The series starred Alex O'Loughlin and Scott Caan and centers around a fictional special police major crimes task force operating at the behest of the governor of Hawaii.

Other cast mates included Taryn Manning, Masi Oka, Lauren German, Michelle Borth, Chi McBride, Jorge Garcia, Meaghan Rath, Taylor Wily, Dennis Chun, Kimee Balmilero, Beulah Koale, Ian Anthony Dale and Katrina Law.

Hawaii Five-0 received praise for its modern take on the original series, and was a solid ratings performer for CBS at the time of its release.

The series covers the actions of the Hawaii Five-0 Task Force, a fictional small, specialized Hawaii Department of Public Safety major crimes task force headed by former United States Navy SEAL Lieutenant Commander Steve McGarrett (United States Navy Reserve).

Steve McGarrett recruits Honolulu Police Department Detective-Sergeant Danny "Danno" Williams as his partner and unofficial second in command of the team.

Steve later adds Captain Lou Grover, a HPD SWAT commander and a transfer from the Chicago Police Department, Special Consultant Jerry Ortega, Chin's high school classmate, a conspiracy theorist and a consultant for the task force, and for a brief time, Lieutenant Catherine Rollins, Steve's girlfriend and ex-US Navy Office of Naval Intelligence.

Following Max, Chin, and Kono's departures, Max is replaced by medical examiner Dr. Noelani Cunha, and McGarrett fills in Chin and Kono's spots by hiring high-achieving HPD academy washout Tani Rey and ex-US Navy SEAL Special Warfare Operator Second Class-turned-Police Candidate Junior Reigns.

Later on, Kono's husband Adam Noshimuri joins the task force following the couple's divorce, and shortly after Jerry's departure, United States Army CID Staff Sergeant Quinn Liu is recruited in his place.

Among notable guests who made an appearance on show are comedian Dane Cook, actors Monica Barbaro, Norman Reedus, Balthazar Getty, Josh Dallas, Greg Germann, Ed Asner, Michael Imperioli, James Remar, Robert Englund, Tom Berenger, James Caan, Patty Duke, Lewis Tan, Peter Fonda, Michael Madsen, Daryl Hannah, Bronson Pinchot, Craig T. Nelson, Robert Loggia, Kevin Sorbo, Adam Beach, Corbin Bernsen, Rebecca De Mornay, Jeff Fahey, Bruce Davison, Tim Daly, Gail O'Grady, Nathan Kress, Sung Kang, Pruitt Taylor Vince, Tony Curran, Bai Ling, Rick Springfield, Tom Arnold, Jon Lovitz, George Takei, Treat Williams, Peter Weller, Terrence Howard, Joan Collins, Cloris Leachman, Lance Gross, Joey Lawrence and Chuck Norris, athletes Michelle Wie,[14] Clarissa Chun,[15] Martellus Bennett, Eric Dickerson, Jerry Rice, Michael Bennett and Metta World Peace, models Jasmine Tookes, Jacquelyn Jablonski, Behati Prinsloo and Kendall Jenner, and musicians Jimmy Buffett, Sean "Diddy" Combs, Nas, Nick Jonas, Xzibit, JoJo and Patrick Monahan.

Agents Sam Hanna and G. Callen of the NCIS OSP in Los Angeles are called in to assist Five-0 finding a suspect, Dracul Comescu.

Later, Callen and Sam must return to Los Angeles to stop a possible smallpox outbreak from becoming a reality with Danny "Danno" Williams and Chin Ho Kelly coming along to help.

While aiding Detective Chin Ho Kelly and Officer Kono Kalakaua, they also have to deal with Chinese intelligence soldiers who use the earthquake to steal top-secret weaponry that the scientists are currently developing.

Soon after, Junior Reigns is kidnapped as leverage for the criminals to get the list back, leading to Magnum's team helping Tani Rey and Quinn Liu in a search-and-rescue mission.

Original cast member James MacArthur briefly returned as Dan Williams, this time as governor of Hawaii, with cameos made by other former Five-O regulars.

[29] In October 2009, it was announced that Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci had signed on to script a pilot episode, and that Peter M. Lenkov would serve as the series showrunner.

[3] In February 2010, it was announced that Daniel Dae Kim had been cast to play Chin Ho Kelly, an ex-cop trained by Steve McGarrett's father.

[51] James MacArthur, the last surviving main cast member from the original series, agreed to guest-star in a first-season episode; however, he died on October 28, 2010, before filming his appearance.

It was also announced that Terry O'Quinn would be joining the cast of the show in season two,[57] along with Lauren German, who would play Lori Weston, a former Homeland Security (and FBI agent) official assigned by the new governor to keep an eye on the team.

[58] Since the show began in 2010 Michelle Borth had a recurring role where she appeared as on and off Steve McGarrett's girlfriend, Lt. Catherine Rollins, a Navy Lieutenant.

[70] Beginning with the second episode of the 2016–17 season, Claire Forlani had a recurring role as Alicia Brown, a retired criminal profiler who helped the team find a serial killer.

Kim and Park had been seeking pay equality with co-stars O'Loughlin and Caan, but did not reach satisfactory deals with CBS Television Studios.

[73] Following Kim's and Park's departures it was announced that longtime recurring cast member Ian Anthony Dale who portrays Kono Kalakaua's husband Adam Noshimuri had been upped to series regular for the eighth season.

[8] On July 21, 2017, it was announced that recurring cast members Taylor Wily, Kimee Balmilero, and Dennis Chun would also be upped to series regulars for the eighth season.

[79] An additional television score from Hawaii Five-0, featuring music written for the series by Brian Tyler and Keith Power was released in July 2023.

The first volume in the series received attention for how show producers integrated these new and previously unreleased tracks from major-name artists into the second-season episodes.

The site's consensus calls it: "A brisk, slick reboot of an old favorite, Hawaii Five-0's picturesque locales and attractive cast make for pleasurable viewing.

"[109] On May 19, 2010, The Honolulu Advertiser offered an opinion about the new version: "A smart script, slick production values and maybe a splash of nostalgia got the remake of Hawaii Five-O placed on the CBS prime-time lineup this fall," but went on to add, "it takes more than a brand name to capture viewers' attention."