May 16, 2026:JEFF HERMAN REPORTS: MeTV EXPANDS ITS HAWAII FIVE-O COVERAGE
Starting 12/29/25 on MeTV, HAWAII FIVE-O began airing Monday-Friday at 11am EST/10am CST.
Similar to the show’s earlier run on sister network Heroes & Icons (H&I) and current run on sister network MeTV Plus, the network is running 46-minute HD syndication versions that are cutdowns of the uncut digitally remastered HD transfers created years earlier for DVD, Digital HD purchase, and streaming on services such as Pluto and Paramount+.
Per the CBS Syndication Bible, H&I and MeTV+ ran the remastered 209 episode package offered by CBS Television Distribution. However, this current MeTV run is also airing the remaining 74 episodes that previously were unavailable in syndication, for a grand total of 283 episodes, which marks the first time in almost 30 years that the complete series (minus “Bored She Hung Herself”) has aired on broadcast television, and also the first time it’s been broadcast in HD.
I have compared DVR recordings of some MeTV broadcasts with their original uncut versions available on DVD and Digital HD. The MeTV versions from CBS run 46 minutes with 14 minutes of commercials. In addition to the commercial breaks following the opening title sequence, Acts 1-4, and preceding the end credits, these versions add two additional commercial breaks, complete with pre-commercial waves edited into these new breaks. This is my analysis of the episode Samurai:
SAMURAI (S01E06; Original Run Time 51:15)
*01:08 cut from the opening of the teaser; fades in with cars arriving at courthouse
*New commercial insert with wave at the 12:00 mark of the uncut version
*00:42 cut starting at the 15:18 mark of the uncut version, eliminates part of McGarrett’s drive to the Tokura residence; music cue is rearranged accordingly to avoid a jarring audio cut
*00:05 cut from beginning of Act II, starts with CSI analyst saying “Well, McGarrett…”
*00:05 cut starting at the 22:06 mark of uncut version, assassin walking to hiding place
*00:25 cut starting at the 28:20 mark of uncut version, medics wheeling in stretcher for Tokura
*01:03 cut starting at the 30:48 mark of uncut version, office conversations cut, including Kono’s story
*00:12 cut from beginning of Act IV, starts with palm tree panning down to reporter
*00:10 cut starting 40:27 to 40:37, Danna talking to Steve on phone
*New commercial insert with wave at the 48:25 mark of uncut version, after Tokura yells “McGarrett!”
*00:20 cut, eliminating limo driving along dark, fades in with limo door opening
TOTAL CUTS 04:10 (Since there are 14 minutes of commercials, the Me-TV program run time is 46 minutes, including the 2 new waves added for commercial breaks. If you add in the material that was cut, there is about 01:15 unaccounted for, which suggests there is also very mild time compression occurring that removes the unaccounted for time).
Compare the above to the broadcast on the Family Channel in late 1990s. - MQAll three pre-commercial "waves" are eliminated, saving a total of 15 seconds.
A new commercial break is inserted into act one, and the scene following this -- an aerial shot of Tokura's neighborhood focusing in on McGarrett's car at the end -- disappears, eliminating another 1 minute and 10 seconds.
Following the fourth commercial break (which was originally the third one), another 45 seconds is cut as the scene with McGarrett talking to a police photographer and evidence technician taking care of "Tokura's" body is removed, as well as the one following with McGarrett talking to Kono and Danno as they walk outside where we learn that Tokura never went outside the U.S. We rejoin the action as the body is brought outside and the ring slips off its finger (a crucial plot element).
In the fourth act, there is a jump from the scene where Tokura's daughter and McGarrett watch a TV broadcast of her donating a million dollars to the university to the one where Tokura enters a Japanese movie theatre. What comes between is a sequence showing the Five-O team working late, McGarrett fingering his guitar strings and Danno doing surveillance -- a total of 2 minutes and 35 seconds.
In addition to the cuts, the show is time compressed about 6% (as if it was projected at 25.5 frames per second instead of 24). Assuming an original length of 50 minutes (my KVOS broadcast is not complete, but it comes to about 48'30" with two cuts), this means with time compression, about 4 minutes and 30 seconds is saved. When added to the approximately 3 minutes lost to time compression from the whole episode in the first place, this means the total length of this episode is about 42 minutes and 30 seconds, down from the original 50.
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