A Spike marathon for the original 'Hawaii Five-0'

SERIES "Hawaii Five-0," original version

WHEN | WHERE First-season marathon this week on Spike: Monday-Thursday 9 a.m.-

1 p.m., repeated 1-5 p.m., then

5 p.m. episode starts next day's repeat lineup; also Friday

9 a.m.-6 p.m. (check spike.com for episodes).

REASON TO WATCH This Honolulu-set police actioner is one of TV's best-remembered, longest-running (12 seasons) series. CBS' fall lineup "reboots" it Sept. 20 with "Moonlight" star Alex O'Loughlin as next-generation top cop Steve McGarrett. So now's the time to revisit '60s star Jack Lord's rarely seen original.

WHY IT'S TIMELESS Good TV is good TV, and the 1968-80 "Hawaii Five-0" is well produced from top to bottom. Filmed entirely in Hawaii, its locations provide atmospheric eye candy. But like recent island mainstay "Lost," smart writing uses that tropical setting to tell compelling stories.

The acting is first-rate, too. With self-contained crime episodes, producers needed fresh faces weekly, and they flew in great names - Ricardo Montalban, Nancy Wilson, Vera Miles, Buddy Ebsen. They also found new faces who'd later break big - Martin Sheen, John Ritter, Yaphet Kotto, Christopher Walken.

WHY IT'S RETRO "Hawaii Five-0" doesn't move like a current-day drama. Today, shorter scenes cut between an episode's A story (bank robbery) and B and C plots (regular characters' love lives, office rivalries). But this '60s show is straight-ahead A story - plainclothes special unit investigates dastardly crime(s). Digressions be damned. It's all about solving the case.

Here, guest stars are half the tale. We see them plotting the caper or squabbling among themselves. They provide the episode's emotion - and a fresh focus, so the writers don't have to reinvent the regulars' complexities over 12 seasons by giving them weird diseases or contrived back stories.

WHY IT WAS SUCH A HIT In its 12 seasons, "Hawaii Five-0" ranked in Nielsen's Top 10 four years and among the top 20 three more. The show hit a '60s moment when Hawaii was a new state, when burgeoning jet travel made the remote islands a hot vacation spot, when building was booming (watch for construction cranes) and color TV was blooming. The "exotic" was already trendy in music (Martin Denny's lounge jazz) and decor (tiki).

And the drama's concept stayed relentlessly on-message. Tough cop collars bad guys. Lord's McGarrett is authority personified. We don't care about his feelings. He doesn't have feelings. He has clout. Plus outrage over crime-committing and righteousness that justice be served. McGarrett is The Man. Everything else is set dressing.

So "Hawaii Five-0" doesn't edge into soap opera where emotions overtake action. But, man, is there action. Gunplay. Car chases. Fistfights. If you think today's network TV is violent, get a load of this wanton mayhem.

There's no other show like "Hawaii Five-0." At least until the new one arrives.

BOTTOM LINE Book 'em, Dano.