January 14, 1977: "Fantasy Island" Premieres

January 14, 1977: Fantasy Island premieres on ABC. As campy as it was, it was one of the shows that vaulted the Alphabet Network to Number 1, ahead of NBC and CBS.

Mexican actor Ricardo Montalbán played Mr. Roarke, the cultured, white-suited overseer of a mysterious island, said to be somewhere near Devil's Island, French Guiana, in the Atlantic Ocean. The establishing shots of the island were of the Hawaiian Island of Kauai, but the show was mostly filmed in the Los Angeles area. The main house was the Queen Anne Cottage, located in the Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanic Garden, in Arcadia, California.

On the Island, people from all walks of life could come and live out their fantasies, albeit for a price, initially $50,000 -- about $148,000 in 2022 money. Occasionally, Roarke would waive the price, if he felt he had a good reason.

There were hints as to Roarke's background, but little that was definitive. His first name was never mentioned. He appeared to be immortal, with suggestions that he lived centuries ago. He dealt with supernatural creatures, including a genie, a mermaid, the Greek goddess of love Aphrodite, and, in 2 episodes where the character was played by Roddy McDowall, the Devil himself.

He is assisted by Tattoo, a dwarf, played by French actor Hervé Villechaize. Upon the approach of the seaplane taking visitors to the island, he would run into the bell tower, ring the bell, and yell down to the ground, "The plane! The plane!" (Or, in his often-mocked accent, "De plane, de plane!")

He would climb back down, and Roarke would be there, and they would exchange greetings: "Good morning, Boss!" "Good morning, Tattoo!" Roarke would tell the hotel's workers, "Smiles, everyone, smiles!" and the native girls would dance to a band, as the passengers disembarked. Roarke would then tell Tattoo, and thus the viewers, who the guests were, and what their fantasies were.

A 1980 crossover with The Love Boat, starring Loni Anderson, showed that the 2 shows took place in the same universe.

The show ran for 7 seasons. In 1998, ABC revived the series in a Saturday time slot. The role of Mr. Roarke was played by Malcom McDowell. (No relation to Roddy McDowall: Note the spelling difference.) In contrast to the first series, the supernatural aspect of his character, and of Fantasy Island itself, was emphasized from the start, along with a dose of dark humor.

This version got off to a rough start: In the pilot, McDowell picks out a black suit in a closet otherwise filled with white suits, and orders them to be burned; and tells the bell-ringer who announces the plane's arrival that he should never do that again. The show displeased fans of the original, and picked up few new fans, and lasted just 13 episodes.

A horror-themed prequel film adaptation of the television series was released in 2020, starring Michael Peña as Mr. Roarke. It was overwhelmingly panned. In 2021, Fox premiered a new series that maintained continuity with the original 1977 series. Roselyn Sánchez was cast as Elena Roarke, a descendant of the original resort's host. It has been the best-reviewed version since the original.

Villechaize was typecast, and had normal-sized organs in a small body, which left him in constant pain. Finally, he couldn't take it anymore, and took his own life in 1993. He was only 50 years old. Montalbán starred in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, and the attention he got from that boosted Fantasy Island, probably keeping it alive a bit longer. He lived on until 2009.

UPDATE: The 2021 TV show was canceled after 2 seasons. And it took me until 2024 to think of this, but the 1970s were Schrödinger's Decade. There was too much TV where a suspension of disbelief was required; and, at the same time, not enough of it.

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January 14, 1977 was a Friday. Baseball was out of season. Football season ended 5 days earlier, when the Oakland Raiders beat the Minnesota Vikings in Super Bowl XI. There were 10 games in the NBA:

* The New York Knicks lost to the Seattle SuperSonics, 127-107 at the Seattle Center Coliseum.

* The New York Nets lost to the Atlanta Hawks, 120-101 at the Rutgers Athletic Center (now the Jersey Mike's Arena) in Piscataway, New Jersey.

* The Portland Trail Blazers beat the Boston Celtics, 107-92 at the Boston Garden.

* The Philadelphia 76ers beat the Kansas City Kings, 111-106 at The Spectrum in Philadelphia.

* The Buffalo Braves beat the New Orleans Jazz, 131-103 at the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium.

* The Golden State Warriors beat the Indiana Pacers, 113-109 at the Market Square Arena in Indianapolis.

* The Washington Bullets beat the Chicago Bulls, 94-89 at the Chicago Stadium. Elvin Hayes led all scorers on the night with 34 points.

* The Houston Rockets beat the Milwaukee Bucks, 111-84 at the Milwaukee Exposition & Convention Center Arena, a.k.a. The MECCA. (It's now named the UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena.)

* The Los Angeles Lakers beat the San Antonio Spurs, 109-106 at the HemisFair Arena in San Antonio.

* And the Denver Nuggets beat the Cleveland Cavaliers, 116-96 at the McNichols Arena in Denver.

There was 1 game played in the NHL: The Atlanta Flames beat the St. Louis Blues, 3-2 at The Omni in Atlanta. There were 5 games in the World Hockey Association:

* The Edmonton Oilers beat the New England Whalers, 5-3 at the Hartford Civic Center (now the PeoplesBank Arena).

* The Minnesota Fighting Saints beat the Indianapolis Racers, 9-5 at the St. Paul Civic Center in St. Paul, Minnesota.

* The Houston Aeros beat the Birmingham Bullets, 5-3 at The Summit in Houston. (The arena was converted into the Central Campus of Lakewood Church, evangelist Joel Osteen's "megachurch.)

* The Phoenix Roadrunners beat the Cincinnati Stingers, 6-5 at the Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Phoenix.

* And the Winnipeg Jets beat the Calgary Cowboys, 5-3 at the Stampede Corral in Calgary.