On yet another almost absurdly glorious day in Oahu, the Queen’s Beach section of Waikiki is a glossy postcard just waiting to happen–save for the three Honolulu police officers hovering over a nearby corpse.
Trouble in paradise? Well, not quite. The cops are TV characters played by Michael Biehn, Sharif Atkins and Aya Sumika on NBC’s new crime drama, “Hawaii.”
These days, Oahu residents are getting used to seeing lights, cameras and Hollywood-style action all around their little rock in the sea.
On the same afternoon the “Hawaii” crew was dealing with make-believe murder in Waikiki, another crew was about 30 miles away, on Mokuleia Beach, filming scenes for “Lost,” a new ABC drama about plane-crash survivors on a deserted island.
Meanwhile, yet another crew was in Waialua, working on the steamy Fox soap “North Shore.”
But that’s not all. Scheduled to arrive soon is the WB for a drama pilot called “Rocky Point.” Toss in recent visits by “American Idol” and reality shows such as “Average Joe: Hawaii” and “High School Reunion,” and you’ve got an extraordinary Hawaiian television boom.
Veteran actor Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, a longtime resident of the 50th state, is playing a police captain in “Hawaii.” Not only does he cherish the rare chance to work close to home, but he’s also eager to deliver a taste of the islands to U.S. living rooms.
“These days, there’s not a lot of places to relax on TV,” he says. “But as soon as you see images of Hawaii, you just start breathing slower. The light gets brighter on the screen, and you want to settle in. That’s the magic of this place.”
But why not make life easier on production by keeping it in Los Angeles and jetting to Hawaii only for occasional exterior shots? It simply wouldn’t work, insist the island-based filmmakers, who say Hawaii offers a look and feel they can get nowhere else.
“The viewing public is a lot smarter these days. They know when they’re being faked,” says Harry Bring, a “North Shore” producer.
The goal isn’t quite the same for “Lost,” in which Oahu isn’t playing itself, but a very mysterious unnamed island in the middle of nowhere.
“So much of this show is about our characters being outside and being in big, beautiful, remote environs,” says actor Matthew Fox, who heads “Lost’s” 14-person ensemble. “You just have to have that as your backdrop, and Hawaii gives that to you.”
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Edited by Cara DiPasquale ([email protected]) and Kris Karnopp ([email protected])