The LYLAS: Helping launch Kipling store at Ala Moana Center.

The LYLAS, the up-and-coming girl group comprised of sisters of Hawaii superstar Bruno Mars, will perform at 5 p.m. today (May 16) at the opening of Kipling, the robust luggage and accessory label, at Ala Moana Center.
Doors opened this morning, but the festivities will be this evening. Following a mini-performance, The Lylas will do an autograph session from 6 to 7 p.m.
Give-aways and other activities were slated throughout the day, with shoppers able to earn prizes ranging from discount cards for future purchases at Kipling and a piece of classic Kipling luggage.
The Belgian brand is known for its contemporary design and trendy shapes and colors, as well as the iconic gorilla-with-thumb-in-the-mouth that dangles from most luggage, roll-aboards and shoulder bags.
It’s a unisex brand that’s durable; I’ve bought ‘em over the years, locally and in luggage shops in New York City, and they last forever and have made many trips with me.

It’s official: CBS is moving “Hawaii Five-0” from its Monday slot at 9 p.m. (10 p.m Mainland) to Friday night at 8 p.m.
So the rumors have been true. And in the new environment, there will be less pressure and fewer worries about numbers and rankings. Perhaps less stress, from one standpoint; so maybe the show will find its inner strength and grow and improve and, well, become a reborn project.
The Hawaii-based show, earlier renewed for a fourth season based on a previous TNT syndication, dodged cancellation because of the deal. This, as the procedural struggled somewhat and see-sawed for ratings stability opposite ABC’s “Castle,” which most often prevailed. NBC’s “Revolution” was third, though yanked for months during a mid-season hiatus, with its own ratings and viewership issues.
The repositioning on Fridays, sandwiched between “Undercover Boss” and “Blue Bloods,” is considered the death knell for under-performing shows.
It’s a neighborhood where figures and standings matter a skosh, but not like on other nights when competition is fierce and viewership soars.
Fridays, alas, is construed as the glue factory for thoroughbreds which have lost their glory in the horse race. TV critics are not silent about this positioning, and may have already wiped off "Five-0" as a contender and competitor this early in the game. While the move may benefit “Five-0,” it could also diminish its strength, eliminating a fifth season lifeline. Only time — and performance — will decide.
When “Five-0” vacates the Monday position this fall, the replacement show on CBS will be “Hostages,” with 15 episodes airing through January; then “Intelligence” assumes the slot for 13 episodes through June. Comedies will continue to precede the new dramas.
On Fridays, “Five-0” will compete with these shows: “Shark Tank” on ABC and “Grimm” on NBC.
Strange bedfellows: shark infestation (not literal sharks) and an element of the grim.
Hmmmmmmm...

CBS’ homegrown “Hawaii Five-0” continues to glide; Monday’s (May 13) episode attracted 7.68 million viewers, with a 1.8 rating in in the key 18 to 49 demographics. This was a drop of a tenth, down from last week’s 1.9 rating.
The show is on a downward spiral, seemingly no longer able to bypass ABC’s “Castle,” which had 11.26 million viewers in the Nielsens, good for a 2.2 demo and No. 1 ranking. The third show, NBC’s “Revolution,” had fewer viewers at 5.72 million, but raked in a 1.9 rating in the demos.
But whoa: The show is displaying a late-in-the-season sass and style. If you ask me, the model is “Mission: Impossible.”
“Five-0” had a credible plot in the “He welo ‘ohana (Family Business)” show, revealing and compounding familiar character traits in Doris McGarrett (Christine Lahti) and Kono (Grace Park). The latter, who is Steve McGarrett’s (Alex O’Loughlin), continues to provide headaches and worry for the commander of “Five-0,” and Kono also still is caught in the precarious relationship with Adam (Ian Anthony Dale), whose Yakuza ties intrude on their lives. Worse, Kono gets shot, though her bravura and reckless behavior brings tension to the plot; but you wonder when she’s going to get it, and get out of this messy situation.
This raises an issue: How long can a dead-end relationship last in a story arc? Even Mama McG’s recent beau (Treat Williams) is back, partnering in her quest to retrieve a precious microfiche in a high-security office. But in a “Mission: Impossible”-type feat, the attempt to secure a pass card, cutting off the TV circuitry in the facility, and rushing into the office on a potential government employee (Craig T. Nelson) whom Mama McG knows, is unabashedly cinematic and ambitious for a procedural. OK, silly, too.
But brownie points to the storytellers: the inclusion of ‘iwi matters, relating to the light rail in the works for Honolulu which continues to search for bones, is a slice of life; more of this kind of relatable elements, and this should could begin an upward struggle to regain viewers.
However, the matter of a Yakuza body dump, with beaucoup graves in a parcel of land that would eventually be where rail prevails, is a bit much — but it helps frame the story.
That in-the-elevator-shaft sequence, with Mama McG and McG dodging a rising car, is the stuff of films. Yes, “MI” minus Tom Cruise.
At best, the show projects a lot of effort and energy, for a change. The usual banter between McG and Danno (Scott Caan) is tolerable; the exchange between McG and Mama McG, including small-kid-time memories of magic, is sweet and proper, demonstrating a rich and warm past connecting to a tense and confused presence.
Add the helicopter drop, and retrieval, and you have more “MI” flavor.
Perhaps that’s the underlying message with this one: The mission is to improve and get back on track. And while it seems to be unlikely, it’s not impossible.

