The John Hillerman Thread

[ZelenskyTheValiant (Ivan)]

John Hillerman lived here https://www.redfin.com/TX/Houston/1110- ... e/29997042

house is for sale

I guess John Hillerman really did "poke" from Texas.

[K Hale]

John Hillerman lived here https://www.redfin.com/TX/Houston/1110- ... e/29997042

house is for sale

I guess John Hillerman really did "poke" from Texas.

As a native Texan, I have never heard that phrase in my life outside of Magnum and I wish JH had told them so. LOL

[ZelenskyTheValiant (Ivan)]

John Hillerman lived here https://www.redfin.com/TX/Houston/1110- ... e/29997042

house is for sale

I guess John Hillerman really did "poke" from Texas.

As a native Texan, I have never heard that phrase in my life outside of Magnum and I wish JH had told them so. LOL

That "poke" line totally cracks me up but like you I too have never EVER heard that phrase before outside of that one episode.

[K Hale]

On my trip to Oahu last week, I ate lunch at the Wailana Coffee House, which currently occupies the ground floor of the condo building where John Hillerman lived. Great food, home cooking with a Hawaiian flair. The restaurant is closing at the end of this month, which is an awful shame because it's very popular with locals and tourists. Open 24 hours, get there while you can...



We had to wait in line, at 2:30pm.


The menu looks right out of the 1980s.


The card on the right features a hot fudge sundae. JH is on record as stating he would occasionally have nothing but a hot fudge sundae for dinner. In my headcanon, maybe he had them sent up from the coffee house. It could have happened!

[ZelenskyTheValiant (Ivan)]

K Hale, it's funny you mention this place but there was an episode on the new FIVE-0 (which I'm not a fan of but occasionally catch an episode here and there) where the 2 main characters played by Alex O'Loughlin (I refuse to call him McGarrett lol) and Chi McBride are eating breakfast at this place and are just ecstatic about how awesome the pancakes are, calling them the best pancakes on the planet! Gotta be honest - it made me hungry. I love a good breakfast and ESPECIALLY love pancakes and french toast. Somehow I missed this place when I was there, but then again I had breakfast buffet at the Hyatt which was already part of my hotel package. Although I could have easily had dinner there. Darn!

[K Hale]

My sister ordered the macadamia nut pancakes with coconut syrup and she said they were the best pancakes she had ever eaten.

[ZelenskyTheValiant (Ivan)]

Yep the coconut syrup (haupia?) was mentioned in that episode and how good it was! Alright, I'm starting to salivate here... I need to go and eat something.

[K Hale]

ANNND I forgot to mention this but our waiter looked almost exactly like Mr. Obata from "Paper War"!!! You don't know how surreal it was to be eating lunch in the Higgins building while being waited on by Mr. Obata. I almost expected a Cereus Mandevillus to appear.

I wanted a pic of him but I'm too shy.

[ZelenskyTheValiant (Ivan)]

I haven't seen that episode yet but it looks like you're talking about James Shigeta. Interestingly enough I was able to track down and visit Mr. Shigeta's resting place at the Punchbowl National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific. He was born in Honolulu but also served in the Korean War, hence his resting place at this beautiful and serene place high above Honolulu on Punchbowl Crater. You might remember seeing the Lady Columbia statue at this cemetery in the opening titles of the original HAWAII FIVE-O. I think a scene from the MPI episode "The Last Page" was also shot here.









Interesting story here. While I was looking for Mr. Shigeta there was a lady there and I thought she worked there. Turns out she was just another tourist. But she was curious who I was looking for so I told her an actor is buried somewhere there. She got excited who it might be. I told her it's James Shigeta and that he appeared on the original HAWAII FIVE-O. She clearly didn't recognize the name so then I asked her if she remembered the movie DIE HARD. She said of course! Then I asked her if she remembered the Japanese businessman whose skyscraper high-rise the terrorists took over. She immediately exclaimed "NAKATOMI!!!" and right away she knew who I was looking for. She thought that was really cool that he was buried there and wished me well on my search. Technically in the movie the character's name is Joseph Takagi and Nakatomi is the name of the plaza/skyscraper that Takagi owned, but everyone always remembers James Shigeta as Nakatomi LOL!

[K Hale]

Yes, that's him. I saw Die Hard many years ago but forgot he was in it. He was also in "Forty Years from Sand Island" (S4). But to me he'll always be Mr. Obata.

[Pahonu]

Yep the coconut syrup (haupia?) was mentioned in that episode and how good it was! Alright, I'm starting to salivate here... I need to go and eat something.

A friend of mine who grew up in Hawaii had a white dog named Haupia. Several years ago I asked her about the name and she told me it was a coconut dessert from the islands. Not long after, she made some and brought me a few pieces. It was cut into little squares from a large pan, I believe. Definitely not syrup, but it was delicious!

[K Hale]

Forgot about this one. This jeep was in the parking garage where we parked when we went in to eat at the Wailana.

[ZelenskyTheValiant (Ivan)]

Is that the Detroit Tigers logo on the spare tire?

[K Hale]

Is that the Detroit Tigers logo on the spare tire?

Yes! Has to be a Magnum fan!

[K Hale]

Caught part of an episode of The Love Boat the other day on MeTV and guess who was in it? That's right, John Hillerman! According to the IMDb it was from 1983, right in the middle of his Magnum run. He had the full on Higgy Baby accent working. I mean, dead on Higgins accent. If I didn't know better, it was Higgins taking a vacation on the Pacific Princess! But alas, he was some sort of inspector named Manfred Benusse. He solved the crime and got the girl in the end. Good for him! Claude Akins, Tony Dow and Didi Conn were in it. It was fun. Outside of Tales of the Gold Monkey and the Simon & Simon crossover, I believe this is the only TV show guest appearance he did during the Magnum run.

Does anyone have a source for this episode? That season of The Love Boat doesn't seem to be available on DVD and not on YouTube, either.

Season 7, Episode 14.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1100388/

I finally found a copy of this in a slightly (ahem) extra legal version. Loved it. What a sweet story. The plot reminded me of something Agatha might do.