Before it became a long-running original television show, Fantasy Island was introduced to viewers in 1977

through two highly-rated made-for-television films in which Mr. Roarke and Tattoo played relatively minor roles.

Airing from 1978 to 1984, the original series starred Ricardo Montalban 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 the diminutive 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

atthe beginning of the show's credits, became an unlikely catchphrase because of Villechaize's spirited delivery

and Frenchaccent (he actually pronounced it, "De plane! De plane!"). In later seasons, he would arrive in his personal go-

cart, sized forhim, and recklessly drive to join Roarke for the visitor reception while staff scrambled to get out

of his way. From 1980 to

1982, Wendy Schaal joined the cast as another assistant named Julie. Villechaize quit the series before the

1983–1984season (its last) and Tattoo was replaced by a more sedate butler type named Lawrence,

played by Christopher Hewett. For

instance, Lawrence was responsible for the bell ringing but, instead of climbing to the tower he simply pushed a button

outside to have the bell ring automatically.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.". Roarke's personal vehicle was

an orange Dodge Aspen station wagon with a Safari top with the stance of a modern-day sport utility vehicle.

Tattoo and Mr. Roarke welcome visitors to Fantasy Island.In the early seasons, it was noted that each guest

had paid $50,000 in advance for the fulfillment of their fantasies and that Fantasy Island was a business. Later,

it became clear that the price a guest paid was substantial to him or her, and for one

little girl whose father was one of Roarke's guests, she'd emptied her piggy bank - less than ten dollars -

to have her fantasy about her father fulfilled.

In the two pilot movies Roarke was actually a rather sinister figure, but once the series went into production he

soon becamemuch more benevolent. In later seasons there were often supernatural overtones. Roarke also

seemed to have his ownsupernatural powers of some sort, although it was never explained how this came to be.

Roarke had a strong moral code,but he was always merciful as he tried to teach his guests the error of their

ways. Several guests died on the island, eitherdue to their own negligence, aggression or arrogance, or because they

were dying and Roarke was allowing them to live outone last wish. When necessary, Roarke would directly intervene

when the fantasy became dangerous to the guest. Forinstance, when Tattoo had his own fantasy, which ended up

with him being chased by hostile natives in canoes, Mr. Roarkesuddenly appeared in a motorboat, snared Tattoo's

canoe with a grappling hook and towed it away at high speed to help his employee escape.

The usual format of each episode consisted of an introduction in which Roarke would describe to Tattoo

(or anotherassistant) the nature of each person's fantasy, usually with a cryptic commentsuggesting the person's

fantasy will not turn outas they expected. The episode would then alternate between two or three independent storylines

as the guests experiencedtheir fantasies and interacted with Roarke. Often, the fantasies would turn out to be

morality lessons for the guests,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'd been in a Tarzan-type TV series in the 1960s.

It was shown every Saturday night on ABC at 10:00 PM, after the The Love Boat, which was also produced

by AaronSpelling. Like several other series of the era, such as the abovementioned The Love Boat and

Murder, She Wrote, Fantasy

Island employed many celebrity (if not A-list film stars of the time) guest stars, often bringing them back repeatedly for

different roles. Such guests included TV stars like Bill Bixby and Bob Denver, music stars like Sonny Bono and Robert

Goulet, classic film stars like Peter Lawford and Ray Bolger, young starlets like Victoria Principal and Barbi Benton,

character actors such as Howard Duff and David Doyle, and soap opera actors like Dack Rambo.

The program was popular in its day, and its campy style has won it a cult following in reruns.

It was filmed primarily in Burbank, California with the opening scenes of the enchanting island coastline being that

ofKauai, Hawaii. The gorgeous house with the bell tower, where Tattoo rings the bell, is the Queen Anne Cottage,

located inthe Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanic Garden in Arcadia. The plane, "arriving"

with the guests, was filmed in

the lagoon behind the Queen Anne Cottage. Sometimes, outdoor scenes were filmed at the Arboretum