For 10 seasons, the rebooted "Hawaii Five-0" was a solid Nielsen ratings performer for CBS. Combining a nostalgic show for Baby Boomers who grew up watching Jack Lord and James MacArthur bust prospects in and around Honolulu, and a stylish procedural aimed at fans of the network's popular "CSI" and "NCIS" franchises, "Hawaii Five-0" delivered ". consistent with its wildly attractive cast and stories that explored its characters' pasts without ever getting bogged down in drawn-out story arcs. "Hawaii Five-0" knew what its fans wanted and never deviated from its tried and tested formula.

When a series hits Nielsen's sweet spot week after week, you'd imagine the network would bend over backwards to keep it running until people stopped watching. This is what Fox continues to deal with 'The Simpsons' now in its 36th season, and how NBC is rolling with its Law & Order franchise. This makes CBS's decision to pull "Hawaii Five-0" while dropping its highest-ever Nielsen ratings share (9.7) and rank it at No. 20 overall somewhat puzzling. Often, long-running series become more expensive, in part because the stars increase their salary demands (Daniel Dae Kim says he has left the show due to a salary dispute), but there were multiple reasons why Hawaii Five-0 ended in 2020.

When CBS officially announced it five years ago "Hawaii Five-0" will surrender its shield, released a statement praising the series' long-running ratings success, network creative and dedicated cast. Peter M. Lenkov, who developed the reboot with Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci, graciously responded, making this all seem like a mutual agreement—which it was. Kind of.

In an interview with TV Line before the series finale aired, Lenkov opened up about the decision to quit. Predictably, he would be happy to continue. Per Lenkov:

“I thought we had a chance to maybe go another season — every season, I thought for some reason the show was going to end — but I think the network just thought it was a good time. (...) There are so many different things that factor into this - economics, everything - and I think they felt it was the right time."

While there's no hint of harshness in Lenkov's interview with TVLine, he did point to one significant reason for the show's cancellation: Alex O'Loughlin, who starred as dashing Lt. Commander Steve McGarrett, ended up chasing bad guys for 20-plus episodes a season. . While there are certainly worse places on Earth to shoot a police procedural, the physical grind was up to O'Loughlin. And before you start attacking the guy for being a spoiled TV star, maybe hear him talk about how pissed off he was after 10 seasons as McGarrett.

According to DeadlineO'Loughlin wanted to leave "Hawaii Five-0" before season 10 due to a serious back injury he suffered early in the series. The star backed this up and then some in an interview with TVLine, claiming:

"I blew out both shoulders, one knee. My elbow tendon attached again. I have bulging discs in my neck and back. I don't know where to start. I'm a mess and A lot of it was really, really hard, I remember when I was doing most of my stunts in the first few years - it wasn't a great idea injury and working huge hours day in and day out, year after year (… ) The whole show was extremely physically terrifying as long as I can do it."

Lenkov told TV Line that O'Loughlin's exit didn't have to be the end for "Hawaii Five-0." There was talk of bringing on new recurring character Lincoln Cole (Lance Gross) full-time, but when Scott Caan made it clear he wanted to follow O'Loughlin out the door, that plan was scrapped.

Ultimately, Lekov diplomatically laid the blame for the show's cancellation at the network's feet. "I believe Alex wanted this to be his last year," Lenkov told TV Line. "He didn't have a contract (...), but he didn't last year either, and a last-minute one-year extension was reached right before the Upfronts (in May 2019). If the studio wanted to bring the show back for season 11, I have to believe they would have tried to get Alex to stay.

Obviously, there was some fan resentment over ending a beloved series when it was more popular than ever (a similar scenario played recently with the Blue Bloods), but 10 seasons are walking around. There will always be more procedurals to scratch that crime-solving television viewers have had since the early days of the medium.