Fantasy Island

I watched episode 1 after my brother informed me of the new TV series. We are both in our 50s and remember the original series with Ricardo Montalbán. I did not have any expectations. Oh my, the writing is absolutely bad. I watched the entire episode to give it a real chance. I kept repeating out loud to myself, this is so bad. The performances from everyone in episode 1 is mediocre; acting that looked, sounded and felt like acting.

The sound mixing is also not done well. Each time a scene features music, the music is too loud which caused me to continually adjust the volume. Once I lowered the volume I then could not hear the dialogue well after the music ceased so I would then need to increase the volume. Bad writing, bad acting, poor sound mixing, and oh so boring. Oh, my!

I liked this. I'm not understanding the "1" reviews. I watched the original as a kid in the 70s. It was always a program that addressed what you think your fantasy is, might not actually be your fantasy. Both then and now, this show required some huge suspension of disbelief. I think the reboot captured all of that. I like the reference at the very beginning to the forever awesome Ricardo Montalban. The newscaster story was a bit disjointed, because of editing or something...I don't know. Anyway, I like the casting, the scenery, and the overall feel. It's worth a watch.

I wanted to like this so much but I just can't. The cast is very talented and attractive but the storylines are mostly boring and stilted. I've watched every episode so much but only one or two stories really moved me! I hope they improve the storytelling soon or I'm afraid this show may be canceled.

I find it interesting that everyone has forgotten about the re-boot made with Malcolm McDowell as Roarke. IT was a darker, more sarcastic take on the whole fantasy fullfilling issue - which maybe this re-make could make use of. The acting is fine. I like Roselyn Sanchez as Ms. Roarke and her assistant Ruby is also interesting as she gets familiar with this magical place. But it's just so - nice. Sweet. A bit too much sweet - not enough of a punch in the gut like some of the episodes with McDowell. I loved Ricardo Montalban and was a devoted viewer of the original and equally so the McDowell version. This one - it's so far a maybe on my list of must watch series.

Someone commented in the reviews that this series is catered to women. Well I watched 6 episodes so far and yes, it is definitely all women. Men are props and women are all the focus. Not very much diversity since they all cater towards diversity.