With two more new episodes of its third season on the agenda this and next Monday, amid disappointing and dwindling viewership, CBS’ “Hawaii Five-0” faces a fourth season with challenges galore, the least of which is rebuilding its fan base and improving viewership.
“He Welo ʻOhana (Family Business)," this week's (May 13) show, brings back Doris McGarrett (Christine Lahti) who tries with the help of son Steve McGarrett (Alex O’Loughlin) to retrieve an incriminating microfilm, while Kono (Grace Park) finds her life in jeopardy as she zooms in on beau Adam (Ian Anthony Dale), who has Yakuza ties.
"Aloha, Malama Pono (Farewell and Take Care)," the season finale on May 20, finds McG making a shocking discovery during a visit to Wo Fat (Mark Dacascos), and a terrorist detainee supposedly on a transport plane to Hawaii, is missing — though four bodies are aboard.
These two shows may not resolve the issue that the series is broken and needs fixing.
But loose threads should be tidied up, to prep for next year. Will there be major changes — unexpected story twists, new revelations, tighter and more credible plots — as producers huddle during the hiatus leading to the fall season?
We’ve flagged and nagged about the large and ineffective stable of marginal characters in this space, some new and some recurring, and the outrageous plots that insult common intelligence. The Hawaii-based procedural is fiction, but more often than not, its reality is laced with far-fetched and unbelievable situations. Flying to Korea in copter has been just one of the truth-stretching absurdities; worse, that reality show tie-in was messy and miserable; much of this kind of shameful nonsense should be halted.
Will the show take stock and reel in or cut characters, erasing some roles in the role ahead? Will there be a demise of one or two recurring roles that have clogged the pipeline this year?
Most importantly, who in the CBS hierarchy can lasso the plot issues and help reshape and rejuvenate the series to its season one glory? Or is that an impossible task at this point?
Some people and practices to contemplate:
• Mama McGarrett: She’s been mostly a question mark and certainly a distraction in season three. Perhaps she should be sent to pasture; and banned from flashbacks. In reality, actress Lahti had committed to do a new NBC show, “Beverly Hills Cop,” but the show’s pilot (with Eddie Murphy in a recurring role) was not picked up and consequently is DOA. Please; let her disappear, alive or otherwise, and let’s all move on.
• Wo Fat: McG’s nemesis has been ineffective and largely elusive. With all else that needs attention (like creating interesting and inventive plot lines for the weekly crew on hand). Dacascos is a local, so it was a valid idea to bring him on as the Wo Fat antagonist. With his character badly burned and injured in the most recent episode, he, too, should expire. Besides, he still has a gig as the chairman of the Food Network’s “Iron Chef” reality show, where his physicality gets plenty of exposure.
• Catherine: Michelle Borth’s dual purpose — a working Navy Intelligence colleague of McG and his established main squeeze — has been comprised too often. Like last week, Kono asked her to illegally share data on her Yakuza beau. If that situation should recur, Catherine should tell Kono where to go. And learn the “no” word. Characters should have some ethics, after all.
• Exes: The frequent presence of former wives, husbands, future girlfriends, bosses, sisters and fathers should be halted. Or at least minimized. But routinely. backstories that become story arcs simply drag down the real gist of “Five-0:” Fight, explore, resolve crime incidents and tales; forget the family ties.
• Remaking old “Five-0” episodes: No more. The Ed Asner experience to recreate and shadow a vintage show didn’t work. If anything, viewers want the passion and the power of storytelling from the original, but revved up and formatted for the current audience, not retelling something old. If viewers truly want an orig, it’s still in indication — dated but certainly holding its own.
• Time slot: Though “Five-0” is rumored to move from its Monday night spot to a Friday template where ratings don’t matter as much and shows generally wind up in the graveyard (one writer calls Friday TVs “glue factory,” because old battle horses go there to die), it’s still firm at 9 p.m. Monday (10 p.m. Mainland), where its chief competitor will continue to be ABC’s “Castle,” which has generally been the procedural attracting more viewers. NBC’s “Revolution,” the potentially powerful drama with an unfortunate and ill-fated absence on the radar for a couple of months, is moving to 9 p.m. Wednesdays. So if “Five-0” retains its Monday residency, its new NBC competition will be “The Blacklist,” a new show starring James Spader as the world’s most wanted criminal who mysteriously turns himself in and is willing to name names of everyone he’s worked with, but only to a new FBI agent played by Megan Boone with whom he apparently has no connection.
CBS clearly was obligated to give a free season four pass to “Five-0,” which needs about 100 episodes for that TNT syndication deal beginning next year and producing lucrative bucks for the network. The finale of season three will bring the total to 71, so a full-fourth may still fall short of the 100 shows; can't imagine a fifth year, unless there's vast improvement from top to bottom of the ranks, on and off camera.
If the network and the cast and the show producers genuinely yearn for more years of renewals and an extended syndication life, the only way is to improve wattage on the stories, clear out the clutter, and go full throttle to regain the numbers and amass more viewers.
The network has said precious little about the declining ratings and embarrassing tales shared week after week. It’s time somebody in the hierarchy take notice and take charge.
“Five-0” has been struggling, with no apparent leadership or voice to fix what’s broken.
Agree? Disagree?

