Fantasy Island

I used to LOVE the Mantalban Fantasy Island, so when this one came out I was happy to watch it.

This one, to me, seems to be better written, and far more enjoyable. the characters are more than one-dimensional; who in their right mind would stay on an island in the middle of nowhere catering to a bunch of spoiled whiny people? This series answers that question - someone who HAS TO. I thought that gave a dimension of "humanity" to Roarke et. al. that the original lacked.

And the humor and twists really do point out the old maxim "be careful what you wish for - you just might get it."

I'd caught a couple of episodes of this when it was on network TV, but it kept being moved around, and was tough to catch.

SciFi Channel shows it, and I find I adore this twisted version of the classic I loved as a child. It's darker, edgier, has a bit of a mean streak at times, but there's just something I love about it. Not quite sure what it is, but I could start with Malcolm McDowell's Mr. Roarke. I have to wonder if his first name is Prospero, considering all the other _Tempest_ parallels...Ariel, Cal(iban), even Miranda.

Nothing ever quite goes as planned in the guests' fantasies, but it's not always bad -- oftentimes they discover that what they wanted would not have satisfied, and the new solution is *far* better, even if it means major disappointment to start. Sounds treacly, doesn't it? Nope. There's a healthy dose of reality in this _Fantasy_ -- Roarke doesn't let guests get away with simply living out a dream. There's always something...extra. [wicked grin] Lessons to be learned.

It's not that Roarke's *always* mean -- there are guests he seems to genuinely like and takes care of accordingly. But there's also an angle of "Be careful what you wish for" that makes this version a cautionary tale as well as a fantasy. It does seem that he has his guests' best interests at heart, when it comes down to it. Realistically benevolent, as it were.

The bits about the budget are pretty funny too -- adds a touch of amusing realism to the fantasy angle.

It's a shame this show didn't make it. Sure, it wasn't the original. I liked the original too, for its own merits. But I really love this one, and wish it had stayed around longer.

This shortlived revamping of the classically silly TV series was, ironically, closer to the original concept than the first show (the 1970s version's pilot was darker and a lot edgier than the subsequent series); the "fantasy" aspect of the title got as much play here as the "island" part, with a greater implication that Mr. Roarke and his crew were not all they seemed - particularly Madchen Amick's shape-shifter Ariel ("I'm not hard to get - I'm impossible to get").

The travel agency in NYC that booked the passengers for Fantasy Island filled in another gap from the original show (how the hell did they get there in the first place?), and the stories were overall a bit more interesting - in one episode someone even wanted to live out a fantasy where he died a hero, and got his wish. John Ottman's excellent title music (plus his Emmy-nominated score for the pilot) also managed to capture both the exoticism and the mystery of the locale; no disrespect to Laurence Rosenthal, a fine composer in his own right, but his old theme was far too lush and old-fashioned to work here.

On the other hand, what sane person would want to arrive on an island paradise and find someone as creepy as Malcolm McDowell waiting for you? (And admit it, while his aides are good characters you miss Tattoo.) Nonetheless, this remains a decent effort - and certainly a better TV venture for Barry Sonnenfeld than that hopeless "Secret Agent Man."

Legacy or no legacy, how the producers of Fantasy Island talked the Absolutely Banal Content network into running this is a mystery up there with why Roarke's suits have gone from white to black -- yet another thing we'll never know, but you can bet there's a story behind it. Bless Sci-Fi for picking up this gem; wish they could afford to resurrect it, but I'll happily take (and TAPE) what I can get. (And I won't be watching ABC again. Any network that could can this and Wonderland and keep Regis Philbin on eight days a week is angling for a much *dumber* demographic than mine.)

This series was far too good for ABC, home of Boy Meets World. (It survived but half a season and was replaced in late January of 1999.) I liked it very much and think that its god-awful Saturday-evening time slot was a huge disservice. The series had a terrific premise and some really wonderful actors (McDowell, Amick, Lombardi); pity that Sci-Fi Channel or some other outfit with a triple-digit IQ didn't get a crack at giving this show the run it deserved.