Ed Asner Returns to Hawaii Five-0
Ed Asner will be returning to Hawaii Five-0 in an episode slated to air March 19th. He will be reprising a role he played on the show 30 years ago. The show will even find a way to show the original footage of August March in the episode.
Hawaii Five-0, as previously announced, will tap into the past — namely, that of the CBS drama’s original incarnation — when Ed Asner reprises a role he first played more than 30 years ago. And TVLine has a first look at the seven-time Emmy winner’s encore.In the episode airing March 19, Asner will again portray August March, who in the 1975 episode “Wooden Model of a Rat” was an up-and-coming world-class smuggler. When today’s Five-0 team needs advice on a case involving smuggled gems, they turn to March, who’s now living free after serving 30 years in the joint.
As an added call-back, the new episode will weave in original footage from Asner’s original guest-starring appearance.
Asked for his reaction upon getting the call to revisit a character he thought he had left behind long ago, Asner told TVLine, “It was a delight that I was alive to inspire the idea, firstly. And secondly, I was glad to have the opportunity to work on a top show like Hawaii Five-0with [executive producer] Peter Lenkov, who I admire enormously.”
Plus, of course, there’s the perk of a trip to the Aloha State. “Yeah,” Asner acknowledged, “that’s always nice!”