Hawaiian Eye

Infobox Television
show_name = Hawaiian Eye


caption = Robert Conrad, Connie Stevens, Anthony Eisley and Poncie Ponce in "Hawaiian Eye"
format = Drama
runtime = 60 minutes
theme_music_composer="The Hawaiian Eye Theme"
composed by
Jerry Livingston and
Mack David
performed by
Warren Barker
creator = Roy Huggins
executive_producer=William T. Orr
producer=Stanley Niss
Charles Hoffman
Ed Jurist
starring = Anthony Eisley
Robert Conrad
Connie Stevens
Poncie Ponce
Grant Williams
country = USA
list_episodes=List of Hawaiian Eye episodes
network = ABC
first_aired = October 7, 1959
last_aired =
April 2, 1963
num_seasons=4
location=Flagicon|California California
related="77 Sunset Strip", "Bourbon Street Beat", "Surfside Six"
num_episodes = 134

"Hawaiian Eye" is an American television series that ran from October 1959 to September 1963 on the American Broadcasting Company television network.

Premise

Private investigator Tracey Steele (Anthony Eisley) and his half-Hawaiian partner, Tom Lopaka (Robert Conrad), own Hawaiian Eye, a combination detective agency and private security firm, located in Honolulu, Hawaii. Their principal client is the Hawaiian Village Hotel, which in exchange for security services, provides the agency with a luxurious private compound on the hotel grounds. The partners investigate mysteries and protect clients with the sometime help of photographer Cricket Blake (Connie Stevens), who also sings at the hotel's Shell Bar, and a ukelele-playing cab driver Kim Quisado (Poncie Ponce), who has "relatives" throughout the islands. Engineer turned detective Greg McKenzie (Grant Williams), joins the agency later on as a full partner, while hotel social director Philip Barton (Troy Donahue) lends a hand after Tracey Steele departs.

Background

"Hawaiian Eye" was one of several ABC/Warner Brothers Television detective series of the era situated in different exotic locales. Others included Hollywood-based "77 Sunset Strip", "Bourbon Street Beat", set in New Orleans, and Miami's "Surfside Six". In reality, all were shot on the Warner Brothers lot in Los Angeles, making it easy for characters—and sometimes whole scripts—to cross over. Although the shows aren't spin-offs in the traditional sense, "Sunset" was the the first in this chain of "exotic location detective series". In this regard, "Hawaiian Eye" was the most viable of the "Sunset" look-alikes, lasting four seasons.cite web|url=http://www.thrillingdetective.com/hawaii.html|title=Hawaiian Eye|author=Kevin Burton Smith|publisher=Thrilling Detective|accessdate=2007-08-10] The show's debut coincided with several real-world developments that helped contribute to its longevity. These were the granting of statehood to Hawaii, the advent of mass tourism to the new state brought about by the introduction of jetliners for commercial passenger flights, and the promotional efforts of Henry J. Kaiser, whose real estate projects in Honolulu included building the Hawaiian Village Hotel.

Cast

The series regulars, who were shown during the opening credits, are listed below in the order in which they debuted during the show's four year run.

Recurring characters

* Lt. Danny Quon, played by Mel Prestidge, was the Hawaiian Eye's main contact with the Honolulu Police Department.

* Moke, played by Doug Mossman, was the chief uniformed security officer for Hawaiian Eye. He went by several variant names in the first season before the writers finally settled on one.

* Paul, played by Andre Philippe, was the MC at the Shell Bar in the Hawaiian Village Hotel.

* Bert, played by Sam Rawlins, was the doorman at the Hawaiian Village Hotel.

* Teo, played by several actors including Ralph Hanalei and Keone, was a uniformed security guard for the Hawaiian Eye agency.

* Roy Hondine, played by Rush Williams, was a columnist for a major Honolulu newspaper.

* Sunny Day, played by Tina Cole, was a singer at the Shell Bar in the Hawaiian Village Hotel. The role was created after Connie Stevens temporarily left the series in the fourth season over a contract dispute.

* Sgt. Alika, played by Makee K. Blaisdell, was a detective for the Hilo police force and appeared in several episodes that took place on the Big Island of Hawaii.

* Bubbles Smith, played by Karen Griffin, was a temporary girlfriend of Tom Lopaka in several second season episodes.

The program did well in the ratings on Wednesday evenings. In its last season, it was placed on the Tuesday schedule opposite CBS's "The Red Skelton Show" and a new NBC Western drama "Empire" set on a modern New Mexico ranch. Skelton survived the competition, and "Empire" was cut to a half-hour program called "Redigo" the following season and was soon cancelled.

Guest musical acts

All of the Warner Brothers detective shows of this era featured a musical interlude, generally performed by a series regular. On occasion, "Hawaiian Eye" had a guest act perform:

* Sterling Mossman and his Barefoot Bar Gang. A real policeman by day, Sterling also performed nights at the Barefoot Bar, one of Honolulu's most popular tourist attractions from 1952-1969.

* Arthur Lyman and his exotic tropical sounds.

In other media

A limited amount of spin-off material accompanied the series. Gold Key published a single comic book, "Hawaiian Eye" #1, in 1963, which detailed an adventure of Cricket and Phil Barton. In 1962 a single novelization by Frank Castle also appeared on bookshelves in America.

Episode list

See List of Hawaiian Eye episodes

ee also

*"Hawaii Five-O"

References

External links

*imdb title|id=0052472|title=Hawaiian Eye
* [http://www.tv.com/hawaiian-eye/show/1019/summary.html "Hawaiian Eye"] at TV.com