

7.5

8.3

7.2

7.5

8.4

6.8

6.2

6.2

E7

7.2

7.5

7.1

7.4

7.7

6.9

7.8

7.7

7.2

6.9

6.4

5.6

E8

7.3

6.5

8.4

7.8

7.1

7.9

7.3

7.2

6.7

6.5

6.5

6.1

E9

6.7

7.3

7.8

7.7

8.6

7.8

7.8

8.6

7.2

7.4

6.9

5.9

E10

7.4

7.7

7.3

8.3

8.8

7.2

7.7

6.9

6.9

7.2

6.0

6.0

E11

7.8

6.7

8.9

7.2

8.7

8.0

7.6

7.6

7.6

6.7

6.8

6.5

E12

7.8

7.3

7.4

6.7

7.0

7.1

7.2

7.5

7.9

6.2

7.6

5.6

E13

7.7

7.6

7.5

6.9

8.0

7.0

6.7

8.4

7.3

6.4

7.5

6.6

E14

7.3

7.7

7.7

8.2

7.0

7.6

7.6

7.7

6.5

5.4

7.0

5.3

E15

6.8

7.7

6.8

7.6

7.6

7.5

8.0

6.8

7.4

7.0

6.7

6.2

E16

7.6

6.2

8.2

8.1

8.4

7.8

7.3

7.8

7.6

7.7

6.1

6.1

E17

7.2

7.5

7.7

7.6

7.8

8.2

7.1

7.4

7.9

6.3

7.6

6.2

E18

7.4

6.6

8.0

8.1

7.7

7.8

7.1

6.8

6.4

6.7

7.2

5.3

E19

7.0

7.7

8.1

7.6

7.5

8.0

6.7

7.7

7.5

6.0

7.2

6.8

E20

7.8

7.4

7.2

7.9

6.4

7.6

7.5

7.1

6.9

7.5

6.9

E21

7.9

7.6

6.7

8.0

7.7

8.3

6.9

7.1

6.0

7.4

7.6

E22

6.1

6.9

8.0

7.9

7.7

7.9

8.0

7.2

6.6

7.2

E23

7.5

7.4

7.1

7.2

7.2

7.6

6.7

6.8

6.7

7.3

E24

6.7

7.2

7.1

7.9

7.8

8.1

7.6

7.8

E25

8.0

7.0

E26

7.9

Avg

7.4

7.2

7.6

7.7

7.7

7.8

7.4

7.5

7.2

6.9

6.7

6.1

Great

Good

Mid

Bad

Episode Power Rankings

The best and worst episodes at a glance. Use this to find must-watch episodes or ones you might want to skip.

🏆 Top Episodes

#1 8.9

S3E11 Over Fifty? Steal

#2

S5E10 8.8

'V' for Vashon: The Father

#3

S5E11 8.7

'V' for Vashon: The Patriarch

4. S5E9 "'V' for Vashon: The Son" 8.6
5. S6E1 "Hookman" 8.6
6. S8E9 "Retire in Sunny Hawaii... Forever" 8.6
7. S6E2 "Draw Me a Killer" 8.5
8. S6E4 "One Big Happy Family" 8.5
9. S3E8 "The Reunion" 8.4
10. S5E5 "The Jinn Who Clears the Way" 8.4

📉 Bottom Episodes

#281

S12E4 5.2

Sign of the Ram

280. S12E18 "The Moroville Covenant" 5.3
279. S12E14 "The Golden Noose" 5.3
278. S10E14 "A Short Walk on the Longshore" 5.4
277. S11E5 "Small Potatoes" 5.5

The Quality Arc

Each point is an episode, plotted chronologically. The colored bands mark season boundaries. Look for upward or downward trends to see if quality improved or declined over time.

Trend

Episode Engagement

Vote count shows how many people cared enough to rate. High votes + high rating = beloved classic. High votes + low rating = notorious stinker. Low votes + high rating = hidden gem.

Rating threshold:

92 Standouts

49 Infamous

40 Hidden Gems

100 Forgettable

Top Standout: S3E11 Over Fifty? Steal

Most Infamous: S2E2 To Hell with Babe Ruth

Best Hidden Gem: S8E13 A Touch of Guilt

Episodes plotted by rating vs. vote count. The vertical line marks the rating threshold (7.5). More votes = more engagement. Toggle above to compare against global or show-specific median.

Series Trajectory

A simplified view: one point per season. This smooths out episode-to-episode noise to show the overall arc of the series.

Trend

Season Momentum

Did each season build momentum or fizzle out? Green arrows mean the finale rated higher than the premiere. Red means the opposite. Longer arrows = bigger swings.

Season Consistency

Some seasons are reliable bangers. Others are hit-or-miss. Each dot is an episode. Tightly clustered dots mean consistent quality. Scattered dots mean a mixed bag.

Each dot is an episode. Clustered dots = consistent quality. Scattered dots = variable season. Hover for episode details.