Post #550239 by bigbrotiki on Thu, Aug 26, 2010 3:32 AM

On 2010-07-26 10:33, JOHN-O wrote:
I was re-reading the BigBro's "Sound of Tiki" liner notes on the show. Apparently the cast was never in Hawaii, it was all done on the Warner Brothers soundstage in Burbank !! Even the Hawaiian Village Shell Bar was a set. I guess they had a Hawaiian crew who did the local shooting which was used as rear projection for the actors. :(

John-O, to differentiate: As far as I understand, the H.E. cast and crew did get go to Hawaii once every season, to be in specific shots to be cut into the various scenes in the episodes. That's when the rear projection "plates" were shot for the beach scenes, too. They are easily detectable as such.

All the interiors were sets on the Warner Brothers lot, even the Lanai with its swimming pool at the H.E. detective's office was built on a sound stage.

This artificiality is the other main reason (the first being their Tiki logo) why I call Hawaiian Eye THE Tiki Television show: It was another example of mainland-made Polynesia (unlike Hawaii 5-0, which was shot on location in Waikiki)

Funny thing is that the sets of Polynesian restaurants and bars in the show looked almost under-dressed compared to some of the lavish Tiki temples outside the studio's gates. It was as if the real Polynesian restaurants had taken their cues from film set concepts, but then overshot their teachers artistry.