Clear Your Weekend: Hawaii Five-0 Just Dropped on Netflix

Mark your calendars, Hawaii Five-0 is making a return trip to Netflix. If you like a bit of on-screen law enforcement charging down hallways and taking names—sometimes literally yelling 'Book 'em, Danno!'—you might want to clear some space in your watchlist. The modern-day Hawaii-set procedural, originally cooked up by Roberto Orci, Alex Kurtzman, and Peter M. Lenkov, follows a specialist crime task force who answer only to the Governor of Hawaii. Think punching, shouting, and more broken doors than your average home renovation show.

Streaming Shuffle: Hawaii Five-0's On-and-Off Relationship with Netflix

If this set-up is giving you déjà vu, you're not wrong. Hawaii Five-0 and Netflix have a bit of history. The series has been available on Netflix before—if you’ve been subscribing a while you’ll remember when each new season would quietly pop in. That all changed once CBS, like every media conglomerate in the past decade, decided to hoard their own content. Hawaii Five-0 was yanked off Netflix as CBS set up its own streaming operation, which morphed from CBS All-Access into Paramount+ (because apparently every network needs a '+').

But, times change. As streaming platforms have come to realise, clinging to your own shows doesn’t always bring in the viewers. So, Hawaii Five-0 heads back to Netflix on 1 June 2026. Now, don’t get too eager if you’re planning a marathon – Netflix is only getting the first five seasons for its initial run. That's still 118 episodes to plough through, which should keep most armchair detectives busy.

Why Only Half the Show?

You might wonder: why just five out of ten seasons? Apparently, Netflix and Paramount have struck a little deal that suits both parties. Netflix gets a nice chunk of the show to see if viewers are still interested—think of it as a try-before-you-buy situation. If audience numbers just skyrocket, Netflix could shell out for the remaining five seasons. Paramount, meanwhile, is banking on new fans bingeing halfway and then coughing up for a Paramount+ subscription to finish the story.

• Netflix: Only pays for half now, checks the interest, and decides later if the back half is worth it.
• Paramount: Grabs new signups from Netflix viewers who get hooked and want more than five seasons.

A Modern Reboot Done Right

Now, the 2010 Hawaii Five-0 isn’t an original concept. It’s a reboot of the classic 1968 series (back when even the palm trees looked vintage). The idea of dusting it off for a modern audience had been floating about since the '90s—there was once even a failed pilot starring Gary Busey and Russell Wong, with James MacArthur (the original Danno) returning as Governor. That never saw the light of day, which, judging by the reception, was a blessing.

The 2010 version worked precisely because they didn’t mess about with the show’s DNA. The original theme tune by Morton Stevens? Kept. The catchphrases and tropical vibe? Still there. CBS held their nerve and swapped outdated bits for a modern sheen, but resisted the urge to break what worked. And clearly, audiences noticed: for all 10 seasons, the show pulled in about 10 million viewers on average. It was up for two Emmys for Outstanding Stunt Coordination (which, given the number of car chases, was entirely justified).

'Leave the classics alone!' is a phrase that gets flung about with reboots, but in this case, CBS got it bang on.

The Cast

In case you need a refresher, here’s the core cast from those crucial five seasons arriving on Netflix:

• Alex O'Loughlin as Steve McGarrett
• Scott Caan as Danny 'Danno' Williams
• Daniel Dae Kim as Chin Ho Kelly
• Grace Park as Kono Kalakaua
• Masi Oka as Dr. Max Bergman
• Chi McBride as Lou Grover (introduced later in Season 4)
• Jorge Garcia as Jerry Ortega (recurring before becoming main in later seasons)