Parents' Guide to Hawaii Five-O (1960s)

But on another level, the series has become a cultural touchstone. When it hit the air in 1968, Hawaii Five-O offered a look at what was then a far off and exotic place. Filmed on location in Hawaii, the show cast Hawaiian and Asian actors in many key supporting roles and sprinkled its scripts with Hawaiian words and plenty of references to the Far East. Running for 12 seasons, it made the islands seem familiar even to people who had never left the mainland. And don't forget about the instantly recognizable theme song (second only, perhaps, to Mission: Impossible for TV's most distinctive tune).

Sadly, the series doesn't pass the test of time. Its view of Hawaii in the late 1960s and 1970s is like a fun look into a time capsule, but the plots drag it down. McGarrett's foes include Chinese spies, cold-blooded serial killers, gold smugglers, turncoat gangsters, and other far-fetched villains. The stories might have made for entertaining TV when they originally aired, but today they seem hokey and unbelievable. And the brief glimpses of Asian and Hawaiian culture, so progressive then, seem slightly patronizing and stereotypical today.