Hawaii Five-0

So far, O'Loughlin has come most alive when he's engaged in the premiere's close-quarters, elbow-chopping fight scenes. But it's clear that, like other CBS shows from NCIS to CSI, the team byplay is going to be the heart of Hawaii Five-0. Thank goodness Caan is here to provide gruff humor, and Kim and Park play off each other nicely.

Hawaii Five-0 is a big bag of dumb fun, with a story told as tautly and smoothly as the surface of a Polynesian drum.

They make an appealing team, and it doesn't hurt that they're chasing bad guys through the breathtaking--and HDTV-ready--beauty of Hawaii. There's nothing groundbreaking going on here, just old-fashioned action-adventure fun. New old-fashioned fun, that is.

This remake keeps the scenery and action--exploding cars and AK-47 gunfights appear to be to Honolulu what thieving politicians and senile I-95 motorists are to Miami--but adds some compelling post-9/11 wrinkles.

That effort to seem "contemporary" carries over into the plot too: the new task force has "immunity" from the Governor to do whatever it takes to catch the bad guys, the better to keep up with shows like 24, one presumes. They aren't just detectives, they're a special arm of the law that doesn't have to adhere to "procedure" and "regulations."

It's TV at its least challenging, but it has an incredibly gorgeous setting, a pre-sold concept, a cushy time slot, a solid supporting cast and a starmaking turn by Caan.

Some things are better than they were in the '60s--including the top tier of television shows. This just isn't one of them.