It's tricky business remaking an icon — and if it's one as pop-culture indelible as “;Hawaii Five-0,”; it had better be good. Initial curiosity will surely give its fall premiere a mighty boost, but the show will be on its own to sustain beyond episode two. Fans of the old 1968-80 classic will be watching it for nostalgia; new would-be fans will be viewing it critically; Hawaii's industries of entertainment and tourism will be rooting for its success.

“;Five-0”; hopes to fill the financial and industry-jobs void created by the departure of “;Lost,”; the popular ABC TV series just wrapping up after six years of filming here. It's not yet known the level of expenditures “;Five-0”; will have. As a gauge, though, state data shows that “;Lost”; in 2009 spent $78 million on season five and part of season six, employed 2,025 local people, and generated $7 million in tax revenue.

As with other productions, “;Lost”; did benefit from Hawaii tax incentives — as “;Five-0”; also will. Hawaii's Act 88, enacted in July 2006, allows a 15 percent refundable tax credit based on a production company's Hawaii expenditures while producing a qualified film, television, commercial or digital media project on Oahu.

Productions here also can tap Act 221 (later amended by Act 215), the high-tech business investment tax credit. This non-refundable income tax credit applies to taxpayers that invest in qualified companies producing “;performing arts products,”; equal to 100 percent of the investment amount, payable over five years. The credit was amended last year, for investments made after May 1, 2009, to a maximum 80 percent of a taxpayer's tax liability.

Critics say such tax breaks come at the expense of other taxpayers, who essentially end up buoying production companies that may well have filmed here anyway without the credits. But proponents say these incentives are valuable in a worldwide, competitive industry to bring work to Hawaii — and keep it here — so long as ratings hold.

It's worked. “;Lost”; spent more than $400 million in Hawaii in its first five seasons.

The Hawaii Film Office also outlines these job boons: Nine out of 10 employees were local hires and some 700 vendors benefited.

“;It's great news for us that CBS is bringing back one of the most beloved series of all time and such an iconic one,”; said Honolulu Film Office commissioner Walea Constantinau, about “;Five-0.”;

“;Lost”; played across the nation and around the world in 229 countries. Huge viewership — but while it filmed here since its September 2004 debut, the “;Lost”; story line(s) did not highlight the paradise that is Hawaii.

And for many mainlanders chilling in front of the tube in the dead of winter, paradise this is. The sun, the surf, the tropical greenery, the blue skies. The Hawaii Visitors and Convention Bureau could scarcely devise a better travelogue to show off the state's allure than a weekly, one-hour “;Five-0.”;

The last TV series that emanated such tourism magnetism ended more than two decades ago, when Tom Selleck's “;Magnum, P.I.”; and his aloha shirts faded into the Hawaiian sunset.

The challenge, and hope, now is to reboot “;Hawaii Five-0”; into a cooler, hipper version of its former self — a retro “;Five-0”; for a new generation of viewers and prospective island visitors.