If there’s one person more thrilled than fans about a fifth season for "Hawaii Five-0," it has to be actor Jorge Garcia, who was just promoted to a series regular starting in the fall.
His quirky character, conspiracy theorist Jerry Ortega, will be in much of the fifth season, which was announced Thursday morning by CBS. Garcia has been in two episodes this season, including a story on March 7 about a triple homicide and a downed top-secret Chinese satellite. A third episode is still to air.
The promotion will return Garcia to Oahu, where he lived while starring in the ensemble cast of ABC’s popular series "Lost."
"I can’t wait to be back there full time," he said in a phone call from Los Angeles. "There is still stuff to try and do in my career that in a way it still behooves me to be in Los Angeles to show up for, but yeah, I am looking forward to extended time back on the island."
Garcia has dreamed of coming back ever since "Lost" finished its six-year run in 2010. He would like to make Hawaii his permanent home at some point, he said. He lived in Kailua when he was on "Lost," and it was a good fit.
"Every time I come to visit, regardless of where I am staying, I always find myself going back to Kailua," he said. "It feels like coming home."
CBS announced the fifth-season renewal of "Five-0" in an email Thursday, along with news that 17 other prime-time shows would be back in the fall. News of Garcia’s role broke shortly afterward.
The fifth season of "Five-0" is a validation of the network’s decision a year ago to move the series from Monday nights to Friday nights. The move catapulted the series into the No. 1 show for the hour for every original episode that aired since the season premiere in September.
The show has averaged 9.8 million live viewers through 16 episodes, according to Nielsen ratings numbers.
The series is expected to finish shooting its 22-episode fourth season March 21.
Peter Lenkov, the show’s executive producer and show runner, always felt the move to Fridays would be good for the show, and was understandably excited by the fifth-season renewal.
"Best thing to happen to the show was the move," he said in an email. "New night. New time slot. Potential for new viewers."
Lenkov couldn’t say if CBS would host a fifth Sunset on the Beach season premiere and red carpet celebration, but said he was pushing for it.
Garcia’s addition to the cast will help the show, Lenkov said.
"He’s just a great addition to the family, someone our team will soon embrace in a bigger way and rely on to solve crimes," Lenkov said.
Garcia sees fun possibilities for his character, and he’s already dreaming up a back story for Ortega, who he feels has a man-crush on Steve McGarrett.
"I think it would be really entertaining if he was trying to, in a way, replace Danny in that partnership," Garcia said. "He is always saying stuff like, Whatever you say, partner,’ and because they have this little bit of animosity between Danny and Jerry. I would love to see him wedge between Danny and McGarrett."
