Betcha you didn’t know there’s a version of the “Hawaii Five-0” theme ... with lyrics?
It’s part of an out-of-print Sammy Davis Jr. album and I can’t recall ever hearing this one on the radio.
The lyrics are McGarrett-centric, which touts his aim put a noose on crime and trouble-makers, but also telegraphs a message to potential victims of do-badders, with a repetitive promise: “You can count on me.”

Sample lines:
“If you get in trouble, bring it home to me
“Whether I am near you, or across the sea
“I will think of something to do
“I’ll be on the lookout for you
“And I’ll find you, you can count on me.

“And don’t you let ‘em get you
“Up against the wall
“‘Cause I’ll be there to catch you
“And I won’t let you fall.
“Call me if they get you below
“Call me when there’s nowhere to go
“And I’ll be there, you can count on me. ...”

Who wrote the lyrics? When? Why?
Perhaps it’s a case for the “Five-0” makers to explore.
Meantime, give a listen to YouTube postings (there are several), which features the late Davis chirping the song with “Five-0” visuals. No, there’s no in-concert, in-performance version.
Google “Sammy Davis sings ‘Five-0’ theme song,” or try this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wn06KJNbVEs

So what’s your take on the with-words song?

With ABC’s “Castle” returning to the Monday (Nov. 21) TV grid, CBS’ “Hawaii Five-0” returned to the No. 2 spot in the 9 p.m. (10 p.m. on the Mainland), according to preliminary Nielsen ratings figures.
“Castle” was No. 1 with 11.9 million viewers and a 2.7/7 rating in the 18 to 49 adult demos, compared to “Five-0’s” 10.3 million and 2.8/7 demos.
While the viewership is stagant at 10 million in recent weeks, the “Five-0” numbers reflected a 15 percent tailspin from a year ago, when it had 12 million viewers.
NBC’s newsmagazine, “Rock Center With Brian Williams,” was No. 3 in the 9 p.m. hour with 5 million viewers and a 0.9/2 demos.
For CBS, “Hawaii Five-0” at least is consistent. It is the lone under-performing show on the network’s otherwise all-comedy slate preceding the Island-based procedural drama. “How I Met Your Mother,” “2 Broke Girls,” “Two and a Half Men,” and “Mike and Molly” have performed steadily — “Winning,” as Charlie Sheen might put it — week after week.
For me, “Five-0” continues to be muddled with unfocused, even complicated backstories and pesky new characters that flit in and out as mosquitoes in the jungle. Is this why the show can’t seem to find its firm footing to reestablish ratings supremacy?
You be the judge.
In “Ki’ilua” (Hawaiian for deceiver), the Monday segment minimized Steve McGarrett in the first half hour; he’s off to North Korea to help Jenna retrieve her finance, so much of the set-up is to galvanize a renegade flight (the governor’s nowhere, to approve the mission) to bring McG back home. The last half hour is the chopper flight, the gunfire, the aerial attack, Wo Fat using McG as a punching bag and electronic blasts on his torso, and, of course, the recovery.
There were some bright spots.
Good casting: Jimmy Buffett as Frank Bama, complete with dialogue that included “margarita,” who brought cheesy fun to the dilemma. Heck, since he was aboard, why not let him sing a verse of something?
Good elimination: Jenna, whose loyalty had been vague, is terminated. She was the show’s biggest deceiver but she gets her due. One less character to contend with in future episodes.
Good supporting actor: Kualoa Ranch, with its network of jungle, trees, mountains and barren stretches of dirt roads, portrayed Hawaii as well as North and South Korea. The cameras deftly avoided the defining peaks and profile of the Kualoa peaks when the gang supposedly was in Korea.
Good grief: So Chin Ho is getting married? The set-up was early in the show, complete with a kiss and a ring; the matrimony was imminent before the final credits. Remember, Danno’s ex still is out there, and he’s got a new main squeeze — not yet fully explored. So who’s next, Kono? So why not McG?
The show aims to give its characters a full spectrum of life — work vs. home — but come on, this is not a soap opera or sitcom.
Or maybe it should be. All other CBS Monday shows are comedies. A transformation? Think not, hope not, but “Five-0” is becoming less dramatic and more comedic, don’t you think?

Without ABC’s “Castle” opposite CBS’ “Hawaii Five-0” Monday (Nov. 14) night, the Island-filmed show earned its best ratings (11.47 million viewers, 7.3/12 in demos) so far this season and led in the demos, too — part of a CBS evening sweep.
“Castle” was pre-empted, with a “20-20” special.
This enabled viewers to choose “Five-0” in the 9 p.m. hour (10 p.m. Mainland), resulting in a zesty numbers boost: first in adults 25-54 (4.2/10) and tied for first with ABC in adults in the coveted 18-49 (3.3/08) — the best postings since the second season premiere on Sept. 19, and the best adults 18-34 rating since Oct. 17.
The episode, “Ike Maka,” was slick and swift, like the hot rods displayed, and even the bantering between Steve McGarrett (Alex O’Loughlin) and Danno Williams (Scott Caan) was crisper, charming, and natural — witness the opening scene, when Danno (co-habiting with McG, temporarily) has the TV going full blast, interrupting McG’s sleep.
The plot — murder, plastic surgery, chases, hot wheels — was perhaps the second season’s tightest, with enough slack to allow Max Bergman (Masi Oka) and Lori Weston (Lauren German) to strut as iconic “Grease” figures Danny (leather jacket) and Sandy (blonde wig, snug black outfit), respectively, before the end credits.
Fun.
CBS’ comedy staples — “Two and a Half Men,” “How I Met Your Mother,” “2 Broke Girls” and “Mike and Molly” — dominated the demos and the viewership, according to preliminary Nielsen ratings.
So with ratings up, enthusiasm must be soaring, too — particularly since this is the November sweeps ratings period.
Let’s hope the “Five-0” spirit mounts, too.
Any thoughts?

