This ‘Hawaii Five-O’ Episode Was Banned to Save Lives (original) (raw)
Published Dec 17, 2023, 11:15 AM EST
Michael John Petty is a Senior Author for Collider who spends his days writing, in fellowship with his local church, and enjoying each new day with his wife and daughters. At Collider, he writes features, reviews, recaps, and conducts interviews. In addition to writing about stories, Michael has told a few of his own. His novella, The Beast of Bear-tooth Mountain,was released in 2023. His Western short story, The Devil's Left Hand, received the Spur Award for "Best Western Short Fiction" from the Western Writers of America in 2025. Michael currently resides in North Idaho with his growing family.
Summary
- The missing episode of the original Hawaii Five-O series, "Bored, She Hung Herself," centered on the investigation of a yoga student's death by asphyxiation.
- The episode is considered one of the worst of the series and offers little compared to other adventures of the Five-O unit.
- There are conflicting claims about whether a viewer copied the technique seen in the episode and died as a result, with no concrete evidence to support the story. The episode has never been released on home video or aired again since its original broadcast in 1970.
"Book 'em, Dan-o!" It's not often you hear about controversial episodes of your favorite classic television series that failed to make it to syndication, but every once in a while, it does happen. Believe it or not, the original Hawaii Five-O series, which ran for twelve seasons between 1968 and 1980, had one of these episodes itself, the infamously missing Season 2 episode "Bored, She Hung Herself." This episode detailed a case that involved asphyxiation and, shockingly, may have even led to the death of a viewer.
Release Date
1968 - 1980-00-00
Cast
Jack Lord
Det. Steve McGarrett
James MacArthur
Danny Williams
The investigations of Hawaii Five-0, an elite branch of the Hawaii State Police answerable only to the governor and headed by stalwart Steve McGarrett.
Main Genre
Crime
Seasons
13
"Bored, She Hung Herself" Was a Controversial Hour of the Original 'Hawaii Five-O'
Steve McGarret (Jack Lord) and Dan Williams (James MacArthur) on 'Hawaii Five-O.'
Image via CBS
The episode––which aired only once on January 7, 1970––centered on the Five-O unit as they investigate the death of a yoga student named Wanda Parker (Pamela Murphy). As it turns out, Wanda seemingly died after attempting to perform a dangerous position that ultimately resulted in her own asphyxiation. Despite what the title of the episode suggests, Wanda wasn't bored but rather was killed by a neighbor after she rejected his advances, using her boyfriend's yoga technique to strangle her to death. Considering how many controversial episodes of television have aired since 1970, it's sort of surprising that "Bored, She Hung Herself" didn't make its way back to the airwaves.
As for what happens in the episode, well, not much. It mostly features Steve McGarrett (Jack Lord) talking his way through the case and departing from the show's usual exploits. In hindsight, it's considered one of the worst episodes of the series and offers very little for the Five-O to do compared to their most famous adventures. Most who have gone back and watched the episode (which leaked online years ago) have noted that there's nothing special about it at all save for the novelty of its removal. But "Bored, She Hung Herself" wasn't just removed from television, it was removed from all subsequent Hawaii Five-O releases.
As for why "Bored, She Hung Herself" was removed in the first place, well, apparently it inspired a viewer to try the same technique that killed the yoga student in the episode. "Somewhere in America, someone hanged themselves after watching the show," former child actor Joel Berliner, who appeared in the episode as a boy named Hank, revealed to a Hawaii Five-O fan page. "Their parents sued CBS, and shelving the episode was part of the settlement. The first [and only] broadcast in January 1970 was the first time Hawaii 5-0 cracked the top 10 in TV ratings. I was 12, and I was dismayed when it didn't rerun that summer." It sounds like CBS was trying hard to cover themselves concerning the whole lawsuit, but that might not be the full story.
This 'Hawaii Five-O' Episode Sparked a Copycat Death and a Lawsuit –– or Did It?
Steve McGarrett (Jack Lord) stands on top of a car as Dan Williams (James MacArthur), Kono Kalakaua (Gilbert Lani Kauhi), and Chin Ho (Kam Fong Chun) look onward on the original 'Hawaii Five-O.'
Image via CBS
Unfortunately, there's still a lot we don't know about what exactly happened concerning "Bored, She Hung Herself," and the validity of the original copycat death claims has come into question in recent years. In the mid-1990s, actress Joan Taylor––the late wife of Five-O creator Leonard Freeman who went by Rose Freeman in later years––attended a fan convention where she too related the same story about a viewer who attempted the technique seen in the episode only to die as a result. According to Freeman, this was why the episode was pulled from syndication in the first place and never aired again after 1970. The actress too noted the lawsuit against CBS, and though she's thus far the best source regarding this peculiar case, it's worth noting there is no public recording of her saying any of this herself (though recordings do exist of her at the convention).
Despite these claims, not everyone buys the story. Snopes, which appears to be the only notable source that has actively looked into these claims, has been unable to prove that anyone died as a result of this episode, or that there was ever a lawsuit against CBS at all. Admittedly, the website notes that this story is entirely possible and that it could have happened, but the digital record thus far is lacking. Unless the network itself reveals the truth, or some other source comes forward, it's unlikely that we'll ever know what really happened.
Ironically, even if CBS wasn't sued concerning the infamous Hawaii Five-O episode back in the 1970s, the network was eventually tossed onto the legal battlefield later on over their eventual Hawaii Five-0 remake series (which uses a "0" in the title rather than an "O"). Not once, but twice, the network was sued concerning the reboot, first concerning profits from the 2010 series, and later over the use of the original series' theme song. Although, there's never been a supposed death as a result of the 2010 Hawaii Five-0 series, which ran for a decade on CBS and existed in the same world as the MacGyver and Magnum P.I. remakes, so it has that going for it.
"Bored, She Hung Herself" Never Appeared on Any 'Hawaii Five-O' Home Video Release
Steve McGarret (Jack Lord), Dan Williams (James MacArthur), and Kono Kalakaua (Gilbert Lani Kauhi) investigate on the original 'Hawaii Five-O.'
Image via CBS
In addition to never airing again on television, "Bored, She Hung Herself" has never been officially released on home video either. That's right, while most television season box sets include the words "complete season" (or "complete series" if you're collecting the whole thing), that isn't true for Hawaii Five-O. For all the show's single-season releases, the show's box sets only name the season sans any "complete" that may have come before it. This was also true of the second season DVD, which only states "The Second Season" on the cover with a note on the back reading that the aforementioned episode was excluded.
"Due to viewer reaction following the original telecast of the episode 'Bored, She Hung herself' (Season 2, Episode 16), that episode has not been re-broadcast or released in any manner since its original airing and is not included in this collection," is what the box set reads. Ironically, the show's "complete series" box set, despite its title, is missing a handful of episodes, along with "Bored, She Hung Herself." While the front cover boasts that it collects 278 episodes, there are actually 281 Hawaii Five-O episodes in total. While we're not sure exactly which episodes are missing, it seems to be a theme running through the cop drama.
The original Hawaii Five-O (minus "Bored, She Hung Herself") can be streamed on Paramount+.