can anyone tell me about al harrington - General Tiki

T Thomas Member Lake Mojave Joined: Mar 15, 2005 Posts: 372	T Thomas Posted posted on Fri, Apr 27, 2007 1:41 PM I recently picked up two Al Harrington items in Bullhead City, AZ (though, curiously, one week apart and in separate thrift stores): the album, AL HARRINGTON: THE SOUTH PACIFIC MAN, signed, and a tan mug with bamboo-looking handle and dark-stained tiki figure on front, and "Al Harrington: The South Pacific Man -- Waikiki, Hawaii" on the back. I'm no tiki mug authority by a long shot but I have to say this is a pretty low-quality product. Still, thrilled to have it. I've been fond of Al Harrington for a while, mostly as a Hawaii Five-O fan for starters. I think he did an excellent job in his role and it was good to have a Pacific Islander play a very straight, sharp character. ("Kono" was great, but there was something about the character, an overweight and sometimes less serious, joker-type, that was a bit stereotypical at times.) As of this writing, http://www.imdb.com shows that Al H. is still very active and involved in current projects. By the way, I happen to have (most of) THE JEFFERSONS "go to Hawaii" episodes on video, and Al has a significant role in them. Very typical late '70s -- early '80s goofiness. This is from a page of the most authoritative Hawaii Five-O fan site ( http://www.mjq.net/fiveo/fiveofaq.htm ): Why did Al Harrington leave the series? No reason was ever given for Ben's departure (or his arrival, for that matter!). However, during a 1996 Honolulu TV show about Five-O, Harrington said that he was chosen by Leonard Freeman to replace Zulu starting in the fifth season, despite the fact that Jack Lord "didn't approve" because Harrington was "too tall" or "too something." After Freeman died in early 1974, Harrington said "the writing was on the wall that I wasn't going to be there very much longer." He survived until the end of the seventh season, during which he appeared to be absent much of the time. This "1996 Honolulu TV show" is included in the Hawaii Five-O season 1 box set, which has been discussed on tikicentral here: http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=22002&forum=6&30

I recently picked up two Al Harrington items in Bullhead City, AZ (though, curiously, one week apart and in separate thrift stores): the album, AL HARRINGTON: THE SOUTH PACIFIC MAN, signed, and a tan mug with bamboo-looking handle and dark-stained tiki figure on front, and "Al Harrington: The South Pacific Man -- Waikiki, Hawaii" on the back. I'm no tiki mug authority by a long shot but I have to say this is a pretty low-quality product. Still, thrilled to have it.

I've been fond of Al Harrington for a while, mostly as a Hawaii Five-O fan for starters. I think he did an excellent job in his role and it was good to have a Pacific Islander play a very straight, sharp character. ("Kono" was great, but there was something about the character, an overweight and sometimes less serious, joker-type, that was a bit stereotypical at times.)

As of this writing, http://www.imdb.com shows that Al H. is still very active and involved in current projects. By the way, I happen to have (most of) THE JEFFERSONS "go to Hawaii" episodes on video, and Al has a significant role in them. Very typical late '70s -- early '80s goofiness.

This is from a page of the most authoritative Hawaii Five-O fan site
( http://www.mjq.net/fiveo/fiveofaq.htm ):
**
Why did Al Harrington leave the series?
No reason was ever given for Ben's departure (or his arrival, for that matter!). However, during a 1996 Honolulu TV show about Five-O, Harrington said that he was chosen by Leonard Freeman to replace Zulu starting in the fifth season, despite the fact that Jack Lord "didn't approve" because Harrington was "too tall" or "too something." After Freeman died in early 1974, Harrington said "the writing was on the wall that I wasn't going to be there very much longer." He survived until the end of the seventh season, during which he appeared to be absent much of the time.
**
This "1996 Honolulu TV show" is included in the Hawaii Five-O season 1 box set, which has been discussed on tikicentral here:
http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=22002&forum=6&30

Post #302315 by Thomas on Fri, Apr 27, 2007 1:41 PM