When I was a kid, the only things to watch on TV on Saturday nights were The Love Boat and Fantasy Island both of which were just placeholders until Saturday Night Live came on. When you're like, twelve, thirteen, fourteen, fifteen you're kind of stuck in the house on Saturday nights. You're really too young to go out at night; but you're too old to want to do your homework; so it's just you and Julie the Cruise director and Mr. Roarke and Tattoo. I spent a lot of hours on the high seas and tropical islands with these people. How many nights did I watch people like Adrienne Barbeau and Audrey and Judy Landers and Orson Bean and Ken Berry live out their rather lackluster fantasies (usually drippy love stories) on the Fox backlot? The answer: a lot. You didn't really watch those shows because you wanted to. You watched them because they were there. Still, I have a certain fondness for both shows. Particularly Fantasy Island because at least it got you thinking on some level. Like, just how much does a vacation package on Fantasy Island cost? How can a librarian from Sheboygan afford not just a tropical vacation; but one that apparently would require hundreds of thousands of dollars in special effects?
So, when I saw the ads for the new "reboot" of Fantasy Island on Fox and there was absolutely nothing else on; I decided to give it a chance. I must say, I was pleasantly surprised. Perhaps even a tad shocked that it was as good as it was.
So, Mr. Roarke is now a Ms. Roarke. Apparently she's his great niece or something? She's played by Roselyn Sanchez who I'd never heard of before this. She bares a striking resemblance to Sandra Bullock: cosmetically, vocally and physically. And that's a good thing. If I was a producer I'd be running around trying to find a project where Roselyn and Sandra could play sisters. Or identical cousins. Or good cousin/evil cousin. Yeah, so, they're both spies. Roselyn works for the CIA and Sandra is her doppelganger in the KGB. It's set during the Cuban missile crisis, so they both get to wear killer early 60's outfits. They're both having affairs with the Kennedy brothers. Oooh, I love this! One of them is assigned to assassinate Jackie and the other, Marilyn. So, they both get to play multiple parts! And then--
But I'm getting off track.
So, anyways; Ms. Roarke seems to have even less staff than Ricardo Montalban did. I mean, didn't you always wonder about things like: how exactly does one order room service during their "fantasy"? Where is the ice machine? How do you get extra towels? Ms. Sanchez seems unconcerned with these trivialities. The island takes care of things. The writers just brush it off. But what the new writers are doing is introducing and playing with the more mystical trappings of the show. They've sort of introduced a decidedly Twilight-Zoney element that the show's first incarnation almost never used. The "lessons" the guest receive through their visits are played up even more. The pilot's vignette about a woman who eats to cover feelings is a flat-out morality play.
The supporting actors were all excellent. Particularly Bellamy Young as the food obsessed woman and the actress playing Tattoo. The show actually made me teary-eyed at least four times. This almost never happens to me with standard issue network programming. I must be getting soft in my old age. A modern version of Fantasy Island is making me cry? The world really has turned upside-down.
So, I really liked the show; maybe even loved it. Which means FOX will cancel it, I'm sure, within a few months. But I hope they don't. They could do all kinds of interesting story telling with this; and if the pilot is any indication; they are willing to go there. I hope they do.
But I'm getting off track.
So, anyways; Ms. Roarke seems to have even less staff than Ricardo Montalban did. I mean, didn't you always wonder about things like: how exactly does one order room service during their "fantasy"? Where is the ice machine? How do you get extra towels? Ms. Sanchez seems unconcerned with these trivialities. The island takes care of things. The writers just brush it off. But what the new writers are doing is introducing and playing with the more mystical trappings of the show. They've sort of introduced a decidedly Twilight-Zoney element that the show's first incarnation almost never used. The "lessons" the guest receive through their visits are played up even more. The pilot's vignette about a woman who eats to cover feelings is a flat-out morality play.
The supporting actors were all excellent. Particularly Bellamy Young as the food obsessed woman and the actress playing Tattoo. The show actually made me teary-eyed at least four times. This almost never happens to me with standard issue network programming. I must be getting soft in my old age. A modern version of Fantasy Island is making me cry? The world really has turned upside-down.
So, I really liked the show; maybe even loved it. Which means FOX will cancel it, I'm sure, within a few months. But I hope they don't. They could do all kinds of interesting story telling with this; and if the pilot is any indication; they are willing to go there. I hope they do.
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