Blessing launches filming for second season of 'NCIS: Hawai'i'

Jun. 29—"NCIS : Hawai 'i, " now the only network television series being filmed in Hawaii, launched its second season on Monday with a traditional Hawaiian blessing.

Series stars Vanessa Lachey, Alex Tarrant, Noah Mills, Jason Antoon, Yasmine Al-Bustami and Tori Anderson joined producers and crew at a sound stage for a ceremony led by Kahu (officiant ) Kordell Kekoa, which included opening and closing chants. To honor the show's second season, Kekoa focused on the concept of hana hou, to "work new " or "do it again !"

Lachey portrays Jane Tennant, the leader of the Navy's crime-fighting unit based at Pearl Harbor, while Tarrant, Mills, Antoon and Al-Bustami portray members of her team. Anderson plays a special agent for the Defense Intelligence Agency.

CBS has said that "NCIS : Hawai 'i " won its Monday night time slot with an average viewership of 8.29 million and was "virtually tied " for most-watched new drama. The show tied for third among 14 dramas on CBS this season, according to TVline.com.

Meanwhile, the effort continues to get "Magnum P.I." picked up by another network after CBS canceled it in May. As recently as June 20, the website TVInsider. com ranked it first among canceled shows "likely to be saved." Earlier in June, supporters pleaded their case on a digital billboard in Times Square in New York City.