It was big news when action icon Chuck Norris turned 80 a few short weeks ago. The actor hasn’t been doing as much acting these days, but he did recently appear in a big episode of Hawaii Five-0 that hit the schedule just before the long-running series will wrap on CBS. Now, Hawaii Five-0 executive producer Peter Lenkov has explained how he got the former Walker, Texas Ranger lead to guest star on the veteran show.
As it turns out, Peter Lenkov wanted Chuck Norris to pop up in the Hawaii Five-0 universe for a long time. It makes sense, as Lenkov actually works with Norris’ son Eric Norris, so he’s likely been reminded he’s far fewer than six degrees of separation away from the action icon at any time. Per Lenkov,
I'd been trying to get him on the show for years. His son [Eric Norris] is our stunt coordinator and Chuck is in Hawaii all the time. Every time I've asked, it's just the logistics didn't work for whatever reason. I think I just begged so many times that he just had mercy on me and did it.
Look, I’m sure any action series in the vein of Hawaii Five-0 would love to have Chuck Norris make an appearance, but in the case of the CBS drama that added connection likely helped. As Peter Lenkov noted to TV Insider, he begged and begged to sign on Norris and it ultimately happened – in the nick of time too.
Hawaii Five-0 was recently cancelled by CBS. Chuck Norris actually appeared in the part of the two-part finale episode of Season 10, which is doubly serving as a series finale. As part of wrapping up the show, Norris’ character was on the scene to help out Lincoln Cole, who was also key to the episode.
The appearance also comes as Jared Padalecki will be hopping from the CW’s Supernatural to a brand new Walker, Texas Ranger reboot, giving fans hope that perhaps Chuck Norris could eventually make a special appearance on that new and upcoming series as well.
Of course, only time will tell. Most of the entertainment industry has currently been shuttered due to coronavirus. However, although a lot of TV shows are going to have shortened seasons this spring due to coronavirus, the silver lining is there is typically a summer break of sorts between one season and the next.
With a little luck and some fairy dust, once all of this passes the TV industry can hopefully wrap up certain shows with specials or bump plenty of already-written finales to next fall. It will be an interesting time for new programming and old and we’ll be sure to keep you posted each step of the way.
Meanwhile, the Hawaii Five-0 final episode is set for Friday, April 3 or you can see what’s still heading to television with our full schedule.