Let’s cut to the chase:
“South Pacific,” the beloved Rodgers & Hammerstein musical, apparently is heading for a remake on the big screen, according to Playbill.com.
Tony Award-winning director Michael Mayer, of “American Idiot” and “Spring Awakening” success on Broadway, hopes to tap Academy Award nominee Michelle Williams as Nellie Forbush, according to the Daily Mail. Williams was nominated for “My Week With Marilyn” and became a mainstream entity with “Brokeback Mountain.”
Apparently, more box office hotties are under consideration for other leads: Hugh Jackman, a Tony-winning Broadway star for “Boy from Oz” and an Oscar nominee for “Les Miserables,” is being wooed to portray Emile de Becque, with singer-actor Justin Timberlake, the prevailing artist of coolness thanks to his “Suit and Ties” hit, under consideration for Lieutenant Cable.
There’s no mention of who might play Bloody Mary, which requires a specific kind of actress, who can sing “Bali Ha’i” and “Happy Talk” in a particular style, and portray the comedic eccentricities of the character. So let’s hear a shout-out for our homegrown Tony nominee, Ables Sayre, who performed the Tonkinese character in the recent Lincoln Center revival of the classic play, directed by Bartlett Sher. Not only on Broadway, which led to a Tony nomination, but in London.
She’d bring N.Y. creds to the cast — along with a touch of Hawaii’s aloha. And you know how wildly we support our own in the arts. Think Bette Midler. Bruno Mars. Jake Shimabukuro.
The source of the musical is “Tales of the South Pacific,” the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by onetime resident James Michener. Another local link.
If the producers can align all the stars for this movie, the constellation would put “South Pacific” in the league of the Oscar-calibre “Les Miserables” hit that helped Anne Hathaway earn a Best Actress Academy Award. "South Pacific" could be such a filmic contender, too.
The star-studded cast certainly will appeal to the movie-going crowd; and since the story is set in the Pacific, part of the filming logically could be done in Hawaii. Just a thought, for now; Kauai was the backdrop for the first film of this musical.
The original Broadway production in 1949 starred Ezio Pinza and Mary Martin, and scored nine Tony Awards as well as the Pulitzer Prize.
The last Broadway mounting of musical, marking the 50th anniversary of the show, earned the 2008 Tony Award for Best Revival of Musical, so it has beaucoup creds.
The show has twice been adapted for the screen; a 1958 film starred Rossano Brazzi and Mitzi Gaynor; a 2001 TV version starred Rade Serbedzija, Glenn Close and Harry Connick Jr.
In Australia, a 2012 mounting was filmed for future DVD release. An earlier Carnegie Hall concert version, with Reba McIntire and Brian Stokes Mitchell, has been released on DVD. The Lincoln Center taping has been shown on PBS, but has not been released on DVD.
Against a wartime story line laced with issues on racisim, the joyous Rodgers & Hammerstein score features some of the most memorable tunes: “Some Enchanted Evening,” “Younger Than Springtime,” “I’m Gonna Wash That Man Right Outta My Hair,” “There Is Nothing Like a Dame” and “Wonderful Guy.”
Hope the producers seriously consider and then tap Ables Sayre for Bloody Mary. Would be a bloody crime if she is bypassed.