Hawaii Five-O
The Golden Noose
TV Flash files “The Golden Noose” as hour 279 of 284 in the TV Flash guide — Hawaii Five-O (1968–1980) on CBS, season 12, episode 15, aired 1980-01-15, 60 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S12E15: listed hour 279 of 284 in the Hawaii Five-O guide, hour 15 of 20 in season 12. It aired 1980-01-15 (60 min). The listed hour before it is “For Old Times Sake” (S12E14). Next is “The Flight of the Jewels” (S12E16).

Catalog log
Broadcast listing — not a TV Flash recap.
The next-to-last show to be filmed features an escaped convict posing as a diplomat from a Far Eastern country in order to get at the country's store of gold bullion in a Honolulu bank. He hires experts with lasers to penetrate the light-beam screen surrounding the bank vault, burn a hole in the vault's floor, heat the gold until it liquefies and drain it through ceramic tubing. McGarrett gets a clue to what's happening when the bank's thermometer (located near the vault) starts to freak out, but he still has to find the thugs' hideout before they solidify the gold and escape.
Viewer FAQ
Where does The Golden Noose sit in the Hawaii Five-O guide?
S12E15 is listed hour 279 of 284 — hour 15 of 20 in season 12, season 12 episode 15.
When did Hawaii Five-O S12E15 air?
The Golden Noose aired 1980-01-15 and is listed at 60 minutes.
Where should I start?
Jack Lord's McGarrett in an early location-heavy hour is the command presence: theme, waves, 'Book 'em, Danno.' You do not need the 2010s reboot to understand the original.
In the series
Why this series still plays
Book 'em, Danno — Steve McGarrett's elite unit chased crime across an islands postcard for twelve CBS seasons. Jack Lord's granite intensity, the Morton Stevens theme, and location photography made procedural TV feel like a vacation with felonies. The most whistled badge theme in the language.
The theme hits before the warrant. CBS's *Hawaii Five-O* premiered September 20, 1968, and ran through 1980: twelve seasons of Steve McGarrett's elite state police unit chasing crime across an islands postcard. Jack Lord's granite intensity. James MacArthur's Danny Williams. Kam Fong's Chin Ho and Zulu's Kono in the unit. Leonard Freeman built cop drama as tourism board and iron discipline. Morton Stevens wrote the surf-orchestra swagger that still chases you. **Book 'em, Danno entered the language. The theme…
Filed against
- Jack Lord as Steve McGarrett
Jack Lord’s Steve McGarrett made Hawaii Five-O a twelve-season postcard with felonies — granite intensity, Morton Stevens theme, Book ’em, Danno as civic punctuation. CBS procedural as vacation weather that still whistles. TV Flash files…
- James MacArthur as Danny 'Dano' Williams
James MacArthur’s Danny “Danno” Williams took the order that became a national catchphrase — Book ’em, Danno, twelve CBS seasons of Hawaii Five-O as vacation-with-felonies television. Jack Lord’s granite needed a partner who would move.…
- Kam Fong as Chin Ho Kelly
Kam Fong’s Chin Ho Kelly rode Hawaii Five-O as islands-postcard procedural muscle — Book ’em, Danno, Steve McGarrett’s elite unit, twelve CBS seasons, Jack Lord’s granite, the Morton Stevens theme, location photography that made felonies…
- Zulu as Kono Kalakaua
Zulu’s Kono Kalakaua rode Hawaii Five-O as island-unit steel — Book ’em, Danno, Steve McGarrett’s elite squad chasing crime across an islands postcard for twelve CBS seasons. Jack Lord’s granite intensity, the Morton Stevens theme,…