Running down April’s schedule from CBS press releases
March 28th: “Hana ‘a’a Makehewa” – It’s Christmas in Hawaii, but instead of celebrating, Five-0 is negotiating a hostage situation when the man who killed McGarrett’s father resurfaces. The murderer, Victor Hesse, threatens to detonate an explosive that he’s strapped to Chin Ho’s chest, on a rebroadcast of HAWAII FIVE-0 Monday, March 28 (10:00-11:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network. James Marsters (“Buffy the Vampire Slayer”) reprises his role as Victor Hesse. (Originally broadcast 12/13/10)
April 4th: No episode due to the NCAA Basketball Championship game.
April 11th: NEW – “Ma Ke Kahakai” – While hiking in a remote area of the jungle to see the famed petroglyphs, McGarrett and Danny instead find a homicide victim. Meanwhile, their aunt’s failing health leads Kono and Chin Ho to visit home, where Kono finally learns the truth about the scandal that ended her cousin’s career with the Honolulu Police Department, on HAWAII FIVE-0, Monday, April 11 (10:00-11:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network.
April 18th: NEW– “Ho’opa’i” – When a crime lord moves against the family of an undercover NYPD detective who infiltrated his organization, it’s up to Five-0 to stop the policeman from exacting revenge, on HAWAII FIVE-0, Monday, April 18 (10:00-11:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network. Multi-talented musician/actor/entrepreneur Sean Combs guest stars as NYPD Detective Reggie Cole.
April 16th: “Lanakila” – Five-0 is tasked with tracking down a violent convict after he breaks from an Island prison in search of his stolen money and kidnaps a young couple on vacation in Waikiki. Meanwhile, McGarrett’s estranged sister, Mary Ann, arrives from the mainland, on a rebroadcast of HAWAII FIVE-0, on a special night and time, Saturday, April 16 (9:00-10:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network. Balthazar Getty guest stars as the prison escapee, Walton Dawkins. D.L. Hughley appears as Skeet, an inmate who knew Walton in prison. (Originally broadcast 10/11/10)
Hawaii Five-0 UNDERCOVER 
I am curious, is this sort of hit and miss scheduling normal for TV shows in spring time? I don’t watch much big network TV, so I can’t say.
Can’t speak with any great authority, as — until H50 — I was pretty hit and miss with Network TV myself. (Last show I paid that much attention to was Desperate Housewives, and only then ‘cos Richard Burgi had a recurring role on the show).
I know they like to save new episodes for Sweeps periods, and of course, for the run-up to the finale, but I’ve never seen a show get to run so many repeats in these alternate slots in addition to their own usual berth. (What are the Sweeps periods, again? November and February, I think, but is there now a third one? May, maybe?)
That said, it does seem more common now to run a handful of new eps, then a handful of repeats, then more new ones, followed by the next batch of repeats — it does spread new episodes out across the whole Fall season/Spring season year rather than burn through all the new ones by Christmas, say, leaving nothing but repeats for the Spring. Previously, viewers would feel free after the finale ep aired to scamper to another network to catch up on another show in repeats; this way, that’s not as easy an option.
In some ways it’s good that they’ve done that, as it allows folks who maybe weren’t as conscientious early in the season to catch up (and that may be one of the motivations behind this particular mix of new and repeat episodes).
I am a bit puzzled that they’re repeating episodes they’ve already ‘recycled’ at least once — hasn’t Lanakila aired twice, now?
Maybe they’re planning on running the as-yet-unrepeated eps through the summer months, keeping H50 on the air almost ’til time for Fall 2011 premieres to kick in?
The only thing that I can think of is that the execs are willing to take the short range hit in viewers (ie sub 10 million viewership last episode) and bank big on the May ratings in order to fluff up for the upfronts.
I hope this is what it is. I was thinking the last eps leading to the finale are more dependent on each other, than what we are getting now.
Awwww, Steve and Danny on a bro-date 🙂 Should be an interesting episode!
Oh! Can’t wait to hear the story about Chin Ho!! Will they really tell all or leave us with yet more questions?!
I think the main reason for all the gaps between new eps is they have to shoot them first. Most shows (at least the major network ones) start shooting in mid to late July. To shoot one episode it takes 8 to 10 days without the editing.
If you think about 24 eps a season you know how long it takes to finish a season. I mean they are still filming. Most shows finish filming in mid to end April.
That goes for the major shows like H50, Mentalist, NCIS, Castle and such. There are other formats as well. They tried something new with 24, they filmed almost the whole season and started airing in January without a gap. Me, I like the format from September to Mai much better. Even with the long gaps between new eps. The wait without any new eps is just a bit over 3 month this way. With the January-format you have to wait 6 month for something new. I wouldn’t like that to happen to my favorite shows. Six month without H50? No way.
Could part of the problem with the gaps in the new episodes be from the fact that they didn’t know they would be picked up for more than the original 13 episodes until mid October, and then the order was for 24 episodes? That’s two more than they even expected, so they were back to the writing boards, casting, etc. to fill in those episodes somewhere before the episodes leading up to and including the finale. Since we know it takes a minimum of 8 days to film an ep., that added at least 2 weeks, if not closer to 4 weeks, to get those 2 episodes into production, creating a need for more reruns to fill in the gap. It’s all a guess on my part, though!
By the way, I don’t think Lanakila had been rerun before, but it’s hard for me to tell because I’ve watched all of the episodes over and over on the good ole’ DVR that I don’t remember when or where I’ve watched them anymore!
GOSH! I just Googled H50 to see if I’m recording new eps or repeats. Need to clear out some things from my DVR. Was trying to find a start-date for a/the newest season. After reading all your comments, I’m totally confused. However, that’s easily done. Are we in an on-going new season right now?? If so, anyone know when it started?