Fantasy Island is an American television series that originally aired on the American Broadcasting Company network from 1977 to 1984. A revival of the series originally aired on the same network during the 1998–99 season. Before it became a television series, Fantasy Island was introduced to viewers in 1977 through two made-for-television films. Airing from 1978 to 1984, the original series starred Ricardo Montalbán as Mr. Roarke, the enigmatic overseer of a mysterious island somewhere in the Pacific Ocean, where people from all walks of life could come and live out their fantasies, albeit for a price. Roarke was known for his white suit and cultured demeanor, and was initially accompanied by an energetic sidekick, Tattoo, played by Hervé Villechaize. Tattoo would run up the main bell tower to ring the bell and shout The plane! The plane! to announce the arrival of a new set of guests at the beginning of each episode. This line, shown at the beginning of the shows credits, became an unlikely catchphrase because of Villechaizes spirited delivery and French accent (he actually pronounced it, De plane! De plane!). In later seasons, he would arrive in his personal go-kart, sized for him, and recklessly drive to join Roarke for the visitor reception while the staff scrambled to get out of his way. From 1980 to 1982, Wendy Schaal joined the cast as an assistant named Julie. The producers dismissed Villechaize from the series before the 1983–1984 season, which ended up being its last, and Tattoo was replaced by a more sedate butler type named Lawrence, played by Christopher Hewett. Lawrences personality was exactly the opposite of Tattoos in many ways. For instance, Lawrence was also responsible for the bell ringing, but instead of climbing to the tower he simply pushed a button outside to have the bell ring automatically. A Grumman Widgeon aircraft was used for the series. As each visitor exited the plane, Roarke would describe to Tattoo (or another assistant) the nature of their fantasy, usually with a cryptic comment suggesting the persons fantasy will not turn out as they expected. Roarke would then welcome his guests by lifting his glass and saying: My dear guests, I am Mr. Roarke, your host. Welcome to Fantasy Island. This toast was usually followed with a warm smile but sometimes (depending on the nature of a guest or their fantasy) his eyes would show concern or worry for a guests safety. Very little is known about the man known as Mr. Roarke and it is not clear if that is his first, last, or only name. Although most guests know him as Mr. Roarke, many people close to him, including past lovers, have referred to him only as Roarke, which suggests he may not have any other names. He is the sole owner and proprietor of Fantasy Island. Roarkes actual age is a complete mystery. In the pilot film, he comments how the guests who come to his island are so mortal and there are hints throughout the series that suggest Roarke may be immortal. In Elizabeth, a woman from Roarkes past appears, but its revealed that she died over 300 years ago. Another episode even suggests that he was once intimate with Cleopatra. However old he is, Roarke has come to know many seemingly-immortal beings over his time on Earth, including ghosts (The Ghosts Story), a genie (A Genie Named Joe), the mermaid Nyah (The Mermaid, The Mermaid Returns, The Mermaid and the Matchmaker), the goddess Aphrodite (Aphrodite), and even Uriel, the Angel of Death (The Angels Triangle). In two episodes (The Devil and Mandy Breem, The Devil and Mr. Roarke), Roarke even faces the Devil (played by Roddy McDowall), who has come to the island to challenge him for either a guests immortal soul or his. It is mentioned this is not the first time they have confronted each other and Mr. Roarke has always been the winner. In the second story, the Devil himself was one of the islands guests, claiming he was only there to relax and had no interest in Roarkes soul at the time. However, this turned out to be yet another ruse. Roarke had a strong moral code, but he was always merciful. He usually tried to teach his guests important life lessons through the medium of their fantasies, frequently in a manner that exposes the errors of their ways, and on occasions when the island hosted terminally ill guests he would allow them to live out one last wish. Roarkes fantasies were not without peril, but the greatest danger usually came from the guests themselves. In some cases people were killed due to their own negligence, aggression or arrogance. When necessary, Roarke would directly intervene when the fantasy became dangerous to the guest; for instance, when Tattoo was given his own fantasy as a birthday gift, which ended up with him being chased by hostile natives in canoes, Mr. Roarke suddenly appeared in a motorboat, snared Tattoos canoe with a grappling hook and towed it away at high speed to help him escape, and another instance was in the 1980 episode With Affection, Jack the Ripper when a female guest intent on researching Jack the Rippers crimes was sent back in time to 1888 London and would have became one of the Rippers victims had not Mr. Roarke physically intervened. With only a few exceptions, Roarke always made it quite clear that he was powerless to stop a fantasy once it had begun and that guests must play them out to their conclusion. In later seasons, there were often supernatural overtones. Roarke also seemed to have his own supernatural powers of some sort (called the Gift of the McNabs in Delphine), although it was never explained how this came to be. In one episode, when a guest says Thank God things worked out well, Roarke and Tattoo share a very odd look and Roarke says in a cryptic way Thank God, indeed. In the same episode, Roarke uses some mysterious powers to help Tattoo with his magic act. Actor Ricardo Montalban would claim in interviews that he had a definite opinion in mind regarding the mystery of Mr. Roarke, and how he accomplished his fantasies, but he would never publicly state what it was. Each episode would alternate between two or three independent story lines as the guests experienced their fantasies and interacted with Roarke. (A syndication of the original episodes on daytime TV in the 1980s reduced each hour-long original show to two separate half-hour shows in which only one guests story was told in each half-hour episode. This made it obvious that the original episodes had been planned in such a way that each guest or family got off the plane separately, did not interact with the other guest or family, and was given almost exactly half the time of the original episode.) Often, the fantasies would turn out to be morality lessons for the guests (for example, one featured a couple who clamored for the good old days being taken back to the Salem witch trials), sometimes to the point of (apparently) putting their lives at risk, only to have Roarke step in at the last minute and reveal the deception. It is mentioned a few times that a condition of visiting Fantasy Island is that guests never reveal what goes on there. A small number of guests decided to make the irrevocable choice to stay permanently, living out their fantasy until death; one such person was an actor who had been in a Tarzan-type television series in the 1960s. Aside from a clip show (Remember...When?) the only episode with a single storyline was The Wedding, in which terminally ill Helena Marsh (Samantha Eggar) returned to Fantasy Island to spend her last days as Roarkes wife.
Posted on: Thu, 18 Sep 2014 11:35:23 +0000
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