Just what is America watching on TV week after week, and how does our “Hawaii Five-0” stack up in the rankings?
OK, you asked, and we’ll try to answer...with the most recent Top 25.
Clearly, the CBS “Five-0” reboot, our hometown favorite, is struggling to remain in the Top 25; it is not the No. 1 procedural on air; that honor belongs to “NCIS.
And I don’t recall it being in the Top 10 during its second season, though it was rightfully dubbed the No. 1 new drama on TV last season.
Perhaps Monday's (Nov. 14) will have enough juice to ramp up the viewership of the Island-filmed series. Let's hope so; the nip-and-tuck battle with "Castle," the reigning show of the 9 p.m. Monday slot, has widened a skosh, in "Castle's" favor.

Here’s the most recent count, for the week of Oct. 31-Nov. 6 (times adjusted to local airings), according to Nielsen Media Research:

The Ranking Program / Network/Airtime Viewers (in millions)
1 Sunday Night Football (NBC), 7:31 pm Sunday.......... 22.1
2 College Football (CBS), 7 pm Saturday...................... .20.0
3 NCIS (CBS), 7 pm Tuesday ........................................19.7
4 Dancing With the Stars (ABC), 7:30 pm Monday.........16.3
5 The Big Bang Theory (CBS), 7 p.m. Thursday.............16.0
6 NCIS: Los Angeles (CBS), 8 pm Tuesday.................... 15.6
7 Dancing With the Stars (ABC) 8 pm Tuesday..............15.4
8 Two and a Half Men (CBS), 8 pm Monday...................13.9
9 The Mentalist (CBS), 9 pm Thursday..........................13.7
10 (tie) 60 Minutes (CBS), 6 pm Sunday.............................13.4
10 (tie) Modern Family (ABC), 8 pm Wednesday ................13.4
12 Criminal Minds (CBS), 8 pm Wednesday....................12.9
13 Blue Bloods (CBS), 9 pm Friday..................................12.7
14 Castle (ABC), 9:01 pm Monday ................................ 12.6
15 Survivor: South Pacific (CBS), 7 pm Wednesday..........12.0
16 (tie) Rules of Engagement (CBS), 7:31 Thursday............11.8
16 (tie) The X Factor (Fox), 7 pm Wednesday......................11.8
16 (tie) Person of Interest (CBS), 8 pm Thursday................11.8
19 The X Factor (Fox), 7 pm Thursday............................11.6
20 (tie) Mike and Molly (CBS), 8:31 pm Monday ................11.4
20 (tie) Once Upon a Time (ABC), 7 pm Sunday .................11.4
22 Unforgettable (CBS), 9 pm Tuesday............................11.3
23 2 Broke Girls (CBS), 7:30 pm Monday.........................11.0
24 CSI (CBS), 9 pm Wednesday........................................10.8
25 Hawaii Five-0, 9 pm Monday......................................10.6

So, any clues, conclusions, observations, about the ratings performance of “Five-0” this year?

Monday’s (Nov. 7) “Hawaii Five-0” started out big and promising: a plane containing a corpse crashes on the North Shore, where surfers are in the sea, so natch, Steve McGarrett (Alex O’Loughlin) and Danno Williams (Scott Caan) respond.
It ended with CBS’ “Five-0” attracting 9.95 million viewers and 3.0/8 18 to 49 demo, a skosh behind ABC competitor “Castle,” which pulled in 11.27 million with a 2.9/7 18 to 49 demo, in prelim Nielsen ratings without the DVR delayed viewership tally.
Yet another disappointing finish for the Hawaii-filmed show.
Getting back to the episode: McG interrupts Danno, who is watching a creepy flick on the tube. Bizarre, right, but intriguing; the action opening turns into somewhat geeky ploy, with Danno in a rather seedy new apartment and tuned into a seedier movie.
Then Max Bergman (Masi Oka) examines the dead woman, and encounters Jeff Morrison (Greg Grunberg) and mutters that he thinks he knows the guy from somewhere. It’s an in-joke: Grunberg and Oka are former mates on NBC’s “Heroes.”
So now on “Lapa’au” (Hawaiian for healing), as the episode is called, we get a “Heroes” reunion, to couple with the growing “Lost” reunion of Jon Gries (playing Liam Miller, a cancer patient using medical weed) and Daniel Dae Kim (Chin Ho Kelly). Only Terry O’Quinn (playing Lt. Cmdr. Joe White, but not in this segment) was missing.
It’s clever fun on one hand, but distraction on the other. Like, is “Five-0” trying to be the super bowl of reunited TV stars? The bid is on, for sure.
Perhaps the “Lost” connection should be in the writing department, where a bit more mystery and a bit less history could up the ratings numbers.
Amid jungle searches at Kualoa (now, here’s another “Lost” link) and chases in Chinatown, there was a local lingo moment: “Pakalolo,” or pot, to the uninformed.
Funniest scene: McG in the back seat, while Danno drives his new canine pal, who occupies the front seat.
Brownie points for the attention to aerial cinematography: "Five-0" spares no expense to get terrific shots of the oceans, the city, the jungles from up high.
For me, the raid of a warehouse housing exotic animals hit a sentimental note; the site is the former press building of the former Honolulu Advertiser, now the HQ of “Hawaii Five-0.”
So what's your take on Monday's show, the shrinking viewership, the "Heroes" and "Lost" reunions?